Interview with Everett Peck

q)please tell us a brief info about yourself.

a)I live in Southern California with my wife a dog and a cat. I have three kids, two girls and a boy, but only one is still living at home. He’s currently a senior in high school. These days I’m mostly involved with animation projects and painting. I only do the occasional illustration. I also have a live action movie project that I’ve been developing with Tokyopop. In my spare time I like to mess around with motorcycles, old cars, and surfing.

q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?

a)I grew up in a small beach town in Southern California in the 50’s and 60’s. My first exposure to art, like most American kids of that era, was watching cartoons on TV and comic books. Ever since I can remember I wanted to an artist/animator. I guess I hit the ground drawing and never stopped.

q)What are your tools of the trade and why?

a)I’m a drawer/cartoonist and painter; I prefer drawing with pen and ink on paper and painting on canvas or board. I only use the computer as a secondary tool.

q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?

a)I had/have a lot of influences. My earliest where people like Disney and his artists. I especially like Carl Bark’s Donald Duck comics. I also liked war comics like Sgt. Rock written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Joe Kubert. I really loved Mad magazine and all the great artists whose work appeared there. Mort Drucker and Jack Davis where a couple of my favorites. Basil Wolverton showed me you could get as crazy as you want with a drawing and it will not harm you. I liked the way Big Daddy Roth and Von Dutch could successfully market their art. You can be a good artist AND a good businessman. Later on when I was in high school I got a little schizophrenic in my influences. I was pretty taken with the “underground” art coming mostly out of San Francisco by artists like Robert Crumb and Victor Moscoso. But at the same time I was really enjoying the work of 19^th century penmen like Heinrich Kley and John Tenniel. At any rate, it was at this point that I decided I wanted to be an illustrator. I majored in Illustration at Long Beach State. It was there that I learned about the work of Push Pin Studios. I was encouraged by the fact that they were solving design and illustration problems in a really smart way while retaining a personal style.

q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?

a)I stay current with the industry by staying in contact with people in the business. That keeps me aware of what people are up to and what’s currently popular. I also like to keep an eye on what people are doing in by reading magazines, going to gallery shows, watching television and checking out websites. I have to say that I don’t worry too much about current trends, as I’m most interested in following my own interests and ideas irrespective of what’s hot.

q)What are some of your current projects?

a)I’m currently developing several animated show ideas and doing a lot of painting. Like I mentioned, I’m also working on a live action film idea.

q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?

a)Well, I like the body of Illustration work I’ve amassed over the years. I really enjoyed making the Squirrel Boy animated series and of course Duckman. I also have enjoyed keeping sketchbooks for many years.

q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

a)I enjoy working on fairly large canvases and would like to do more painting on three-dimensional objects. I’m also interested in producing animation projects with a different look. I especially like the idea of combining several techniques or processes to create something a bit different that you usually see.

q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

a)I like to bounce around from one activity to the next. I usually have several things going at once, which helps with the burn out factor.

q)how do you spend most of your free time?

a)Like I mentioned, I lots of interests outside of formal art. I like spending time with my wife and family, motorcycles, cars, surfing, etc.

q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)I think there are a lot of interesting things going on in art these days. There are some interesting animation projects going on. I like several aspects of “Lowbrow” art although it’s probably running out of steam as a movement. But that’s OK; something new will come a long. There are aspects of street art I like, especially it’s directness. Once in while a really interesting graphic novel comes along.

q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?

a)I do sell images. You can see several on my site; epeck.com. If you would like to see more than represented there, I can arrange that too.