Danleo interview with Fatcap.com 24 July 2009

From our friends at Fatcap.com

“Hey Party people, The Fatcap team went to Ireland last month. Thanks to Grany Flow we met a street artist, Danleo. The guy created nice pieces in the Dublin streets, so here’s for you some pictures of his work, a little article about him and of course the FatCap Interview!

Enjoy the Danleo’s style, and don’t forget to check his site : Danleodesign

Danleo was born in London in 1984.
He studied animation for two years at I.A.D.T. Dublin. After leaving college in 06 he began to move away from animation and lean toward creating dynamic stills on canvas and walls and has spent the last two years putting together a large collection of work.

Considering himself more of a cartoonist than a painter, his stated aim is to create light hearted paintings that are fun but have sickly undertones. In terms of technique to achieve the same clean lines as illustrations created on computer programmes.

“I need those thick black lines. As a kid I used to spend ages trying to get the same effect with a black biro”.

Working mainly with spray paint and a variety of inks, Danleo’s work is colourful, bold and often slightly crude, with inspiration coming from the slightly warped cartoons of the early nineties.

Over the last few years he has been commissioned to create numerous works for clients and has painted large wall pieces for bars and clubs including The South William, The Bernard Shaw and the Twisted Pepper Dublin.
FC: Where are you from Danleo? Tell us about your beginnings and your discovery of graffiti.
I was born in a dodgy part of London so moved to Ireland at a reasonably early age,
in terms of discovering graff it wasn’t until I became aware of my local paint shop that I started to use
colour. Before that I only used black and white, I found using acrylics to messy and never got the look I wanted.

FC: What was your interest in art and what led you to create all those things?
Its the only thing I’m any good at! School was boring so i spent all my time drawing stuff.
It just led from there.

FC: Tell us about the graffiti scene from your town.
I live in Dublin. Its good, the scene is small but growing. Ireland is a bit behind the rest of Europe but it will catch up soon. More events and jams are springing up all the time, its exciting to be a part of it.

FC: How would you define your work and what inspires you?
That’s a hard one, I don’t think I can. I don’t write, I’m more into characters. I like doing silly things really, Its all pretty light hearted.Cartoons from the early nineties are one of my biggest inspirations. Stuff like Ren and Stimpy………best cartoon ever made! Other than that inspiration comes from anywhere, music, people, written words, places…..anything.

FC: How did your style evolve?
I go through phases. I’ll do a line of work that’s similar and then get bored and push it somewhere a little bit different.
I think its the same for anyone. If you do the same kind of thing over and over its bound to get played out.
You have to keep yourself happy. That’s the most important thing I think.

FC: What’s your taste in movies and books?
I don’t read as much as I used to. I always mean to get a book for when the weather gets good but I get preoccupied.
Horror books are the best. The mind can be a scarier place than what any film can show you!
As for films you cant beat animations the stuff they are doing these days blows me away.

FC: Do you read comics?
Nah, I look through my friends and scan all the pictures but that’s about it. Although the old black and white Judge Dread books are sick.

Name an artist (or many) whose work you respect and admire.
There are a few, people like Tenga from Tokyo and Logan from Spain.(serious skill) Artists who use alot of characters inspire me the most. There are so many excellent artists around the list could go on and on.

FC: If your style was a music band or a song? Which one would it be?
I would have to say for the most part hip hop/funk. That’s what I listen to most of the time whilst I paint.
but I listen to all sorts when the mood strikes me. There are so many good types of music you CANT just listen to one.

FC: Your Characters are funky fresh… how do you create it? And how do you choose the colours?
Sketching in books at first. Just drawing something stupid and then working on it a bit.
When I think about colours for the most part I don’t want to over complicate things so I only use a few but that all depends on what and where it is,. As well as that you get a real bold effect if you don’t use too many.

FC: How do you organize your paintings? Do you do sketches before? Do you have any “gestures”, characteristics or paint habits?
Yeah, Sketches are needed. Most of the time if I don’t sketch stuff out first it comes out looking a bit shit…or at least not as good as it could have been. I like to incorporate animals into my work. Like a little friend to the main character. I love that idea, animals are way cooler than people. Also I like to put hats on stuff,…. I don’t know why!

FC: Do you feel the work you are doing is something that should be preserved or just stay ephemeral?
A bit of both as long as one person sees it then that’s OK.

FC : What’s the characteristic of a Danleo’s piece?
I guess heavy black lines, bold colours and a pinch of weird.

FC: What kind of reaction do you want your art to evoke?
Smiles. If people laugh or get a kick out of it then that’s great .Also if people are like WTF is that?! then that’s even better. Not too long ago I had a small show in a small town and a bunch of grannies came in and were horrified and disgusted, They were all blessing themselves as they left!………….that made my day.

FC : How’s the collaboration with other artists going?
Good! I have only started to do work with other artists recently and it has worked out real well. Not much planning either. Its good to work with others, keeps you moving forward and helps push you to be better.

FC: In which way do you want your art to evolve?
More detail in my illustration, I need to learn more can techniques, Id like to get faster without rushing, go bigger.
There is so much for me still to learn. I just want to get better all the time.

FC: I know that you don’t limit your art to graffiti and its “rules”… Don’t you think sometimes graffiti can be a jail for creation?
Em….No I wouldn’t go that far, I don’t think there is a limit to what can be done with a can these days.
But as a relative newcomer to using cans in my art I do see there are certain rules that I don’t really care about.
I use anything that I have at my disposal ..pens, cans, acrylics. It does not matter to me as long as I’m happy with the result. Sometimes people put you in a bracket and expect certain techniques from you. I think all that will change as the scene grows.

FC: Do you practice other forms of art? (graphism, canvas paintings, sculpture ?)
Oh yes. I’ve studied animation and graphic design. Anything creative is fun. It all depends on the day!

FC: How do you see street-art in 10 years?
Hopefully it will grow and grow and keep evolving. There is so much mental stuff going on around the world right now that in ten years the possibilities are endless! As long as its all still fun and not taken too seriously. I cant wait.

FC : Your favorite colour ?
Don’t want to come across as morbid but it has to be black. closely followed by sky blue.

FC : I notice that you create a lot of canvas, do you do commissioned pieces?
Yeah I do. Most of my work is on canvas, Its peaceful and personal that way. Commissions are just an inevitable bonus.

FC: What’s coming up in the next few months? Show etc…
I plan on bringing a few events to Dublin so I’m busy with that and then I need to start doing a new line of canvas’s for a new show. I cant wait to paint, turn up the music and enjoy the sun………perfect.

FC: What’s your real goal?
Just to keep doing what I’m doing and see where it takes me.

FC: Any words of wisdom?
If you have a passion for something GO FOR IT !!!!!!!! and don’t let anyone try to stop you.

Thank you Danleo!

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