CVLT Nation
Artist to Artist Interviews
Rainbath Vs. Natvres Mortes

At this year’s Eternal Warfare Records Fest you will have the chance to talk to two of the most prolific illustrator/musician/tattooists out there right now. To celebrate their participation at the Salem, OR, fest from March 29th to 31st (aka this weekend), Bryan Proteau of Natvres Mortes Illvstration and Rueben Sawyer of Rainbath Visual agreed to interview each other.
This is Part I of the interview: Rainbath Visual Interviews Natvres Mortes Illvstration

What inspires your current body of work?

This is a difficult question to answer because I’m inspired by so many different things these days. The original concept when I started Natvres Mortes was to tap in to how nature was represented in art in ancient times. I was highly inspired by the time in history when science and magic were seen as almost the same thing, new animals were being discovered and the fear of the unknown and the brutality of nature was sometimes depicted in a manner that was altogether bizarre. I know that’s a really weird specific thing to build my illustration around, and so many more modern influences have crept in since then.

I didn’t really set out to be an illustrator. I just finally reached a point where I felt good enough about the work I was making to put my art online for people to see. I started the tumblr to just kind of build an easily accessible portfolio and got kind of roped into commissioned illustration early on. I feel like I have something to say with my work, and I enjoy the interactive aspect of illustration like working with a client and interacting with people who enjoy what I do.

Any interesting projects coming up?

Yeah I’ve been getting stuff together for a photo zine that I’m planning to put out end of Spring/early Summer. I’ve put out two art zines so far under the title New Mythologies, you were part of the first one, and the second volume was a handful of different artists from around the world. This next zine will focus on art outside of the context of pen and paper, sort of a documentation of what I’ve done with art outside of just illustration.

Where do you see yourself taking your work in the next few years?

Ideally I’ll be tattooing full time and the illustration projects I take on will be more selective, like for friends or bands I really connect with. I really want to do more collaborations as well. I’ll still continue to release new stuff in my store every few months as long as people are still interested.

What music have you been into lately?

One of my favorite working illustrators named Jacob Rolfe is in a black metal band called Loss Of Self that I’ve been pretty obsessed with. They put out a 3 song demo last year totaling about 8 minutes of music but that was enough to make a huge impact on me. He also has a goth/post punk band called Weeping Rat that I’ve had on heavy rotation. A friend recently turned me on to a Canadian pop artist who goes by Austra and I’ve been jamming that a lot, highly catchy. Antwon’s In Dark Denim mixtape is one of my favorite things I’ve heard this year.

How do you feel about the current scene?

It’s both amazing and overwhelming. There is so much content available to us at all times, and with art and music it can be a great thing. There are a lot of artists in the world doing what we do, and we can all connect and get inspiration from each other. On the other hand you see how much talent there is out there and how easy you or I could get lost in the fray. That was one of my hesitations about putting my work out there in the first place, I figured it would just get swallowed up by the internet.

How’s life in Oakland?

Life in Oakland rules. I never wanted to leave San Francisco, but I made the decision last year to pursue art full time and that meant that I couldn’t afford SF rents any more. I moved to Oakland for the cheap rent, but I’ve become really inspired by it. There are a lot of awesome people in the East Bay, and there’s always something going on like a house show. The pace in Oakland is way different than SF, here are a lot of cool spots to just hang out and drink and just chill.

Talk to me about tattooing. How is it?

I wanted to be a tattoo artist before I ever thought of being an illustrator. I’ve been steadily working on my apprenticeship for over a year now, working from the ground up which includes building two machines, a clip cord and making needles. I have a really great teacher who is extremely knowledgable about not just tattooing, but many other facets of art. He’s also very patient, which you’d have to be to take on someone like me who has no sense as an apprentice. So I’m learning a lot, it’s changed the way I draw and the way I approach a lot of different aspects of life. I’ve only done a couple tattoos so far. They were both pretty difficult but also really rewarding.

What are some hobbies outside of artwork?

I love music, I play guitar as often as I can. I record guitar drone/ambient music under my own name. I wanted to put out a tape this year but I’m starting to doubt if I can make that happen. I ride my bike everywhere, I try and get outside and explore as often as possible. Does watching netflix with my hand in my pants count as a hobby?

Why are we friends?

I ask myself that all the time haha. But actually I think early on we just clicked. You’re the only person I know in real life who does what I do, so I can talk to you about the victories and woes of being a working artist and you get it. We act as counterpoints to each other personality-wise sometimes, and there have been interesting parallels in our personal lives. We’ve had our scuffles but we have matching tattoos so I guess I’m stuck with you.