Aesthetic Renderings: Sunflowerman

The most gifted illustrators are able to create drawings that leap off the page and capture the kinetic energy of everyday life. It’s an innate ability that can’t be taught. It’s a talent that has to be honed by constant practice and a willingness to always reach higher. In the world of menswear illustrators, Matthew Miller aka Sunflowerman occupies the topmost echelon. His impressive online portfolio includes sublime illustrations that depict the elegance & élan of menswear, as seen through his eyes, and those of numerous influential menswear personalities. His creativity has been sought after by key brands like Esquivel, Tumi and Ovadia & Sons, and the coming year is shaping up to be his biggest yet. We invited Sunflowerman to our Soho flagship for an in-depth interview, and he even surprised us by creating two amazing illustrations of him wearing pieces from our Onassis FW15 collection. Proceed below:

Can you please tell us about the origins of your colorful menswear moniker?

What 10-year-old boy doesn’t love super heroes? I was in love with super heroes as a child. Sunflowerman was an accident born of opportunity. It was the fateful convergence of an imagination bent on the powers of heroes and the happenstance of a summer camp acting class. For now, I’ll leave that to your imagination as I develop the screenplay.

What is your background in art and illustration and how did you master your craft?

My background is a lifelong exploration of drawing. It has ranged from dinosaurs to robots to pokémon and portraits. Everywhere I went as a child, I would carry a sketchbook or notebook or journal or loose leaf paper. I couldn’t be anywhere without a way to draw. Even at school, all my margins were covered in doodles and drawings. The story is true even today. Everywhere I go, I carry a sketchbook and pencil, or watercolor paints or a pen; some way to express and record.

Why did you settle on menswear as the main avenue for your artistic creations?

I saw a space where I could make a magnificent mark on the world. When I started illustrating menswear there were really only two other people doing it, and I wasn’t aware of them at the time: Richard Haines and Samara Schuter. Now there are a few people here and there who are trying their hand at illustrating menswear. The problem I have with the way that men’s fashion illustration exists in the world today is that it is all copies of photographs. Richard Haines is one of the only other people who works from real life and that is partially a product of his being in New York, being in proximity to where fashion is happening. If we’re talking about the broader fashion illustration market there are artists like David Downton, who works almost exclusively from life and it shows in the quality of his paintings.

Please explain your artistic process. How long does it take from creating a sketch to having a complete watercolor illustration?

It really depends on what I’m doing. I have several processes that I work from to create unique works of illustration. The Daily Fashion Project is my take on fast fashion in illustration. It is the place where I allow myself to copy photographs into illustrations. It’s where my technique is most free and expressive. Starting with a pencil sketch, then outlining in India ink and adding light washes of watercolor, I can finish a painting in 30-60 minutes.

With Sunflowerman, I like to think there is an intellectual aspect to the illustration. It is more about the quality of the creation than the timeliness. It’s a process that can take weeks if I’m obsessing. Or it can be a matter of days if I’m under pressure. I begin with sketches in the sketchbook, loose ideas to inspire creative thinking. Then there are the rough drafts, more refined renderings of what I want to see in the finished draft. After a couple of color studies, I begin the work of the finished painting. Similar to the Daily Fashion Project, it begins with a pencil sketch. Immediately we move into a new direction, though. A wash of color covers the canvas area to set a color tone for the entire painting. From there it’s all about layering, layering, layering, pushing and pulling the paint so that a figure emerges, so that an emotion is rendered on the page.

Your new book Aesthetic Guide for the Dapper Man is beautifully executed. Can you tell us how the project came together?

I’m always coming up with new projects, new ways to engage with people and menswear. Last year I thought of a way to share my work, while at the same time sharing a variety of menswear brands dressed and styled on a variety of menswear influencers. As all things go, I learned a lot. I know how to approach a similar project again in the future to make it more successful.

From beginning to end it was conceived, produced and executed by me. Over the span of a year, I curated the selection of brands, the influencers and the illustration styles. In the same vein as a lookbook features the season’s new look for any particular brand the Aesthetic Guide for the Dapper Man features menswear aesthetics for dapper men, hopefully in a way that has a timeless character to it.

What is the experience you want men to gain from your book Aesthetic Guide …?

I am sharing a new aesthetic for menswear that will not only add beauty to life, but will make them see men’s fashion with a new vision. Let’s all look at the work we do and attempt to expand the boundaries of reality. Let’s look at the work other people do and try to understand how they are expanding the boundaries of reality for us. Initially, I want the experience of the viewer to be aesthetic. I want the beauty to be captivating and alluring. Look at the illustrations and see the potential in yourself. Not everyone will be able to move past aesthetics but for those who do, I want a sense of transcendence. I want the beauty to disappear and the existential to remain.

You recently relocated to Michigan. Was there a compelling reason for making this move at this particular period in your career?

Career is a funny term for our time in history. My career is defined by my life and it’s a period in my life that effected this move. My heart was conceived in Michigan, it will always have a home in the Mid-West. But it can never be the place I live. Like a child in the womb, life is born, but upon birth there is no return.

The move to Grand Haven, Michigan as in all of my moves in the past 6 years is temporary. It’s a move to explore who I am, who my wife and I are together, to be near family for a time and to prepare for a move around the world.

Ruth and I live a nomadic life. Ours is a modern existence, a part of the millennial migration away from static location to kinetic location. It’s not likely a lifestyle that will persist for our entire lives, but it is an exploration of the modern world. I think that will reflect in the work over time.

You operate in the menswear biosphere almost all the time. How would you describe your own personal style?

I probably spend too much time in the biosphere. My life seems to be consumed by it at times. My style, like my life is a kinetic exploration. It’s ever evolving and adapting. Today it is this, tomorrow it is that. If there is a definition to be found in it, one might scramble to say, “eclectic.”

Switching to cold weather style, what are your go-to winter clothing staples for battling the cold weather?

Battling is so confrontational. I like to think that I will be embracing the cold weather with thick wool socks, waterproof CAT boots and the winter oven that is Canada Goose jackets. And of course there will be copious amounts of hot tea. I’ve been away from the frigid biting air of Lake Effect weather for so many years, so it will be a nostalgic hug for a few months. Frustration will be in the driving and travel from here to there and back again.

How do you plan on growing the reach and influence of your brand in the coming years?

2016 is going to be a unique year. Just as 2015 was different from 2014, 2016 will be a continuation of the Sunflowerman evolution. There are a handful of new brand collaborations in the works for the new year and this will have a lasting change on the way that Sunflowerman shares work with the world. With all of the new collaborations I foresee exponential growth in social, and hopefully an increase in earned media. I may even experiment with paid media at some point. I think that Tumblr is going to become more pivotal in the content strategy. More and more I am finding inspiration through Tumblr. I want to be able to add my aesthetic to such an artistic platform.

Lastly, In addition to the book, what other cool ventures and projects can we expect from you?

You’ve caught me at a moment of planning and transition actually. There are probably 5 different collaborations at the moment that are in the planning stages and I just can’t talk about them yet. 2016 could be a breakout year for Sunflowerman. We’ll see.

To keep up with the artistic adventures of Sunflowerman and purchase his new book, visit: www.sunflowerman.com