In order to emulate the innocent but humorous tone of the 1970s original, we enlisted the creative genius of artist David Bray, whose interview you can read below.
Where do you take your inspiration from?
A really wide range, from Helmut Newton, to illustrators like Audrey Beating, Charles Keeping, Allen Jones, to the way Carravagio composes figures. My dad worked for the RSA and he used to take me in at the weekends, when my mum had had enough of us. We used to get into galleries before they were open. It was the 70s and 80s so pre CCTV, and we had the run of the galleries. My brother and I daring each other to touch a Picasso – just to see what it felt like. I probably destroyed a couple! Nowadays, I try to visit galleries when I go to other cities, but I take them for granted in London.
At what point in your life did you know you wanted to become an artist?
I was always, always, drawing as a child, as early as I can remember, and my dad would come home with drum rolls of photocopying paper, with just these vast expanses of paper just to stop me scribbling on the walls. I trained to be a graphic designer, but it wasn’t for me. When I graduated, Apple Macs were just becoming the standard and I didn’t really want to work with computers because I mainly work with pen, paper and paint. Maybe I wasn’t employing my imagination. After I graduated, I took my portfolio around to a couple of places and they suggested I should do illustrations. So it was a happy accident. And I wanted to paint and draw and it seemed like a great way to earn a living.
What was your first big commission?
My first big commission was for Puma, in the States. I bumped into an old college friend and he suggested it. I went from doing really small editorial bits to being in a swanky edit suite not having a clue what going on.
How would you describe your style?
It’s very linear and figurative, but it’s really evolved. It used to be really loose when I first started, the lines used to be less considered, but now it’s really clean, really fine, and really honed in. I hope! It’s a natural progression, the more I’ve been doing it, and making mistakes, you learn not to do them anymore!
Your work has been described by Eyestorm as fetishist, do you agree?
I never really think of it like that but it’s interesting to hear what other people think and I guess that’s how they feel about. It probably is quite fetishist but in a really beautiful way, which is what I’m after. Some of my influences like Helmut Newton are feeding into that. But no, I don’t mind!
Do you travel with work? What’s your favourite city?
I do travel a lot with work, and more recently, our work was part of a group show in Hong Kong so we went out there. But I travel around anyway – I love cities. I remember being a kid at school and looking out the window at a plane and thinking why am I here? I could be in a different city learning more than this drone. But I might be a bit of a day dreamer. I’ve got a romantic ideal that we’re going to live in Berlin. I fall in love with every city I go to.
Have you enjoyed working on the Joy of 4 campaign for channel4sales.com?
I‘ve really enjoyed it, it was really good fun. A surprising brief to get, because I don’t often get a suggestive brief like that. And it was really good fun playing around with expressions which I don’t always get asked to do. Like the interaction between the man and the woman. It’s obvious what it’s about, but it’s a challenge, like for the one I called “OOH” [See results overnight] for want of a better name! They’re all really humorous, and I hope I got that across. It was a challenge and it keeps it interesting. I remember walking back from the meeting thinking can I do that? I hope so!
Do you watch any telly? If so, what?
I’ve been quite busy so I haven’t seen much recently. Mainly because we get boxsets of shows we’ve missed, and over the weekends, we watch them under the duvet.
What do you think of Channel 4 and it’s programmes? Any favs?
I do watch Channel 4, I really like Deal or no Deal, because you get really involved. I wouldn’t have expected to like it but it’s quite more’ish. Or even Come Dine With Me on a Sunday afternoon on More 4 - we really enjoy that. And the guy that narrates it is amazing, if he does it off the cuff. It’s required Sunday afternoon watching. I also watch Film 4 quite a lot. We’re quite new to digital so it’s all a real treat.
Finally, what are you working on at the moment?
I’ve got a show coming up in Athens, in a gallery over there, in September but I’m starting on it right now to get everything ready to be framed. It’s all my own personal stuff. That kind of stuff has really picked up, which is great, because it gives me the chance to travel.
