Michelle Perez is an illustrator based in Providence, Rhode Island. She composes engaging, evocative narratives in ink and charcoal; weaving fluid lines through structural compositions. While you can find her editorial work in publications like NPR and the Los Angeles Times, her first love continues to be poster art.
Could you define the approach or philosophy of your work Michelle?
Illustration to me is a means of exploration, and a reaction to what inspires me. I spent a lot of time early on worrying about having cohesion to my work and a consistent voice, and I think it was because I didn’t want to impose limits on myself. Especially because I wanted to be able to adapt to inspiration, wherever it arose from. Eventually I came to find that style is made up of what you connect to most in the world around you. To me that’s movement, it’s framing, it’s light and shadows. When I watch movies, or when I make my illustrations, those are the elements that do the most 'acting and storytelling'.
Which piece of work or project have you learned the most from and why
I think I’ve learned the most from my fan poster for The Skin I Live In. I made that for myself as a way to express everything about that movie that I loved. I allowed myself to have a vague idea of the concept going in, and patch the final together along the way– making drawings and patterns and designs as I went, some that ended up totally discarded in the end. The final exists only digitally as a completed piece, and in scraps of paper in my desk drawers. But it helped define what my process is now.
It was pretty inefficient in terms of time and effort (definitely not a way I would approach client work), but it taught me the excitement of being taken in creatively by a subject and mining a subject for inspiration – the score especially - in that film’s case.
What are the skills you think needed of a good art director and how does it help to improve your work?
A good art director has great references to help guide an artist’s inspiration.That reference could be another artist, a film, a soundtrack. Something to communicate not only a subject, but the tone or mood the art director hopes to capture. For me, I think it helps build on my research, and gets me more excited to work on a piece.
I think a good art director is also effective at communicating the needs of a piece, and leaving room for their artists to find the solutions. I think it makes the revisions process more seamless, and shows trust in the artist to do the problem-solving.
How important is research to your work and why does it matter?
My sketch process actually involves a lot of writing, through mind maps and personal reflections. Research is very important to me. Beyond gathering more understanding of a subject, it’s how I can locate my point of connection and figure out my point of view– to find what I’m drawn to and why. It helps me put more of myself into a piece.
Which illustrator alive or dead do you most admire and why?
I’ve learned the most from the work of Al Hirschfeld. Obviously in terms of style – his fluidity and ability to capture likeness and personality. In school I was told by a professor to “work on my faces,” and looking at Al Hirschfeld’s work was a game changer.
Beyond that though, I most admire how expressive his lines are as they seem both effortless, and also well calculated and considered. I think often of his series of West Side Story illustrations, and the way his figures leap across the page. There’s this fluidity of motion among his very well structured compositions. And he integrates those elements seamlessly. It’s a mastery over linework that I’m always striving for.
What is one part of your working process that you do well, something you could improve and something you wish you never had to do again?
My linework and textures are the strongest points of my work at this point. I love working in black and white, and ink and charcoal have become my mediums of choice. I think I can understand a piece best at that black and white stage. When I go into color, it becomes a whole different game. I used to paint in really saturated palettes, and back in college I considered that my greatest strength. Now that I work mostly in black and white, adding color digitally, I find myself needing to learn color all over again.
I wish I never have to make a piece entirely digitally again. I love the convenience of working digitally, but I have the most confidence in what I’m making when the materials feel tangible.
'I wish I never have to make a piece entirely digitally again. I love the convenience of working digitally, but I have the most confidence in what I’m making when the materials feel tangible.'
What is your favorite film poster and what film do you wish you could have done the poster for?
My favorite film poster is probably Sam Smith’s House poster. Simple, graphic, and perfectly captures the spooky, playful absurdity of that film. So much of the visual interest to me is in the rippled lines of the lettering and the bleedy ink textures. It’s definitely one I look at and think “oh man I wish I made that.”
A poster I wish I had done, would be for Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In– which I ended up making my own version of anyway for fun. The production design of that movie is one of my favorite elements, as with most of the Almodóvar films I’ve seen, and does so much storytelling in itself. So that’s something I would highlight in the key art.
©2010 Sam Smith
What film do you recommend to others most often and why?
One of the films I recommend most often is Nuts! by Penny Lane. Its use of animation in documentary filmmaking is the best I’ve ever seen, especially considering how many distinct animation styles are used– and I recommend it to friends for that reason. The story itself is really interesting, but the actual filmmaking is incredibly inventive.
©2016 Gland Power Films
What object from a film do you wish you could own and why?
Well when I was a teen, the hamburger phone from Juno was an object that I coveted. That was until I went to my best friend’s house and saw it on her nightstand, and found out how easily she was able to buy it online.
Now, it would probably be Dracula’s armor from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The red one Gary Oldman wears in the beginning of the movie. It’s an incredible piece of art. I’m obsessed with the way the lines contour the body, like muscle fibers. It’s probably too big for me, but I would wear the chest piece around my house for sure, and keep the helmet on my desk.
©1992 American Zoetrope/Columbia Pictures
The great film critic Roger Ebert described film as an 'empathy machine' suggesting it is a way for us to connect fully with lives and experiences of others that we will never ourselves live. With this in mind, what film have you watched that has had the greatest impact on you emotionally and tell us why if you can?
Probably Juno. It’s a movie that I was really fond of as a teenager, and that I came to love and appreciate on a whole other level as an adult. It holds a lot of nostalgia for my teen years, in part because it reminds me of my best friend and how we used to listen to the soundtrack together.
Watching the movie more recently, I recognize the deep empathy Diablo Cody wrote into her characters and the screenplay. I love movies that show an understanding of the layers of the teenage experience: the arrogance of thinking you know it all, and the harsh reminders of how inexperienced you really are. The need for connection and understanding, and how vulnerable that can make you. I think it’s the kind of movie that allows you to look back and have more empathy for who you were at Juno’s age.
©2007 Fox Searchlight Pictures
'I love movies that show an understanding of the layers of the teenage experience: the arrogance of thinking you know it all, and the harsh reminders of how inexperienced you really are.'
Michelle has done a portrait of Orson Welles for a piece on F for Fake for the Fun and Games Issue, out in October.
www.michiperez.com / Instagram: @michiperezart