If you were to ask Johnny Sampson if he was a full-time artist he would hesitate to fully agree as the 36-year-old Chicago native describes himself as a late bloomer to the world of art and illustration. Before fully devoting his time to illustrations and what have you, Sampson was your average Joe with a regular job before leaving the ole’ 9-5 gig to pursue something more meaningful.

He only entered the world of art fully at the ripe age of 32 and has quickly made a name for himself with his drawings. Is he the type of artist who has his own studio and paints whatever he wants everyday? Simply put “that ain’t him.” Thanks to having friends in the right places, Sampson got his foot in the door by doing storyboards and eventually picking up steam and having calls from Vice Records and The Chicago Reader.

Sampson’s work is something out of the old school as his illustrations are very reminiscent of what drawings looked like back in the 60′s and 70′s. With that said it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that Sampson’s influences are Norman Saunders who illustrated the Mars Attacks! trading cards and Men’s Adventure covers as well as Al Jaffee of MAD Magazine fame.

Sampson even credits MAD and their usual gang of idiots for his sideways take on things and was glad that thanks to the popular magazine there were other weirdos just like him out in the world. The element of humor is seen throughout his work whether it be Sarah Palin a la garbage pail kids or Skeletor sprawled out on a rug as an as an ode to Burt Reynolds. it’s evident that Sampson not only has (obvious) talent but his sense of humor can reach a wide audience.

This is why we asked the man to come up with something for us based off the Garbage Pail Kids theme using our Kill With Power face mascot. Sampson delivered. Just look at the detail, it looks pretty much like any other garbage pail kid but all Мишка’d out.Johnny did such an amazing job we had to go the extra GPK mile and make two versions of the shirt… A “Viral Victor” and a “Harold Hacker”

For all you art geeks out there, Sampson used gouache to create the illustration which he enjoys working with because it moves like ink with a brush and dries really fast, adding ‘You can get really detailed or really loose with it, very versatile stuff.”

Sampson credits music towards his work and even dabbles in guitar as well as the organ. “I’m a big fan of minimal production, stuff that’s recorded live in one take. They may have little mistakes here and there but that’s what adds to the charm of it. It makes it more real, more handmade to me. That’s kind of how I approach my work, the more you can see the human touch in it, the better. My work does not use auto-tune.”

“If I could plug anyone that’s playing right now, it would be Bloodshot Bill. He’s making the freshest old school weirdo rock n roll that I’ve ever heard. It’s probably not for everybody, but for those that it is for, it’s amazing.”

From his music choices to his artistic capabilities Sampson’s ability to think outside the box and create works that can be recognized on a broader level is exactly what drew (see what I did there?) us to him. He like many other artists we collaborated with fits the vibe here at Мишка and we hope the shirt and his work allows him to catch up in his voyage in the art world as his talent should not go unnoticed.

Johnny Sampson’s GPKill With Power T-Shirt is part of our Spring 2011 collection and is available right now in Black, White and Royal Blue. Tees come in a random assortment of either 78a “Viral Victor” or “78b Harold Hacker.”

- Spartak