Amblings Near & Far: Interview with Sophie Roach

IMG_8266

When we first received Sophie Roach’s zine , Amblings #1, we fell in love. This beautiful Risograph printed  zine is made up of 22 packed pages of ornate and detailed drawings. The combination of her craft and design work feel like pure eye candy. I found my eyes excitedly wandering over the drawings, getting lots in little pockets and at the same time enjoying the textural feel of the paint.

IMG_8268 IMG_8269 IMG_8270IMG_8272

We liked the zine so much we couldn’t help be want to hear more about Sophie’s process. So here we are, interview # 3 on the Book Log.

&P: Let’s start with the basics, name and location?

SR: My name is Sophie Roach and I’m currently writing this at my hostel in southern Thailand, though my home base and soul-city is Austin, Texas.

IMG_2088

&P: Tell us about your practice and how long you’ve been working?

SR: I’m an artist and illustrator. I draw all the time and sometimes I hang the results on a wall and sometimes they’re applied to a product or, in one case, a double decker bus. I started doodling casually in my college classes about four years ago, but I didn’t take drawing very seriously until I hit a sweet spot in January of 2012. After six months of post-graduation floundering, I found my thing (my passion, or whatever) and a direction.

comic_web

two_web

&P: Your Amblings zine is beautiful. Will you walk us through your process or inspiration for it?

SR: Thank you! Amblings was inspired by the graphic novels that I’ve been getting into recently. I love the way that comics tell stories nonverbally and I wanted to appropriate that concept with my style in an abstract way.

I freehanded each page in black ink, separated the colors in Photoshop, then my generous friend printed them using a Risograph machine. This printing process, sort of a mix between screen printing and photocopying, is endearingly quirky and makes it so each zine is uniquely flawed.

flowers_web

&P: What are you working on right now? And what do you have coming up in the future that you are looking forward to?

SR: I’m working on designing a variety of items and objects for a traveling pop-up shop later this year. It’s a great excuse for me to experiment with a variety of different surfaces and to visit with my far off friends. I’m also in the process of drawing my second and third zines. One of them is going to be called Real Things That Exist In This World and it’s going to be filled with more intentional drawings than usual.

IMG_1533

one_web

We can’t wait to see your next project. Thanks for your time Sophie and have fun in Thailand!