Sit Down With Our January '21 Featured Artist
Chris Lambert
Instagram / @DoodleCrease
Twitter / @DoodleCrease
Featured Artist / January 2021 ScrawlrBox
Hello Scrawlr’s... My name is Chris Lambert, but I sign my doodles with the handle Crease, a nickname given to me a while ago that I have adopted as my creative pseudonym. I am the founder of ScrawlrBox, but I am also a creative just like you. I have been interested in art and drawing for as long as I can remember and have always doodled on any spare scrap of paper or envelope sat in front of me. I took every art class in school as I knew I wanted to be creative, but I never really knew what I wanted to ‘be’ when I grew up. I ended up choosing to study textile design at university where I fell in love with pattern and the history and intricacy of these traditional designs.
I took my daily doodles and turned them into my artwork style. I applied these shapes and design elements into a more traditional style. I have adore the shapes and motifs seen in paisley designs and have adopted some of these shapes into my style. Now I cannot doodle anything without a teardrop shape of some sort finding its way into my work.
I rarely start with a plan on how the final piece will look and I usually just start with a simple shape or line and just keep building on it. I try to let my subconscious and the drawing journey lead me. My advice would be just keep adding lines and don’t think about it too much. Draw a shape, add a different shape or line connecting to that, and then another, and another and slowly build up adding more and more detail until it feels complete... the hardest part is knowing when to stop!
Have fun with these supplies and enjoy the process of testing them while creating your own doodle style. I look forward to seeing your artwork (as I do every month) and enjoying how everyone has interpreted the challenge in their own way, in their unique style.
~ Keep Scrawling.
How did you start your artistic journey?
My dad was always drawing little cartoons and fun things with me as a child and I have always been interested in creating things from your imagination with a pen or pencil. I guess it started way back then and has developed and grown with me throughout my life.
When and why did you officially launch ScrawlrBox?
I started ScrawlrBox just over 5 years ago now. I was looking for something similar to quench my never ending thirst for art supplies and creative tools but I couldn’t find anything that sparked my imagination. So I thought what if I created it myself and then I could choose the art supplies I wanted to play with and see if anyone else wanted to try them out too. 5 years later and the rest is history. Lots of pens, pencils and art supplies to experiment with and inspire me and lots of others to create.
What did you do before ScrawlrBox?
I have always been a creative person, I did art at school and then went on to study textile design at university (that’s where my fascination with patterns was formed). After I graduated, I found my way into a graphic design position and learnt the skills needed to turn my creativity into more commercial works. I later started learning about Marketing and how this goes hand in hand with Graphic design and these skills eventually lead me to be able tocreate ScrawlrBox.
How does the first year of ScrawlrBox compare to now?
The first year was really fun, not saying it is not fun now, it is, but it was a lot more experimental and exciting. I had never stared a business before so it was a steep learning curve but I was spurred on by the interest and how quickly it was growing and it started to quickly become less about what I wanted to see and feature and more about what the subscribers wanted or would enjoy. I thought originally it would be about the supplies themselves and how much value you get for the price you paid, which it still is a little. But it has grown differently than I had ever thought. It is much more about the community than I had every thought of when I first started. It’s great to see subscribers from all over the globe talking to other subscribers about how they worked with the supplies and what they thought. Its been great to bring artists from all walks of life together through these boxes.
Are there any artists, past or present that you most admire?
There are so many, over the past few years of running ScrawlrBox I have been amazed by all the artwork that our subscribers have shared with the community. There are so many different skill levels, ages and styles. It’s always so exciting to see what so many different people create with the same supplies and starting point, everyone putting their own touch on it and no two pieces ever being the same. As for ‘famous’ artists, people like Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jackson Pollock have always been a great source of inspiration to me.
If you had to choose, pen or pencil?
If I am drawing then I would have to say pen. A good fineliner is essential if doodles are your main creative output. BUT saying that I have a special love for a pencil. I love the history and simple (but effective) wood cased graphite, something about it is so tactile and interesting to me. I can’t pick just one.
What advice do you have for aspiring ScrawlrBox Featured Artists?
Just be yourself and keep practicing and being creative. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 or 10 thousand followers on social media. Don’t create for other people create for yourself and if you enjoy the process the success will follow.
What is the biggest challenge you have overcome as an artist?
The biggest challenge is finding the time. As I am sure you know, life has a way of getting in the way of the things you love. So making sure you find the time to set aside and lose yourself in creativity for a few hours is hard to do, but very important.
