Tell us a bit about yourself
I'm an Artist and Creative Director working in the Entertainment industry in Los Angeles California. I've been at my craft for about 25+ years, starting out as an assistant to various leads inside a production shop in Florida. I did everything from sand fiberglass, sculpt the spaceship to Mission Earth at Epcot Center and paint the face on ET for a Toys R Us store in Times Square NYC. Since being an Art Director on Transformers at Universal Studios Hollywood, I've owned two design houses in Los Angeles and now work for an entertainment design firm out of Toronto as their Senior Creative Director.
Tell us about one of your favourite projects and what inspired you to do it
Generating my own IP. I think after working on so many other IPs, I started to think about alternate ways to tell stories and ways to engage audiences. I'm a big kid at heart and have a lot of nostalgia for the 80's, and with my background in theme park design, I generally want to immerse people in tactile environments that are as real as possible.
What are you working on at the moment?
We're working on multiple projects with Hasbro - specifically something in China and in South America.
Who are your biggest influencers in the industry?
For me, it's not one person or company, but rather the elements in the world that pull me in and influence what I do and how I do it. Classic films and timeless storytelling intrigue me the most.
What was the last thing that inspired you?
I hope this doesn't sound negative, but the pandemic actually had a huge affect on me and I looked inward for inspiration during that period. I used the isolation to my benefit and was the most productive I've been in years.
Tell us why it's important for you to have an artist portfolio website
Websites are a good way for viewers to experience one's art without the overlay of narration or bias. What you see on the screen is the direct reflection of someones efforts and talent.
As a professional artist what are your tips in building an artist portfolio website?
As a business owner, I've had many websites. Some more organized than others, with site specific direction and organized zones with which to view projects or other aspects of the company or brand that I was building. With this website, I didn't want to go that route. My willingness to show a variety of projects without discerning where or when they happened appealed to me and I feel, best describes what I'm doing at the moment. My eyes are on a variety of projects at my day job, and I wanted to promote the idea that I've led many different lives within my industry and touched more than one or two projects over the course of my career to date.
How do you market yourself?
This website is one part of my self promotion. Outside of that, it tends to be word of mouth and networking.
Why do you use Portfoliobox?
It was one of the most concise and user friendly platforms for what I needed at the time. I also appreciate the teams consistent communication and the updates that continue to improve on the sites platform.
Visit David's website for more inspiration and don't forget to follow him on Instagram.