March 2009: Copenhagen with Drumstick

Since this is a long post, I’ll make my announcement early. In the middle of April, I’m taking a break and traveling around London and Berlin (yay!). SO, if you’re an artist in either of those areas and want to hang out/know a place where I can take photos of your work, let me know! If you’re an artist from anywhere who wants to share their stickers with other artists, let me know! I’m collecting as many as I can to pass around while I’m there. Exciting! Anyway, today’s post comes from a fabulous European street artist. Hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark, Drumstick writes: 

“Like most other street artists, I doodled since I could walk and see. My elementary school math teacher had grey hairs from trying to convince me to finish the test rather than draw big cars and weird faces in the math book.”

“In ' 03, I finished a degree in arts college here in Denmark. Afterwards, I started working with freelance illustration and a fulltime job in a printing house.  When I moved to Copenhagen in ' 05, I discovered that street art is very present here, both in the central city and suburbs. Through street art, I’m expressing my own thoughts and ideas rather than following directions from an editor or an art director. I try to use humour as the common theme of the stickers. Most of them are uniquely cut out from the label sheets I use. As a signature I've chosen to just use the ‘D’ letter.”  “I've been doing stickers for only 2 years now, so I am still green in the field of street art. I am inspired by the world's freaks of nature. I like diversity, freedom of speech, the peace movement, and artists in both visual and musical form. I try to make stickers that stand out from others. They illustrate political and satirical statements or comedic situations, figures or faces. My goal is to just make people smile or become curious of the world around them.”

“After lots of trial and error, I found a technique that withstands the tough weather and winds of Copenhagen. In the beginning, I used a wide palette of Copic Markers, but I found out that these colors fade after exposure to the sun, rain, and wind. Then, I started applying a spray finisher coat after the stickers were finished, which improved the weather-resistance."

"At the moment, I use Posca shaker paint pens to make the stickers. They have a small palette of different sizes and have a steady, durable line. These are also good for tagging because the paint will not fade over time.”

“One of the things that fascinate me is the communication between taggers and sticker artists through their art in the streets. You recognize people's work and stick up next to them. You write an answer to a question or make an "extension" or comment to another person's art statement.”

“It's also fun to see how long my stickers remain in place. I've found that drainpipes and electrical boxes outside are good places to stick up. If they are on a store or a public building, chances are high that the owners will soon remove them. I try to place them where they won’t be removed - so aim high or low, or at 'hard to access' places, if you want them to stay for a while.”  “I think that this way of getting your art out is an important way of expressing freedom of speech, which we have to respect and use. Graffiti is illegal, but what isn't these days?”

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace"—Jimi Hendrix

See more of Drumstick’s thoughts and stickers at his"Antiwar/Arts page" on MySpace: 

Thank you so much, Drumstick! And to everyone checking in from Denmark, Mange tak, læsere!