Dave Kopka engages in books, story boarding, comics, and pre-production work, but is fascinated with exploring a wide spectrum of illustration and being a creative force in visual narrative.site and contact: http://davekopka.com/ illustration@davekopka.com
ON VIEW THROUGH JULY 29, 2017
an exhibition showcasing the literary work of Edgar Allan Poe
interpreted by contemporary illustrators Dave Kopka, Nancy
Doniger, Donna Miskend, Carol (Klio) Burrell special guests:
Michael Patrick Hearn, author of the forthcoming An Annotated Edgar Allan Poe, James Armstrong, playwright, Charlie Vazquez, author
and director Bronx Writing Center
DM: Talk to me about your interest in, and influence of fantasy art on your work.
DK: My work currently revolves around representational elements mainly, so I'm always looking to find ways to create the kind of imagery that a camera might have a very difficult time in replicating, visually or viscerally. I always look forward to the challenge of doing so, to create these worlds and scenarios that might not otherwise exist the same exact way in someone else's mind, and a prevalent effect is that the work has elements of the fantastic in it. I've always been a nerd about old and new school fantasy though (trading cards, scifi/fantasy novels, comics, table top games, etc), so I'd be remiss if that didn't have a strong influence on the work as well.
DM: Talk to me about your interest in, and influence of fantasy art on your work.
DK: My work currently revolves around representational elements mainly, so I'm always looking to find ways to create the kind of imagery that a camera might have a very difficult time in replicating, visually or viscerally. I always look forward to the challenge of doing so, to create these worlds and scenarios that might not otherwise exist the same exact way in someone else's mind, and a prevalent effect is that the work has elements of the fantastic in it. I've always been a nerd about old and new school fantasy though (trading cards, scifi/fantasy novels, comics, table top games, etc), so I'd be remiss if that didn't have a strong influence on the work as well.
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The Premature Burial,©Dave Kopka 2016/17
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DM: Who are the artists you admire in the fantasy
genre?
DK: Interestingly enough, I try to expose myself
to as many, if not more artists working outside fantasy themes. Artists include
(but certainly aren't limited to) Diego Velázquez, Alberto Breccia, Degas,
Mikhail Vrubel, Donato Giancola, Frazetta, Victor Vasnetsov, William Heath
Robinson, Bernie Wrightson, Scott M Fischer, Goya, William Renner, Greg
Manchess, Van Gogh, Ivan Bilibin, Jeffrey Allan Love, Edmund Du Lac, Harry
Clarke, Kay Nielson, and most particularly Käthe Kollwitz. I am always looking
for a good combination of current artists and ones from past-eras, and finding
out who took or had influence in both groups. The list grows everyday. Indeed,
we stand on the shoulders of giants!
DM: Some of your illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe
Illustrated has a distinct fantasy style element. What was it about his writing
that moved you in that direction, or did something just click like an image
that popped into your head?
DK: The way that Poe writes conjures up shadowy and
spooky imagery. There's something elemental and passionate woven within the
writing, utilizing a powerful sense of commonality (to me at least), and that
was important to try and capture visually. Aiming to retain that energy guided
most of the decisions made throughout the entire process. From this, some of
the stories or poems lent themselves to be more interpretive than
others, and allowed me to introduce an otherworldliness that I felt suited
the written piece(s). It was a challenge I had so much fun being engaged with,
so hopefully that shows through as well.
DM: Tell me
about your illustration process. (All artwork,©Dave Kopka 2016/17)
For the Poe illustrations, the process started with various rounds of thumbnails before settling on a composition.
A slightly
bigger sketch is done, solidifying all the design elements. That's scanned,
scaled up slightly more, printed, and transferred to drawing
paper. Artist-made reference photos and additional research for props are
made and utilized throughout the rest of the process.
Refinements are made and the loose blown-up sketch is turned into a
more finished preliminary drawing. 
A final high-res scan of this drawing is made to-size, and the paint is all applied digitally (after a series of greyscale and color studies are done, to keep the composition unified), with the preliminary drawing serving as a solid guide underneath. |
| El Dorado,©Dave Kopka 2016/17 |
DM: Did you discover something new or interesting while doing your
research for this exhibit?
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| The Pit And The Pendulum, ©Dave Kopka 2016/17 |
DK: There was
a lot of new territory to explore while looking through Poe's written works.
Something that struck me while reading was that many of the stories present
themselves for so much interpretation; the poems even more so. For
instance, throughout the cast of his characters, we don't necessarily always
have a solid grasp on who they are/what they look like specifically. Much
of their image is made up of what we project onto them (another reason why
I think Poe's writing was so good, it tricks the reader into doing a
lot of the work in creating a visual image). This is fantastic, because it
allows me as an artist to conjure up something that might look different than
someone else's vision of the same story, and opens up a dialogue - visually or
otherwise - to learn from folks with different perspectives. There's a lot of
potential space to explore creative freedom too. Whether or not it was
intended, Poe really lets illustrators take the writing and make it their
own.
DM: Do
you have any upcoming events?
DK: Some story pitches and a small line up of
paintings are underway. A few smaller personal projects are on the docket
as well, not to mention my continued exploration in sequential art.
There's always something in the works! Feel free to follow me on Instagram
(@drawkop), Tumblr (@davekopka), or Twitter (@DaveKopka) for updates and
developments on current projects.
MORE ON OUR CONVERSATION ABOUT DAVE'S WORK IN THE EXHIBIT
For more about: the exhibit Edgar Allan Poe Illustrated
For more about: the exhibit Edgar Allan Poe Illustrated
James Armstrong more to come
For more information call the visitor center 718.365.5516 or visit their website calendar under Poe Park Visitor Center.
collaborators:
Nancy Doniger, artist www.nancydoniger.com
Carol (Klio) Burrell, artist http://spqrblues.com/IV/
Charlie Vázquez, author and Director, Bronx Writers
Center bronxarts.org
James Armstrong, playwright www.armstrongplays.com
Michael Patrick Hearn, author and literary historian books
Donna Miskend, curator, artist news
