Damian dazzles with dog portraits

Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?

A: Everywhere, I have this crazy vivid imagination and that’s what gets put into my work.

Q: What types of pieces do you find yourself working with?-Subject matter

A: Dogs, because I’ve been doing that forever, specifically pugs.

Q: In what tone do you do your art?

A: For the most part it’s pretty light and whimsical and strange, but recently I’ve been doing some darker things, mostly done with color.

Q: Do you plan on continuing your art in the future or in college?

A: Definitely, I wanna go to MICA(Maryland Institute College of Art). I’m going to do two years of HCC, because it’s $80,000 a year.

Q:  How has your art changed overtime?

A: It got more light, I tried to be edgy (but) I’m not an edgy person.

Q: Describe one real life experience that has directly inspired you.

A: One time I was going into ShopRite and so was this other guy and he had his pug with him and I started crying.

Q: Is there a difference you plan to make in society with your artwork?

A: Hopefully, I don’t do any work about it but…, I want more self love out there, my work doesn’t really reflect that though.

Q: What challenges do you face when pursuing your art?

A: Oh my goodness, art is so competitive, so comparing myself to other people is a big problem, but you shouldn’t do that. Because there is always gonna be somebody better than you and there’s always gonna be someone worse than you.

Q:  When did you start being interested in art and what or who influenced you?

A: This is a good one, so I was in 5th grade and there was this project for all the 5th graders and it was like [sic] draw your favorite teacher from school. And I did and I drew my kindergarten teacher and then my 5th grade teacher was like ‘wow that’s really good.’

Q:  What three artist inspire you the most?

A: So we’ll do Andy Warhol because he somehow combined business and art, which was ridiculous for his time. And then Alex Party because he’s edgy and colorful and I really like it, and I guess Edwin Church, he does these beautiful, detailed pieces but it really small sizes.

Q:  Why do you do what you do?

A: It’s the most fun that I’ve  had, ever. And it’s so relaxing, and I think it’s the only thing I know how to do.

Q: How do you work? Environment? Objectives?

A: So ideally I like it to be darker, which is not right because I’m a visual artist. But I like everything to be dark and I listen to music and I have a drafting table at home so I usually work on that which, it’s my baby.

Q: What role do you wish to have in society?

A: I don’t know where I’m at now, but hopefully I’ll be somebody that inspires people. With artists there’s a pressure to have some deep, dark meaning to your art but you shouldn’t have to have that, you can just do it because it makes you happy, which is what I’m trying to do.