Interview with artist Dan Withey
Dan Withey of Adelaide is a self taught artist with a bright and eccentric painting style. Dan likes to work with acrylics and spray paint on recycled board, and you can see how awesome and vibrant his works are!Originally from Birmingham, England, Dan emigrated to Australia 7 years ago. When settling in Adelaide, he decided to enrol to study design and illustration, but then found he didn’t like being told what and how to draw all of the time. So he tried his hand at painting, and then kept working towards shows, and has begun to make a living from his artwork.
Dan’s paintings often reflect subjects and topics he’s interested in, and how cool are his space series. He admits in his interview below that he’s currently a bit obsessed with space, so there’s currently a series of pretty cool astronauts paintings.
Follow Dan’s latest updates on his Facebook page and for more information about Dan and his paintings, visit his website.
How have you got to where you are today?
I started off doing a BA in visual communication specialising in illustration. Then, once I’d completely a few illustration jobs, I realised I didn’t like being told what to draw!
So I started painting. I didn’t really have any training in painting, but I kept at it. I just kind of thought to myself that if I kept having shows, and even more shows, then my work would gradually get better. And it has. And it’s still evolving all the time.
I’m now at the point where I can make a living from painting, which is just great.
In a few words, describe yourself…
Eccentric or a bit crazy… that’s what my friends would say anyway! Strong minded. I’m a bit blunt and straight forward.
I have a habit of saying what’s in my head and that get’s me in a bit of trouble. I’m always telling it like it is.
What are you spending your time on at the moment?
At the moment I’m just working towards my upcoming shows. I’m going to be at the 2012 Melbourne art fair and I’m painting 200 works for that.
I’m trying to start doing a few big shows instead of a thousand small ones. The first of two main shows I’m working towards is at Jackman Gallery in St Kilda, and the second is at A.P. BOND Gallery in Adelaide.
Do you have a ritual for getting into the creative mindset? Or a creative process?
I don’t really have a process, but if I’m stuck for what to paint, I look in my journal.
My normal day consists of getting up at midday to paint for a few hours have something to eat, then I carry on painting until 5 in the morning. My working hours are a bit mental.
What or who inspires you?
Pop culture inspires me. Really all of my work comes from things I have seen or experienced and from the things I’m interested in. At the moment, I’m really in to space so I’ve been painting lots of astronauts.
But as far as other people go, I would say other young artists and people working hard to reach there goals. That really inspires me to do the same.
What are you most proud of?
My Mum and Dad there both really hard workers and have always supported me the best they can.
Especially when I decided to be an artist, which couldn’t have been easy for them. I’m sure they had visions of me dying from malnutrition.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a tank commander. I remember sitting and asking Santa when I was 6ish for a real tank with ammunition.
I was pretty adamant and the poor bloke didn’t know quite what to say to me “well we will have to see about that little boy”. Sadly, I never ended up getting the tank.
