model: Agent Retro
This photo is from our suite at the Alexis Hotel in Seattle. It was the rock star suite (and not just because we were staying there). There were signed guitars, gold records, and a music related photography on the walls.
You can purchase prints of “At the Rock Star Suite” from my Art & Photo Print Shop. I’m also booking model photography sessions this summer in the Austin, Texas area.
pen & marker on 12″x9″ paper
File this one under “I don’t know what it means either”. Silhouettes of a baby carriage and a woman in a Victorian dress holding a parasol in front of a statue of half a head. There’s some kind of sense to it somewhere. I blame this one on twelve year old single malt Scotch.
model: Alysha Nett
This is Alysha surrounded by a wall of herself. The portraits are from our first photo shoot. This is what happens when I work multiple times with someone. Their past can come back to haunt them.
You can order prints of “The Wall of Alysha” from my Art & Photo Print Shop. I’m also booking photo sessions now in the Austin, Texas area. I will be available throughout June and all summer.
Last week I returned from an eight day road trip from Austin to Seattle with my friend and model Agent Retro. I didn’t have any artwork in this year’s Seattle Erotic Art Festival, but I decided to make the trek anyway. The festival was a bit of a MacGuffin, or an excuse, to go on a long road trip, which is something I’ve been itching to do. The trip took us through the isolated, nearly abandoned towns of West Texas and through the deserts of New Mexico. We were surprised to see some beautiful snowfall in Colorado but feared for our lives later in a nighttime snowstorm on twisty, cliff-laden roads in Utah, which we were later told is part of Dead Man’s Pass. I know were in Idaho but the plains were pretty plain. That led us into valleys in Oregon and through forests in Washington before getting to our destination.
Once we got to Seattle, we were amazed to see the hotel suite I had booked. I like to stay in unique, boutique hotels whenever I travel. I guess you can say that I don’t fuck around when I go somewhere to play. The suite was massive and should have been three times the price. It was one of those absurdities that make me wonder how I get away with things I do. Then again, there’s so much that seems to fall into place for the gimmick of a swanky, rock star lifestyle that I lead. Later on the suite would prove be a great setting for a photo shoot with Agent Retro and my friend from Seattle Kendra.
We only managed to go to the Seattle Erotic Art Festival one night. It was good and there was lots of eye candy. Although there were some things I enjoyed more during last year’s festival. The stage show had some impressive performances from aerial dancers and others. However I thought it needed some titillation with more strip tease, burlesque and cabaret type performances to fit the theme of an erotic show better. Still, it was an incredibly well done production (suck it Dirty Show in Detroit). The new short film screenings were nice too and it added even more variety to the event.
I wish I could have taken more time to look at the art. There was so much that it was hard to take it all in during the time were were there on Friday night. We got distracted on Saturday night with the aforementioned photo shoot. While the festival was going on we were making our own erotic art during an epic six hour (or longer) photo shoot. Somehow every time I shoot with Kendra in Seattle, we start late in the afternoon and the next thing you know it’s well after midnight. I’m not complaining though.
After Seattle, we stayed in Portland for a day. I’d heard that Portland is a very similar city to Austin. So much so that they even appropriated the slogan “Keep Portland Weird” from Austin. It definitely has its eccentricities (I don’t think an abundance of homeless hanging around the streets should be one of them though). We didn’t have much of a plan while we were there and took in what we could. I enjoyed what I saw and experienced. Portland is on the list of places I want to go back to and spend more time with.
The drive back to Austin was a marathon that took us back the same way we came. We didn’t stop to spend the night anywhere. Mild delirium set in after one day. Caffeine kept me wired and I even became manic at one point while going through the canyon lands of Utah. Later that night driving through the dark, lonely outskirts of Roswell, New Mexico on little sleep was an interesting experience because everything seemed spooky. By the time we got back to Texas, I was probably seeing double and maybe hallucinating (At least I hope there really were deer by the wind farms). We finally arrived in Austin Wednesday morning. Once I was home, I took a nap and the next thing I knew it was Thursday.
model: Syrien Sweets
I just returned to Austin a couple of days ago after going on a week long road trip to Seattle and Portland. I scheduled a few posts to be published while I was away but, unfortunately, I didn’t have enough to go up every day. New work isn’t quite ready to show yet. In the meantime, enjoy another preview shot with Syrien Sweets from our Zivity photo set.
Those of you with Zivity accounts can see the full photo set here. I have plenty of free trial invitations if anyone is interested.
You can purchase prints of “Breaking Free of the Dark” from my Art & Photo Print Shop.
model: Lauren WK
From a photo session last summer. While I don’t have photo shoot after shoot everyday, there are times I go from one thing to the next quickly and what I’ve done fades in my memory. I was reminded about this when I came across the wallet I chains used during this shoot.
You can buy prints of “Get Born Again” from my Art & Photo Print Shop.
model: Syrien Sweets
hair & makeup: Tami Milicia
Another preview of our photo set on Zivity. Those of you with Zivity accounts can see the full photo set here. I have plenty of free trial invitations if anyone is interested.
You can purchase prints of “Breaking Free of the Dark” from my Art & Photo Print Shop.
“Confined Harmony”
graphite on 18″x24″ paper
Although I’ve got a trip to Seattle soon, I was good and didn’t slack off this weekend. I did this drawing based on the idea of being in a cage. I was originally thinking of a bird cage, but it evolved into something more industrial.
Updates here might be less frequent while I’m away at play. If I don’t make it back, just remember the owls are not what they seem.
The original drawing of “Confined Harmony” is available for sale. You can also purchase prints of it from my Art & Photo Print Shop.
A few weeks ago Gabino Iglesias of the Austin Post interviewed me and it was published this past week (read it here). It’s a very nice read and Mr. Iglesias went beyond the basic, barely scratching the surface questions. He discovered my work after interviewing Miss Eva Strangelove (who made some very flattering comments about me and my art in the article). Then he familiarized himself with what I do before we met for the interview.
One question that almost caught me off guard was “What is sexy?” Honestly, I don’t intend to create or capture “sexy”. It just happens and I do what appeals to me. Sometimes, though, I feel words like “dark and sensual” that others give my work may end up hurting me when it comes to gaining broad acceptance. I don’t try to be edgy but what I do with the portraits and figurative work of women might give me the reputation of being too “dangerous”.
Most contemporary art trends being presented today seem to be more weird and quirky or highly conceptual. While I like some of what I see, those trends keep me out of the art establishment most of the time. Recently I’ve almost begun to think of myself as an alternative artist. Even though there are many people who like my work, I’m still on the fringe of the mainstream. Although one could argue that the mainstream art world still has a reputation of being exclusive and not for everyday people and that the art world is, in fact, not mainstream at all.
Some of my photography seems to have an easier time getting attention. Of course, on the internet, naked ladies will get attention no matter what. Views and favorites on DeviantART, reblogs on Tumbler, and search engine referrals will attest to that. Also, I used up Google AdWords credits recently and, due to the content, my site only appeared in adult searches. It can be somewhat discouraging because that’s not the audience I’m after. Of course, it does help my reputation of being dangerous.
I don’t let all that bother much though. I do what the hell I want. I’m glad somebody likes it and it gives me encouragement to keep it up.
Anyway, read about “The Sensual, Dark Art of David de Lara” on AustinPost.org.
model: Syrien Sweets
hair & makeup: Tami Milicia
I swear off using liquid latex after each time I use it. It can be a pain in the ass for everyone one involved if you apply it all over someone’s body. It calls me back though when the idea is good enough.The idea here was that, with black latex on a black backdrop, all you would see was the skin that wasn’t covered in black. She would reveal more of her body as she tore off the latex.
Those of you with Zivity accounts can see the full photo set here. I have plenty of free trial invitations if anyone is interested.
You can purchase prints of “Breaking Free of the Dark” from my Art & Photo Print Shop.
