CARMINE MAGAZINE

Carmine Magazine: What drives you to create? Also, what inspires you and your work?
Dapperfish: I’m not sure what drives me exactly, I just can’t imagine my life without it. I am constantly thinking of things I want to do whenever something new inspires me. Those things come at random, it might be a song and a pretty picture, but it can also be waking up really early in the morning and going to town for breakfast.

CM: Were you formally trained in art or self taught? Do you think it has helped you or hindered you?
D: I always have tried to learn by myself everything I took an interest in, and I have been drawing and painting ever since I can remember. So, in many ways, I consider myself self taught. The courses I decided to take are just an extension. I started studying oil painting at fourteen, and have continued to do so for six years. Art was my main subject in highschool, and on the side I took many other art courses and workshops. During that period I also taught myself graphic and web design and was very enthusiastic about it. Afterwards I went to the local Theatre & Cinema college to study Stage & Costume design. It’s a subject I love very much, learned a lot of wonderful things, but personal issues made me quit after three years. Although I think it was a good experience, I lost a lot of the freedom and confidence I had, and stopped all extra curricular activities. I felt I wasn’t good enough and that nothing I did was worth it. So it was kind of a bad period, and for over a year after I quit college I was unable to start a painting. But I still think art college is a good thing, it gives you discipline and experience, even if it didn’t work out for me. I never want to stop being a student! So in the meantime I got myself a diploma in make up, and occasionally work as a make up artist. Next year, I plan to take a three year course on Illustration and Comics.

CM: What mediums do you work in the most? Do you have a particular brand that you love working with? Why do you use them?
D: I used to be very fond of working with oil and pastels, and would like to get back to using them. But lately I can’t live without my 0.28mm uniball pens, they’re great for very thin lines, dry really fast and are a lot cheaper than most other brands. I’ve been working a lot with them, watercolours and my lovely Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens (more like markers, really). I don’t really know why, they’re just perfect for the kind of pictures I like to do these days. Working with pastels and oil is more about feeling their texture, and that’s what I miss about them so much. Actually getting dirty.

CM: At what point did you realize that creating was going to be a large part of your life?
D: I don’t remember not realising it. I never wanted to be anything else but an artist, if I can’t do that I’m ruined. I suck at everything else.

CM: If there was one style of art that you could take up, what would it be?
D: There’s still so much I would like to do! In a near future, I would love to learn more about photography, and actually take some kind of course in graphic design. Also I would really, really love to work in fashion, but since I left college my sewing skills are very rusty.

CM: How do you deal with creator’s (or writer’s) block?
D: It’s very hard for me to overcome it. When I’m feeling blocked it’s really hard for me to create at all, I feel completely powerless and talentless. So it’s too painful for me to force anything out and can spend weeks refusing to touch a pencil. When that happens I try to feed my brain with different hobbies. But when I can’t waste time and really need to become productive, I try to focus just on practicing and developing certain skills I feel uncomfortable in. If I succeed, that makes me feel better about myself and makes me want to try new things which may or may not result in new creations!

CM: How do you prepare for art shows where your work will be shown?
D: I don’t…!

CM: How do you define you style? Does it represent an inner you or something completely different?
D: I think in a way, it does represent an inner me. I’m one of those people who are always inside their own head. I think my work is a reflection of my own fantasy world, made of shapes and creatures I fall in love with inside my head. None of it is planned, it’s just what naturally comes out.

CM: What kind of environment do you need to create in?
D: I need space, and I like to be alone. It’s important that I feel completely shut down from the outside world so I always feel the need to put on some music, or some episodes of whatever TV show I’m watching. I hate it when people interrupt me, or come and look over my shoulder, unless I am asking for their opinion. Space has been a huge handicap for me these days, I wish I had the money to rent a studio!

CM: What does your workspace look like? (Pictures or a description work for this one)

Basically a big desk in a corner. There are two drawer sets. In one of them where I keep my drawing & painting materials, papers, newspaper and magazine cut outs, and so on. The other one has Aishiteru Honey (my accessories brand) materials, chains, pendants, ribbons, lace, fabric, and so on. But there’s stuff all over the place, really. There’s also lots of books and magazines I look at when I need inspiration. I also have a picture of Oscar Wilde with a speech bubble which reads “My dear friend, this is utterly delightful! Keep up the good work!”, so I can decieve myself from time to time.

CM: What was your worst experience with art? And the best?
D: My worst experience was maybe when I took a painting workshop where we spent a weekend at a farm in the north of the country, painting nature. I was facing some college issues and it would’ve been very pleasant if i wasn’t so scared of failing. I spent most of the time staring at a blank canvas! As for the best experience, I had so many of those. I think the one that relates the most with what I’m doing now, is the first time I did an illustration workshop. I felt really confident, the teacher was very fond of my work and I felt like I could do it for the rest of my life.

CM: What movies, books, music, etc get your creative juices flowing the most?
D: Oh, this is such a hard question for me! I don’t know where to start. A lot of people say my work reminds them of Tim Burton, and even though I don’t think much about it nowadays, he was a huge influence on me ever since I was a kid. Another director who influenced me, but not in such an obvious way, would be Wong Kar-Wai. I also take a lot of inspiration from horror film characters and Bollywood movies. I really love music, almost every kind, and I spend a lot of time researching and listening to it. That of course has a great impact on what I do. My favourite album, “Torment and Toreros” by Marc & the Mambas, inspires me immensely as a concept. When I was a teenager I listened to a lot of japanese visual kei, which of course had a huge influence to the way I dress my characters. I take a lot of inspiration from fashion, and the fashions in music inspire me the most. As for books, mostly illustrated ones from my childhood, as well as “Neverending Story” by Michael Ende and a lot of the usual classics. I buy a lot of art and graphic design books to get my creativity flowing. My favourite painters of all time are Egon Schiele and Caravaggio, I have a million books on both of them and flip through them for help a lot. I also own a lot of books on kitsch, which I love!

CM: Do you think the internet, technology, media, etcetera are helping or destroying the art world?
D: This is a really good question, and a complicated subject to talk about. In college I actually had to do an essay on the “banalization of art”, in which new technologies, etc. were to blame. But I don’t think that’s necessarily bad. Thanks to all of these things, the art world isn’t as elitist as it used to be, there are new doors and a million possibilities. There’s a lot more information available, it’s easier to learn, create and share. Of course it has it’s downsides too, but as an aspiring artist, I prefer to take advantage of the amazing possibilities, and be grateful that I am living in this day and age.

CM: Aside from art what do you do with your time? Is there anything else that drives you or that you’re passionate about?
D: My favourite pastime is meeting my friend Liliana (and partner in Aishiteru Honey), who lives just across the street, at the nearest coffee shop. Other than that, I have lots of hobbies. Like doing origami, learning the tarot, journaling, making lists… I love making lists! I also watch a lot of movies, and spend a lot of time on the internet reading blogs and checking street fashion websites.

CM: Do you have any upcoming shows, events, releases, etc. you would like our readers to know about?
D: Not at the moment. But please look forward to the grand opening of my website and etsy store!

Find Dapperfish’s work at these places around the web: