Sebastian Foster Gallery recently released a print set featuring all 23 animal masks from Graham Franciose’s morning coffee paintings series. We were delighted to have the opportunity to go behind the scenes with the artist and learn more about his work, process, and inspiration. In our exclusive interview below, you’ll discover how this series came to life and what it was like to produce the print set in collaboration with Sebastian Foster. For further information on the prints and to purchase directly, please visit the gallery website.

Artist Biography

Graham Franciose is an artist and illustrator splitting his time between Austin TX and Seattle WA. Working with traditional mediums on paper, Graham's illustrative work tells a sliver of a story that has yet to unfold. There is often a melancholy undertone, but with a hint of lightness and hope. His Morning Coffee Painting series is entering its 4th year, with close to 400 pieces so far, and can be followed through his Instagram account, @grahambunctious.

How would you describe your style? What materials and techniques do you use in your creative process?

Describing my style has always been a bit difficult for me to nail down. I studied illustration in college, with an emphasis on children's books, so I think my work naturally has a narrative feel to it. All of my instructors were photorealist painters, so that is how we all learned to paint and that was how I painted for a long time. I think it was a really great foundation to build off of, but clearly, I have veered off of that path. My work for the last few years has been watercolor and gouache on Rives BFK cotton rag. A heavyweight printmaking paper that I just love the feel of.

Can you tell us about how the Animal Mask portraits series began? How did you select the 23 animals?

For the last 3 years, I have been doing this daily(ish) painting practice that I call Morning Coffee Paintings. It started as a personal project to literally get me out of bed and make me do something productive and creative when I was at a pretty low point mentally. It has since morphed into something quite a bit more. Making a painting almost every day lends itself to a lot of experimentation in both technique and concept. New themes and series emerge from time to time and sometimes one concept really sticks, which was the case with the Animal Mask portraits. It started with just one and it was received quite well and an artist and friend, who I hold in high regard, suggested I keep it going and continue the series. I wasn't really sure about it, but I did another and then another and it just sort of kept on going until it felt like it had run its course. They became quite enjoyable to create. I would generally just start looking up different animals until I found 'the one' for the day and then just start painting. My color palette for this series also shifted to something much more vibrant.

What are some of the themes you explore through these pieces?

A lot of these pieces are about seclusion and intentionally being alone. Many of these characters are using their mask to fend off other people (like the shark mask holding the 'danger to swim' flag on the beach) or to just try and reconnect with the natural world, which is a common theme in my work. All that being said, I try and let my work remain open to interpretation.

How does this series relate to your other work?

These pieces definitely have a bit of a different feel than my other work, especially with the brighter color palette, but they are still touching on some of the same themes as my other work. Introspection, our connection/disconnect with nature, solitude, etc. I think they work well as a stand-alone series, and singular pieces, but still fit nicely into my current body of work.

Tell us about working with Sebastian Foster to produce them as a print set.

I have been working with Sebastian Foster Gallery for quite a few years now and they have been publishing the majority of my prints. Their roster of artists is so good and the print quality is always super high so it's nice to just have that peace of mind going into a large edition like this. We did editions of 60 of all 23 paintings and they shipped them all up to me in Seattle, where I looked them over, signed and numbered them all (close to 1400 prints) and then shipped them back. Now they are live on the Sebastian Foster website as individual prints or as sets. Couldn't be happier with how they all came out!

Check out the print set here.