Cartoons to Clientele - Shane Ha
Shane Ha is a painter, illustrator, designer and more. His cartoon style, meshed with realistic portraits and vibrant colours, has allowed him to carve out a living doing what he loves.
Having spent his formative years competing with his brother, drawing robot armies battling on A4 sheets of paper, and exploring his love for illustrating cartoony characters from his mind, Shane Ha has been painting walls properly for around four years now. Chasing his passions and interests has allowed him to reach a stage where he can make end meets by utilising his talent.
“Illustration was a way to turn that enjoyment of drawing into a living.”
From drawing cartoon characters with his brother, Shane went on to study Illustration in Cornwall for three years. This experience undoubtedly helped shape his current style.
“Just being around so many talented and like-minded artists blew my mind. You'd see how other people might tackle the same brief constantly and it really opened your mind up to ideas.“
Shane now employs a variety of mediums, including pure digital design, illustration and murals for clients, and he also paints the odd canvas using acrylics. More recently he’s began developing motion graphics, including a bespoke one for FAC (check our Insta), which is whopper. His love for cartoon characters shines through in his work, but he does realistic portraits too, while the digital design basis of his art is also apparent.
Inspiration is a crucial element, and Shane draws his from a mixture of illustrators, designers and painters, both online and around him.
“To list a few favourites, DXTR the Weird, Arsek & Erase and Tretze.”
It’s not just the passion for illustration that draws Shane to his work. there’s more to it.
“Spray paint just lets me draw 100x bigger moving my whole body, I love the energy of it. Painting walls can be real communal too so you end up collaborating and meeting a load of people through it.”
From the Irish community, are there any artists in particular he wants to shout out?
“Ah yeah, loads!” he says. “Niall O'L, Holly P, Horhay Ruiz, Vents, the list goes on. “
Still making big moves, Shane has been working with a new restaurant on Georges Street, and collaborating some of Ireland’s leading drinks brand. More on those will be revealed in near future. For 2019, the illustrator and muralist is hoping to put more energy into both his personal and commercial work. He’s hoping to get involved in a few festivals, do a piece for Waterford Walls, get over to Bristol for Upfest, but simply and most importantly:
“Just keep enjoying what I'm doing.”
Throw your gaze over the gallery below for a selection of Shane’s work, and follow him on Instagram here for the latest on his projects.
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