The Altamira Interview

Hello Hello Friends!
how was your day?
I'm excited for tomorrow got a fun day of Painting ahead of me.
A Few months ago i did an interview with Altamira Magazine Indonesia online magazine.
I Hope you enjoy the interview. if you can't read it let me know and i can post the plain text below.
:) have a wonderful night!

My Mom Made Me Do It

Ok, so, i know this is the 3rd Taylor Swift drawing i've posted on here,
but this one comes with a story.
When my mom saw the drawings i had already posted of her,
she said to me,
"Oh Danny, you know what? I have the perfect picture of Taylor Swift for you to draw."
i turned to her with a puzzled yet amused look on my face and said, " Oh yea?"
Taking my prompting she responded,
" Yes! When I was at Starbucks today, I saw her new album cover and it's perfect for you to draw. I mean, in the picture she's got 'Your Hair'. You know what I mean, like the hair you draw. You should draw it."

haha. Yes, so this was Saturday that she said this to me.
So i always "Honor my Father and my Mother"
and thus this post was born. :)

On another note,
I was contacted by Schnati from the great German blog Les Mads.
and she said they wanted to do a interview with me.
So it's up today on their site.
Click Here for the Les Mads Interview

Lastly, you may have noticed that there is a play button under the drawing up there.
Well, it's been a really long time since i've taken the time to sit down and write music,
but i really needed to, so i finally did this weekend,
and i composed a song for you all.
i've been wanting to write a soundtrack for my life and the moods i'm in.
This song represents the mood i was in this weekend.
I plan on making a short film edited to the music.
I hope you like it!

If you like the song and want to have my song, just right click the link below and then click "download linked file"
Download Song here

Marie Claire Spain!

Hello friends!
How are you?
Well, i'm excited to tell you I'm featured inMarieClaire.es.
I was asked to draw one of their covers so the picture above is my version of it.
It's going to be featured on the main page tomorrow,
but i was excited and wanted to show it to you today! hahah
Check it out if you like.
i hope you enjoy it. :)

Got the Mondays?

Good morning, good morning.
It's a nice cold morning to start a busy week.
How was your weekend?
Well, first off Penter from The Familiar Strangers did an interview with me.
It was quiet fun, a lot of great questions.
If you want to check it out (Click Here)

Also, i started another blog that is connected to this one.
it is my Image Diary. There are no words to it.
Just hope to post a picture or two a day on it.
i thought since igor + andré is an art blog,
i didn't want to dilute it with pictures,
so i made a new blog dedicated to documentry photography.
Since photography was what i first started in school,
i thought i would start getting back into it. :)
(Click Here) to check it out.

Oh and lastly, the drawing today is a self portrait i did a couple years ago in my journal.
i hope you like it! Have a great day today!
Hi ho, it's off to work i go!

Vision Magazine!

Howdy there, my friends.
Sorry for the few days sabbatical;
been working a lot on a project.
Can't really talk about it due to my contact,
but it should be really cool,
and i should be able to share it with you soon!

Yesterday, my copy of the lastest Vision Magazine arrived.
I'm super excited; it's a really great publication out of China.
They did a feature on my work, and had me draw the header/cover page of the Art section.
i hope your like it.
Please check them out.

Also, did an Interview with the lovely Marie Déhé of Dirty Glam Magazine for her blog Carnet de mode.
Please check her blog out!

The Vision Interview is below:

1. Please describe your painting style to us, like a good friend of yours would describe it.
Danny's dream world.

2. What`s your painting process? And what tools do you use?(like painter, photoshop..)
For the most part, I draw everything on different kinds of papers, and use pen, ink, and water colors, alot of mixed media. Then, I will scan the drawing and use Photoshop for color correction and digital imaging. I actually have a video Documentary up at igorandandre.blogspot.com. If you click on videos, I show the full process that goes into a picture.

3. There are lots of awesome fashion illustrators, I thought you are one of them, and what makes you feel different from the others?
That's a good question. I would say out of current fashion illustrators, maybe one difference would be the details. When I was in school, I was taught that with Fashion Illustration "Less is More". What I loved to do is the opposite. I like to pour in to the details and put as many lines, ornate objects, or complex details as I can. It's a fun challenge.

4. Do you read design / architecture /fashion magazines? Can you give me some names?
Yes, whenever I have enough time or money. I love Dansk, Italian Vogue, Numéro. Those are some of my favorites.

5. Is there any fashion designer or illustrators you appreciate a lot?
Oh, yes, there are lot. My favorite designers' clothes to draw are Alexander Mcqueen and John Galliano, because of they have a whimsical and dream-like quality to their work. My favorite fashion photographers are Man Ray and Steven Meisel. The artists that I think have influenced me the most are Audrey Beardsley and Egon Schiele. There is something about their work that just inspires me to keep working more and more.

6. I guess you notice how women are dressing? Do you have any preferences?
Yes. :) I really like when women can pull a cute innocent look off. I like Baby Doll dresses. Also, I like real natural styling clothes that are light, simple, and free flowing.

7. What advice would you give to the young ?
I would say be true to yourself and enjoy every moment of learning. Also, let art inspire you. I think starting out, it can be hard to stay true to yourself, and it's easy to look at something you like and copy it. But I would say, the key to staying unique is to be yourself, because we all are made differently, which means if I stay true to myself, I will be unique.


8. What kind of music do you listen to when you painting?
Oh, I love to listen to music when I paint! I go through different fazes of what I listen to. For the most part, when I'm working I like to listen to Sarah Jaffe, Joseph Arthur, Sigur Ros, Bjork, Yann Tiersen, Radiohead, Ryan Adams, and the Cardigans. I like to find music that fits the mood of the whatever painting I'm doing. That definitely helps influence my work.


9. Before CG illustrating, what kind of paintings did you paint? And how did you get into this career?
Portraits have always been my favorite kind. I started going to school in Fashion Design, but after my first Fashion Illustration class, my teacher asked me if I ever thought of being a Fashion Illustrator. At that time, I really didn't know that there was a career as a Fashion Illustrator. From that point on, it's been the perfect thing for me.

Dirty Glam

Hi Friends,
Sorry, no post yesterday. i had to go into work and help out on a few projects.
A few weeks back, i had the honor and the privilege to do an interview with the lovely Miss Louis AKA Miss Pandora.
She is now working for Paris based Dirty Glam Magazine
and the interview is in this issue of Dirty Glam.
Please (click here) to go and check it out. It's a great magazine. My interview is pages 191-196. For those who can't speak French, i posted the English version below.
i hope you like it. :)


1 Who are you, and what do you do ?
My name is Danny Roberts, I would say I am an artist/ illustrator and a thinker.
Not sure what came first, though, being a illustrator or a thinker... I guess it's like the age old question, "What came first, the chicken or the egg?"

2 How did you develop your art? What's your approach?
I think my art developed by a lot of practice. It was a few years back, I got determined to get better at drawing, so I would spend 16 hours a day practicing. Most of the time, I would draw till my hand was swollen closed. I was just practicing blind contours, and my style started to develop. My art is kind of like handwriting; whenever i draw, it always comes out looking like my style. It is nothing I try to do, it just is the way I draw. I guess that's the only way I can explain it.

3 How did your blog come about?
It's kind of funny how it came about, because I actually was always intimidated by blogs. I didn't know much about them. Back in April of this year, my brother was doing internet research for the company he worked for, and he ended up talking me into doing a blog so he could practice things he learned at work. Then I started having fun with it, and Voila, the rest is history. It's really been fun blogging and getting to know people all over the world.

4 Why use fashion as your subject?
Actually, I started school at the Academy of Art University, majoring in Fashion Design, and the first class I took was Fashion Illustration. I fell in love with doing fashion illustrations and decided then that I didn't want to be a designer, but an illustrator. I'm not sure why, but there is something about fashion that really inspires me. Fashion is kind of a door into a dream world for me, and I like entering that dream world, so it kinda works out. hah

5 What techniques do you use?
I love experimenting and developing new techniques, but at the core of my drawing, I mostly always use Blind Contour Cheating a little. Blind Contour Cheating basically means that you try to keep your eye on the subject matter that you are drawing and not the paper, and the only time you look down is when lifting the pen. I actually have a video Documentary up at igorandandre.blogspot.com (click on videos). In the Video, I show the full process of my main drawing technique.

6 What inspires you?
I'm inspired by almost everything for one reason or another. New experiences and people inspire me a lot. I would say women inspire me more than anything. That's why the majority of my art revolves around women. I also find genuine innocence very moving. Oh, also, anything from the 1920's.

7 Why have you chosen (style) bloggers as your models? How do you chose each one ?
When I first started my blog, I began exploring other blogger sites. It was like discovering a new world. I would just click from link to link and blog to blog. I started to find that there were so many blogs that inspire me. I then decided that I wanted to give back to those who have inspired me by drawing a picture of the blogger from their site. I guess there isn't any one reason or set rule on which blogger I draw, except that if it inspirers me, I end up drawing from it. For example, when I first stumbled on to your blog, I loved your style and the playful "dress up" tone to it. It was something that instantly inspired me, and I drew you that moment.
 
8 What other activities do you engage in parallel to your art?
I love writing music, and making short films, and I coach wrestling.

9 What projects do you have currently and in the works?
Wow... yeah, I've been working on a few long term projects and a few short term ones. For the last two years, I've been working on a book called "The Character Sketchbook". It is a book that journals my journey on learning how to draw. I made it to help encourage people that anyone can learn how to draw with enough practice. I have a lot of those drawings up on my blog. Right now, I am working on the last drawing, which is the 200th drawing, which I should finish this week. Also, I'm finish up illustrating Sophie Ward's children's book. It's my first book for Paper Castle Press. I'm really excited about it. I've also been working a little with doing some designs for a clothing company.

10 Who else would you like to work with?
Oh, my! There are so many people; I would love to work with Steve Miesel. He is one of my favorite photographers.

11 Are you dirrty or glam ?
Oooo. This is a tough one... hmm... Dirty, but secretly glam.

N*style interview

Hey everyone, got a copy of my interview with n*style magazine today!
Since it's my only copy, i couldn't cut it up to scan it, so sorry if the scans have a crease in them.
i cut and pasted the translated version of the interview for those can't speak Portuguese.
I hope you like it. :)



1. Do you think that drawing is an innate talent or you have to learn it?
A little bit of both. I think there are two parts to drawing; the motor skill of drawing and the style of drawing (Example: color, subject matter, materials, etc.). I know anyone can get really good at the motor skills of drawing with enough practice, but when it comes to style choices and composition, I think that might be an innate talent. For me, I always would draw and doodle ever since I was a little kid, but to quote my mom, "You always drew, but you were never very good at it." It wasn't until a few years ago when I decided to practice everyday, that I started getting better. I would draw some days for 15 hours straight till my hands were swollen shut. So, yeah, I definitely learned how to draw.


2. What happened to the fashion designs you made when you were 13?
I still have most of them. I did the little clothing company till I was 20, but then I got to a point where to take things to the next stage, I needed to get investors, and I decided it was a little too early in my life to get into debt, so I decided to leave that door open, and pursue fashion illustration.

3. Do you ever think about designing your own collection or your interest is only in recreating colections of great designers?
Oh, I'm very interested in designing my own collection. All the clothes from the "fairy tale"-esque paintings are clothes I designed. I'm always sketching up collections. Maybe, some day, I might try designing a collection and have it made.

4. The fact that some of your illustrations been improvised while you travel by car and others been draw so carefully at home and yet each one of them been easily recongnized as yours shows how personalized your work is?
Yeah, definitely, it is kind of funny, but my art is kind of like handwriting; whenever I draw, it always comes out looking like mine. It's nothing I try to do, it just is my style. I guess that's the only way I can explain it.

5. Fashion is obviously the essence of your creations. How do you see your work applied, for instance, to childrens book illustrations?
Well, actually, I'm working with Australian writer Sophie Ward on illustrating her children's book for Paper Castle Press right now. I really like illustrating children's books, because it brings out a different style in my work. Also, growing up, children's books were some of my favorite things.

6. How important was your course in photography and how much does it influenciate your work?
Photography is definitely a big component when I'm concepting a picture.

7. Which other art, places, people inspires you?
I'm inspired by almost everything. The artists that inspire me are Audrey Beardsley and Egon Schiele; there is something about their work that just inspires me to keep working more and more. Also, designers Alexander Mcqueen and John Galliano, because they have a whimsical, dream-like quality to their work. My favorite Fashion Photographers are Man Ray and Steven Meisel.

8. You reveal on your blog some of your illustration technics. Do you always follow one rule, many rules or do you have none?
I am one who completely loves techniques. I love experimenting and developing new techniques. When I look at a picture, or when I am starting to develop an idea, I think through all the different techniques or ways to create a piece, and figure out what is a fit. As far as rules, I really don't have any rules...Well, maybe one rule is find out what the rules are, then figure out how to break them. In Art, I think that is one of the best things I have heard someone say. I actually have a video Documentary up at igorandandre.blogspot.com (click on videos). In the Video, I show the full process of the self portrait that I drew for this article.

9. By your drawings I can tell one of your favorite subjects is women (fashion has male models too), why is that?
That is a good question. For me, I draw what I love because I think that being emotionally connected to the subject that I'm working with produces really sincere work. For me, women inspire me more than anything.

10. What’s your favourite work?
I would have to say without a doubt that my favorite work is my Character Sketch Book. It is my most personal body of work, because it chronicles the infancy stages of me learning how to draw, all the way up to the present. I have one drawing left in the book, which will be my 200th drawing in it. I've posted a lot of pages from the book on my blog. This is the project that I am most proud of.

11. As a fashion illustrator, is there anything you would refuse to draw?
Hmm...interesting question. So far, there has not been anything. I usually only like to draw things that inspire me, because then I know I'm going to do my best work.

12. How do you define your work?
I would say my work is an extension of me. It really is.... I try to be emotionally connected with all of my work and really pour as much of myself into it as I can.

13. In one word, how do you define a 23 years old illustrator who already has in his portfolio works like the lookbook of 2008 New York Fashion Week, reinterpretations of Prada or Roberto Cavalli campaigns, Vogue covers or Kate Moss portraits?
Blessed.

14. What would be the dream situation for you as an illustrator?
One of my biggest dreams is to illustrate a Vogue cover, because some of my favorite illustrations are old 1920's Vogue covers. I would love to bring it back.

15. Despite your success, are you a simple guy?
Tell us something about you that goes beyond your work.
Yes, definitely, I am a simple guy! I love hanging out spending time with my family. I like to keep my life as calm as I can. I wake up early and read for a little, then start drawing until I go to bed. In addition, I coached high school wrestling with my dad till this year, and now I have been coaching a little kids (ages 5-9) wrestling team. I definitely love teaching kids.

16. Are you eco-friendly?
As much as I can be. For example: I don't drive, and I work alot with making things out of recycled cardboard. Actually, this year, I build a 9ft X 6ft X 3ft window display, for an environmentally friendly boutique in San Francisco, all out of recycled cardboard.

17. Do you agree that fashion can help saving the planet?
I think they can help get things rolling, but Fashion is just a component, an essential component, but a component. I think, ultimately, it will take everyone making a conscious effort to do just a little to help; that will be the key.

Chic Intuition

Hey friends.
i got one more thing for yawl to check out.
the lovely gals at Chic Intuition posted the interview i did with them.
if you are interested in checking it out, Click Here.
Hope you enjoy it!

Pony Ryder

Morning/ afternoon friends.
How are you guys and gals doing?
This week i did a interview with the Great Blog, Pony Ryder.
If you want to check it out Click here. :)