Smallkid/kid30 Interview

Designer/illustrator and graffiti artist Smallkid or Kid30 “draws monsters, made up animals and designs things on a Mac. Born in Oxford in the days of no mobiles, kid30 is part of a growing dimension of urban contemporary artists colouring things in.” Currently residing in Nottingham, Fu caught up with Kid30 to talk tagging, materials, style and what colour he hates the most…

What do you write?

kid30: smallkid or kid30, sometimes kid33 if im feeling old.

Who do you write with?

kid30: Oxygen thievez, big up Deam, Kaption 1, mobs, dregs.

How did you get into graffiti?

kid30: Through the rave scene was when I first started seeing bits of graff, but not a great deal. It wasnt until a few years later did I start to paint, I produce a lot of flyers for events and peopele thought I painted and would invite me out so one day I took up the offer.

Did you find you were always good at art or did you only gain an interest through graff?

kid30: Drawing is something I have alwas been able to do, but through painting it has made me more aware of it and made me push my drawings and I need to draw more so I have things to paint.

How would you best describe your style and what sort of work do you like doing most?

kid30: My style is heavily based on graphic design from working within this industry but the focus is on characters, these vary from made up animals to people I know or things in my world, usually painted with heavy outlines and strong solid fills. Not sure what I like doing best, at the moment I am moving towards more 3 dimentional things but we will have to see.

What paint do you use and why do you prefer that brand over another?

kid30: I use Spanish Montana and Belton mainly. I like to use Alien out of chose but I use what ever I can buy from the paint shops.

Do you think tagging gives a bad impression to the general public about graffiti, or do you think there is just a low standard in the tagging you see?

There is always a place for tagging, its just most people who tag don’t know where that place is. Every where in the world is different.

What writers do you look up to and what would your dream collaboration be? 

kid30: At the moment I’m into Dran, Sam Flores, Jerremy Fish, Rolf Harris, Os Gemeous, Bom k, swoon all of these people onto a wall would be a good project, reckon I might be on making tea duty though.

With tougher sentences for graffiti writers do you think that it might encourage people to move more to legal walls, or do you think the hardcore writers are not fazed by the penalties?

kid30: The penalties make for a bigger buzz for some people but yeah, more people are painting legaly now a days.

What colour do you hate the most?

kid30: Today it has to be black as I working on something and the black paint is causing a lot of problems, as its so cold it wont dry.

If you could paint any building in the world, what would you paint?

kid30: The one across the street from me.

Have you ever got so high off paint fumes you had to stop what you were doing and do you think there are longtime health effects from using spray paint?

kid30: No and yer.

Where can people find out more about you and possibly buy some of your work?

kid30: smallkid.co.uk for regular updates on events etc… also Ryouki Sneaker Boutique, Oxford, Above Gallery, Nottingham and oxygenthievez.com.

Questions: Fu