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Spraygraphic Interview with Artist Everett Peck
By Spraygraphic | July 4, 2008
Spraygraphic Interview with Everett Peck
SG: Please tell us about yourself?
EP: I was born in a small beach town in Southern California in 1950. I studied under Dick Oden and received a BA degree in Illustration from Long Beach State in 1974. I have been involved in almost all aspects of the graphics field since that time, Including Illustration, Painting, cartooning, comics, graphic novels, and animation.
SG: Where do you currently live and work?
EP: I live in a small beach town in Southern California with my wife and one of our three children (the other two are in or out of college) and a dog and cat. I have a studio space in a warehouse by the beach.
SG: What mediums do you work with?
EP: I work with many different mediums. As far print work I prefer pen and ink, gauche, and acrylic.
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
EP: Well, in the case of painting I first procrastinate as long as possible. Then I decide on the price of the work and write it on a small card that I pin to the wall. That price is usually in the $300,000.00 range. I then spend a great deal of time contemplating that card. When the time is right, I place a small red dot by the price. Only then do I begin the actual painting. In the case of animated show ideas, I always start by sketching.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?
EP: Usually a brisk bucket of ice cold water down the ol’ trousers get’s the juices flowing again. If that fails, then either a motorcycle ride or taking the sketchbook to a coffee shop or just doing something else does the trick.
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
EP: Any place I can steal it. Popular culture and day-to-day life provide plenty of examples of tragically comic situations.
SG: How did you get into being an freelance artist for publications like Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, and Sports Illustrated.
EP: I began as a freelance illustrator in 1974 by just making phone calls and knocking on doors. I personally feel that illustration was a much richer, diverse, and more fun business back then. This was of course pre Internet and stock image banks, but also pre “portfolio” books as well. So you literally built your career on a network of personal contacts and relationships. I was fortunate to have been helped along and “mentored” by some really great people. The business of illustration was built on relationships between Art directors and Illustrators. Art directors got to know various artists and followed their careers. They hired someone for a particular job because they felt that artist’s point of view was right for the job. This not only allowed you a lot of creative freedom but also let you try different approaches and techniques as well. Today so many illustrations come about because an art director needs a picture of a football and finds somebody in a book that has done a picture of a football. Or even worse, a stock image of a football. There is absolutely no personal relationship built beyond that one encounter. Of course the argument is that the budget doesn’t allow for anything other than stock these days. On that I have to agree, Illustration is the only profession I personally know of where the per job fee is actually less today than it was in 1974.
OK, I feel better now.
SG: What kind of deadlines do you work with when producing this kind of work?
EP: Deadlines vary greatly. Some jobs are needed over night, others, like the Graphic Novel I’m currently working on, can take over a year. I would say the average for a full-page color illustration is around a week.
Animated television series require about two years to produce a season.
SG: Do the companies come back to you and say "change this" or "change that?"
EP: Yes there are sometimes changes but fortunately not very often. I’m less interested in making changes with print work beyond the sketch phase. In television animation there are notes from several executive levels.
SG: How much are you willing to change? Is there some kind of negotiation process you go through?
EP. It depends on the nature of the change. When I’m producing an animated show there are literally hundreds of things to manage and dozens of changes, some are mine, and some are from the network. When I’m heavily involved in a production it’s good to have an outside perspective from a trusted third party. A good executive can be a strong advocate and creative ally. A bad one, well…….
SG: Can you please tell us a little about Catalyst Agency.
EP: Catalyst is really Harvey Harrison . He’s a good guy who prefers to represent a few hand picked people, rather than a huge stable. So you get a lot of personal attention. He knows the traditional entertainment business very well and is also well connected in new media.
SG: Where has your work been seen?
EP: Well over the years my illustration work has been in just about every major publication, Time, Newsweek, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and New Yorker. But the last fifteen years most of my work has been in animation with shows like Duckman , Jumanji , Dragon tales , and Squirrelboy .
SG: Where will it be seen next?
EP: I’m currently working on several animation projects at various places, I’m nearing completion of my Graphic Novel called “Porky’s Auto Body” for Tokyopop and I’ve just finished the box cover art for the DVD release of seasons 1 & 2 of my first animated series “Duckman.” I also have just completed two painting shows with Brad Benedict’s Sideshow group.
SG: What is your dream art assignment?
EP: Pretty much doing what I am. I enjoy creating original properties based on my own characters and worlds, what could be better than that?
SG: What is your favorite color?
EP: Red.
SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?
EP: That’s hard to say, living or dead? There are so many great ones. I can’t say I have a favorite. I like 19th French painting pretty well and Mark Mothersbaugh .
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
EP: “Moa, The Unknown Story” by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday
SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
EP: I’m simple minded, I like to ride my motorcycle, go to the beach, paint, go to coffee shops and bookstores. I like hanging around with my wife and artist friends in Palm Springs too.
SG: Any final words of advice?
EP: Be nice.
ART: 1. Felix, 2. Have a Nice Day, 3. Leon, 4. Paranoid, 5. Pitbull, 6. Squirrelboy, 7. Stinky, 8. Time Cover, 9. Yugo, 10. Smokin Rubber
Topics: Artist Interviews, California Art Scene, Graphic Design, Print Media, Toys and Comics |
