Today we’d like to introduce you to David Rodriguez.
David, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a city kid, born in 1974 in New York but I’ve been living in Dallas, TX, since 1989. I initially wanted to be a comic book artist but after having a spiritual transformation at the age of 19, I eventually meshed my illustration skills with traditional painting capabilities and I became an expressionist. Telling an intriguing story that would challenge the mind and touch the heart of viewers became my goal as an artist.
In 2006 I was invited by a friend to partner in creating a non-profit organization that had a focus on developing and encouraging artists of every medium. That venture was ArtLoveMagic and it became successful and popular within the Dallas area. I eventually developed the largest production within the organization, which was called Underground. Underground at its height had about 50 varied visual artists creating life, two stages delivering back-to-back talent that showcased musical talent from every genre and spoken word artists, a VIP room, creative displays and collaborations, and it brought in close to 2,000 people in attendance to the event within a 4 hour period. It also generated the largest profit for the organization. It became an annual event that many people sought to be a part of. It was amazing!
Eventually, I had to step out of ArtLoveMagic in 2013, but before that point, I did get the opportunity to become a speed painter, delivering a 4 foot wide by an 8-foot tall painting of Christ on the cross in 2 minutes and 55 seconds at the Potter’s House. This achievement allowed me to go on a short tour delivering similar presentations as well as performing in front of Operah Winfrey. A couple of years after that, I painted live with spoken word artists at TEDx SMU in Dallas. That event really solidified my enjoyment in collaborating with artists of any medium.
Since those days, I have created a few murals and have helped produce and design a collection of artistic events. In most recent days, I have been contracting with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as a scribe, creatively capturing business communication live within collaborative sessions. I have also been a producer at Journeyman Ink, helping them translate their face-to-face work into video/virtual presentations. I continue to use multiple artistic skills to help creatively solve business needs and communicate spiritual narratives to the world.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Aligning my art to my faith. I really wanted to be authentic with my faith in God through my artistry but I didn’t know what that meant right away. I had a deep fear when I began my spiritual journey that my art would become something that could be sold at a Christian bookstore. At that time, in the mid 90s, I felt that the artwork within those retail places was beautiful but I felt it was exclusive to the world. It attracted people who were already believers, and at that, possibly those who maybe didn’t have the same struggles as I did. It also was a lot of literal translation of scripture. I worried that my days would be filled with repetitive paintings of Christ on the cross.
I desired that my art would show the life of a believer, to depict a sense of friction, of struggle… it needed to challenge what I was surrendering to and communicate my walk in the faith. I’m not sure that I have fully found my artistic, spiritual voice because I don’t believe I have completely explored it, but I know that I began to discover it when I put my pencil and brush down and picked up the Bible, and just listened for His voice. I felt a calling to visually translate what I was learning within scripture but at the time, I didn’t know what that meant. I painted what I was feeling in response to what I was learning and people began to connect with the work. I quickly realized that I had a unique way of communicating that had a different method of connecting with an audience than other forms of artistry. It then became clear to me that I needed to create works with narratives that challenge the mind and touch the heart. That has been my focus ever since.
Being a speed painter. I was deeply intrigued and wanted to meet the challenge when the opportunity came for me to deliver a speed painting at The Potter’s House back in 2011. It took me a bit of time to understand the value of what I produced that day. I felt like I bombed the painting but I was receiving quite a bit of praise for the piece. I thought people were just being kind but then realized what I had created in 2 minutes and 50 seconds. It wasn’t the most amazing piece that could be created of Christ but it was recognizable at a large scale, 4 foot wide by 8 foot tall, created in a very short amount of time with the energy of the crowd singing and cheering me on. This was the start of me letting go of perfection in my art and embracing the magic of the moment. I thought I wanted to be the fastest artist alive but the value quickly became more about entertainment and not about the message I was creating.
I began to miss the time that I would take to discover what I wanted to say with a piece and how I could challenge myself to be more creative or more interesting with the delivery. In addition, more corporate clients sought me to deliver speed paintings with no depth of meaning at events I had little interest in. Eventually, I steered inquiries for speed painting into opportunities for me to paint longer in front of audiences to create stronger works that I could be proud of. I’m glad I went through that time as a speed painter. It reminded me that what I value most is being able to challenge viewers intellectually as well as emotionally. For me, that takes a bit of time.
Battle recognition as an artist/signature thing. I still battle the issue of artist recognition through a particular style or signature form. There are great classic painters who were diverse with their artistic skills with an ability to paint, draw, sculpt, and produced in other forms not traditionally looked at as artistic. They moved through different mediums and approaches as they were either inspired or commissioned to. Now we celebrate visual artists for being focused on one form of delivery, one particular style. And that artist, to maintain that recognition, must continuously recreate and retranslate that one popular form over and over again. I’m currently exploring the idea of having a signature design within my work and I’m enjoying that exploration, but only because I still allow myself to create in other forms. I’ve always been a person who likes creating with my hands in multiple ways. I love the fact that I can paint this week, illustrate next week, produce a digital work the following week, build something out of wood the week after that, and so on. As many artists do, I hope to share my skills with as many people as possible, but I’m not sure that I will every be the type of visual artist that only produces in one signature style.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
Best known for live visual art translations, I create dynamic paintings that are filled with thought-provoking messages that challenge the mind and touch the heart. I have created complimentary interpretive paintings for thought speakers, successful entrepreneurs, church leaders, and a variety of performers. My artistry has been experienced by a diverse collection of businesses, organizations, performers and churches throughout the U.S., including TEDx SMU, Samsung, Bishop T.D. Jakes, John Deere, Erykah Badu, PwC, Ross Perot, Daystar Television, Halftime with Bob Buford, Leadership Network, and Dr. Pepper. Not only do I paint live for audiences but I also artistically scribe for business events, create large murals and help produce live artistic collaborative/interactive events.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Being attentive to opportunities as they come and having discernment about them. There are a lot of simple moments that have greater benefits down the road if you can see their value early on. Long ago in my artistic career, I realized that I was missing good connections and big rewards because I was not mindful of the smaller or less attractive invitations. This does take discernment in addition to awareness but if you aren’t cognizant of the possibilities, then there is nothing to discern.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://drgorilla.com/
- Email: david@drgorilla.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgorillapaints/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drgorillapaints/
Image Credit:
Brent Baxter and Michael Lagocki.
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