model: Heather Renaud

Buy a print of Basic Space

model: Porcelain

Fabulous & Rococo Bed by Fabulous & Baroque

This is just a preview. View all of “The Porcelain Bed Set” on Zivity. If you’re not a member ask me about starting a free trail.

model: Porcelain

Buy a custom print of “Porcelain Spotlight”

“Present Tense”
digital photo manipulation
model: Heather Renaud

We come from the dark. One day we’ll fade back into it.

Buy a print of “Present Tense”

model: Eva Strangelove

Belle de Fleur French Love Seat by Fabulous & Baroque

Buy a print of Eva on Belle de Fleur

model: Porcelain

Order custom prints from Procelain Part Two

I’ve come to realize that I never really wanted to work for anybody. However, the difference between somebody that’s unemployed and myself is that I have talent and a set of skills where I create things I can sell to people.

When I was younger I had dreams of getting involved in industries like comics or videogames. In college I thought I could go into graphic design and the advertising business. Then my tastes changed or things didn’t work out and I fell onto the path I’m on. As I look back at what my options could be, I see that I really wouldn’t be doing what I wanted to. Yes, I would be doing art for a living, but I would be part of a team that’s creating a product.

What I really wanted to do with my life as an independent artist is not a “real job”. It puts me and others like me on the fringes of society (not to mention it makes family members wonder when we’re going to grow up and get real jobs). By fringes I mean we’re not part of the traditional pattern of: attend college, earn a degree, and get a job with a company. We’re the rebels that get to sleep in, stay out late, work when inspiration strikes, and don’t have to answer to anybody but ourselves (except maybe somebody else’s lawyer occasionally).

While being an independent artist offers the freedom of not being a slave to someone, it comes with the frightening possibility of not having steady income.

In an ideal society people would live their lives as they wished. Any skills and talents they possess could be shared with others because it’s what they’re passionate about. A doctor would still help the sick and an engineer would still design machinery. A writer would still write and a dancer would still perform. We don’t live in a utopia though and we have to deal with the reality that we need money to live. To get money we need jobs. I’m sure a doctor and an engineer have very good chances of getting jobs they were trained for. They offer desirable skills that benefit society and are deemed important. I doubt a writer and a dancer are thought of the same way. Their chances of getting a job that pays regularly and also uses their talents aren’t as good.

Anyway, enough of that tangent. Let’s get back to me… (aren’t I vain?)

I might make sound like I’ve never had a job. That’s not true. After college I worked in non-profit arts administration for over seven years and did some freelancing on the side. Freelancing was often frustrating due to clients and arts administration is a different kind of animal than being an artist. Neither was as satisfying as doing the work I wanted to do. However, I didn’t go into this “job” without the security of having money saved up. The cliché of the starving artist is true and there isn’t a lot of money in art. Anybody who is crazy enough to be an artist without a day job knows this. Still, we are passionate about our work and want to play an enriching role in society. Sometimes the best way to do that is without any restraints.

model: Porcelain

It’s been a while since I’ve posted some photos. I just had several sessions so you’ll be seeing more over the next few weeks. Let’s start with some from Porcelain.

Order custom prints from The Porcelain Set

This got me thinking about the artist as a character. I’m sure people other than myself like to think of any kind of creative person who lives and breathes their work as someone that isn’t like the rest of us. They follow their own rules and do what they want. It sets them apart and makes them unique and special. A few of the people in the documentary are almost a little too over the top, but they’re real and don’t give a second thought about how they present themselves. It’s who they are and they don’t need to apologize for it.

I don’t want to make it a secret that David de Lara isn’t my real name. De Lara used to be part of my family’s surname and I revived it for my professional name. I originally wanted to use it since it sounds good and also people can say it and spell it correctly (most of the time anyway. It’s a lowercase d and two words people). In a strange way it helped create an identity for myself as an artist that’s separate from my personal life. I’ve also been at it long enough that people see my name and think of my work, or they see something I created and they know it’s one of David de Lara’s. So it’s also become a brand name of sorts.

I know there are a few people who think they have an idea about how I live. By day I’m locked away in my studio creating lots of art or I have models over for wild photo shoots. By night I’m a decadent mad man who goes out on the town surrounded by many beautiful women and always has a rocks glass of whiskey in hand. I won’t deny that there have been more than a few days like that. Although, it’s fun how this characterization of myself happened based on the kind work I do and comments I post online. I’m not playing up a gimmick that hides behind the name David de Lara. I’m simply being myself and living life the way I want to.

Arts and entertainment are usually in the same section of the newspaper. I like to think artists, even those who aren’t performers, are entertainers. People see our work and enjoy what we do. Over the years, especially with the advent of things like Twitter, people can follow artists and not only see their latest work but get a sense of their personality. That helps create a character in people’s minds.

If anybody enjoys my art and also thinks I’m entertaining, it just means I’m doing my job well.

“Serialized Psychosis – Sonrisa”
oil, graphite & colored pencil on 16″x20″ gesso board

I teased people a little bit by posting the work in progress on my Facebook page and Twitter over the past couple of weeks. Now here is the finished artwork. This is the second piece in my Serialized Psychosis series. I’m not sure how many there will be, but I have at least two more planned.

Buy the original painting
Order a print of “Serialized Psychosis – Sonrisa”

“Serialized Pychosis – Vaunted”
oil, graphite & colored pencil on 16″x20″ gesso board

Buy the original painting

Order a custom print of “Serialized Psychosis – Vaunted”

A few weeks ago on Twitter and Facebook I declared that I had blocked daviddelara.com from having its images shared on Pinterest. The answer to why I did so was simple. Any of my images posted on their site became theirs to do with as they please. This is from the terms of service:

“By making available any Member Content through the Site, Application or Services, you hereby grant to Cold Brew Labs a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with the right to sublicense, to use, copy, adapt, modify, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast, access, view, and otherwise exploit such Member Content only on, through or by means of the Site, Application or Services. Cold Brew Labs does not claim any ownership rights in any such Member Content and nothing in these Terms will be deemed to restrict any rights that you may have to use and exploit any such Member Content.”

While it goes on to say that members can only post content they created or have rights to, it’s not something a majority of the site’s users will know or care about. People are used to sharing everything on the web, such as videos, music, and photos, whether it’s theirs or not. I really don’t have a problem with anyone sharing my work as long as I get credit. However, what’s happening on Pinterest violates creator’s copyrights when someone else posts their images. Once images are posted on the site, the owners of Pinterest have the right to do whatever they’d like with them and the creators will have no control over it nor receive compensation. Pinterest says they’ll do what they can about removing violating images but, until they change their terms of service, I won’t be using the site.

Like I said before, I don’t have a problem with others posting and sharing my work. However, it’s one thing to share but another to appropriate, misrepresent, and potentially profit from it.

I get alerts in my email about mentions of my name on Twitter. Through that I discovered a site that’s using my photos for fake profiles to sell prostitutes. They even had the gall to credit me as the photographer. It’s an obvious bait and switch scam. Clicking one link leads to another until they get you to sign up for a subscription. Using my name and my photos could give the impression that I gave the website approval. I’m not too upset about it since I know there’s little that can be done since it’s difficult to get sites like that shut down.

As a visual artist my commodity is the imagery I create and I get to have control over my artwork’s use. Whether it’s the hot new social network or a bogus porn site, it is difficult to make sure theft doesn’t occur online. We can only take small steps to protect our work.

model: Agent Retro
makeup: Tami Milicia

Buy a print of “Hidden in Snow”

“X & O”
graphite on 5″x7″ museum board

“Horizons”
graphite on 5″x7″ museum board

A couple of small drawings for the upcoming “Five x Seven” exhibition and art sale at AMOA-Arthouse. They can be yours when it kicks off with the SPLURGE on April 4th.

“Twisting Promises”
oil paint & colored pencil on 24″x36″ linen canvas

It’s been way too long since I finished a painting. This one had several starts and stops since the end of September. This piece was almost lost in the abyss as much as the woman in the painting. I already have a few ideas lined up. So it probably won’t be so long until you see the next one.

Purchase the original painting

Buy a print of “Twisting Promises”

model: Vaunt
hair & makeup: Jennifer Kraack

You can’t go wrong with fishnets on black and white.

Purchase prints of Vicarious 1, 2, and 3

Artists have to pay their dues if they want to get somewhere. When you’re starting out, you have to take every opportunity you can before you can figure out what works best for you. I’ve shown artwork in an incredibly diverse number of venues. I’ve had artwork in major arts institutions, galleries, art fairs, alternative/DIY spaces, restaurants, coffee houses, hair salons, and bars. I’ve participated in small local events to big events with an international scope. There have even been some I’ve forgotten about until something triggers my memory.

One of those memory triggers happened recently when I was reading during a flight. A section of the book Art/Work was discussing artists at the early stages of their careers and how they shouldn’t say “No” to anything. I suddenly remembered about this one event where the night ended with a friend and I rescuing several paintings from an after-hours party and carrying them several blocks to my car in downtown Austin at 4 a.m. I don’t remember all the details but I somehow got involved in showing some art at the home of the editor and publisher of one of the Austin entertainment/culture magazines (which is no longer around). I’m sure the night was nice enough. That is, until the bars closed and his home began to fill with people who weren’t ready to quit partying. I didn’t like what it was turning into and I decided to get my work off the walls and leave.

It’s hard for me to believe I almost forgot about that. It was many years ago (maybe in 2004 or 2005) and I have a whiskey-muddled memory. Coincidentally though, I still have a strong memory of a girl serving me a large glass of whiskey and coke that was nothing but whiskey that night.

So that was the event that scratched off underground parties thrown by shady magazine publishers from the list of things I’ll do. I don’t think I’ve been involved in anything else quite like that I wouldn’t do again. A few years later I discovered I don’t like participating in weekend outdoor art festivals, but it’s for an entirely different reason (sitting around all day and hardly making any money). Although, one of those nights involved me passing out on my apartment’s floor when I drank a bottle of wine (maybe more) during the festival’s after party. The next day was hell.

model: Vaunt
hair & makeup: Jennifer Kraack

Buy a custom print of “Bloodletting the Accused”

model: Vaunt
hair & makeup: Jennifer Kraack

Buy a custom print of “Portrait on Vixen Red”

As I write this, I’m looking out my hotel room’s window at Detroit’s gloomy, snowy skyline on Valentine’s Day. I’m here for the thirteenth annual Dirty Show and its Valentine’s Night event. The past few days I was in Orlando for Nude Nite. Both of these shows have become pretty big and display the work of hundreds of artists from everywhere in the nation. They’re not your usual art exhibit. Besides the art hanging on the walls, both have a carnival-like atmosphere with a stage show and models/performers set up or wandering all over. The sizes of the audiences are impressive too. They’re major events and I’m glad to be a small part of them.

I haven’t had much on my agenda other than attending the events. I didn’t actively pursue scheduling any photo shoots on this trip. So that’s left me with plenty of downtime to relax or think. One thing I’ve been thinking about is what I’d like to do next.

I didn’t want to book any work on this trip because I’m realizing photography keeps eating up more of my time. I have several ideas for artwork that I’m antsy to work on. The way I schedule my day into blocks of time, having a backlog of photography will keep cannibalizing the time I set aside for creating work. Sorting through and editing photographs is a much easier and quicker process for me. So I get that out of the way first. Without a lot of photography to work on, I can streamline my focus into creating work that has more of my core ideas and intentions behind them.

Working with models and taking their picture is something I enjoy but it needs to be scaled back. (Maybe you’ve noticed that I have already been posting photography less frequently in my blog) I’ve always regarded a majority of my photography as more of a side project. That’s because, for me personally, the images don’t have much to them beyond the surface.

On one hand photography is something I’ve been recognized for. It’s helped me make new connections and reach new audiences. In fact, the work in the Dirty Show and Nude Nite was photography. On the other hand, I don’t want to be pigeon holed as a naughty photographer. The attention I get for that is not always something I want. Nude photography will always get more attention on the internet. In the end all those visitors don’t do me much good since I merely regard them as window shoppers. They aren’t necessarily people who will be back and continue to follow my art.

I’m not done taking pictures. What may end up happening is there will be less photography in its pure form coming from me. It will have a tighter integration with my artwork, there may be more photo manipulations, and more photo shoots will be done strictly for reference purposes. A couple of paintings I have planned will be based on or built upon photos.

Some of you might be disappointed. Maybe it’s because you won’t see new imagery from me as often or you really like looking at photos of women who are often nude. If you’re the latter, I don’t need to cater to you. What I don’t want to do is sell myself short or remain stagnant. Isn’t the desire to push oneself further and explore creativity the mark of a true artist?

Note: This doesn’t meant I’m not scheduling photography sessions. I am merely referring to my personal work, which is separate from client work.

Also, I still have several photos that I haven’t finished yet that you will be seeing in the weeks to come.

model: Theresa Manchester
hair: Jennifer Kraack

Sometimes you don’t need fancy equipment. Dim lighting from a lamp can hit all the right spots and set the mood.

By the way, there’s some trickery involved here. I replaced the artwork in the frame with a photo from the same photo shoot. I’ve got to avoid copyright issues. I know I’d be annoyed if my work appeared in somebody else’s photo without permission or credit.

Buy a print of Manchester Noir

model: Theresa Manchester
hair: Jennifer Kraack

Some people are afraid of using color. Not me. I eat it up like candy.

Buy a print of Cotton Candy

model: Velocity

Buy a print of In the Fade

model: Theresa Manchester
hair: Jennifer Kraack

Some nights are best spent hanging out in a swanky hotel suite.

Buy a print of At the Manchester Suite 

model: Annalee Belle

I’m surprised I haven’t posted this one yet. It was one of our favorites from the photo shoot. Anyway, I’m not sure they had this in mind when they developed the iPad.

Buy a print of At Ease #4

model: Theresa Manchester

It’s either absurd, strange, or offensive to wrap a little statue of Jesus in a condom with the intention of using it as a dildo.

Like many adults I’m a recovering Catholic. My family wasn’t very religious though, but there was still some Catholic guilt that lingered for a while. I’m fine with letting people believe what they want to as long as they keep it to themselves and don’t force it on me. Religion is great for those who need it to find solace. However, there are those who are overly sensitive about their storybook’s icons. Those zealots need to realize that it doesn’t offer absolute truth and give all the answers about our existence.

Buy a print of Manchester & Her Buddy

photographer: Shawn Collie
models: Theresa Manchester & myself
hair: Jennifer Kraack

Earlier this week I had a photo shoot with Theresa Manchester. I also had an idea about doing a new portrait of myself. So I invited Shawn Collie to take the photos. These definitely fit me a lot better than my old self portraits.

“Impetus Theory”
digital photo manipulation
model: Velcoity (well, most of her anyway)

I originally wanted to have Velocity’s disembodied head floating above her body. Every photo combination I tried just looked silly. When I started playing with this image and removed her head, I figured I’d start wiping out the rest of her from existence… When taken out of context, that sounds like some bizarre murder.

Buy a print of Impetus Theory

model: Velocity

This stare is one of those that can be so inviting and possibly dangerous. Lucky for you I survived to bring you this photo.

Buy a print of Wicked Allure

model: Velocity

I’m starting off this year with work I started last year. Velocity was my last shoot of 2011 and, after being on a semi-break during the holidays, I’m back where I left off. It’s always a joy working with her and this is the first of more to come from this shoot.

Buy a print of Velocity on Tattered Scarlet