Jonas Claesson aka Jonas Draws' Surf Illustrationen

„My name is Jonas and I like to draw stuff.“

Das fasst es eigentlich ziemlich gut zusammen. Jonas zeichnet und das mit einer Leichtigkeit in seinen Illustrationen, das einem das Herz aufgeht. Jonas wer? Jonas Claesson. Bei Instagram und Facebook als Jonas Draws unterwegs, malt und zeichnet Surf- und Wildnis inspirierte Bildner, mal in schwarz weiß, mal in kunterbunt. Die Bilder sind – es um einfach so rauszuhauen – absolut Zucker! Sei es die kleinen Sketches, die sofort Lust auf Campen, einen Road- und Surftrip machen, oder die realistischen Double Exposure Tiersilhouetten, die mit kompletten Welten gefüllt sind. Dazu dann noch ein Kinderbuch mit surfenden Tieren und ein Malbuch fürs Selbst austoben und fertig ist Jonas‘ Kreativwelt. Der gebürtige Schwede (wer hätte es gedacht, bei surfenden Elchen?) gab uns ein Interview über sich selbst und seine Kunst.

My name is Jonas and I like to draw. I am 36 years and live in Freshwater, on the northern beaches of Sydney with my girlfriend Steph and 2 cats Rocky and Paprika. We moved down here from The Gold Coast about a year and a half ago. I lived on the Gold Coast from 2002 and went there initially to study / surf with friends. I was born in Sweden, just out of Stockholm where I lived until I was about 20.

Jonas Claesson

Artist, Jonas Draws

Jonas Claesson: Im Interview

When (and why) did you start drawing? What have your first sketches been? I started drawing, I think because of the same reason most people do, it is fun! I think at the start it was knights/ warriors and monsters :) I have always been drawing, but in periods more or less, for the last 2 years I have been drawing daily which is awesome and fun. Your images contain surfing, the ocean, the wild life – why does it influence your art so much? Is it your own passion? I love being outdoors, surfing, the ocean, mountains and everything in between. I tend to draw stuff that I love and aspiring to do so that is probably why…

What inspires you the most? Enjoying the outdoors with friends and family. How did you come up with the idea to do a children’s book? The Surfing Animals Alphabet is one of the sweetest surf inspired books we have ever seen :) My Mom and girlfriend had both suggested that I should do a children’s book for some time. One day when I was surfing I thought that it would be fun to draw an animal that starts with A, post it on Instagram and see what people out there thought I should draw for B… That was the start of it, it was a very fun process that took about a year from start to finish.

What’s your favorite „Surfing Animal“ – if you had to choose?

Maybe the Sloth :)

You do sketches, water colours, even tried stamps- do you have a favorite way to „create“? Not really, I like the mix of it all, right now I am into learning water colors. It is really fun because it never turns out like you imagine, some times not so good, but sometimes the colors do a really amazing job for you. What are you working on right now? Any new projects in the making? Right now I am working on a fun project along with a Japanese advertising firm and the city of Hyuga in the south of Japan. It involves a surfing antelope :). I just got back from working/ surfing in Hyuga City which was really nice! We do know that you like surfing (so do we :)). What’s your favorite spot in this world and which spot is still on your bucket list? Like the one wave you really want to surf? There are so many nice spots! One recent favorite is Aussie Pipe which is a couple of hours south of Sydney, beautiful spot and a super fun wave when it is small. It is probably fun if it is big too, but not for me as I like small waves :) We have gone down there a couple of times and camped out and surfed all day, super fun. One area I really want to go and explore is the Solomon Islands which is pretty close to here and seems quite untouched and beautiful.