Barfing unicorns, flying pigs, sharks, vikings....what do these things have in common? Fractured Nomad is a king of creating whimsical graphic characters like these with a wave of his magic Cintiq wand. Please enjoy this session of 9.5 Questions with Jared Hensley, aka - Ahh! The Butcher.
1 - You're on a boat that's about to capsize...you have one of each of all the stickers you've created. Which do you save??? Why is it your favorite?
The sticker that I would save, without hesitation, would be my Bloodbath The Viking sticker. It's printed on brushed alloy so it's nice and shiny, and it makes the helmet look like real metal!
Side note: capsizing on a boat and being thrashed by a shark is on my list of ways that I never want to die.
2 - What living artists are you really digging right now?
I'm a huge fan of Nychos. He's a monster with spray paint. He does all of these wild, exploded cross sections of animals and other subject matter. I also enjoy the work of Brandon Sopinsky, especially his color pencil work. It is very awesome.
3 - What's the last cereal you ate? What's your top three all time?
The latest cereal that I have eaten was peanut butter Cap 'N Crunch! Top three all time would be Golden Cap 'N Crunch, Lucky Charms, and Fruit Loops!
4 - For you, is there a formula for making a 'successful' sticker in terms of one that people want....or do you just create what's fun for you and hope people dig it?
I think people tend to be more accepting of things that they are familiar with at first. I would draw cereal box characters as monsters and zombies, and other pop culture characters. Once people started following my work, I started to introduce more original characters, which is the direction I am now going.
5 - Your illustrations and graphics are very stylized and clean...do you have formal training in art? When did you realize you wanted a career in art.
I do have some formal training in art. When I graduated high school, I spent some time learning Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. I started designing t-shirts, album art, and logos for bands. Then I attended college at The University of Cincinnati for graphic design. After leaving college, I became really passionate about illustration and that has been my focus ever since.
6 - You can be a roadie for one year for any band...you'll be treated like typical roadie garbage for the most part but once the concert begins you get to relax stageside and join in on all the typical rock and roll debauchery. What band do you hit the road with?
I would probably want to hit the road with Jamie's Elsewhere. They have been one of my favorite bands for quite sometime now and I have yet to see them!
7 - Time to get serious...maybe...what were your initial thoughts when you learned about the Charlie Hedbo office attack?
It was extremely scary for many reasons. I would say one of the reasons that makes it even more scary is the fact that this is the current state of the world we live in. If things don't change, these types of situations have the opportunity to become much more frequent.
8 - Are there any forms of art you wish you had time to learn? If so what?
I think learning how to sculpt would be awesome! That would give me the ability to bring my characters to life! For now, I guess I will just leave it to the pros!
9 - Favorite toy all time? Favorite happy meal toy?
My favorite toy all time would have to be when the Power Rangers first hit the scene. My mother purchased me a red ranger action figure for Christmas. It was incredible. My favorite happy meal toys were probably the Super Mario Bros line of toys they released in '89.
9.5 - I just finished construction on a teleportation device that will take me to an alien planet...the one thing I will take with me to show off will be _________ .
Answer - my dog! I am fairly certain aliens don't have dogs. Haha!
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All art displayed in this blog is ©®™ by Jared Hensley (exception of Costumed Dog and video)