Michiel van der Born’s work is proof that beautiful things can happen when typography meets fine art. See it here on his website, www.26characters.com.
Tell us a little about yourself and what steps you took to get here.
Quoted from my website:
“Michiel van der Born is a painter and lettering artist working and living in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Michiel graduated cum laude from the Royal Collage of Art with a degree in Graphic and Typographic design. Here he learned to draw type, building fonts, writing with a brush/pointed pen, etc. Directly after his study at the Royal collage of Art he was spending his time developing his painting skills, something he didn’t learn at art school. After about a year of painting pop-surrealism images he reunited with his old love…Letters! Michiel is part of the Dstruct Collective, a group of artist and musicians who found each other through electronic music.”
What’s your go-to source of inspiration outside of art or music?
I am a real work-a-holic. I spend every single second working or at least thinking about my work and I often forget about the outside world. To get my mind off of my work can be really refreshing and very important too. A acquire a lot of inspiration by just leaving my work space and going to a party, shopping or by walking through the city for a cup of coffee. I think, as an artist, you have to get out and be inspired by just doing normal things and living. Another huge source of inspiration is my girlfriend. She’s a very talented graphic designer who makes me scratch behind the ears every now and then.
What are some of your influences as to your style?
Graffiti and tattoo artists, besides lettering artists, are two groups of artists who draw their own letters and combine letters to an artwork itself. Nine years ago I came across the “Juxtapoz” magazine filled with art (lowbrow/pop surrealism). That really opened my eyes. It was totally different than the art that was going on in the Netherlands at the time: art that was made without craftsmanship and very conceptual so that you had to read a “manual” to understand the work.
What’s your personal favorite piece of work you’ve created?
It has to be the painting called “g”. Not because I think it’s the best piece I’ve created, but because it was a turning point in my work. I am really into typography, letter design and lettering and also painting. In this painting I combined these crafts in a way that I was really happy with.
What blogs or magazines do you turn to for creative inspiration?
Like I mentioned before; Juxtapoz magazine. Also typography and artblogs such as
and much more…
What’s your all-time favorite piece of art or design? (*not created by you)
That’s hard to answer… ehhh I can’t really say… there are just too many all-time favorite pieces out there in many different disciplines!
What’s your current creative obsession.
Letters!!!