Post #862 by aquarj on Fri, Apr 19, 2002 7:44 PM

You know, Shag started in the "illustrator/commercial" realm, and I think he probably never thought he left it. So the question of artistic purity might be a little more blurry for him. My impression from interviews and stuff is just that he has to like what he does. He can do other styles, but he happened to choose a style that appeals to his own taste, and fortunately for him, happened to appeal to many other people's tastes.

For me, I think the psychology is slightly different when it comes to seeing SHAG merch. At first there were just a few items to be hunted down if I wanted to get anything with his style. But now the items come out more often and they're distributed more widely, so the crazed collector impulses relax a little. I still love almost every example I see of his work though. And most of the merch is actually really neat in person. So with the collector impulses quashed, I think it's just nice to see new stuff come out and see his popularity continue to rise. When he gets anywhere near Thomas Kincrap, I'll start to wonder. But try this at work or some other gathering - ask some non-hipster if they've heard of Shag. I bet very few say yes.

-Randy