Yes. Before television and film and video games went and trivialized things for me, your local artist at large decided to make a personal social/political statement about the lack of individuality sadly dominant in our contemporary society. And yeah, for the first month – before the scab fell off, it totally scanned @ $3.95.
* What is that, (points at painting) Silkscreen? Stencil?? Digital printout???
Nope, nope and nope. All my work is painted by hand, traditionally, with acrylics that I mix up from raw pigments, with added elements of collage and the occasional sculptural element. Mind you, it’s not that I have anything against Digital Media, Stenciling or Silk-screening, I’m just too impatient for all those extra steps.
* How do you make a living as an artist? No seriously, how?
Perseverance. Determination. Dumb luck. I don’t think it’s any one thing that I do or not do. I show constantly. To my amazement, people keep collecting my work. I collaborate with other artists. Shoot slides for people, build panels. I do the occasional freelance gig. Take on commissions. From time to time, I step into the role of educator. What works for me, is keeping my overhead low and my budget tight. Some months are better than others but each year I get a little closer to my personal goals and along the way I get to do what I love full time.
* How do you keep your lines so clean and sharp?
I have a really, REALLY steady hand. That, and a grand assortment of flats and brights. for line work, they're the only brushes worth using (imo). Also, for BIG, inorganic straight lines, I often use masking tape to help speed things along.
* What inspires you the most?
That's a tough one to pin down... I find inspiration everywhere, hiding in the details. Being alive inspires me. My wife inspires me. Music, a good book...
* Yeah, but -- my four year old can do what you can do on our computer at home, right?
FUH-Q.
* Okay, you paint. But how do you actually MAKE your images?
#2 HB Mirado Black Warrior pencil, pad of paper and an idea, how else? It’s the whole “I’m an artist” thing. I don’t spend too much time thinking about HOW I do it, I just do it.
* Who are you looking at?
This changes from time to time and usually depends on where I'm at in my own work. Often times, when I look at an art piece, I'm not looking at the work itself so much as the (insert medium here), as in: "How'd he/she do that?" That said, the list of who I'm looking at is all over the place: Caravaggio, Rodin, the Pre-Raphaelites, Monet, Van Gogh, Dali, Lichtenstein, Davis, Kandinsky, Rothko, Sargent, Frazetta, Banksy, Moffett, Burckhardt, Barr, Payton, Smith, Drew, Crowner... big list.
* I've seen some digital artists working with vector graphics that have a look that seems similar to yours. Why not just go digital?
I dunno, why visit the Grand Canyon when you could just Google some pictures of it? For me, half the art is in the process and many times, it’s not about the IMAGE but how I get TO the image that really matters. Besides, with digital media, the art world has – for the first time since the invention of the camera – a real chance to do something new, something unique. So, why just hack up traditional techniques? Why not, instead, create digital art that can ONLY be created through digital means? Riddle me that. Also, I really, really, really like to paint.
* Who's your biggest influence?
I am influenced by many artists in a variety of disciplines for very different reasons depending on my mood at the time. Often, I get compared to POP legends like Warhol, Davis and Lichtenstein – compliments, all – but it’s usually because of my color palette, more than my technique or subject matter. However, if I had to list at least one, I would say – Rodin. Definitely. He taught the artist who taught the artist who taught the artist who taught me, which is why, by the way, I align myself with the impressionists and why I refer to much of my work as POP Impressionism. The distinction being of course, that POP - here, is a verb.
