Interview by Rachel Gottesman

Jesse, you just won... A (preloved) car! Holy crap! Congratulations on both being printed and winning an entire vehicle. Where are you going to go on the road trip you should probably be taking with your free car?

Thanks! I'll admit, it still seems a little unreal. Okay, a lot
unreal. Road tripping is definitely on the agenda. Though I've lived in the bay area for almost three years, I've never ventured very far north so a drive up the California coast might be the plan, perhaps to Redwood National Park. I hear they have some trees around those parts, not to mention an enormous Paul Bunyan statue.

But wherever my new set of wheels takes me on our maiden voyage, I'll be wearing my cosmonaut shirt the entire trip.



Good idea! A fitting homage.

Your work has become pretty popular in the art/illustration world. Are you completely swamped with work yet? What's your average day like as an illustrator?

I can't say I'm overrun by work but I've certainly pulled more all-nighters as a professional than I ever did in college.

My typical day begins at an hour of the late morning my mother would not approve of. I work in a home studio, mostly with pencils, gouache and Photoshop,all the while keeping one eye on my e-mail inbox to see if any new
jobs have come in.

I consume copious amounts of NPR. After 2:00 PM, when business begins shutting down in New York, I make up some excuse to get out of the house for a few hours. Like Dracula, I do most of my serious work at night.



Illustrating and drinking blood, a very nice combination.

Has Threadless influenced you as an artist in any way?

Threadless has certainly opened me up to the world of tee shirt design. Clothing is such a personal thing and I love the challenge of creating something that people will want to wear across their chests.



What has your favorite client/project been so far?

Designing for Threadless, obviously.

I've been fortunate enough to have landed gigs with some big publications like Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, and the Times which is always a thrill but, to be honest,
fun jobs can come from anywhere.

And I'm not kidding about Threadless. As I said, it's a formidable challenge to create something people want
to wear so it's always quite exciting to have a shirt printed.



I can't tell you just how flattered we are, and I'm not kidding either!

If you weren't an artist, what do you think you'd be doing?

Illustration is just my day job. My real dream is to be an accountant.

If you were a circus performer, which one would you be, and would you ever consider dating the bearded lady?



I'd likely be the crying clown. Definitely not the strong man or the tight rope walker. Or the lion tamer.

As for a date with the bearded lady, that depends. Does she have nice legs?

Thanks so much for chatting!

Thank you!

Interview by Rachel Gottesman

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