Hello! We hope you (and your dad) had a happy Father’s Day weekend!
We’re back with our newest artist profile article! Last week, we sat down for a conversation with long-time CCR customer David Carrigan, a mid-Michigan artist who’s been making a name for himself in the Lansing area and across the country for more than three decades.
David has been producing and selling art since the 1970s, mining his enthusiasm for fantasy and science-fiction with his awe and respect for the natural world and the indigenous people of the region.
“I started drawing when I was five or six, I just drew all the time. I went to a country school with one teacher and about 40 kids between kindergarten and eighth grade. In kindergarten, I saw these bigger kids go to the cupboard and get a sheet of paper and draw. The teacher saw that I liked to draw, and she said, ‘Anytime you want to go back to the cupboard and get a sheet of paper and draw, just go ahead and do it.’ So, I did. I didn’t like sitting in the classroom, and I was always thinking, ‘I want to go outside and play, but at least I can sit here and draw.’ And so that developed my abilities because I did it every day.”
“Back in high school, I was reading Edgar Rice Burroughs. And then, just out of high school, I started reading “Lord of the Rings,” and I was always a big “Star Trek” fan. And then, I had no idea what it was going to be, you know, I just went to see this movie called “Star Wars.” And I was just like, ‘Wow, man. That was cool.’ So yeah, I’ve always been into sci-fi and fantasy.”
“I took off hitchhiking around for about a year or so, and then I came back, and I just kept working on my art. And then I got into Lansing Community College, went for about two and half years, and got an associate degree in commercial art. And then I started getting commissions doing this and that.”
“I did airbrushing. Vehicles and things like that. And then people want me to do portraits and this and that. I think the first show I did was about 1974 over in Nashville, Michigan. A few years later, a friend of mine showed me this silk-screening method, and that’s where I started being able to print and sell T-shirts. And my dad was into archery, and he did tournaments, and I started going to those and developing designs for T-shirts of Robin Hood, Maid Mariene, etc.”
“I’m curious. “Lord of the Rings” seems very prominent in your imagingation and creativity. Has that always been a big one for you?”
“Oh, yeah. I think I was 19 when I read “The Hobbit,” and my best friend has read “The Lord of the Rings” and said I should read it. I took off hitchhiking around the country. I had “The Fellowship of the Ring,” and by the time the year was up, I had finished “The Return of the King.” And I always wanted to start illustrating my own designs of it.”
“What artists inspired you?”
“Frank Frazetta. He started off doing the [covers for] “Tarzan” paperbacks. And then he did “Conan.” He’s gone now, but his son and grandson run the museum that his wife - who was his business manager - set up. They’d keep all the paintings at their house, and she said, ‘We should have a museum.’ Once they became famous and rich, they moved out to Pennsylvania, and they built this really nice museum and ran it for years. He passed away, his wife passed away, and now his son and grandson run it.”
David paused, struck by the memories. “Frazetta was a big influence on my life.”
“When you begin a painting, do you have a clear image in mind, or do you find it along the way?”
“I pretty much find it as I’m going. I do have an image in mind, and then it takes a lot of refining to make it like I want. That Black Rider one - at first, I had a lot of red in the sky. And it just didn’t pop. And I knew something wasn’t right. And I go, ‘how about instead of all these reds, I try more yellows and pinks?’ When I did that, the whole painting changed. It pops now.”
“Is your artwork your predominant career and profession?”
“It is. My wife works, and we have really good benefits and everything. So I’m kind of able to do my thing, and I’ve been developing my art professionally over the years.
“As a professional artist, is it challenging to get paid what your work is worth?”
He nodded yes. “I’ve got to convince myself that, you know, the person that wants it… how bad do you want it? Because I’d rather be doing what I do and making reproductions of the things I want to do. I don’t want to do Joe Blow’s portrait.”
“Do you have any exhibitions coming up?”
“I’m kind of going back into arts and crafts shows. On Labor Day weekend, Charlotte has Frontier Days, so I’ll be there. I have four shows in a row, and I’ll be driving around. It’s going to be quite a summer.”
David is working with a friend to develop an enhanced website that will feature his work and allow visitors to purchase prints. “Hopefully, I’ll reach more people. We’ll see.”
You can check out David’s work on his Facebook page and at www.carriganart.com and www.bodiesbounty.com.
It was a pleasure sitting down to speak with David and get to know him and his work better. Stay tuned for our next artist profile, as well as articles highlighting the variety of clients CCR provides service for! If you’re curious, check out what we can do for you in art printing, blueprints, and framing & mounting!