It's Time You Met The Sunflowerman

One can find inspiration anywhere be it a room, a car, or even a piece of machinery. I came across the menswear illustrations by Matthew Miller aka Sunflowerman and immediately became inspired. His style is detailed without being to realistic which lends for a more playful approach to menswear. Matthew was kind enough to answer a few questions including where he finds inspiration and about the name Sunflowerman.

Illustration commissioned by Ovadia & Sons

Where are you from?

I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Living near a great body of water like Lake Michigan will spoil most places. My formidable years were spent in Atlanta, Georgia. I moved there when I was 20 with little money, no friends, no home, no job and loose idea on what I wanted to do. Atlanta taught me who I am. It hardened me to many difficult situations. Atlanta led me to my current work in men's fashion illustration and introduced me to my wife Ruth.

How did the name Sunflowerman come about?

Sunflowerman is a funny name and has had numerous iterations over the years. It really began as a summer camp identity in my early 10′s. Somehow it held on through the years and subtly bonded itself to my reality. I have been pleasantly surprised at the magnificent response people have had to the name and I am proud to carry the name Sunflowerman.

From The Fashion Daily project

How did you get started working on these illustrations?

When I first started illustrating men’s fashion, I knew I needed to understand the form of a jacket and how it fits, so I started to review fashion blogs and men’s style images. I would take card-stock and a wide brush, not thinking about detail but really focusing on form and shape. One day when I was illustrating I ran out of paper. I needed to keep going, so I took some of the pages of an old book I had that was falling apart. Once I completed the illustration, I really loved the way it looked. I’ve been doing these Book-Page fashion illustrations since.

Where did you go to school? Did you study illustration or a similar field?

I have been to several schools actually. In Grand Rapids I did two years at Kendall College of Art and Design and took a class at the Community College. In Atlanta I did a year at the Savannah College of Art and Design, was accepted at Georgia State University and stopped myself just short of signing up for classes. I have always studied in an illustration program. These schools all have a lot to offer and I learned a lot but if I could do it over I would have skipped school all together. My experience with institutionalized arts education has been full of disappointment. I expected to learn how to become an artist but all I seemed to be doing was paying to earn a piece of paper. If I were to encourage a young artist I would let them know the world is full of so many opportunities. Getting a degree in the arts seems to be less and less pertinent. Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars to get a piece of paper that says your an artist go out into the world and travel. Take online courses to learn the things that you love and spend money to learn from artists lectures and demos. Intern with a master artist. Watch tutorials on youtube and practice your craft everyday. 

In addition to menswear where do you find inspiration?

There are so many inspirations. Men's Fashion is a specific outlet and certainly a place for inspiration but honestly inspiration is everywhere. T.V. shows, books, podcasts, paintings, the sky- oh my gosh the sky!! I know I'm not the only one who looks up at the sky and is almost always brought to tears. The sky is inspiration. 

Marcus Troy as seen on the Sunflowerman blog.

Currently, Matthew has a few projects underway like the Fab Collection which is still available at sunflowerman.com but has begun the next book page project called the '100 Watches Project.' The project is 100 paintings of watches in 100 days for $100 each. Currently on Day 35. The other project is the Daily Fashion Project. This is also submission based but has no definite end. Anyone can submit their style at sunflowerman.com and each day he picks one person to illustrate and feature on the Daily Fashion blog. Here is where you hurry and click on the link and check out the site...and get inspired.

You can also find Matthew on Twitter: @SunflowerMatt and Instagram: Sunflowerman