Introducing Karl Addison~artist and owner of Partybots Eco-Apperal and Art
S.I: When did you start drawing?
K: I started drawing as soon as I could hold a crayon in my left hand. My middle brother and I use to draw all the time, however he was always naturally gifted and I struggled to draw a stick figure. Even with that being said, I have kept drawing throughout my life and have become a bit better over the years.
S.I: What did (does) drawing do to your day-to-day life?
K: Its as part of my day as eating and waking up. It is how I translate my world around me. All my experiences, observations, travels, etc… comprise my drawings. From more detailed illustrations to dorky little comics about my “feelings.”
S.I:What does your day-to-day life do to your drawing?
K: Its the ground I use to base all my artwork and drawings off of. I have trained my eyes to break down everything I see in to shapes, movement and texture so I can mentally draw what I see in my head.
S.I: When and where was Partybots Eco-Apperal born? K: Partybots was born in my studio apartment in 2003 when I lived in Los Angeles. It was a combination of a joke and wanting to know how Paypal intergraded in to a website. S.I: I think that our beginnings are pretty similar, how’d your project grow?
K: Very small at first. It was something to do with a couple of the drawings I had at the time. When I first started I had two choices of artwork. Some lady from New York bought six shirts from me – they did not even exist. So I had a friend print them, I shipped them and took the small profit I made to do more shirts. At the time I had a full time corporate design gig so I kept taking all the profit I would make from sales and use that to grow the business. In 2 years I bought a printing press and brought all my production in-house. Taught myself how to screen print and kept moving forward
S.I: Where’d you get the name Partybots?
K: For some reason I picked “Partybots” as my company name – it has to be the worse choice I have ever made. It was one of the first two artwork choices available. It is still an option – I keep it around for some reason. Most folks think the drawing is pretty funny I suppose.
S.I:Where do you wanna be with this project in the next three years?
K: In all honesty I want to grow to the point where I can hire friends. Share my insane workload with others and pay them for it. Then I can keep working on all the larger art installations that I love to do. I don’t want to limit my life to a tee shirt artist – the world needs more art.
S.I: What’s it like being self-employed? Any pros and cons?
K: Being self-employed is a bit out of control. I take a lot of comfort with the concept that all my efforts put money in my pocket instead of someone else. My main thing is I have found a way to produce artwork and make a living off it. That is the greatest pro there is. As far as cons go, I work non-stop – and I have very limited social interaction since I work from home. It’s hard separating my personal life with my business life. Just becomes one blended thing.
S.I: When you’re working out of your basement, what have you been listening to recently to while away the time?
K: Well it is Fall/Winter time which translates in to being cold. So during this time of year I listen to a lot of metal. I think that catagory is a little board, for instance: Graves At Sea, Landmine Marathon, The Assistant, Botch, etc… Two other bands I have been really in to are The Cool Kids & Grizzly Bear.
S.I: Well, thanks Karl–it’s been super fun to get you in on a Swift.Industries project! For more of Karl Addison’s amazing art and teeshirts have a look at: www.partybots.org and www.flickr.com/groups/addisonartproject
