Boyd Shropshire is a talented graphic designer, musician and artist. He’s also one of my old friends from the UF design program, my roommate when I moved to NYC, and frequent collaborator since 2005.
Our first collabs happened accidentally. While drawing on the same piece of paper, he crossed out what I had done and wrote some words on top of it. I think that unlocked something in my mind, that the drawings weren’t precious. They could be fast, loose, weird and free. These pieces of paper lead to large-scale ink drawings, a two-person art show called Vernacular Shlamacular, collaborative sketchbooks, collages, songs, and creating the artwork for Kurt Vile’s album “Childish Prodigy” on Matador Records.
Our two distinct styles created a third style, where you couldn’t tell who did what. But the overall feel of the stuff we made was that we really didn’t care what anybody thought about it. The important thing was to make the work.
Drawing is usually a very solo process. Just you, your sketchbook and pen. But I think collaborations are essential to revealing parts of your work that you didn’t know existed. It’s also awesome when you get to draw with your friends.
For Boyd’s art and design, check out www.boydshropshire.com. He also runs a label with his girlfriend Cassandra called Wonderland Archives, where you can find his music alongside some other great artists.
