So here I am again introducing another fantastic artist, Illustrator Dominic Brown, a cool young artist whose also a fantastic photographer. Creating mixed media projects in which he uses mechanical pencils, colored markers, pictures, a scanner, printer, computer software & sometimes paint, the artist says his work can best be described as being digital pop art... much more of his work can be seen at mayluna.com
Dominic apologized for what he called his "Sometimes chaotic English..." But I told him not to worry, it's perfectly fine and charming:) I'm sure you'll agree ....
1. Where did you grow up and, how, if at all, has your environment influenced your work?
I grew up in a city called Rijswijk, which is a small city in between The Hague and Delft - The Netherlands. It's a sweet town with a lot of nature space to play outside & so I did...
I liked to play with all kinds of different kids, from Moroccan to Iraqi, French to Asian.
This and the fact that my parents showed me a lot of places around the world made me discover the color of skin doesn't matter in any case, it's always about the person - this influences me still daily and keeps me interested in different cultures.
2. What did you really, really want to be as a child?
I always wanted to become an archeologist or paleontologist, that was until I saw Jurassic Park...
3. Who are your mentors? Your influences?
Haha this will be funny .. since i got influenced a lot by cartoons like Transformers, Mask, Thundercats, Jace and The Wheeled Warriors ... and computer games like mario... I often feel very blessed to have grown up together with computer games, starting with a Nintendo 8 bit and am sure this influenced me a lot. Besides that I got very much influenced by my first visit to Egypt with my parents at the age of twelve, especially the museum of Cairo, holding the artifacts of Tutankhamen... this I already knew then, would be the greatest, most beautiful art I'd ever see...
My grandfather has always been painting natural environments quite professionally I must admit.. it always stayed his hobby but you can see his enthusiasm in his eyes when he shows off some of his work - he is very interested in what I make and this brings me joy very much :) My grandfather too is very much interested in ancient Egypt, so this we share also.
4. How, if at all, does your work engage social history or commentary? Do you worry about making a "statement"?
I am always thinking about making one, even if there's a tiny symbol in an image you wont even be able to see... there's almost always one in my work...
A good example of a big statement in my work: Learn To Love Our World
5. Do you have a "day" job?
Yes, I work at a telecompany, selling contracts.
It's the perfect job for me, since I have my hands free and am able to draw all day.
6. Do you experience boredom or "blocks"? How do you deal with them?
I don't experience this too much luckily... that would be because I have a fulltime job I guess...and besides that I have a fulltime girlfriend & a fulltime hobby :)
7. Do you have a favorite scripture, quote or motto, piece of advice you received and live by?
I am super interested in space and enjoy thinking about measuring eternity.
This too very much inspires me every day.
My own motto would be:"You are what you think."
8. When you're not working or creating you are....?
I have a very sweet social life where I like putting time and energy in.
Also I like to travel and go out...I don't watch a lot of TV.
9. Five words to describe you would be?
Pooh.. hard to say about myself without being arrogant!
but if you'd ask people who know me, they'd answer
- Creative
- Careful
- A bit chaotic / crazy ( I like sarcasm )
- Friendly
- One of a kind
10. One thing you have yet to accomplish or try and really,really want to? (ie, sky diving or getting a tattoo....)
An ultimate dream would be to DJ at a tech-houseparty on the 21st of June @ Stonehenge, England. A realizable thing to accomplish is to expose my art in Tokyo.
