We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Phillip Boutte. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Phillip below.
Hi Phillip, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
My formative years were spent as a working actor. From the age of 3 until about 17, I worked on everything from films/tv shows, music videos, commercials, print ads, and voice over work. I decided to head behind the camera once I reached my teens as I felt that the roles being offered to me were not indicative of the positive examples I had of Black men in my life. I wanted to tell stories that I wanted to see in the world. So I started with Production Design first and that led me to eventually ending up working in Costume as a concept artist.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
As I continued to grow and learn in the industry as a concept artist, I began working with creatives at the top of their game. I traveled and learned so much about clothing, fashion, art, music, design, and construction of garments. Pretty much everything it takes to build strong character designs. My art has had me work on everything from Black Panther to 3 world tours with Madonna! I feel very lucky to have the career I have had and work with the people I have been blessed to collaborate with. What is a concept artist? We are the first pass on what a design can be. Doing a film about Batman? What does his suit look like? His Batcave? The Batwing? His weapons? All of those things have to be designed and thought about. As concept artist, we problem solve and work with various creatives to visualize what things could be. I think I am known for being very versatile in my styles and how I solve problems creatively. I pay attention to details and pivot when necessary to come up with ideas on the fly. As I moved forward in my career, I co-founded 9B Collective with fellow Concept artist Mike Uwandi and Actor Aldis Hodge. We are the first Black Owned Concept Art studio made up primarily of BIPOC artists. We exist to help diversify artists behind the scenes and foster a new generation of artists of color. Im very proud of that, the work we have done, and the work we will continue to accomplish!
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish that more online schools existed when I was coming up. And I wish I knew about schools like Gnomon or Art Center that focus primarily on Concept art as a profession. I trained as an illustrator at large at CSULB. My art education there was excellent. But sometimes I wonder what my path would have been if I knew about concept art sooner!!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal has always been to represent people of color in media better. I want to see our stories. I want to see our BEST. I want to share our experiences with those that might not see the very broad spectrum we represent. At one point in my career, I was working on Black Panther and A Wrinkle in Time at the same time. And what I saw was that my daughter would not grow up with the lack of representation on screen that I had. It felt like a full circle moment. I went from stopping acting out of frustration for the lack of positive roles, to working behind the scenes on films that would literally shift culture like Black Panther!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artstation.com/phillipbouttejr
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phil_boutte/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phillip.boutte/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-boutt%C3%A9-jr-0104a73a
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/pboutte?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pboutte/featured
- Other: 9bcollective.com