Interview w/ Dave Perillo, Illustrator and Pop Culture Connoisseur

Posted September 1st, 2010 / By Rondal Scott III in Featured Illustrators, Interviews

To kick things off for my very first interview here on Fuel Your Illustration I’m joined by one of the very artists set to participat in this Friday’s upcoming 3G show (Gremlins, Ghostbusters, and Goonies): Dave Perillo. Drawing from a retro-inspired background of 50s and 60s album covers and character designs, Perillo combines his love for pop culture (cartoons, comics, video games) with this vintage aesthetic to create works of art that are both strikingly bold and brilliantly simple.

Visit Dave’s portfolio |   Follow Dave on Twitter

Thanks for joining us, Dave. Can you recall the first illustration you ever did? What do you remember most about it?

I don’t really remember the first illustration I did, but I do remember being around the age of 4 and making a little mini picture book called “The Bubble Factory” where a mad scientist made a bubble machine. The scientist and a little boy get trapped in a bubble and then float away until it eventually pops and they safely land on the ground. I know my mom helped me put it all together. It was riveting story that I hope one day will be made into a big budget Hollywood film… maybe James Cameron could direct?

You graduated from Cabrini College with a degree in Graphic Design. Was there any specific experience you had that drew you more towards the illustration side of graphic arts?

Well, I was always told that if you majored in graphic design that it’d be easier to find a “real” job, which it did. I eventually moved into doing illustration work since it was more up my alley, I always loved “drawin’ pictures” so that’s the way I had to go. I do think that the graphic design background definitely helps when incorporating type and choosing color palettes in my work.

Most of your artwork seems to revolve around pop culture icons whether they be from film, television or video game. What do you find most appealing about this subject matter?

I guess as an artist you find inspiration on what surrounds you. Monet had water lilies, Van Gogh had sun flowers and I have cartoons, comics, video games, movies and sugar coated cereal.

With that in mind would you say that you consider yourself a caricaturist, cartoonist, or simply an illustrator? What do you perceive to be the differences between the three, if any?

It really is a fine line defining the three, but I would consider myself to be a cartoonist/illustrator. I always think of a caricaturist to be the guy who sits at an amusement park and draws silly pictures of people in a race car or on roller skates.

What kinds of things do you find the hardest to illustrate?

I gotta say feet and hands are always a pain to draw. Also, I once tried to draw the back of my head but could never get a clear look at to see if it came out okay.

How do you go about developing a typical illustration, do you start with a sketch and photo references or jump right into digital?

Sometimes I’ll do a rough sketch and then kind of use it as an overlay when I work on it digitally. Other times I’ll jump right in to digital, it depends on the piece really.

You co-host a podcast series called Megapodzilla with ‘Krazy Joe’ Fiore. Can you tell us a bit more about that and how you got involved?

My friend Krazy Joe wanted to do a podcast talking about movies, TV, comics and all things nerdy and asked if I wanted to co-host. We talk about what we currently enjoy (the “high five” section of the show) and our dislikes (Damage Report) and we give our thoughts on upcoming projects (Megapodzilla Prediction Network). We both used to do college radio shows back in the day and the podcast is kinda like an updated version of that.

Your work shares an aesthetic of simple shapes and flat colors that could be found in either animation or the Sunday ‘Funnies.’ Are there any specific examples of artists from these mediums that have influenced you at all?

I feel very influenced by things from the 50’s and 60’s. Occasionally I do some off registration in some of pieces which is kind of a throwback to way newspapers got printed. I guess as far as artists that influence me, I find I lean more towards artists like Jim Flora who did a bunch of jazz album artwork and Mary Blair who worked for Disney in the 50’s and 60’s. I use to own a book as a kid called “Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals” which showed you how to draw using basic shapes, i think that might have had an impact on my style today.

In 2002 you had a comic entitled “Abbey and Squirrel: Toad Trip” that was loosely based on an trip you and a friend had to experience Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Unfortunately, the comic never concluded… did they make it?

Ah yes… Abbey and Squirrel, I remember those two. Did they make it? Much like the riddle of how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop the world may never know. That is of course unless James Cameron would want to make it into a feature length film… Hollywood are you reading this?

In your biography you mentioned wanting to be Ziggy when you were a boy. Whatever happened to little ‘Ziggy’ Perillo?

Let’s just say I’m on my way to baldness and then after that the pants come off!

Rondal Scott III is a creative instigator who tackles each day with Red Bull-induced enthusiasm and is a self-professed Twitter addict. His obsession with horror movies and pop culture inspired him to found Strange Kids Club in 2009. On occasion he also writes part time for Bloodsprayer, an all-horror blog focused on “…all the filth that’s fit to publish.”