Chadwick Tolley

Chadwick Tolley teaches Printmaking and Illustration at Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia. He is represented by Chauvet Gallery in Nashville, TN, and you can also see his work at Horse and Hero in Asheville, NC.

Chadwick Tolley’s work explores ways of combining digital drawing and traditional processes.Tolley uses stream-of-consciousness to discover narratives often based on personal experience or point of view. Through introspection and visual exploration Tolley hopes to develop a better understanding of themes related to shared human experience.

To see more of Chadwick’s work visit https://www.chadwicktolley.com/ or at @chadwick_tolley.

Did you grow up reading comics?

No. I grew up in rural Western Montana, we had two channels on T.V. and public radio. I had a brother that was 18 months younger, and we were unsupervised most of the time. We spent most of our time outside building forts in the woods, swimming in the Bitterroot River and fishing in nearby creeks. I didn’t see comics where I lived but I liked to draw exact copies of magazine covers. Comics and magazines have similar layouts, the use of type, color and hierarchy.  

When I was 12, we moved to the “big city” of Kalispell, Montana and I made friends with kids that were into local skate and snowboard culture. This is when I discovered the experimental “art” films of the Bones Brigade, Thrasher Magazine and the cool graphics that were derived from pop, comic and graffiti culture. There wasn’t comic culture or contemporary art scene that I knew of in Montana, so skate and snowboard culture was it, and it was RAD!

Have you ever felt embarrassed or ashamed about reading comics?

No, because I don’t read comics, but I am interested in how comics use visual hierarchy, layout, text, narrative and color.

I am a huge fan of outsider, low-brow and de-skilled art. Comics are somewhat similar, they are unpretentious, beautiful, emotive, and accessible. More humans have seen Marvel Movies and read comics than have seen fancy, contemporary or high concept art in museums. Hey! Comic Nerds do not feel ashamed or embarrassed for reading comics, it is multi-billion-dollar art form!

 Is there an important comic shop or friend who opened your eyes to comics?

I lived in Oregon for four years and zines are big there. I love the DIY attitude of zine artists. They weren’t waiting for critical approval and unlike most published work, their zines were expressive and raw. I enjoyed going to entrance of Powell’s Bookstore in Portland and sifting through all the free zines. 

Printed Matter is a required stop for me when I’m in NYC. Zines follow the same comic visual and storying format, but I love that Zines have a wider range of ideas, styles and expression.

How do comics inspire or inform the work you make?

I love CMYK Color, the use of black key images, text, layout and narrative storytelling. Printmaking and comics are both printed and distributed cheaper than original works of art. It is important to me that my work is affordable for the average person.

Have you ever been afraid or worried about making artwork that references comics?  

Yes, while in graduate school (MFA), I thought that I had to make “serious” art. Part of it was that I still wasn’t 100% sure about the type of work I wanted to make, but I really didn’t ever want to make “serious” art. I also didn’t see enough work that included play, so it’s hard to make something you don’t see. I eventually got to the point where I realized I wasn’t having fun, and for me, making art has always been about having fun. I wondered, how do I make this fun again? I started finding artists that had similar visual interests and gradually I started using more color and my drawings became more playful.