Today we’d like to introduce you to David Simpson
Hi David, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story starts in the gloomy, sometimes pretty city of Tacoma Washington. I had the typical divorced, latchkey childhood of drawing, watching cartoons, playing with toys & riding your BMX bike around the neighborhood. Nothing too thrilling to mention until 1987, when I saw the older punker kids skateboarding; launching off a jump ramp & doing street plants, much like in Police Academy 4. I wanted to be those guys & embrace every little detail of this new world I stumbled onto. Like most stories of discovering skateboarding in the late 80’s came the music, fashion & attitude. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was one angry kid, so punk rock & skateboarding was the milk to my cereal & I wanted it all. The rawness, along with its you don’t need much money & who cares what people think resonated so perfectly with me.
As I continued to plunge further into the world of the outcasts, (punk rock & skateboarding was not cool back then & often dangerous) going to the city to skate, going to shows & looking for trouble, came graffiti. This was just like skateboarding, but with paint & markers. The same thrill, the same escape & feeling of importance. University never seemed interesting & I loved art, so in my 17 year old brain there was only one place where you could skate & paint graffiti while attending art school & that was Southern California.
I made my way to sunny southern California, attending art school for 4 years, studying illustration, focusing on backgrounds for the animation studios. During this time I learned every little idiosyncrasy of the old masters & my contemporary heroes of the art world. After I graduated I briefly did some work in the fashion world designing window displays for Nordstroms, while continuing to paint walls, fill my sketchbooks & canvases with color. I soon realized I needed to fulfill my true passion with art, so I jumped head on into the world of commercial packaging, emphasizing in toys. This career has taught me so much about myself, about design which has helped push my own personal work.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I wouldn’t say smooth, however I am quite lucky & grateful for my life. Being on your own at a young age, you tend to be impulsive & often make poor choices with severe consequences. Learning the hard way seemed to be a consistent theme in my story, still I have had a myriad of life changing adventures I would not change for anything.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I love to share my own vision of this mad world we live in. I have always been attracted to the seediness of society, the hustlers, pimps, prostitutes, junkies, etc. I live in downtown Los Angeles, so its a perfect background for inspiration & energy to pull from.
Coming from an illustration background, learning how to tell a story is crucial. I like to show the viewer the realities of life, regardless of a happy ending or not. I feel that everyone has encountered these emotions & perhaps while looking at my work, they can relate to the subjects or even walk away with a new perspective? Nevertheless I like to illustrate these stories with a cartoon feeling & a smudge of grime.
I am proud of my current accomplishments of putting myself out in the public. For years I would paint, while never showing it to anyone other than some friends & family. Then one day a dear friend of mine told me what a waste of my talent was by just keeping it to myself. He called me out & it sparked me to start sharing my work & the reception has been very positive. With that, I still have a long way to go on this adventure, however selling my work & getting some exposure right now without any social media sets me apart from others with the current zeitgeist of self promotion.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
They can come to the art shows, get stoked, have a drink & buy the work. Showing up is the best support really!
