Friday, September 24, 2010

Okay folks- we are going to try a little something different today. In a few weeks I will be at the NYCC with good friend and fellow artist, Dave Palumbo. .
But I'll get back to that in a later post closer to the convention.

"Transcend" by Dave Palumbo

"Sleep" by Dave Palumbo

I thought it would spice things up around here if I did a short interview with Dave. Many of you are probably already aware of Dave's work, but for those who aren't do yourself a favor and check out some of his links. Yes...there are several links,but it's only because Dave is so prolific and has several projects going on.

Dave's website

Dave's Blog

Dave's Postcard Nudes - Nudity warning for those that need a warning for such nudity :)

Also, be sure to check out Dave's instructional DVD and books:


Books Books Books


Onto the interview. I decided to keep it mostly light and fun, but Dave is able to give some good info regardless of my silliness. Look out for Dave's serious interview with me shortly :)

Scott - Have you ever crushed , crumbled or burnt a piece you were working on out of frustration?

Dave -I don’t think so. Not anything serious anyhow. I typically either paint over it or stick it in my leaky unfinished basement for a slow slow death. The only thing I remember wrecking in a dramatic fashion was the support structure for a 7 foot painting I did for my senior show in school. I always had trouble with my stretcher bars warping, so I had a very wood shop savy friend help me construct my own 6.5 x 7 foot stretcher frame out of about 80 feet of 2x4s. It was massive, heavy, time consuming, and ended up warping horribly by the time that the show went up. The bottom right corner was lifted at least four inches from the wall. After it was over and I had carefully removed and rolled up the linen, I dragged the stretcher frame back to the wood shop and beat it to splinters with a sledgehammer

Scott-Do you, or will you , have an interest in becoming an art collector yourself? Who would be top of the "must have" list ?

Dave - I am in a limited capacity, mostly smaller pieces and studies, and almost exclusively illustrators. My must haves would be a long list if money were no concern though. To keep it semi-realistic, I’ll say Jeremy Geddes, Alex Kanevsy, Greg Manchess, Sanjulian, and Sam Weber. I actually was fortunate enough to get a Sam Weber recently (one of the Lord of the Flies pieces no less!), but I could always use another ;)

Scott-You have been making the rounds of artist conventions latley - SDCC, NYCC, IlluXcon....
Would it be fair to call you a CONMAN ? sorry - couldn't resist

Dave - Ha, no, I don’t think so. There are plenty of guys who do way more shows every year, and I’ve still never even been to Dragoncon, Gencon, or Boskone. I wish I could do more, but it’s pretty tough on the work schedule.


Scott- Why don't you drink coffee? Are you better than the rest of us?

Dave- I am, I don’t need it. I also rarely drink soda and never drink energy drinks. Actually, I just don’t trust it. Something about addictive substances, even mild ones, turns me off.

Scott -Many freelancers have spent the day painting in pajamas or without pants. What's the weirdest thing you have worn while painting, or do you make it a point to get dressed like a true professional at his place of employment?

Dave - Not at all. I have a pair of thriftstore army pants that I wear to paint in. They’re not that stained, but the ass is completely worn through. It looks like I was dragged on my butt down ten miles of highway. I’ll start wearing shirts again once the weather gets cooler.


Scott - Studio is on fire. What do you grab ?

Dave - Portable hard drive and my Canon 5D2. And maybe that Sam Webber if I’ve got a free hand


Scott - You discover a technique that is years beyond what anyone has ever done in the history of art. It will change the way people look at painting forever. Do you share this technique or do you keep it secret?

Dave- I’d certainly use it, no question about that. In using it, I’d think that qualifies as sharing since anybody is free to examine and extrapolate. But beyond that, I think I’d be happy to talk about it and explain it. Guarding technique “secrets” feels so desperate to me. More to the point, I don’t really believe in technique secrets in the first place.


ScottConcept work, book covers, TCG art, gallery work, a DVD - you've done a lot so far. Any plans for future works, or things you really want to do?

Dave - Every once in awhile I think it’s be really fun to do some painted comic pages, but I never get too far because I’m not a terribly good writer. Also, I love to make books. I have ideas rolling around for that sort of thing, ideally world building stuff like Gurney’s Dinotopia and Kevin Dart’s “Seductive Espionage”. Right now I’m just focused on finishing the Tarot project that my family has been working on the past few years and continuing my Quickie series though.


Scott -Do you ever wake up and feel - " I don't want to see, hear or think about art today? "

Dave - Maybe not art, but my job, yes. There are definitely days where I don’t want to work on the thing I have to work on, but usually that’s because there’s just something else that I’d rather be painting instead. I guess it’s kind of irrational when I think about it.


Scott - You come from a family of successful artists, but you have carved out your own style and approach to illustration . Was this something your parents encouraged you to do, was it self-imposed, or just came naturally? This is might be a stupid question because it's probably a little of everything.. no ?

Dave -  I guess so. I look at my art sometimes and I’m not even really sure what my style is though. You look at an artist and define them by everything they’ve done. I do that, I think everyone does. When I look at my own work though, I look at what I want to do next. What I want to do that I haven’t done yet, or haven’t fully explored. It makes it hard to define your look or style when at least half of it is still theoretical.


Scott -You are going to be seeing me a lot in the next 2 months. How does this make you feel?

Dave- Dude, excited! I’m hoping we can do the drive to Illuxcon together again, that was so much fun last year! This time we won’t get lost.

Scott- You once gave me the helpful hint of eating raw garlic when you feel a cold coming on. Were you trying to get my wife to divorce me?
*sidenote- it totally helped!

Dave- Not entirely. I have some follow up advice on the subject of raw garlic though: do not try it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I’ve never swallowed something that made me have to vomit so fast in all my life.

Scott- You are one of the more articulate illustrators I have met. Do you have any desire to teach in a classroom setting?

Dave - I’ve thought about it, and have been flattered by offers that didn’t pan out for geographic reasons. Realistically though, I’m not sure. I like to talk, socialize, and to teach, but my time is precious to me so the students would have to be serious or I wouldn’t last too long

Scott-Do you collect anything?

Dave - Original art a little bit, when I can. Definitely art books. Also movies, I like to maintain a large collection to put on while I’m working, though that‘s a collection without “value“ in the sense of things collectible being worth money. That may make it a more pure collection, I’m not sure. In the past I’ve collected vinyl, comics, CCGs, mechanical watches, Star Wars toys… I think I have a basic collector mentality, it’s just my interests shift.


Scott- Wet Hot American Summer -greatest comedic film in the last decade?

Dave- Wow. Tough question. I think you may be right, though I do want to give the nod to team Apatow for a consistent run of first rate comedies in the 5 years.


Please feel free to leave comments for either Dave or me. What do you think of having an interview on the blog ? Bad idea, good idea -thoughts?
Thanks for reading and be sure to check out Dave's amazing work through the links above. More to come soon -it's going to be a busy few months!

7 comments:

Charles Santoso said...

Good idea!! :D This kind of stuff is always interesting and invaluable.. for me anyway :)

Look forward to seeing more of this.. and of course your awesome artwork! :)

Also, thx a lot for the kind comment on my blog, Scott. You're too kind. Hope your son like the movie :)

Chanp said...

Have always enjoyed Dave's work. I think i discovered his work from CGHUB, saw the video as well - awesome and thanks for posting.

NYCC, I'll be there. Looking forward to find your table.

Anonymous said...

enjoyable post! Thanks!!

Steven Bachan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steven Bachan said...

Great idea!
and a very entertaining interview!
i'm on my way to market to pick up some garlic now.
I pictured Scott in the whol late night talk show set up as this was conducted.
lol

Unknown said...

Charles- Glad you liked it! I've never done anything like this , and it was a fun way to break up the work day. I may have to grab an interview with you on here one day ! ;)

Peter- Yeah, Dave is great and his work is even better in person. Very cool you'll be at NYCC -I'll be looking out for you as well! Looking forward to it.

Jon- Glad you liked it! Hope to see you at one of the cons soon :)

Steve- hahaa , that is good imagery to imagine. :)

Carolyn said...

Very Cool Interview! Great Idea