HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ART?

My first works were created in 1976, when I was three. Been doing it ever since.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME AN ARTIST?

If memory serves, my earliest inspiration to draw was sparked by my parent’s record collection, and cartoons. My folks really exposed me to some amazing music at a young age, as well as my oldest sister that indirectly   introduced me to punk in the late 70’s, early 80’s.

WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS?

I have many. Rick Griffin, Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker, John Fogerty, Jim Phillips, Preston Blair, Ub Iwerks, Keith Moon, R.Crumb, Stanley kubrick,  and Gil Elvgren to name a few.

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DAVID WHITTLE "A BOY CALLED JESUS"

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ART?
pretty much since i could hold a pencil.  I’ve drawn o everything in sight since i was about 4 years old!

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME AN ARTIST?
I don’t really know to be honest, as far back as i can remember i have loved drawing.  My older brother Ian was always drawing and designing stuff, so I’m sure that rubbed off on me a bit.

DAVID WHITTLE COLLISION WALL

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HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ART?
I have been making art since I was a little kid. My mom just uncovered a sketchbook from my youth that I had to convince her to let me ‘borrow.’

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME AN ARTIST?
It has been a life-long process of inspiration and motivation for me. In the beginning, I was surrounded by art at home; both of my parents are highly creative. My dad is an amazing photographer, as is my mom. My mom also paints and sculpts also. My folks would also take me to museums and galleries since I was a baby. They also have a huge collection of books on art and photography that I read over and over.

As a kid I consumed large amounts of anything visual I could lay my eyes (and hands) on: comics, anime, cartoons, old and new movies, book and album covers, toys, gig flyers, ‘zines, video games, signage, porn, packaging… Pretty much the things that most kids growing up in the US are bombarded with.

When my family moved to the US (I was 6), gang writing both scared me and impressed me. Seeing Beat Street when it came out at a downtown theatre got me onto a form of graffiti I found more positive (although later on I found out the writing in the movie was mostly faked.) My grandma would take me around the city on the bus and walking, and I began to discern a few names that finally made me want to start writing: Mando and Neo MAK and Krenz aka Yem AM7. Linking up with two kids in my neighborhood, Gloze 54 OTR and Modem SH, encouraged me even further. We started linking up with cats from LOD, OTR, and SH; I eventually became a member of Seeking Heaven. Everyone in my crew continues to teach and inspire me.

A family friend, artist and musician, Leon Chavez Teixeiro, particularly inspired and influenced me through his art, which often consist of stark images of urban environments, often in bold black and white with minimal color. He also taught me many techniques that I have incorporated into my fine art and print work. His political activism and its relationship to art is also a big inspiration.

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HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ART?
Since I can remember, it’s all I’ve ever managed to do with any sort of consistency. When I was about 4 or 5 my grandparents came to visit us from Europe at Christmas & I was given painting materials as a present even then.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME AN ARTIST?
It’s all I really know, I’ve worked plenty of different jobs to make money, pay the rent & get by, but making art is the one thing I’ve done no matter what. Being somewhat of a recalcitrant I always admired people like Pollack & Rivera, that rebel rock, it’s more than “ars gratia artis” it’s manifestos painted on walls, those things as well as being lucky enough to meeting living artists that are well rounded people, successful people, successful at being themselves.

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