Luke Benson | Interview

Like many artists, Luke Benson would watch cartoons and read comic books at a young age. He wouldn’t take himself too seriously, and as an adult he prides hielf on not having changed a whole lot.  

Pop culture has had, and still continues to have, a profound influence on Benson’s life and work; He studied at the University of Wisconsin and his emphasis was always on illustration. But was there a moment when he realised that his childhood love could be turned into something more?

“I don’t know,” he said, when I asked. “I don’t think there was a definitive moment when I realised I wanted to illustrate for a living. My Dad was an art teacher back in the day, and he would create drawings for me and my brother of some of our favourite cartoon and comic book characters. Eventually I started drawing them myself. Drawing was always something that I did, so it was really the only option I seriously considered… aside from a brief dream of going to the NBA!”

Growing up, Benson recalls being put in front of the TV a lot and would draw his own comics based loosely on the TV shows he liked. “A real stand-out was a concept for a show I came up with called Linkmon”, he remembered. “It was not-so-loosely based on Digimon! I also had a minor obsession with The Simpsons. I had the big 150 character poster, so I would sit on my bed and fill my sketchbook with drawings of all the characters. With comics though, I was always more of a Marvel guy. Between the cartoon, comics and books, and my admiration of Cyclops, I would say X-Men was my favourite back then”.

From the choice of colour to the expressions of his characters, each piece has a nostalgic, retro feel and so it’s clear to see how these obsessions and admirations have influenced Benson’s artwork. His character choice is fun and carefree, while the colour palette is considered and bold. 

“A drawing to me can either be fun, or endlessly frustrating,” Benson said when I asked about the process of creating art. “It can be difficult to trust your hand and create a style that is your own without taking too much influence from others. Your taste can also change and you can’t be too scared to change with it.” When we spoke, Benson liked to draw things with strong angles and clean designs. “I also really like using bold colours and interesting light sources. I try to conceptualise the piece before I start it, but usually by the end of the sketching process it’s strayed from the original idea quite a bit. For me, it’s always good to redraw.”

Studying illustration was something Benson wished he had waited to do though; “I went to college straight out of high school, and in hindsight I would have benefitted from a year off. I knew I wanted to go into illustration, but had no real plan as to what i wanted to do with it after school. It took me some years to figure that out, so I wasn’t overly focused while I was in college. I did have a great advisor who took an interest in my art, and I took a lot of classes that helped strengthen my basic understandings of drawing, painting and colour. Taking art in college is especially helpful if you want to learn a variety of disciplines. Even if you do illustration, you can take sculpture and photography, and those skills end up helping too”. 

“Having creative freedom is always fantastic, but I do also enjoy working within some parameters,” Benson said when I asked about working on commissions. “The challenge of making something for someone else while still making something you like is always cool. Usually if I’m hired or commissioned to make something, it’s because someone wants my style so I get to stay in my own wheelhouse a lot.” 

Unlike his comic book counterparts, Benson generally creates one-off pieces rather than work that sits together as a series; “I don’t like doing anything that gets too monotonous,” he added. “I like to finish one project and move on to the next. I do often have a handful of pieces in progress though, so if I need a breather from one, I can work on another. However, I do really enjoy reading comics and knew that was something I wanted to do and did start work on one, so I’m finding ways to keep it fun and fresh. I’ve discovered that a change of scenery or colour can help keep things interesting.”

“When starting a piece, I always start in my sketchbook,” he said, when I asked about the process of creating work. “Drawing on a tablet or screen still feels slightly disconnected, so pencil to paper is more comfortable. I generally prefer to ink it straight on the paper, but when I colour digitally it can look more cohesive to redraw it on the computer. I used to paint more with watercolour and oil, but digital has loads of options and is usually faster. Not to mention cheaper!”

There are many cartoon styles out there; from manga to anime, realism to caricature, the list is somewhat endless. And, because of the likes of Hey Arnold, Adventure Time, and parts of The Simpsons, the influence was inevitable. “This is what I grew up watching and enjoying so it just sort of crept into my hand. I like to simplify and work based on shapes,” he said. “It can be clean and colourful, and allows for more abstraction too.”

With this in mind, there’s a familiarity to Benson’s work because it sits comfortably within many cartoon styles in its own right. Cartoons tend to be two-dimensional, but despite this Benson’s work holds a sense of depth within some of the colours used, as well as showing movement and feeling. I asked if there was a piece of work he was most proud of, and unsurprisingly, it was difficult to say. “My answer could change in a week, but one piece I’ve been proud of is the first page of a book I started last year. I’d been trying to amp myself up to creating books since college, but I’d always pushed it off with different excuses. Starting any project is always the hardest part, but this was definitely the longest start. It’s not my favourite image I’ve made, but I definitely like it. And I’m proud of it as a beginning to a new venture.”

We touched on a fun anecdote earlier about how Benson wouldn’t take himself too seriously as a child, and as an adult he prides himself on not having changed a whole lot. The last thing I asked, which is something interesting to consider, is what Benson would say to his younger self when it comes to having a vision for future work… 

“It I could speak to my younger self, I’d be pretty supportive,” he said. “I would tell young me to just make the stuff I want to make, and not let influence from other artists dictate what I create too much. I’d also place a lot of importance on getting my work out there and taking more jobs while I was younger because there’s no better way to grow as an artist than that. I draw things I’m interested in a lot more now than I did, and because of that, I have a lot more fun creating artwork.”

You can follow Luke Benson on Instagram, and keep up to date with his website portfolio too