Lance aka ‘Renone’ of ‘Renone Labs’ is  a one man American design and art factory who has collaborated with too many artists to mention, all the while building up his own practice. A dedication that has led to the man being held in immensely high regard by the industry and fans alike.

(Picture below of the ‘Renone Labs’ Minion, in resin form)

Those at home may know ‘Renone’ best for his stickers and his reputation as a vandal. He has recently been getting his feet wet with his dive into the resin sculpture world with his resin pizza, minion and more.

Lance’s love for the scene has also seen him venture into publishing, with the release of his first book, ‘Artists of Instagram’ – featuring ‘Arrex‘, ‘Killer Bootlegs‘, ‘Motorbot‘, ‘Extratruckestrial‘ and ‘Astrosim‘.

With a huge reputation behind him, and lots of new ventures in the works, now is a perfect time to get to know Lance aka ‘Renone’ by reading the Art Talk below…

Basics/Getting to Know

Name + D.O.B?

Lance / ‘Renone’

City, State n Country you’re Repping?

Louisiana

Describe a memory from three stages of yr life ….basically trying to piece together Renone’s pivotal moments. Concerts, art, action-figures, women, school, crime… ANYTHING man.

* age 10 – beginnings:

This was the best year I rode my bike all day.

Played outside all day with my gijoes and other stuff. It was the years of imagination we picked up sticks and used them as guns and swords.

We had fun.

* age 15 – getting serious:

This was when girls started ruining all the fun. They cost me many a ass whipping.

Also this is when drinking came in. I am originally from a suburb right outside of New Orleans. I learned about all the bad stuff early on.

* age 20 – adult mode:

PARTY PARTY PARTY.

Couldn’t hold a job.

Couldn’t do much but get in trouble and drink.

(Picture below of a whole sheet of the Fucked Up Kids stickers released by ‘Renone’)

Personal motto?

Karma is real.

Favorite band(s)?

J.U.S.T.I.C.E.

Favorite TV show(s)?

Currently I like Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Orange is the new Black.

Favorite sport(s) + teams?

The Saints, well, because!

Favorite movie(s)?

I’m going to be a cheese ball and say right now Guardians of the Galaxy.

Favorite books and comics?

‘The Maxx‘. PERIOD

Art Questions

Favorite ‘other’ artist(s)?

SO many to name.

Mainly any one I have ever worked with.

(Picture below of the ‘Renone’ Minion from the Fucked Up Kids sticker series)

Worst aspect of the contemporary art-hustle?

The trends the constant hustle to figure out who wants what. Like fishing they all look for the magic bait.

I just do what I like and the rest of it falls in to place usually.

Best aspect of the contemporary art-hustle?

The people man. The world of artists to me are amazing.

Do you consider what you are making to be ‘art’, ‘design’, re-hashed crap?

I do a lot of rip off stickers. Like take a logo and make it mine. So that is rehashed.

Some toys I make resin from are bootlegs so that’s rehashed.

I do a lot of original stuff as well. So I guess I do a little of it all.

I really do mostly stuff that brings back the years I had as a kid and young adult that i’ll never get back.

When and why did you first start making ‘art’ (drawings, paintings, anything)?

I was about 4 or five and I drew my dad a train. He worked for the railroad ..

He kept it in his wallet for a long time.

He is an artist as well

What did you draw as a pre-teen child?

I drew everything I could about skateboards.

I skated up until recently.

I copied everything I saw in ‘Thrasher’. And comic books.

Early Eastman and Laird and Miami Mice early Bode work.

I didn’t even know about Graffiti then I just knew I loved the art.

What did you draw as a teen?

See same answer above.

Any pivotal artistic moment/influence?

When I met dudes who caught tags wherever they went. It was like WOW.

It was so fucking addictive.

Why + when did you decide to go in on the art hustle?

I didn’t decide it just happened I know that sounds cliché. I just kept doing what I liked. Slowly people noticed. And to be honest I still don’t think many people do notice.

It’s just got a little bit better. The internet expands your audience so much.

(Picture below of a digital version of Lance’s book, ‘Artists of Instagram’)

Describe the method of making a ‘Renone’ piece? (Dot points all o.k.)

* your stickers?

Sticker I just think back to my childhood, to things I have seen or toys I had or wanted. Then I draw em up.

I use Illustrator as my main tool. I can’t use Photoshop.

Then I vector it up.

Then I start the printing process. I use a Roland XC-540.

I choose the material. And print em and cut em on that same machine.

Then I stick em.

(Pictures below of the process of a ‘Renone’ sticker – from initial sketch to final work)

* your sculptural resin works?

This is going to be so hard.

I don’t have a process.

I just started really sculpting recently. I tried before and I failed. I just kept trying experimenting.

My most recent piece I am most proud of.

* your design work?

This is really the same as above but sometimes with clients it’s hard.

Sometimes people are visual and don’t understand what can or can’t be done.

Clients far away make this even more difficult. But almost always it works.

Is the rise of ‘art’ toys an indication of the changing nature of ‘art’? OR just a bunch of nerds with too much $$$ and time?

I think anything you hold dear to your heart is “art”!

How did you come to connect with ‘Blockheads Toys’ on the recently released carded ‘Sergeant Corpse Grinder’ figure?

I was injured and out of work. A lot of artists stepped up and helped me.

We have a mutual fried that I have worked with in the past and the rest is history.

He donated some resin and I made the best of my situation.

And he’s a great guy and easy to work with.

(Pictures below of the carded ‘Sergeant Corpse Ginder’ resin by ‘Renone’ x ‘Blockheads Toys’)

You and ‘Arrex’ are frequent collaborators – what’s the origin tale behind your artistic friendship?

I am going to go out on a limb here and say him and I are very like minded when it comes to stickers and most things.

I had never heard of him until the sticker artist of the year. He also had never heard of me.

WE also had a mutual friend @PKVD who I met from @mikeorhan that said you guys should talk. We did and it’s kind of a curse.

People see my sticker and think it’s his and vice versa.

(Picture below of a ‘Renone’ and an ‘Arrex’ sticker side by side in the wild)

What do stickers mean to you and why?

Stickers at first where a way to get my name on as many things as I could. I am a vandal. I want my name on everything. It’s my true nature.

The stickers have brought me to a place I never thought. I mean on the Sony PS4 in the shareFactory app my name is in the credits. That’s like 4 million consoles worldwide.

That is my most crowning achievement. As you can tell I am sure.

Also thank you @suicidaloctopuss aka Stuart.

Why the decision to bootleg pizza – and please describe the smells involved in the process!?

I have this thing for food. I want to do a whole series.

And everyone loves pizza.

(Picture below of Lance’s resin pizza)

Your ‘FUK: Fucked Up Kids’ series of sticker cards was a huge success!

* what was it like organizing all the artists involved?

LOL. Its hard man. It’s just me and the artists a lot of people don’t know that.

Tom from ‘Sidekick Labs‘ said it best it’s like herding cats. But overall I wouldn’t change it.

* your thoughts on the series and its success?

I couldn’t believe series one then there was series 2 and I was like crap and three was a hit and now four it boggles my mind and humbles me everyday.

I usually break even on the series but I love it. I love gpk and this is my own gpk.

* do you have any favorites from the series?

Series one would be Walking Ted and Reissue Rob.

Series 2  would be Fred Burst and After Bertha.

Series three would be Outhouse Oswald and Horde Ass.

* you are in the process of releasing a resin sculpture of the ‘GrungeBob’ sticker from the series – what has the sculpting and molding process been like?

Its been a learning experience but I am very pleased , I been messing with resin for a while its a pretty steep learning curve but I think I got it.

(Pictures below of the original sticker, Lance’s sculpt and finished resin GrungeBob’)

Please go into very very specific detail on you and Scott Kinnebrew aka ‘Forces of Dorkness’ bromance and artistic relationship.

😉

I love that guy he worked on fuk with me and he’s just a easy guy to deal with, He also made the molds for my minion resin heads.

Odds n Ends

What role did toys play in your childhood?

I think it played a large role. And it made me use my imagination.

You recently went through some personal stuff and were met with a lot of support from the scene…

* care to elaborate more for those at home about what happened man?

I wish it was some cool story. I feel and twisted my ankle wrong, I thought I sprained it real bad.

I didn’t have insurance or anything. I had to have surgery right away. A plate and 5 screws.

Months later I am walking.

The artists helped me with bills and donated things for me to auction off. Without there help I wouldn’t have made it those two months with no income.

* it must have felt amazing to have so many people reach out to you in crappy times… How did that make you feel?

Every day someone would give me something or just donate money. So many days I broke down with tears as I told them thank you.

I can’t every say thank you to them enough. Plus there was a lot of them.

Who was your 1^st crush and why?

To be honest I don’t remember. I think it was my first babysitter.

She reminded me of Brooke Shields

Does sex change everything?

When I was younger I would say no. But I know it does in lots of different ways.

Please describe your latest dream in detail…

It was the other night I was being attacked by snakes; they were squeezing me and biting me

Have you ever tried psychedelics of any sort? And what was the experience like?

I have used lsd, angel trumpets, mushrooms, and special k.

I think those things open a portal to part of your brain and makeup that you can’t get to any other way.

Is there a difference between ‘art’ + ‘craft’?

I think so. But its up to the person that sees it if its art or not.

I mean crocheting is seen by most as crafting but some see it as art.

The Future

Any collaborations on the horizon?

I do believe me and Blockheads are about to do something.

Any major projects you want to hype man?

FUK 4 will release in January if nothing major happens. And hopefully Grungebob will be out soon.

Links

• Renone – Site
• Reone – Online Store
• Renone – Facebook
• Renone – Instagram