HART CHASEMAN

"My name is Chase Hartman. I am from Southern California- or North County San Diego to be exact- and am a current inhabitant of Oceanside (an awesome little surf town, if you ever get the chance to visit you should). As far as an average day goes it generally consists of waking up and coffee first thing. I live next to a couple rad little shops so my caffeine suppliers are within walking distance. It's epic. From there I generally check the waves and head out for a surf, best way to start a day, it keeps me sane, ya know? Everything after that varies day to day. I work full time and am currently back in college grind trying to lock down a degree, so no matter what I'm staying busy and busting my ass. I work hard. That's where the art comes into play. It's an outlet in a sense I guess. I've always waited till the end of my day to do my artwork. It kinda caps everything off and I'm a major night owl when it comes to my creations. Late nights are an often occurrence for me for sure."

Starting at the very beginning, how did you get into illustrating?

How did I get into illustrating? Oooh that's a good question haha. For as long as I can remember I have always been into art. As a little kid I would be walking around with one of those yellow lined notepads and pens just drawing the most random stuff. I couldn't just draw something normal, it had to be outlandish and insane. I don't know what it is but I was pulled towards creating weird unseen things I guess. As I grew older so did that trait and my habit of sketching consistently. I wanna say in high school is when it turned from being just a fun thing on the side and I actually started putting in the effort to push myself. I used it as an outlet, those teenage years are hard for everyone, ya know? I guess around then is when I realized I had something going. And then the turning point was honestly when I found street art. My mom bought me a book of graffiti and I was blown away. Immediately I had cans and started spraying and doing throw ups. My style didn't change too much, I wasn't doing big lettering or tagging or anything just doing my style of art on other peoples shit. It was the most freeing feeling ever, was getting out my teenage rebellious years through producing art. I was a quite punk haha just kinda did my own thing and stayed low and kept doing that. People started to notice and I would paint phone cases, griptape, surfboards and motorcycle helmets. Anything you could think of I was putting a pen or paintbrush to, just letting it all out. It was such a bad ass and fun time. Then one night, this kid Jack who shoots epic photos wanted to document what I did. We had no idea what this one night had in store for our futures. We clicked creatively and instantly became best buds; surfing, shooting photos, painting and getting into stupid bullshit everyday. It was so sick haha. His photos spread my art and vice versa. It eventually reached the action sports world and before I knew it I had boards for Baker done- a line of clothes for AYC and Riley when he still rode for them- band posters, murals, you name it all. He landed his career off of his photos, we built something from a garage, pretty insane. Was seriously all in a year it changed so quick from a past time to my identity. It's stressful sometimes for sure but that year pushed me further and transformed sketches into fine art you could say. Anddddd now I guess I'm an artist haha.

What inspires your work?

As far as inspiration goes, I guess it's everything, being raised around skateboarding and surfing in Southern California introduced me into the coolest stuff. I've always been a music junkie though. My dad and uncles are some of the most absolutely talented musicians. They showed me the best oldies in the world and I ate up every bit of it. My taste in music spreads over every genre and that is honestly my #1 inspiration. A good song and an experience I've had in my life just kind of create these images and ideas in my head. They might not make sense to other people but they just come to me. I don't mess around with drugs or anything and I rarely even have a beer, It's just all music and life. I know everyone listens to a good song and thinks about everything at once, I just change it into images unintentionally and try and make it something real. I've been through a lot and lost a lot of people in my life and if I can help someone through struggles by sharing what I'm dealing with and what I've been through in the form of art, then that's the most rewarding thing.

Where do you find the amazing quotes that coincide with some of your pieces?

The quotes come from anything really. I read a lot so often from books or biographies, songs, movies. Anything I hear and click with I save for later and often incorporate it into my work. Honestly half the time it's what I'm feeling at the moment and too scared to say in person. It's a lot deeper than it seems ya know? I really have worked out some stuff in my life with art.

How long does it normally take you to complete a full artwork?

Time wise, dude you may not believe me when I say this but I have to work fast. I have this weird thing where I can rarely work on a piece multiple days in a row, gotta do it start to finish. So most of the time I'll complete a smaller piece in a night, anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours I'd say. When it comes to the big stuff like murals it's usually 2 or so days but it's nonstop. I'll start in the afternoon and work through the entire night till it's light again, surf, sleep, then get back to it. Can't lose the groove I guess, it's so fun but exhausting at the same time. Sometimes I feel like my brain's been hit by a train, worth it though.

Do you have a favourite work of art, or a piece you are most proud of?

Nah, no favorites, the process is my favourite part for sure. Sounds weird but I don't value my completed pieces too much. Making it is what I value.

Have you ever finished an art piece and not shown it to the public?

Oh ya, I have heaps of stuff no one has ever seen. Nathan Kostechko once told me to only share what I want everywhere. I held that to heart. I have a couple secret projects going on too. I really wanna do a full coffee table book of what inspires me and a bunch of my work I've kept down low, switch it up on people a little bit and share some deeper, heavier stuff.

Is Hart Chaseman your real name or is it your alias?

Haha, no no my name is Chase Hartman. 'Hartchaseman' is just my Instagram handle. People ask me that a lot actually, pretty funny you brought it up.

What does the icon you sign each work with stand for?

My signature isn't my name. It's a symbol, only a handfull know what it actually means and I keep it that way. there are a few of us who have it tattooed and everything, it's my forever sort of deal thing.

And lastly, Where do you see yourself and your work going in the future?

As far as my future goes I really wanna push my art and myself. I would really love to become a creative director one day. Do something where I can use my abilities and thought process to better the world through whatever I'm doing. But that's just a job. As far as life goes I wanna be happy and be able to support, give my future family everything they want and deserve. Family is first. Continue surfing, finding new music, and creating. That's seriously the dream.

Likes

~Quentin Tarantino movies

~vinyls

~coffee

~a positive attitude

~being willing to make a difference

Dislikes

~Everything that is going on with politics

~I just want what's best for everyone

~I'm nervous for our worlds future