Interview with Iz Schrader

Can you tell us about your background as an artist? How did you become interested in art?

I’ve always loved to draw and have never been able to keep myself from doodling if there's a pen and paper nearby. It was really around middle and high school that I honed in my focus on illustration in particular, though. I started drawing comics and video game characters which gradually evolved into the creation of entire worlds and series. It's both a blessing and a curse to be inspired by literally everything.

Your artwork in Dreams is titled “Bunny Gathering At The End Of The Universe.” Can you tell us more about this piece?

I draw a lot of things that are directly representative of real life, so sometimes it is fun to imagine a scene I will probably never actually witness in person. With this concept, I took something abstract and presented it in a normal, straightforward way that gives it an ironically surreal quality. This is just bunnies getting together to watch the world burn, nothing out of the ordinary.

I wanted to make the scene feel like it’s exploding while also collapsing in on itself. If you imagine that you are one of the bunnies sitting there, my hope is that you feel surrounded yet suffocated by infinity, like you’re stuck in a transparent torus.

How do you navigate creative blocks or challenges in your artistic practice?

My biggest tool for breaking an art block lately has been collaging. It feels like a way to creatively brainstorm, and I may even make something that I wind up liking a lot in the process! In a similar vein, I also find journaling to be incredibly helpful. I keep these little paper notebooks that are like my collage/journal/scrapbook launchpads.

What mediums do you primarily work with, and why? Do you have a favorite medium or technique?

My absolute favorite thing to draw with is a ballpoint pen. I specifically love those 10-color shuttle click pens that have everything I need all right there in one tool. It makes marks with the sensitivity of dry pencil but the boldness of wet ink—like a colored pencil that you never have to switch out or resharpen. I would be lost without it.

Most of my work features some form of ballpoint pen crosshatching or crosshatching in general. I love the texture that technique creates, and the process of layering line after line is so meditative to me.

How do you see your art evolving in the future? Are there any new techniques or ideas that you’re excited to explore?

I’m excited to expand my portfolio with more illustrative pieces and client commissions, and I would love the opportunity to work on children’s books or graphic novels in the future. I’m currently putting together a book of some of my own artwork as well, and I’m thrilled to see what path that might lead me down!

What do you hope viewers take away from your art? Are there any messages or emotions you aim to convey?

I hope my art can bring about feelings of hope, curiosity, and coziness. I want to encourage people to recognize the sacred in the simple—the beauty in the mundane—to add an element of wonder to the everyday experience of living.

What influences or sources of inspiration inform your artistic practice?

I have been hugely inspired by Pokémon over the course of my artistic journey. It’s honestly the main reason I started drawing all the time as a teenager, and it’s continued to be one of my biggest sources of creative inspiration since then. But I’m usually just as inspired by the most boring subjects as I am the most whimsical and fantastical, so I try to fuse both of those influences in my art.

What are you currently working on, and what projects or exhibitions do you have planned for the future?

My main project right now is the “Gas Stations” series. I’ve been working on these ballpoint pen drawings of gas stations since August 2022; I drew the first one to curb a pang of nostalgia, but then I just kept drawing more, and now I am hooked. Anyone who knows that I do art knows me for the gas stations, and I have wholly embraced the odd association. I think gas stations are so cool. Again, it’s something about the beauty in the mundane.

I started featuring them in zines that I publish online and print occasionally, and I’ve currently got 11 different “Gas Stations” zines that contain 45 different gas station illustrations. My goal is to turn the whole collection into a coffee table book once I hit 50 gas stations!

Finally, what advice would you offer to aspiring artists who are just starting their creative journey?

Everyone is an artist, you just have to tap into it and own your style and be consistent. The best time to start is now, don't overthink it. How much fun you have with your art is directly proportional to how much soul it winds up having. In other words, enjoy the creative process and let it flow!

Iz’s Website

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