Lucrezia Magazine

I come from a long line of artists. My father's an academic who taught me how to argue. My mom's an illustrator who taught me how to draw. So the artistic path was something they heartily encouraged. As for taking off to Europe- I had a stubborn streak a mile long and couldn't be talked out of it.

You have been to places that many adults your age are still planning on seeing. You also have notched up a 'Midnight Express' moment in Turkey - and you're quite young. It is as though you hit the ground running from the very beginning. I imagine that an overseas trip, through strange lands with foreign customs, not to mention language barriers adds joie de vivre and patience. How has world travel influenced your illustrative style and work ethic?

I have to say, there are ample reasons for the Turkish government to get a bad rap, but the Midnight Express thing was not one of them. The guy was a drug smuggler! Anyone taping pounds of hash to their chest can expect harsh treatment, even in the US of A.

With that out of the way, yes. My travel experience was by far the most influential experience of my life. Slumming around Morocco at 17 teaches you that societal expectations can go to hell, that only when you're at the end of your rope does magic happen. The ample time (and bus-ride boredom) of travel also gave me the motivation to really develop my style.

You're a fantastic example for many students who dream of pursuing art as a career, and you don't pull any punches. You have illustrated for known publications, from Marvel comics to the Wall Street Journal, and have had your work exhibited regularly, but do tell. Your first sale (as an independent artist), when and where?

I sold my first piece when I was 18. I spent all my time hanging out at a Espresso Thyself, a coffee shop near my school. While eating day old bagels with a friend, I heard the proprietor complaining about empty wall space. I talked him into commissioning a piece. Two weeks later, I was fondling a hundred doller bill. At eighteen, a hundred bucks feels like all the wealth in the world.x

Demimonde, your most recent solo exhibition showcases a Victorian-burlesque decadence that is a contrast to today's precarious economy, that explores an underworld that you have described as "Where's Waldo for Perverts." Within the images, you add splashes of color, curves (male and female), and decadent scenes, and you draw your inspiration from real life experiences, to perforate society's mask. It's interesting that eroticism (in art) is expressed using different mediums, styles and portrayals. You present bold women and men, rounded curves that demand 100% attention. It is beautifully bold. How does the erotic inspire you, and where do you draw your erotic inspiration?

I've always been interested in the naked girl industry. It's one of the few legal ways for a young, unskilled women to earn a significant amount of money per hour, and its something that exposes you to the extremes of human behavior. Working as a nude model when I was younger has been a continual source of inspiration for me- as are my talented friends in the burlesque world.

My current muse is a Lower East Side super club called The Box, which has some of the most gorgeous and bizarre performers I've laid eyes on. I love to sit there with a sketchbook and take down the decadence.

Your productivity is impressive, and it is reminiscent of contemporary artists who gained momentum throughout their lives, without lapsing into sabbaticals or obscurity. Helmut Newton once said (of his images) that his photographs didn't arouse him because all he could think of was all the work it took to produce them. I can't recall him ever stopping. It took a heart attack in a car (unfortunately) to stop him at an advanced age. Your fourteen hour days (to produce Demimonde) is certainly industrious. How do you unwind and switch off, but more importantly maintain/nourish the muse?

I have too many demons in my head (and too much of a need for money) to ever really stop drawing. While sometimes I'm tired or burnt out, I never run out of ideas. To relax? Hang out with my genius boyfriend (www.fharper.com- seriously, look at those paintings!), read biographies of explorers, drink espresso, watch smoke.

You're also an entrepreneur. You have taken art or the standard art session/life drawing to a new, alternate level via Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School that you started in December 2005, and the inspiration behind this venture stems from your own experiences as an art model and the Spartan ambiance that can be. Few artists experience art from both sides: as artists and models (in front of a group gathering). How did this influence your art, and your approach to teaching/writing and promoting art?

The art school view of a model is one where the model is a collection of tendons and muscles. While there's nothing wrong with this view- in fact, it's absolutely essential for learning to draw- I became interested in exploring models more as personalities. One reason I draw performers so often is that I love being inspired by their onstage art and allowing it to add to my own.

Working as a model also introduced me to other models- by in large, a cadre of the fiercest, sweetest, most hardworking and talented folks you'll ever meet. I try to work with models all the time, incorporating them into my book signings and convention displays and art shows. It's my way of providing more gigs to the people who nurtured me when I was a wee young thing in the city.

Did you anticipate Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School to expand the way it has and do you have future plans on touring the expanding locales?

No. I thought Dr. Sketchy's would get me Time Out listings in NYC (the height of fame in my eyes when I started it), not spread to 11 countries and four continents. I'm touring Europe this summer with Sketchy's (and lecturing on my art at Kiasma Museum in Helsinki), and I cannot wait to see the international scope if this movement with my own eyes.

Dr Sketchy's offers more excitement than a standard still-life session, and is open to everyone. What would you say to those who have never picked up a pencil or crayon in their lives?

I'd say that drawing, while hard as hell, is also incredibly rewarding. It gives you a whole new language to express yourself, and really teaches you to observe the world around you. Give it a try- you'll like it! And if you don't, there's booze and girls at Sketchy's to drown your pain.

If you could revisit an era (or various eras) which would it be? It could be more than one. Which artistic periods fascinate you the most?

One thing I enjoy about the time we live in now is the selective reenactment of our favorite time periods. We can say "I like the Victorian era's detailed aesthetic, but not its institutionalized racism." That said, I'd love to revisit the Paris of Toulouse Lautrec- though only as a bohemian member of the upper class, with some syphilis treatment tucked in my sleeve.

For artistic periods- I love Brueghal, Beardsley, the pen and ink art of illustration's golden age, Joe Coleman, and of course- Victorian England and Rococco France.

Your next exhibit takes place at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon art, over one weekend - this weekend. It looks as though you have a busy 2008 lined up.

Not exhibit- table. The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art has an amazing fair every year called MoCCA where indie artists converge on the city to hawk their wares. I love tabling at MoCCA. This is my third year.

I can't resist the comic book heroine. Marvel was a childhood staple of mine, so I have to ask: If you were to create a 21st century comic book heroine, what would she be like or who would you model her on?

I've always loved Rogue as a character, and once pitched the idea of her as a 19th century artist's model with untouchable skin. Unfortunately, Marvel didn't go for it. I'd love to do a heroine at the turn of the century, when tech, science, religion and magic were all uneasilly coexisting. Imagine Crowley having his mind blown by a chick with actual magical powers.

© 2008 Lucrezia Magazine

Molly Crabapple photograph © Aeric Meredith-Goujon

All images © Molly Crabapple

For updates and art purchases/enquiries, please visit Molly Crabapple's official website Molly Crabapple Illustration & Fine Art.

If you'd like to try your hand at life drawing with a sexy twist, head on over to Dr Sketchy's and find your nearest location.

Molly will be tabling at MoCCA at the Puck Building, NY. For further details, click here to visit the site directly.