Burak Beceren

Illustrator & Artist

Burak Beceren is one of the artists who interpreted the theme ‘Resonate' within HOOD Base x KAFT collaboration, and is our guest of this interview series, focusing on the production practices of artists from different fields.

1. How do you define yourself?

I'm not fond of definitions too much. It feels like there's a push to create boundaries for ourselves and stay within them. I wouldn’t want to gather my work under one title but an artist or illustrator sounds right for now. Illustrator mode when working with brands, artist mode when working personally. It's like Bruce Wayne and Batman, but I'm not sure which one is Batman :)

2. Where is your happiest place to work?

I usually come up with sketches with my feet up on my couch, with an old school pencil and eraser on a small duralite on my lap. Sometimes, more fun and surreal things come out during these doodles, apart from what I'm working on. I feel most comfortable and fun in this phase. Then, leaving the comfort of the couch and sitting at the desk in front of the computer often feels like torture. I tried very hard to like the desk, but I can never find the same comfort of my chair :)

3. A page from your sketchbook?
4. How do you know when your work is completed?

This is usually something that I decide while creating the idea. While doing a rough sketch, I always have a dream about where and how detailed it will be, and what it will look like when it's finished. I don't start drawing digitally until the idea is somehow shaped. Then the process is shaped according to how close it comes to my initial thought. If everything goes as I imagined, then completing the work is easy. If it doesn’t, then I make it up as I go and move on based on my experiences so far :)

5. If your design for KAFT x HOOD Base's "Resonate" series was a playlist of 3 songs, which tracks would be in it?

Picking three songs is very difficult, this will probably be the hardest question and I feel like it will take up my whole night. (The three that I managed to decide after hours spent in pain are as follows.)

Fireball - Deep Purple
Song 2 - Blur
The way you used to do - Queens of the Stone Age

6. Where and which moments do you feel resonated on the same wavelength or frequency with the planet?

I feel this way when I act spontaneously, without thinking too much and acting as I feel. I think I've always had this in my life, but after traveling, it seems to become a part of my character. One of my oldest friends had a motto when we were at university: "Spontaneity is miraculous." I don't know if it meant that much to me at the time, but there can't be a phrase that describes me better at this point now. Hello to Şahika if you are reading it :)

7. How can people follow you?