Todd SumamnoDavid Dunstan works as a freelance illustrator in Australia, and has created cartoons, illustrations, pinups pictures and other works for book covers, cards and companies as well as character design for TV. His drawing styles are varying, while each style presents us excellent works with great details and coloring. Would you like to know how David Dunstan achieves that? Let’s get to know more about him.
Q1. Thank you for your time with TDI. Could you first introduce yourself a bit to our readers, your artistic background and anything you would love to tell us?
I studied to be graphic designer and worked as such for a number of years before becoming a freelance illustrator. My background in design has proved most useful – it gave me a better understanding of print, video and the web and how an illustration can be better handled for each medium. Nowadays I do mostly advertising work, kids magazines and childrens books, but have done book covers, CD covers, toy designs, character development for TV and a series of trading cards.
Q2. Where do you get your inspiration for your crazy amazing gallery?
I tend to be inspired, particularly in my personal work, by things that amuse me (and a lot of things amuse me!) or a desire to try something I haven’t tried before. I really like to fiddle around with different approaches and styles – I have clients who know me just for simple style cartoons, and others who know me for realistic technical illustrations, and yet others who know me for my pinup work. Mixing things up keeps it fresh and interesting for me – I don’t think I could draw the same style of thing day in and day out – god bless those talented people who can- but its just not for me!
Q3. Great detail and stunning coloring you have in your works. What are the tools you use? And your process when doing a piece?
Nowadays I do all my color work on the computer, but I’m not ready to give up doing my initial sketches and drawings the old fashioned way – pencil/ink on paper. I scan my drawings in and paint them in photoshop. I played around with a wacom tablet many years ago, but back then there was an annoying lag between hand action and movement on screen, so I taught myself to paint with a mouse, which I still do today.
I tend to keep my paint process in photoshop pretty basic and simple and work it much the same way I did when I used paint, pencils and airbrush and I pretty much stick to the basic brushes provided by photoshop.
Q4. You have done many commercial work already, which experience do you find most challenging? Challenging in what ways?
The biggest challenges for me in my work has never really been the work itself, but all the other bits that go with it – paperwork, quotes, chasing money, dealing with emails etc. If illustration was a lucrative career, I’d love to employ someone to do all that for me, but thats just not the case, so I just keep bungling through all that stuff!
Q5. What are you up to at the moment? And mind sharing with us your future plan?
I have plans to produce some artbooks, and I finally got around to putting more of my art on the web over the last year or so, but a lot of things have been put on hold over the last 12 months as I’ve dealt with unavoidable life stuff. Hopefully 2010 is a much better year, and I can focus a bit more on achieving my goals!
Brittany Maslo