Artist Profile: David Po
There is a rare kind of courage and tenacity involved in deciding to create art for a living. And I’ve found that I have an amazing group of talented friends who chose this difficult yet incredibly rewarding career. I admire these people greatly. It’s through them that I get endless inspiration and the strength to keep doing what I do. After all, they do it mostly for the love and at the end of the day, isn’t that the whole point of doing anything worthwhile in this life.
I would like to dedicate some of my art posts to these incredibly hard working individuals and the first of which is Dave Po, who is a long time friend and an art mentor. I’ve known Dave since college and he wasn’t that into art yet so it was surprising to see how far he’s come from notebook doodles. His work is incredibly precise. The lines are sure and clean and the themes are dreamy and surreal. I’ve asked him to do an interview for my blog and talk a little bit about his art.
MOSS: Tell us a little bit about how you got into painting.
DP: Back in High school I didn’t really take art seriously, it was all just doodles for me until college, the older brother of one of my friends was putting up a bar/restaurant in which 3 of the walls and the ceiling were to be big murals, and he needed help painting the backgrounds. So I decided to help him out, 70 or so 8 x 4 foot boards over the course of 4 months. That was what got me into painting and taking art seriously. Shortly after that, I was accepted into UP Fine Arts as a Studio Arts major for painting.
MOSS: Talk a little bit about your method. What is your ‘style’?
DP: As far as style goes, I tend to lean toward the surreal, sometimes the subject matter is rather dark. Sometimes its landscape, but never in the normal sense, I always make it a point to put my own spin on things, especially if the subject matter has been used before by others (which is just about everything, but c’est la’t vie). I try to stay away from deconstruction and abstraction, and I do use glazing and washes often, I’m a fan of white on white. I haven’t really given much though as to what genre I do fall under, but if anything, I’d say that my style is best described as Surrealist, with some symbolism mixed in, and on the rare occasion social commentary.
”Koi”. oil on canvas. 30 x 30 inches. 2006.
MOSS: Any favorite topics/themes?
DP: Hmmm… favorite topics or themes… I’d say I faces, trees (forests) or cliff faces (or mountains), I can’t really say for sure, because it does change from time to time. But yes, the recurring topics would be those I mentioned.
”Wanderlust”. Acrylic on canvas. 12 x 36 inches. 2007.
MOSS: What inspires you to paint?
DP: This is a tough one. I honestly can’t say for sure, sometimes its a song, sometimes a random thought that just pops in my head. Other times is an emotion, something someone made me feel. There are lots of factors involved, some of which I haven’t completely figured out myself.
MOSS: So what’s next for you?
DP: Considering the financial crisis, painting has somewhat slowed recently, I’ve been doing more digital art and design work of late. I haven’t stopped painting and I doubt I ever will, but for now its been placed on hold. I do have plans of continuing with my painting in the near future though.
“Kabuki” Oil on Canvas. 30 x 30 inches. April, 2009.
Dave Po is currently based in Quezon City, Philippines where he lives with his cat, Ratana. When he’s not painting or doing graphic design, he skateboards and plays a lot of video games. You can view more of his work here . If you would like to contact him about his work, you can do so by emailing him at davegpoatgmail.com.