Cliff’s characters recall Saturday-morning cartoons: bright, strange, and full of life. Mew spoke with the Florida-based illustrator in January 2022 about drawing, ambition, and Goobers.
What is your name and where are you based?
Hey my name is Cliff and I’m based out of Florida, USA baaabyyy
Tell us a little about yourself.
Well, obviously I love to doodle haha. I love skateboarding and the culture surrounding it. Im not that great at it, but it’s still a blast. I watch cartoons on the daily and Im a sucker for beautifully animated shows/movies. Also, I love everything about food haha! I love eating it, cooking it, and baking it! I probably eat too much (i do)
What is your main medium?
I mainly create digitally on my iPad!
How long have you been creating?
I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember but, I started taking art seriously as a career in 2017.
What inspires you?
Ive got a lot of inspirations really! To name a few I would say anime, psychedelics, other peoples art, and my one true love, Cartoons. I wouldn’t be here without that mf who lives in a pineapple under the sea haha
Where do you want your art to go?
Im not really sure to be honest. I guess my basic answer would be ‘I want to see it all over the world!’ I do know that one of my all time life goals is to get my own animated tv series! Its been a dream of mine for the longest and I know its gonna happen!
What are you trying to express?
I want my pieces to convey a sense of wonder, a bit of whimsy, and whatever the viewer can take from them. I just love creating bright and colorful work.
Tell us about Goobers.
So back in November I started this daily drawing thing called ‘A Goober a day’ where I draw these characters I call goobers everyday until I reach 100. Im currently in the 60s right now which is wild to me because I feel like I started like last week!
What are your favorite Goobers?
Aaahh this is a hard question because I love them all, but if I had to choose definitely #1 the one who kicked off this lil journey, #11 because I love how mystical they look, #29 because its cute and its a robot haha, and probably #50 because that was a huge milestone and also he’s an absolute chad haha! Honestly, all these answers could change by the time I reach 100.
What are your future plans for Goobers?
As I’ve been drawing these goofy characters I’ve dreamt of so many possibilities like an animated show, games, comics, all that jazz, but whats for sure is ill be minting them on that ole blockchain soon after I drop #100, so be on the lookout for GooberLand!!
Any advice for artists?
Dont give up!! Even if things don’t seem to be going the way you were hoping just keep pushing and keep learning! Also make some friends the art space. I’ve met so many people in group chats that I know i’ll be friends with for life! Also take some time to chill, working hard is cool, but constantly grinding isn’t good for your mental and physical health my friends!