Recently, Cobban collaborated with artist Won Kim to create a single piece that fused the former’s drawings with the latter’s acrylic and spray paint style. “We’ve talked about art so much together, and I’ve never really done anything like that before,” Cobban says. So he gave a drawing to Kim, who is known for his colorful street art pieces and told him to do his thing. “I was like, don’t even tell me, just do it.”
In the finished piece, two people look into the distance filled with soft, cloud like shapes in various shades of green. “I would like to do a couple more of those with him because they’re fun and it’s nice to get out of this closet and talk to someone else about art,” says Cobban from his home studio.
His works vary in size. Some are as small as 4” x 3”. But even the large ones tend to be 5” x 7” images on an 8” x 10” sheet of paper. He likes working on compact pieces. “I can fold it. I can take it. I can feel it,” he says.
Plus, the small size allows Cobban to make drawings faster. “It doesn’t take as long as a big drawing,” he says. “I didn’t want to sit with a drawing for a really long time,” but, he adds, it does take quite some time to add elements of realism to the images.
“I like how portable it is and how easy it is to work in my space,” he says.
At home, Cobban has a rack where he files away his drawings. “That’s it. I move on to the next thing,” he says. “It’s never been like I want to make this my career.”
For thirteen years, Cobban worked as a high school art teacher before moving into a career as a full-time graphic designer. “It’s really hard to be an artist and the hustle is so impressive for these people to make it their career,” he says. “I’ve been lucky enough where I never had to make it my career in a way. It’s always been something that I’ve been passionate about and just do.”*
This article originally appeared in Hi-Fructose Issue 67, which is sold out. Get our latest print issue by subscribing to Hi-Fructose here.