Was machst du gerade? (26)

… frage ich die wunderbaren Menschen in meinem Netzwerk.

Heute ist das Stephen Yeates – Illustrator, Toronto, Kanada

Wir kennen uns seit langer Zeit und inspirieren uns gegenseitig. Was ich am meisten an Stephen mag? Seinen Humor, seine Geschichten und die leckeren Pancakes ;-) Ich übersetze den Text nicht, denn ich vermute, dass ihr alles versteht.

What are you doing at the moment?

»At the moment I’m working on a small illustration commission so today I’m doing studies of a much-loved bathing pavilion in Toronto on lake Ontario.

Some of my time is spent doing volunteer work: I’m vice-chair of our local architectural heritage association in Toronto’s Cabbagetown, which includes giving tours, doing graphics and managing their Instagram page.

Today, as every day, I’m posting onto the page (@cabbagetownpa). I love doing the photography and, although I’m confined to an iPhone, as a Graphic Designer, I can enlist PhotoShop to clarify and crop the images.

I also help with an annual 6-day bicycle ride to Montreal in aid of People With AIDS Toronto. As a team leader I help administer and take part in the training and the ride itself (which is a shorter 2021 version due to Covid) but have temporarily exchanged my bicycle with a cane as my front wheel recently had a disagreement with a streetcar track which resulted in a flight that was long enough to have two complete thoughts. I am recovering quickly and expect to be back on the bike in a few weeks.

I have been cycling multi-day rides for 50 years, although I had my first ride 72 years ago. It’s an important part of my life.

In normal times I would be out on the bicycle today and would be planning a long trip with a friend in Ontario or Europe. I hope Barcelona to Paris next year.«

Why are you an illustrator?

»I have sketched, drawn, painted and crafted since I was a child. Illustration is a later career after teaching high school, working in Interior Design and, later, in film and television. All of those careers involved some form of graphic art: cartography and graphic explanation in teaching Geography; prop design in film; communication in interior design.«

What makes you tick or interests you intensely?

»Music: The music that gets me excited includes early, medieval, some alt and club, ranging from contemplative to manic, which drives me when running or spinning.
Movement: running (I love to explore various neighbourhoods), cycling long distances here or abroad.
The work of other illustrators: For example representational artists such as JC Leyendecker, Canadian railway posters, vintage Transport London posters. I love the loose art of Paul Hogarth and Ralph Steadman and any New Yorker cover art.
How we humans organize our spaces: I can get excited about anything to do with planning, transit, Architecture, Interior and Industrial Design
Living in the city: crowds, movement, exposure to the new and old.
Being with good friends: I am an extrovert.«

Where can I find you?

Website: steveyeates.ca
My Instagram page: @velociguy includes random casual drawings and sketches, especially images posted in October during Inktober.
I’m also on Facebook.