276: Choose Your Own Adventure with George Wylesol
- Diana Varma
- Nov 13
- 2 min read
If you’re a frequent listener of this podcast, you may recall an episode released earlier this fall: Episode #273 - On a Trip with Amanda Breeze of TRIPPER Magazine. Without knowing it at the time, episode 273 marks the start of a little experiment—a journey down the rabbit hole. Each conversation in this series connects in unexpected ways; each new episode spurring a new line of inquiry, like a tunnel turning off in a different direction, each with an origin that’s traced back to #273.
This episode features George Wylesol who is an artist based in Baltimore, Maryland. He currently teaches illustration at Towson University, and works as a freelance illustrator for clients like the New York Times, Penguin Books, and Adidas. He has published four books with Avery Hill Publishing - Ghosts, Etc., Internet Crusader, 2120, and Curses.
In this conversation, you’ll hear about George’s grown-up choose-your-own-adventure book, 2120, that forces the reader to question who is in control. You’ll hear how his personal experiences inspired the ‘Severance-like’ visuals in the book. You’ll hear how George used Adobe Illustrator and InDesign to make the book, including his unique process of drawing exclusively in Illustrator and the unconventional way he creates texture. George explains how early experiments with AI and its evolution helped shape the book’s content and meaning. Finally, George shares how early Internet culture is a source of inspiration in his work and how he longs for the nostalgia of early web culture and Geocities websites, that allowed users to stumble spontaneously upon things on the Internet.
Let’s see where this conversation takes us…
About Our Guest:
George Wylesol is an artist based in Baltimore, Maryland. He currently teaches illustration at Towson University, and works as a freelance illustrator for clients like the New York Times, Penguin Books, and Adidas. He has published four books with Avery Hill Publishing - Ghosts, Etc., Internet Crusader, 2120, and Curses.
IG: @wylesol_
Illustration work: https://www.heartagency.com/artists/george-wylesol
---
Music:
Rubiks Cube by John Bartmann is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License.
Sound Effect:
Game Jump Sound - Boing (1 of 2) by el_boss -- https://freesound.org/s/751698/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle
