Check out Dott’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dott.

Dott, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. I grew up with as one of five kids and was close with my older sibling and would create many comics, stories, and projects with them.

They were my biggest inspiration and motivation to keep working. I have always had a love for cartoons and video games (my favorite was Sonic the Hedgehog for a long while) and that developed into a love of Japanese, Korean and western Indie comics.

I would draw with whatever I could get my hands on and discovered a love of digital art through Windows Paint and later using a basic Photoshop program, my mother used for photos and began coloring and creating work using split media of hand-drawn lines and scanned into Photoshop for color, effects and more. I created comics and formed a relationship with many other artists on Deviant Art, drawing internet avatars for fake “gold” and doing trades with my peers from across the world.

Throughout my high school career, I stayed away from drawing characters and away from creation altogether after my mother’s computer crashed. It wasn’t until I attempted painting a half dozen times that I found a media to stick with. I used my new-found media as my primary form of expression and have now been painting for about three years using acrylic paint on any board, canvas or surface I can find. In 2016, I was invited to my first art show with RAW Artists and that fueled my gut to continue creating and I found passion in my work once more. Since then, I have been working on personal projects and commissions.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
Nowadays, my work is mostly for myself as I use it as an outlet of self-expression. I paint mostly in acrylics but enjoy crafting and gluing things together that I find interesting (in late 2016, I painted and put together an old Barbie doll into a glass dome piece simply for fun). I don’t have a message necessarily that I am trying to convey, I usually use my paintings when I don’t have words. Just images, colors or feelings that spill themselves from my hands to canvas.

I enjoy sharing my ideas with people though sometimes, I get mixed responses or am asked if these images are from nightmares and I have to admit I do get joy out of raised brows or frightened expressions by my work. My work is ugly, strange, and absurd. It isn’t beautiful by many standards but this is how I like it. I enjoy the madness, the gore and the unpleasantness it bares at times. My work is simply for myself and loves it when others find a connection to it.

The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
After losing the ability to do digital art, I lost some of my vigor for creation. I didn’t have the funds to obtain anything like it and used it as an excuse to not move forward. My advice is to not limit yourself with what you know. Don’t be afraid to branch out and step out of your comfort zone and try something new. I literally use 50 cent acrylic paints with the little apple picture on them from Walmart and have painted on the flat-boards of old dresser drawers, the backs of broken mirrors or spent less than $20 on a large photo printed canvases from goodwill that I painted over black to make my own work on top.

I hunt for deals at Michael’s for canvases and use 40% one item coupons to buy things like varnish and other higher quality items I have recently fallen in love with. You literally just have to get creative. The only thing that will ever hold you back is yourself. I have had to turn down many opportunities to show my work at events or travel to new cities due to finances but you just can’t let those things bring you down. There is always a new opportunity waiting for you around the corner.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I use two platforms currently. Instagram is my primary one as well as Facebook. I do about 1-3 events per year, two of which are coming up this fall. I will be doing live painting at the tattoo, art and music festival Screwed & Tattooed September 21st and 22nd. I will also be featured at an art show coming up on October the 20th with Conception art collective. More info for both of these events can be found on my Instagram and Facebook pages.

Contact Info:

• Email: dottartaz@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artbydott/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DottArtist/

Image Credit:
Dott

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