Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to David Peche. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

David, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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 an artist my entire life. I grew up in my dad’s independent commercial art studio in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s so, at a young age I was able to experiment with any type of art I wanted. I burned my first silkscreen on my own at the age of 10. It was a Japanese battle flag shirt for a band I liked at the time. I pretty much worked with my dad since I can remember. I learned sign painting, fabrication, sculpture and more with him. My middle school and high school years I would make drawings and airbrushed t-shirts to sell them to classmates.

After high school, I went to college for a few semesters for fine arts, but life has surprises. I got married and we had a son at 20 years old. I left art school to join the Army to support my family as I wasn’t making enough money as an art student. Spent 4 years in the Army, deployed to Haiti for Operation Uphold Democracy in 1994-95. Once I completed my enlistment, we came back home and pursued careers in art. I went to tech school for computer graphics, became an Adobe Certified Expert, which allowed me to get jobs as a graphic artist for a major advertising company. Then an Industrial Illustrator and CAD designer for a nationwide plastics company where I ran their CNC router. Then I became a medical illustrator as a contractor for the Army during the OIF War in Iraq, where I took pictures of soldiers’ wounds and surgical procedures and illustrated them for educational purposes, while also creating custom graphics and displays for doctors in specialized fields. I moved on to Lead Tech Illustrator for the US Air Force as a contractor where I illustrated maintenance educational manuals, text books and schematics of the B1 Bomber and the A10 Thunderbolt, Then I moved on to start my own sign and graphics company, where my wife and I specialized in large format graphics and vehicle wraps. While running our own company, we started a grassroots arts organization which was based on building an art community and putting on gallery shows for artists at all levels. We had juried art hanging, live painting, live body painting, live music, art vendors, free admission, no commissions and we gave away free beer from our sponsor. At the height of our art organization, we had over 500 local artist members in our group. We even put on an event show at The Museo Alameda (the first formal Smithsonian affiliate outside of Washington D.C.). That was pretty cool. After a while, we started noticing younger artists starting their own shows based off of our model, so we decided to stop and give the younger artists the field.

After that, I continued running our sign business for another 10 years while also creating art and displaying in shows and galleries all around our state. Then I decided to close our business to pursue my dream of being a full time artist. I kept all of our commercial equipment so we could fabricate our own custom art projects and merchandise, built a large personal art studio to work out of, and that’s where I spend most of my days now.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into art working with my dad in his commercial art and sign studio. When you’re a young kid with full run of your dad’s studio, it’s easy to get hooked on the creative arts. I’m a multidisciplinary artist. I like to work with all types of mediums, my favorite being illustration. I also love to paint, sculpt and just create.

I paint my illustrations using spray paint, one shot pinstriping paint and leaf. I have over 72 different custom illustration prints, and still going, that I print in my studio on my large format printer. I also produce contour cut decals of my artwork. Custom CNC skate decks with my artwork on them. Various types of sculptures. Custom large format coloring and full color illustration books that I print and fabricate on my full color commercial laser printer/copier. My wife laser engraves and cuts wood jewelry designed using elements of my illustrations. Everything we produce is fabricated in our personal studio. We’re looking into adding custom dj-illustrator studio screen printed shirts, we just need more room to make those.

What I think sets me apart from others is I can take one illustration and make custom prints, paintings, sometimes sculptures and merch. I produce everything I make and design myself in my studio. Also, my wife thinks my organizational skills are horrible. What also sets me apart is just my history of growing up surrounded by art and art creators. I just like making cool stuff. I’m also a self starter. When I get an idea in my head, I run with it and see where it leads to. My process is highly organic and free flowing even though my illustrations seem very technical. It’s very difficult for me to take the tech part out of my creative process. I say I’m going to do something simple and it turns out very complex. Simple is very hard for me to settle on.

I’m most proud of having the ability to have built my own studio. That I get to wake up and make art and be able to support my family with it. That I got to make a contribution to the art community in my city and be able to help struggling artists in their endeavors. You don’t know how many times artists call me to ask me how to do something and that’s pretty cool too.

I guess my mission or focus is to just make amazing artwork. I never really actually thought about it. It’s just something I do, that I’ve always done. It’s just a part of me that’s always been there since I can remember.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I believe life is all about pivoting. I always adjusted or changed direction when life throws curve balls at me. Curve balls are life. I went from meeting my wife at a young age, going to art school. While I was a student I got married and had a son. That was life changing for sure. Joined the military and getting deployed. Huge curve ball. Coming back home from the military and going to tech school for computer graphics. To working in many different fields of art, design and illustration. Pivoting to being a small business owner of my own graphics and sign company. And making the leap to close that business to become a full time artist. I think that last part, closing the business to become a full time artist was the scariest part.

I’ve never been one to sit still or stay in one position too long. I enjoy learning everything I can when it comes to art, graphics and illustration. I like to be able to do a variety of creative things. I get bored very easily, so when I get tired of illustrating I’ll paint. When I get tired of painting I’ll sculpt. When I get tired of sculpting I’ll build something and then it starts all over again. It’s a vicious never ending cycle and I love it.

I don’t think change is something to fear. It just creates new opportunities. New adventures. New friendships. New challenges. And that’s what life’s all about to me at least.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

What is the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative? I can do whatever I want. Having the ability to make a living off of my creations. I wake up, grab my coffee, after personal hygiene of course, head to my studio, make a plan on what my day is going to be like or if I have unfinished projects I will continue working on them. I get to spend a lot of time with my wife. Sometimes I spend all day illustrating or drawing. Sometimes I spend all day painting. Sometimes I spend all day on a project for our home. I get to spend time with my chickens, dog and cats. It gives me a LOT of freedom and time to be creative. I don’t like rules or schedules. I don’t like people telling me what to do, so this is perfect for me. I make my own way. Pretty much have made my own way most of my life. Having the ability to do it with art is probably the most beautiful part. I have always wanted to be an artist and have always been an artist in one way or another. I think being able to do what you love is a blessing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dj-illustratorstudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dj_illustratorstudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Djillustratorcom
• Twitter: https://x.com/djillustrator1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dj-illustratorstudio-cx1jo

Image Credits

Photography by Angel Ayala