“I first met Matt French when I joined the ranks of freelance artists for Volcom. Matt had been a veteran there for over a decade and I was instantly impressed with his amazing line control and unique designs. I’ve now had the pleasure of knowing Matt for three or four years and he is a true artist in every sense of the word.

He is the guy so excited to do some fresh art that he won’t sleep because he’s working on concept sketches all night that he’ll probably just chuck out in the morning. Matt is one of the most interesting and talented humans to walk this Earth and I’m happy to call him a friend.” – Mark Kowalchuk

Where did your career start?
Mervin is where I started regularly delivering art. It was freelance, but it was regular work. Before that I was partying pretty hard and hanging out with the Mervin guys in the early to mid ‘90s. Basically what happened is there would always be some party fouls that would happen at my buddy Hudson’s house on the Peninsula, so I would feel bad and say, “Here dude I’ll just give you a painting.” That’s where the regularity started. The first round of stuff I turned in I did 68 paintings and they chose one out of that bunch. I think that’s pretty telling for what I’ve always done with art and how I’m a gambler; I really play the odds. The more things I paint and turn in, the more likely it is that they’re going to choose something. I can’t say I’ve painted the best, but I’ve painted maybe the most. All of the art that I do, I do by hand.

What are some of the other companies you’re working with right now?

I work with Pocket Pistols Skateboards out of Southern California, and Haze Wheels — they’re old graffiti guys and skaters out in Paris that know what’s cool. I’ve been art directing for them since 2005. I’ve been doing artwork for Ace Trucks since 2007. I do stuff for Volcom and Celtek too.

The Bitten By A Mitten series.
That was originally a single mitten and that first year it was the top-selling mitten or glove in the catalog. So they ran that same design again then they wanted to see what else they could do with it. They’ve been able to do some cool stuff and get into a lot more stores because we were able to do some kids’ versions to get into the youth market.

You have three kids right?
Yeah, my son is a sophomore in high school, I have a daughter in fifth grade and I have another in third grade.

What do they think of you being an artist?
I think it gives them a super messed up view of life because they come home and see their dad just lying around drawing pictures; that doesn’t really look like work. The toughest thing is how do I make what I do somehow be a good example for my kids? Like, this is work, you need to have a good work ethic by looking at me lay around. But I’m still tapped at the end of the day.

You’re pouring yourself into it, all of your energy.
It’s definitely work, but most people don’t understand that it is. In the industry, these “captains” or whatever for the most part don’t really have that much respect for artists, especially commercial artists. They see artists as expendable. They think, “It’s not that hard. Pencils are super light and you just push it across the paper, it’s not that big of a deal, and it doesn’t cost that much. There are lots people who do it and we can get anybody.” Or they’ll try to pay you in exposure. Then the other thing that’s really not fun to hear for an artist is, “We could have gotten anybody and we chose you.” Well then why did you choose me? Maybe you should go get one of those people.

Kind of unappreciative.
Yeah, but it’s hard to be upset at them because they come from a mindset where they don’t have the ability to appreciate art and how tough it is. A commercial artist is one of the toughest gigs out there because you have to predict the future, in sequence, between three to five times per graphic that you do. You have to predict what the company is going to like, what the wholesalers are going to like, the stores, then in the end the consumer. You have to predict this in sequence otherwise the whole thing crumbles. The only way to be successful at it is to do exactly what you like to do, so that fun comes through to the end user if you genuinely enjoy doing it. The caveat on that is it has to be cool too.

Yeah, you can make it through all the steps, but once it’s on the shelf are people going to dig it?
Are they? Because what if you start doing work for companies and they get psyched enough to get it out onto the shelf, then it just fossilizes? They’re not going to invite you back and you’re out of a job.

Well I think that speaks a lot to you and the fact that you have been able to build a great career around your art. It looks like people like what they see on the shelves.
Let’s hope. [laughs]

See more of Matt’s art at: Volcom.com/art/matt-french