November 21, 2019

Meet Travis LaRiviere

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Travis LaRiviere.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I have grown up knowing that I wanted to do something involving art. I remember drawing from an early age and always being fascinated by design, illustration, and beautiful things overall. Initially, as a high school student, I had aspirations to become an engineer and work in the theme park industry. However, physics proved to be too great a difficulty for me. At that same time, I took up a graphic design class and excelled so quickly that my life pivoted from that point on. Working as a freelance illustrator, I try to bring my own unique style and vision to any project. I like to think of myself as a bit of an old soul so I am drawn to mid-century era illustrators such as Mary Blair, Eyvind Earle, Saul Bass, and so many more that I can’t think of. These are the artists that I studied and learned new techniques from. The name DAPPER DINO was an invention of my wife’s imagination. She knew how much I loved dinosaurs and thought an alliterative name would roll off the tongue easily. The name also created Dalton T. Rex, my mascot! He is my Mickey Mouse.

I’ve worked on many different projects in my time but found myself finding a particular niche creating fabric patterns. I was approached early on to create an illustrated pattern for a dress and I jumped in immediately without knowing anything on creating effective patterns, let alone patterns that were to be worn! But through many hours of practice and constructive criticism, I started uploading more designs to my portfolio and gained traction! One pattern I created has been manufactured into Hawaiian shirts and is currently being sold in a hotel on the island of Oahu!

As I grow in my illustrative skills, I am constantly in a state of learning. I always like to believe that there is something new that I can learn every day and something challenging that I can apply to a new project in order to practice that skill.

Please tell us about your artwork.
My art is something that takes you back to that grand mid-century era. With illustration, I can create something with bold colors, imaginative characters, and a feeling of nostalgia.

A good deal of my artwork is created from pop culture inspiration. I enjoy creating nods to characters, places, films, and other things that people who share them are “in-the-know” if that is what you call it. For example, one of my favorite series of illustrations was called CEREAL KILLERZ and it combined two of my passions: breakfast cereal and horror movies. Drawn and illustrated in an old-style fashion, I blended iconic cereal mascots with unforgettable horror movie characters.

My aspirations are to one day illustrate children’s books. I am a firm believer that if you want to create a certain type of work, do it before anyone asks you to. With this notion, I have started creating a small format, Instagram post storybooks called ITTY BITTY BOOKS. These are short but sweet stories contained within 10 Instagram images on a single post! My very first effort was an adaptation of the classic Twilight Zone episode, TO SERVE MAN.

I hope that my artwork will inspire others to just open up a sketchbook at the very least and start drawing. Illustration and art as a whole doesn’t need to be perfect. In fact, most great art strives from imperfection. I enjoy doing what I do and I hope it comes out in the fun nature of my work.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
Imposter syndrome for sure. There are days where I feel like I can do anything creatively and other days where I am just frustrated with myself. As stated before, I prefer to learn from the masters that are my greatest inspirations… but therein lies the challenge. Am I really good enough on my own merit with a unique style or have I just been riding the coattails off of someone greater?

This is where I remember one simple thing: it is okay to be in the middle. Someone is always going to be better and someone could be just learning. I want to learn from the better and inspire others to learn from me.

Create work that showcases you to a fault. People respond with honest work and when it shows, your work will be appreciated. Better to have 1,000 true fans than 1 million acquaintances.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
People can primarily view my work on my Instagram profile (@dapper_dino) or online at my website www.dapperdinocreative.com.

You can support my work by shopping online at www.dapperdinocreative.com/shop where you can find prints, posters and stickers.

Finally, I am available for any project work. I specialize in illustration, design, logo and branding concepts. You can visit my website and send me a contact form for any project inquiries.

Contact Info:

Website: www.dapperdinocreative.com
Email: dapperdinocreative@gmail.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dapper_dino

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