PK 027: Book of Life Illustrator Dustin d’Arnault on Why Art is a Lifestyle Choice

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Freebirds – an illustration by Dustin d’Arnault

“Art is a Lifestyle Choice – I Never Switch Off From it!”

In this podcast, we talk to Book of Life illustrator, Dustin d’Arnault, on why he thinks making art is a way of life.

After graduating from Ringling in 2008 and enrolling for two summers at the Illustration Academy, Dustin had to wear many different hats as an artist before he finally got to where he wanted to be.

He found he ended up doing a lot of stuff he didn’t particularly like, and producing lots of commercial work that didn’t reflect his personal style. But this didn’t get him down for long. He spent long hours burning the candle at both ends and perfecting his portfolio so he could reach out to the clients he wanted to work with.

His hard work paid off. Dustin landed a full-time gig at Reel FX and worked on the animation blockbuster, Book of Life, from producer Guillermo del Toro and director Jorge Gutierrez! He’s also just finished work on a series of children’s books to accompany the film. You can see a trailer of the movie here:

Want to follow in Dustin’s footsteps? Check out his podcast interview and see what inspires him to make art 24-7!

Listen to this week’s show and learn:

  • Why getting to where you want to be takes time, hard work, and passion
  • How to develop your individual style and tailor your portfolio to get the gigs you want
  • Why making art is a way of life

People on this Episode:

Mitch
Dustin

Mentioned in the episode:

Dustin’s Website
Dustin on Tumblr
Dustin on Twitter

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Thanks for listening to our show! We’ll be back next Wednesday morning 8AM EST.

Cheers,

Mitch

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