Jon Burgerman – Master Doodler explains why you don’t need lots of cash or fancy resources to be successful.
Do you tell yourself that there’s no way you can succeed without a wadge of cash, all the best equipment and a bunch of top business people in tow? Well Jon Burgerman is an internationally successful illustrator and he’s here to tell you that you don’t need any of that stuff in order to be successful.
Read on to discover how Jon’s succeeding in a competitive industry.
Jon has exhibited in galleries around the world including; Japan, Hamburg, Beijing, Barcelona and Singapore. He’s published two books “Hello Duudle” and “Pens are My Friends”. Plus his illustrations have been featured in Clutter Magazine, Computer Arts and “Vinyl Will Kill”. He’s designed a range of Ripcurl clothing, a series of soya surfboards, and top fashion house Miss Sixty commissioned him to doodle all over the walls of their swanky Hotel in Italy, not bad for someone who claims “I’m the King of Wing-ing it”
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Hiya Jon I’m always reading on Twitter about you jetting around the world doing exhibitions and live drawing events, leading such a busy lifestyle, where do you find the energy, is exercise part of your routine? I’m pretty unfit but I do manage to get to the gym a couple of times a week if I’m not traveling. Exercise is good for the brain as much as it is for the body. Also if you work a lot on your own (say in a room on your own) you can get depressed quite easily so exercise, going out and sweating, doing something completely different is healthy for you and can keep you happy. Your body, whilst hurting and hating you for making it sweat also releases tiny pellets of golden happiness orbs into your soda-blood-stream (this is a scientific fact). ISPO (Trade Show In Munich) Drawing You mentioned working on your own, tell me about your process for coming up with new work can you be creative on demand? I used to be able to but things are slowing down a little these days. Sometimes I need to have a break from work, go away and do something else for a while. It’s never good to force it if inspiration isn’t forthcoming. Just relax, try not to stress and come back to it after eating some salad. Talking about stress, a lot of people get frustrated with the lack of resources or other obstacles they have to overcome have you experienced any particular barriers? I had all the normal deficiencies but kept working anyway. For about three years I sat on a crappy wooden chair in my tiny bedroom, using my pillow from my bed as a cushion, working on an old PC with a dial up internet connection shared between three people. I had no cash or fancy resources. You don’t need it (to do the kind of things I do). Just work hard! Enjoy working hard! Don’t get drunk every night, don’t complain, eat vegetables, enjoy! Work! Enjoy! Draw! Sleep! Listen! Read! Work! Fingers and Thumbs Did you take to this career path naturally, did you have confidence in yourself that you could really do it from the start? It’s all I ever wanted to do and all I knew I could ever do so whilst the path has had its ups and downs it’s all been pretty OK – but then I don’t really know any other way. But nothing good is ever really easy, it has been hard work but worth it of course.
“Your body, whilst hurting and hating you for making it sweat also releases tiny pellets of golden happiness”
“I had no cash or fancy resources. You don’t need it”
“I’m the King of Wing-ing it”
You’re absolutely right it does take a lot of effort, did you ever write a plan of what you wanted to achieve?
I’m a terrible planner, even if I make them I seldom stick to them. I’ve never made a business plan or anything like that. I’m the King of Wing-ing it, I make it up as I go along, change my mind a million times and then get distracted and forget all about what I’m meant to be doing.
Click here for Part 2 Of This Interview where Jon talks to us about what it takes to be successful, why failure doesn’t scare him and what he wishes he would have done if he’d only thought of it back then. Plus you’re going to want to know, whose hanging out with supermodels and drinking champagne from glass slippers.
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