ABOUT · THE ARTIST

Ben Sainty.
Illustrator,
Canberra.

I draw because I can't help it. Benji Illustrated is the small label I print my work onto — heavyweight tees, the occasional sweater, and prints when something's worth framing.

Ben's studio desk by the window, bird illustration in progress
NE PARCAS NEC SPERNAS
"Neither spare
nor despise."

The LaMont clan motto — part of the Sainty family lineage, and the rule I draw by.

THE PROCESS

Pencil first.
Always.

Every print starts as a graphite sketch on cheap copy paper. Once the line feels right, I scan, vector, then test it on garment mockups before I commit to a screen.

  1. 01
    Sketch

    Loose pencil on A4. Most ideas die here, and that's the point.

  2. 02
    Refine

    Trace, ink, vector. Anything that survives this gets a name.

  3. 03
    Test

    Mock onto a tee. Look at it for a week. If it still works, edition it.

WATCH · THE SKETCH
Overhead view of the studio desk — skull and mushroom illustration mid-progress
Studio desk overhead — coloured pencils and illustration in early stages
Close-up of a pencil tip on the illustration, mushroom detail
HERITAGE

Sainty ↔ LaMont.

The raised hand on the label is the LaMont crest — a clan tied to the Sainty family by way of generations and a few good photographs. It shows up in the work because it's part of the work.

SAY HELLO

The studio reads its mail.

Commissions, restock requests, hellos — all welcome. I read every one, even if it takes a week.

ben@benjiillustrated.com Instagram ↗