Freelance Illustrator and Artist David Malan

Needless to say, we are honored to be interviewing David Malan. He has been wowing us with his line prowess and rendering abilities for the last 11 1/2 years of his professional life. He worked at Disney for 10 years and is now his own boss as a freelance artist.  His signature strong hatching marks are used with such finesse which leaves us truly believing the form, whilst creating beautiful atmosphere and bringing reality to his subjects. It can't be said better than in his own words, "David employs a frank accurate approach to portray the emotions of the subject, and uses straight forward portraiture with highly polished painting. The artwork is focused on depicting the individual and creating an untold story". So here we go.

Kim: Hi David, how are you? Would you mind answering some questions for an interview on our art blog?

David: Yes, sure!

Kim: Awesome thank you! Here are the questions! First of all tell us a bit about your background, where you you are from etc and what made you want to be an artist?

David: I grew up in Provo, Utah. My family didn't pay much attention to art so I am still impressed that I was always drawn to it despite my upbringing. Everyone is an artist in Kindergarten but I stuck with it all through school. By high school I spend most of my time drawing anything I could find that was aesthetically interesting to me even though I wasn't aware of any great artists. Even as I entered college I didn't know there was such a thing as commercial art, my parents were steering me toward architecture to save me from a starving artist life. I was pleased to find graphic design as a path to art with a paycheck but I really felt at home once I found illustration.

Kim: What is your creative process when starting a painting/drawing?
David:Drawing is easy, I find anything that is interesting , most of my drawing has no final goal so I don't have much pressure. It's all about playing with the shapes, lines and style to capture what it is that is pleasing and attempting to make it even more so.  Paintings are more of a commitment because I want to finish a product. I put more time into planning out a complete piece, I try to settle on a mood that i want then I roughly figure out a good composition and the colors, values, and the style to achieve it. All visual elements evoke a emotional response, I am trying to control the response. 

Kim: What do you think it takes to be a professional artist?
David: What makes a professional artist comes from the market. All we can do is get really good at something that someone is wiling to pay for. Spend some time figuring out what people will pay for, spend a LOT of time getting good at it. 

Kim: Why do you think you have been successful in your career?
David: On my end devotion to my art. I wonder how much of "talent" is just how much you care about something. I've gotten where I am because I like doing art more than nearly anything else in the world and I satisfied to give up play, sleep, etc to spend time with it. The time has really added up over the years. Practically , I think getting really good with drawing and learning all the fundamental art skills will allow you to apply the, to any art pursuit. It's important to be willing to work in areas that aren't ideal but learning to take what you can from a job an using it to progress.   

Kim: What do you think makes a good teacher?
David: I think a good teacher should focus on the fundamentals. Understanding value, balance, composition, color, etc will help you in any job, any style. Also being able to break the complicated jumble of steps to creating a piece into manageable chunks is valuable for a developing artist.

Kim: Are there any projects you are excited about right now?
David: Nothing specific. I've been freelancing for a year and a half now and I love it, every day I can sit at my home and paint pictures is a great day. I'm working on a general improvement and spreading my illustration roots.

Kim: How did you find out about so many different opportunities?
David: I worked for Disney for 10 years, got a job coming out of Illustration at BYU, I did nearly everything there, concept, object and character 3D modeling, FX and even a little animation. It was a good job but illustration was still my goal so I worked hard on the side at building my portfolio and clients. I think getting better and slowly building a online presence over the years you make connections. You don't just show up and get work but it's surprising how you accumulate contacts over the years. But if you can get solid with the art fundamentals you can apply it to nearly any type of art application.

Kim: What are some of the entities you have been freelancing for? 
David: The U.S. Mint, The Weekly Standard Magazine, Start Trek Academy-IDW publishing, LDS friend and New Era magazines, Hi-Rez  Studios, Psyop, national publishers, ad agencies and classes with the School of Visual Storytelling.

Kim: Thank you so much David! This has been great!

David lives with his wife Natalie and 3 children in Salt Lake, Utah. 

You can see more of David's wonderful and updating work at his blog and contact him at his website:
http://brilliantanyway.blogspot.com/
http://davemalan.com