Interview with Dave Rapoza
This is an interview with Dave Rapoza a fulltime freelance artist, I tried to ask him some very basic questions that would help everybody who is aspiring to have a career as an artist!
CGPAD: Tell us something about yourself. How did you come in touch with art?
Dave: Well, ever since I was little I drew characters and little comics/cartoons. But I was never very focused and only sometimes did I actually consider it as a future. Mostly I would make movies with friends or skateboard. Only after graduating high school did I decide this was something I wanted to do. At that time I was going through some legal trouble and was in court for about a year. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get a job and would end up working crap jobs forever.
Basically I just decided I had to get good at something and doing art seemed like the most enjoyable way to do it. So I sat down for a couple years and studied and took on as much freelance as I could find. Now I’ve been working freelance full time for around 3 years. Not to say this was just something I happened to do… I always thought that would be awesome to work for Wizards of the Coast and whatnot. Just never thought I’d actually be able to do it for a living.
CGPAD: Where did you learn to draw and to paint?
Dave: I’m self taught. Still spend at least an hour a day studying. Mainly when I study I do strictly fundamentals… Painting from life, drawing from life, anatomy, photo studies etc. I’d love to study more everyday but my schedule doesn’t really allow for it. Thats why I started my daily Crimson Daggers LiveStream group… Sort of forces me to study at least an hour a day and make time for it.
CGPAD: I followed your online stream for some time now and I am familiar with some of your work. You seem to be really motivated. Where do you get your energy from? Your inspiration?
Dave: Mostly just from achieving goals. Last year my big goal from the beginning was to work for Magic: The Gathering… Took me the whole year but I did it! And having that feeling of accomplishment really gives me energy. Not to mention I really love what I do. Sometimes its hard to get everything done in time and still put my all into each piece but thats why I’m always studying. Also, the group of people I have around me that are always working really helps. By that I mean the Crimson Daggers. They produce so much work so consistently that its hard not to feel inspired. Its exciting to watch and participate in all these people’s improvements! Hopefully they all go on to do great things with their lives.
Other than that I’m inspired by a lot of my friends who are working professionals. I love seeing them push their work further. Really pushes me to improve and keep on working. Never just settling on work that looks just “ok”.
CGPAD: You are working as a fulltime freelancer. In this competitive environment it is probably pretty tough to get jobs, especially in this time, how do you manage it keeping enough commissions?
Dave: Its only as hard as you make it for yourself. If you’re always working hard and studying then doors just open as your work improves. Also most people like to talk about how theres no work. Yet when I look for their work I find that its not on any of the art forums or in the looking for work sections. Mainly its just a matter of investing yourself and really being out everywhere all the time. You have to create momentum for yourself. Thats the reason I keep so active online. If you’re not on all the possible forums/art sites/social networking sites and if you’re not constantly updating… Then I don’t believe you’re trying very hard. There is always work out there if thats really your goal. Otherwise just keep working at the problems within your work!
CGPAD: You have really good tips for beginners on your blog (www.daverapoza.blogspot.com ) can you give any tips to aspiring artist anyway?
Dave: Just stay focused on your goals and don’t listen to anybody who tells you this isn’t a possible future. I don’t believe anybody is just too crappy to get work. Everybody has something they want to do and if its art then you just have to stay dedicated. Keep at the studies and keep on pushing your work to new levels of finish. Its always only a matter of time if you’re serious about what you wanna do in life. As long as you can wiggle your hand on a page with a pencil and have some ideas anyways.
CGPAD: Do you paint only digitally at the moment or do you use also traditionally media?
Dave: I only paint digitally. This is something I want to change, just don’t have the money at the moment to invest in supplies haha. Would love to expand and do some oils and whatnot. Hopefully in the future I’ll be comfortable enough to do all that!
CGPAD: Which software do you use normally?
Dave: I use photoshop. I’ve tried painter but just couldn’t really handle it haha.
CGPAD: Have you any long term goals?
Dave: Hmmm… I have a lot of goals. One would be to expand the Crimson Daggers and make it really awesome. Not to open any schools but to just get more people to realize that they only need whats in front of them… All the information is out there already!
Other than that I want to work on video games in the future and work primarily on book covers later on. I know that if I stick to it I’ll be able to… Just a matter of time I hope haha.
CGPAD: Do you have any artists that have a massive influence on you and you art?
Dave: Yes… I have a ton of influences! Let me list some!
Aleksi, James Jean, Paul Bonner, Il’ya Repin, Jana Schirmer, Hannes, Jason Chan, Whit Brachna, Bruno Nox Gore, OmeN2501(dunno his real name), Michael Kutsche, Bobby Chiu, Michael Komarck, Jaime Jones, Craig Mullins annnddd many others!
CGPAD: What studies do you recommend for others, who want to learn?
Dave: All the fundamentals, all the time. Work on your anatomy, draw from nudes, draw from life/photo. Draw from Loomis/Bridgman/Vilppu/Hogarth. Just expose yourself to everything and see what sticks. Paint from life and photo. Study color theory… There are many things to study! Also don’t forget to apply the studies afterward. Finish em then do work from your imagination and use what you learned in that piece.
CGAPD: There’s always the discussion between traditional arts vs. digital arts. What do you think of that?
Dave: I don’t think it matters whatsoever. Just do what you love, they’re all just tools… If you don’t know what you’re doing and can’t render form/have no knowledge it’ll look like crap no matter what. I believe each has their own benefits. Love the textures and quality of traditional, and I love the versatility with digital. Plus you don’t need to buy more colors for photoshop…
CGPAD: If you could go back in time to when you started, what advice would you give yourself?
Dave: Stay focused on your goals. Maybe art doesn’t seem realistic and you may just enjoy it as a hobby. But really you wish you could do daily for work or whatever else. Just know that everybody faces that. Its just a matter of deciding what is most important to you. There will never be a “right” time to do it. The stars will never align and you’ll probably never have a moment where everything just feels perfect. Don’t wait for that. Start today and work at it everyday. Doesn’t matter even if art isn’t what you love, this applies to anything. Just stay focused on everything you want to do with yourself and work hard at it. I used to watch illustrators on the forums and think it was unrealistic to think I could do it!
I remember sitting in Newbury Comics talking to my friend about Magic card artists. How totally unrealistic it seemed to be able to do that kind of work. If you told me then I’d be doing it in 2 years I wouldn’t have believed you. But thats just it, you just have to start as soon as possible. With time and energy invested in yourself you can pretty much do anything. I know I’m totally coating you with cheese right now but I’m serious. If its something you want just go and do it and eventually if you’re persistent it’ll work out.
Its hard not to be cheesy talking about this stuff but thats just how people feel. Maybe its too serious and makes you feel uncomfortable. But when people who do the stuff you want to do come back and tell you these things they’re not just saying it.
Anyways, hope that helps anybody reading this who wants to do this line of work! Thats pretty much what I would have told myself hahaha.
CGPAD: On behalf of myself and our members of CGPAD and followers we would like to thank you for your time, insightfull answers and of course your inspiring work.
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For more information about Dave Rapoza, visit: www.daverapoza.com
We hope as always that this article is usefull and you enjoyed reading it.
Thujon, Mull
2 Responses to “Interview with Dave Rapoza”
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Great article-
OmeN2501 = Marek Okon. Great artist!
Thanks David StudioColrouphobia for sharing this knowledge… giving proper credit is always a must!