Born in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, Doug Fraser attended the Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary in 1980 to experience an academic environment. The arbitrary divisions of art and graphics were introduced with sacred cow fanfare. Later attending graduate school at the School of Visual Arts in New York, the extremes of "good" and "bad" were introduced. He finally arrived, after years of professional experience as an illustrator, at a style of work best described as Brutal Sign Painting, Comic Book Social Realism or Specific Generics. Today he lives and works in Victoria, British Columbia, with his wife Linda. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, TIME, NewsWeek, BusinessWeek, FORTUNE, Texas Monthly and the San Francisco Chronicle.

08.20.08

Sacred Cows

If you have a degree in what field is it? Master of Fine Arts in illustration.

Have you always been able to draw or was it a skill you learned in college? I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember; it was something that was always encouraged. Paper and a BIC pen are what I remember, pencils were actually harder to come by, but I digress...  

What was your first paid assignment? First paying job was painting an elf and lettering on the window for Abadoo Cleaners. I was in high school. I was seventeen or eighteen, I think. All I remember is not liking glass as a drawing surface.

Which illustrator (or fine artist) do you most admire? That has been, and is, a very difficult question, because what I admire is not captured in any one vision. There are many pieces, elements, and/or parts that strike me. Part of my list would include: Edward Hopper, Lawren Harris, Thomas Hart Benton, John Stuart Curry, Tamara de Lempicka, Hugh Ferris, Big Daddy Roth, Jack Kirby, Robert Williams, Moebius, Rikyu Watanabe, Alex Toth, James Bingham, Fletcher Martin...

What would you be doing if you weren’t an illustrator? I’ve always been drawing. So exploring my own subject/process in a gallery-based experience is the easy answer, but there is a more removed thought. That would be a machinist working with metal. The mastery of the fabrication of a three-dimensional form is of interest to me. I still very much enjoy the dialogue between 2-D and 3-D—the drawings and ideas that lead to the production, then the fabrication of the piece.

From where do your best ideas originate? Silence.

How do you overcome a creative block? I mentally try to back out of the assignment in front of me. I go looking for what inspires me with a pencil and sketch aimlessly and just try to get back into the stream of my own flow.

In one word describe how you feel when beginning a new assignment? Mild trepidation, Oops! That's two. Damn! OK. Beige?

Do you have a personal philosophy? There is no justice. There just isn’t.

Do you have creative pursuits other than illustration? Let’s see, I’ve always had a motorcycle in my life, since I was thirteen, and quite enjoy them, but that’s being a consumer. The regular activities like reading a good book.... Hmmm, I would say the only true creative self-generating activity is my artwork. Other creative pursuits? Hell it’s tough enough getting the illustration bit right.

What music are you listening to right now? Rapoon.

What’s your favorite quote? “Fuckin’ fucker's fucked.” I heard a mechanic say it at a summer job I had in college.

Do you have any advice for people just entering the profession? Asking what has to be done will answer itself if you maintain honesty with yourself.

What’s one thing you wish you knew when you started your career? What it would be like doing this twenty-five years later.