I have introduced you to masters of the can, typographic enthusiasts, shadows of the street, and gentle giants. Creativity flows in different ways and for Jon Burgerman it chooses to manifest in the form of lovable characters and infectious doodles. His work can been seen in a myriad of ways be it wall work, print, original on card, gallery walls, toys, books, and an array of other products. He is the most celebrated doodler on my radar and has pioneered his own category. Most interviews might focus on these great achievements and stories from around the world as a recognised artist. However, what interests me is life before the critical acclaim and the boy before the man. The school desk scrawling, early day influences and aspirations, basically the overall equation that equals the Jon Burgerman we see today. Ready to jump into the rabbit hole? Read on to take the leap…

I had the pleasure of catching up with infectious doodler Jon Burgerman following his Solo Show this month at North East Gallery and store; Electrik Sheep. One of the biggest rewards to projects such as this is meeting people who have endless passion for their craft. Seeing his attention to detail and the overall meticulous steps to the end result is otherwise unseen insight. I thrive on this insight, and it inspired the conversation below. I wanted to fill in a few more pieces to the puzzle…

So Jon, take me back to school days. Were you the kid never without pencil far from hand?
I was an incessant doodler at school, which of course got me into plenty of trouble. Sometimes I was the class hero, being able to draw things on people’s bags and books and other times it landed me in detention. Once I snuck back into the classroom during break-time to scrawl a cartoon of our teacher on the blackboard. We all queued up outside the room to be let back in after break, and there was the drawing. The whole class thought it was funny and rather unfairly the teacher immediately assumed it was by me. I got in trouble but I suspect the teacher thought it was quite funny too, I’m sure I saw him smirking.

I once also doodled all over an exam question sheet once I was finished answering the questions. I drew responses to each question. I got in trouble for that too, apparently it was disrespectful of the exam and I should of been checking my answers with any free time I had left in the exam rather than illustrating them. Oh well, I was bored and just entertaining myself by drawing.

Did your teachers try to channel your creativity into more conventional art forms?
Of course. There’s rules in school and poor old teachers have to stick by them like everyone else. I was ok at conventional forms, drawing fruit bowls and the like but I always liked to stick a character or two in amongst the plums.

What did your early drawing look like? Was it copying patterns, cartoons, comics? What influenced the early steps in the style we see today?
Early cartoon influences include the Beano, Garfield, Asterisk and later on the Simpsons. I made my own comics with my best friend Ben called the BeJon, I think the characters and stories were based on people we knew from around Birmingham. Ben’s younger brother Jerry once got into a fight with Ben (this was actually very regular) and one of our comics got crumpled and ripped up in the fracas. Everything we made was a copy of one – no scans or even photocopies of it. That still bums me out a little, bad Jerry.

Colour seems to be very important to you, has this always been the case?
My old evil art teacher Mr Lucas used to lambast me for having a terrible notion of colour, so I find it surprising that now a lot people think I’m good with colour. It is very important to me. I like to think my use of colour if as important as my use of lines and shape.

Where did you go to art school/college?
I studied Fine Art at The Nottingham Trent University. It was three years of snoozing in the studio and doodling in lectures. Great fun.

When did you dedicate yourself to being a full time artist? Did this happen naturally? Or was it a leap from something else?
It’s slowly happened over a year or so after leaving University. There’s not much else I could do really, it’s this or being a drunk I think. I had a part time job for a bit, but as I got some commissions I thought I’d give going freelance a blast. I’ve not had a proper job since. I’m thinking of retiring soon too.

Who did you look up to and aspire to be like if anyone during this chapter of your life?
I aspired to be like any other artist I knew who was also full time freelance. People like Pete Fowler, who I met a couple of times after I graduated at events like Doodlebug where pretty inspirational really. And a lot of those artists were super nice people too. I thought I’d like to be like that; nice and freelance.

Has the journey gone through some rough spots? Challenges? Set backs?
There are always ups and downs. So far though I feel extremely lucky. There’s not been anything too bad and the fact I’m still surviving and able to make my work is a big blessing which I’m grateful for. I just hope I can weasel it on for as long as possible. I want to make it to 50 and still be an artist!

I loved the insight. The show was amazing with a huge amount of original work on offer for the fans who travelled far and wide. I’m proud to say I have a piece at the framers. I look forward to seeing it on my wall.

Special thanks to Richard Kenworthy for capturing Jon behind the scenes.