We recently connected with Dalton Portella and have shared our conversation below.

Dalton, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I’ve been surviving as a full-time fine artist for the last twenty something years. Before that, I was a commercial artist, a photo retoucher, then a digital artist, mostly working on movie posters and print advertisement.
When I was in high school I thought I wanted to be an illustrator, I grew up on album cover art, influenced by Roger Dean, Ralph Steadman and illustrators like Marshall Arisman, all illustrators that were very painterly.
I went to high school in Brazil and wanted to come to the States to study illustration. My mother, a single mom raising four kids couldn’t afford to pay for it so I was emancipated and set out on my own to figure it out. I studied in California for a couple of years and then transferred to Parsons School of Design in NY. My financial aid got screwed up and I had to drop out. I got a job as a photo retoucher on film which at first was amazing to me that I could earn a living with a brush and my ability to draw and paint. But I never felt fulfilled as a retoucher. I always felt I had more to say and contribute to the world as an artist. I painted and drew everyday and started showing my paintings on weekends at juried exhibits and started approaching galleries. I started showing in galleries and selling. Meanwhile, my retouching career shifted to a computer, the Quantel Graphic Paintbox, and started to flourish, I was doing all the finishing work for Miramax posters and getting some design work on album covers as well. Eventually Macs got fast enough and Photoshop developed enough for me to go in to business for myself but it still wasn’t creatively fulfilling, it was bringing someone else’s ideas to fruition. That’s when I started focusing on my fine art and photography full-time.
I think if I had been more aware of what was happening in the contemporary art world in high school and even in my first years in college I might have been able to speed up the trajectory to full-time artist but I was completely out of the loop.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As an fine artist, I’m most proud of the paintings I’ve made that have touched people’s souls, that have moved them to tears and filled them with awe. I paint from my heart.
As a commercial artist, I’m proud of the movie poster work I did that brought the designer’s vision to fruition. I’m also proud of the album cover art I did for Chem Lab. RIP Dylan Moore.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Buy original art. Go to shows. Give art as gifts. Buy it because you love it. Buy it because it moves you.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The Art Spirit by Robert Henri taught me what it is to be an artist. I read this book when I was twenty and it has been my bible ever since.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.daltonportella.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dltnart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dalton.portella
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dltnartist
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dalton-portella

Image Credits

Dalton Portella