Harry Tennant
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by Harry Tennant
Harry Tennant is one of the three emerging artists taking his illustration skills to work on a series of limited edition prints, t-shirts and one-off longboards to celebrate the bonds between art and skate culture in It’s Just A Ride, a collaboration between A Public Nuisance and Gather.ly.
Harry is a London-based freelance illustrator whose free-flowing hand drawn style finds its way onto posters, portraits, comics, murals, interactive web stuff, animation, album covers and the odd skateboard graphic.
Sign up here for the It’s Just A Ride exhibition and premiere event in Shoreditch on Thursday, August 21, where you can catch Harry’s work alongside Mystery Meat and Pedro Oyarbide.
Things That Inspire Me
Polish Poster Art
I think these are such amazing images. Posters for films, exhibitions, the theatre and operas. They are so loud and bold, and the use of visual metaphors and ambiguous imagery is very clever.
Skateboarding
British skate videos from the late 90’s and early 2000’s in particular. The videos I was watching when I started skating. I would watch them so many times I could name every trick before it happened. Skateboarding led me to get in to art and take up drawing. From obsessing over board graphics, to meeting other skaters who were into art, photography and graphic design. There was always something relating to skateboarding that I wanted to draw. I drew graphics for decks and I drew detailed plans for skate ramps that I would build in the garden with my Dad.
Screenprinting
Still very much learning to do this myself. I love the tactile quality of screenprints and how much care goes in to each print. I spend a lot of time trying to imagine how my drawings and illustrations will look, so seeing them as this fully finished print is very satisfying. There is always a bit of an element of surprise in how the final print will look, which is exciting, and there are lots of mistakes, but it makes the finished screenprint all the more rewarding.
George Orwell – Keep The Aspidistra Flying
I read this book fairly recently and I’m not sure if it counts as an inspiration as it didn’t make me want to draw much at the time. A great story of a struggling artist. It reminded me of many hours spent in my studio/bedroom drawing pictures and getting lost in my own little world. Hopefully my career will not be so ill-fated as the character in this book!
Art For Activism & Political Art
It always inspires me to see artists of any kind use their talents to speak out about the world or to promote good causes. When I started studying illustration at University, political cartoons were one of my biggest influences. I loved the idea of being able to say so much about issues that are really relevant and important with a single image, that could be understood by anyone. This is a great piece about the war in Iraq.
Belle And Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister
This is my favourite album and I might consider listening to it if I’m stuck for inspiration!
Find out more about Harry’s work and sign up for the It’s Just a Ride exhibition and premiere event in Shoreditch on Thursday, August 21 at 6pm.
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