DBH: Where are you from?

ArtTwink: I’m like that bat the Meatloaf dude sang about: outta Hell

DBH: How would you best describe your art style?

ArtTwink: So imagine this: I’m laying in bed sick as a dog, I have a fever of 102. I turn over on the bed, shivering and sniffling, and I’m startled by a small child sitting at my desk…it’s me….at 12 years old. I get up and approach cautiously. I slowly look over my own shoulder. I’m drawing Invader Zim fanart scribbling “I <3 Jhonen Vasquez” in the pages. I reach to snatch the pencil away from 12-year-old me, but before I can an unknown power pulls me awake.

That’s me. That’s the art.

DBH: Where do you find your inspiration when creating your art?

ArtTwink: As Big Baby Gandhi once said “I never went to art school, I think art is f***ing d*mb”. It’s been a real source of inspiration for me over the years and has solidified my stance as an AHA or an “Art-Hating-Artist”. Other than that I find inspiration in the usual things: emotions, death, and that weird warped-perception of time you get when shopping at Target.

DBH:

When did you know you wanted to make a career in the art world?

ArtTwink: When I was eight years old everyone said “you’re going to be an artist when you grow up!” and I would always reply “no I’m not.” When I was thirteen all my peers would ask for drawings and say “you’re so good, you should be an artist when you grow up!” and I would say “no I’m not”. When I became a grown up, accidentally stumbled into the industry, and became an artist I finally realized why I had been protesting so strongly all those years.

DBH: What does a day of creating artwork look like for you and how to you start your creative process?

ArtTwink: I get up at 9 and drink some coffee, enjoy the morning, and settle into my workspace. For about 2 hours I warmup by drawing small dogs, things that might be considered dogs, and large dogs. Snakbreak. Around 12PM I get rolling with the real art - the large portfolio-piece type projects I have in progress. Around 8PM I give up and continue my life as a human being.

DBH: What artist (either current or past) do you most admire and why?

ArtTwink: Off the top of my head lately I’ve been getting inspiration from choodraws, Tillie Walden & Wuvable Oaf. I try to not limit myself when when looking for new artists. When my uncle took me spear-fishing at the tender age of 4, he lost the point of the spear in a rock outcrop. I didn’t think it was possible to retrieve it, but he tied me to the spear and chucked me out to that godforsaken rock and I was able to retrieve the point of the spear. It taught me that I should never limit my options when trying to better yourself and that my life is worth approximately the same amount or less than that of a spear tip.

DBH: What's the best advice that's been given to you as an artist?

ArtTwink: To quote the honorable Kool A.D. “ART IS BEST LEFT NOT TALKED ABOUT?"