Great Brad Holland Interview

[D Akey]

I tripped over this interview 2008. It's fantastic. I love his attitude(s). Also, about midway into the interview, he gets into some copyright discussion. (Again, it's from 2008 and I don't know what happened with the law since then, but it's scary for an artist.)

The first half of the interview is more glib and focused, while the second half is more like some interesting vignettes that could fit comfortably in a Hunter S Thompson book. By the way, ignore the type-os. It was, after all, written by someone at TOR Publishing.

I've always admired his work but never knew anything about himself as an artist. Ain't the information age great! The interview makes more sense if you look at his work first. See the bottom link for a look at the kind of stuff he's known for.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2008/11/brad-holland-interview

https://www.google.com/search?q=brad...iw=800&bih=386

[stevemawmv]

Thanks DA.....Very interesting interview...recognized some of his earlier and later work viewing the GPic's...and of course remembering old Playboy's and mag covers over the years. intriguing and thought provoking images.... I especially enjoyed the Slim Pickens/Wild Turkey part of the interview. Somewhere I also read that he recieved a rejection notice from Walt Disney, I only mention this because I have mine from many years ago framed and sitting in some forgotten box.

Some more...http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/holland.htm

[D Akey]

Thanks DA.....Very interesting interview...recognized some of his earlier and later work viewing the GPic's...and of course remembering old Playboy's and mag covers over the years. intriguing and thought provoking images.... I especially enjoyed the Slim Pickens/Wild Turkey part of the interview. Somewhere I also read that he recieved a rejection notice from Walt Disney, I only mention this because I have mine from many years ago framed and sitting in some forgotten box.

Some more...http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/holland.htm

Awesome link. Those are great examples of his work in your link. I will read the article momentarily (on the run right now).

By the way, a rejection from Disney is not such a bad thing for an artist with their own calling. Disney, for all the great technical expertise and storytelling skills, they are all about the team, and whether the artist can, or is willing, to conform to complete a singular vision. Brad Holland seems like his inner guidance was so strong that would not have been a great match.

And with you. . . interesting. You had at one point applied to Disney did you? Very fun. A rejection slip is not the kiss of death, by the way. Timing has a lot to do with it as well.

Stephen King has a collection of his rejection slips from various publishing companies. I never framed any of mine and don't recall there was a paper trail with art. You either got your portfolio back with endless silence or you got the job. I think those were the two choices. Very early on as a student, I actually sent out letters of inquiry about what they thought I should be focusing on as a student to work for the various publishing companies. Some replied, some didn't. So they technically weren't rejections because I didn't have the where with all to apply for a job (ie. neither manuscript, nor portfolio, nor resume had I). I may still have a few sitting in a box somewhere. They were very supportive, or very clear and ranged in content from 'here's what we look for', 'here's what we pay for x,y and z', to 'move to New York and we'll then look at you, we've been burned by people who. . .' (paraphrasing) etc. I did none of it and never moved to New York. In hindsight, I should have.

[gxhpainter2]

great interview, I was familiar with his work by content but not the name, nice to discover the man behind the images, I love his cheeky attitude in the interview..

[D Akey]

Thanks DA.....Very interesting interview...recognized some of his earlier and later work viewing the GPic's...and of course remembering old Playboy's and mag covers over the years. intriguing and thought provoking images.... I especially enjoyed the Slim Pickens/Wild Turkey part of the interview. Somewhere I also read that he recieved a rejection notice from Walt Disney, I only mention this because I have mine from many years ago framed and sitting in some forgotten box.

Some more...http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/holland.htm

Okay, had a chance to read that article and it spawned some thoughts.

While recently on YouTube I stumbled across an old video of Mick Jagger inducting the Beatles into the R&R Hall of Fame (I think or perhaps one of them like John Lennon, but I think it was the whole group). Anyway, he generously and honestly commented that way back when, as the Beatles came out with ground breaking albums, like Sargent Pepper's, they (the Rolling Stones) were sick (with envy).

I have long known that feeling, being an artist I think it's one of the most common feelings one can experience when looking at other great artists' works. Like: "Wish I had thought to paint like that!" and "Wish I had thought of that idea!" or "Why the heck don't clients ask me to do those kinds of jobs?" and "You mean they actually got paid to do something so fun?" etc etc ad nauseam.

Brad Holland is one of those guys I get that sick feeling looking at his work. I only once tried to get his Ribald Classics technique when I was in school as an experiment. And it was fun, but I was in school and as art schools do, I was on to something new almost immediately. My experience was that they taught what they taught, and didn't do a lot to further personal direction for artists outside the teacher's own expertise. So I thought the experiment cool and that was all she wrote, and I went on to learn more conservative classical kinds of painting, lured by my love of book jackets and the super lucrative movie posters as well as advertising art, product renderings and so on. That's where the money was. Brad Holland and those kinds of artists were considered Editorial Artists and that was a whole different area with a lot more freedom but generally paid less.

Occasionally there were student artists who maintained their own voice through school and it was amazing to see and they tended to make a big splash when they got into the professional art world because they were genuinely drawing from inside their own creative fire.

I think the "Information Age" with the internet is a double edge sword. On one hand we can get inspired all over the place with nearly the full gamut of human artistry. On the other hand it's an endless opportunity to be sick from the inevitable personal comparison with these brilliant artists. I mean, we're only one person. So easy to get pulled hither and yon. . . I had a devil of a time my whole career as I endlessly crossed paths with other brilliant artists and writers and musicians and film makers etc etc. I saw their successes and wanted to play, not to steal anything from them but because they looked like they got the whole art thing right and it looked satisfying to achieve that, let alone it looking like the best game ever.

The proverbial candy store can give the proverbial belly ache if we over-indulge. But, damn, I love eye and mind candy! And Brad Holland is a great treat on a lot of different levels -- visual and conceptual and witty and clearly himself. Bravo Brad!

Thanks for the link Steve!

[stevemawmv]

The more I see the more I remember.... It's like running into someone your entire life but you really never knew their name.
Thanks again DA for mentioning Brad, it was like a pictorial stroll down memory lane for me and I'am sure for others as well.

Also check this out...http://www.bradholland.net/
Click 'PORTFOLIO' and click into his life....