Hello there!
Let me introduce myself. My name is Dave Shabet, I’m a cartoonist and I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. A child of the ’80s, I’ve always been fascinated by action, motion, perspective and energy and I’ve always had a compulsive need to try and put what’s in my head on paper. It’s been a lifelong passion of mine- a vocation- and I’ve learned a lot over many years of trying, failing, reviewing my work and trying again. Today I write a twice-weekly adventure webcomic called Dead Winter, which itself showcases what I’ve learned about art over four-and-a-half years of nonstop drawing. The siren call of the arts is a familiar story to lots of people, but nonetheless I’d like to share a little of my artistic roots.
I studied Illustration at Hamden CT’s Paier College of Art, a quiet little art school tucked away behind a McDonalds parking lot, and learned classical old-world fine arts- graphite and charcoal drawing, painting in acrylic, watermedia and oils- under the tutelage of salty old masters. Afterwards I spent two years studying art education and worked as a student teacher in primary and secondary public schools. I met a lot of great kids and wonderful talent, and I learned something about myself I didn’t fully realize before:
I love to teach.
For a long time I’ve had the itch to start a blog where I can post little lessons and explain the mechanics of How Art Works. My goal is to take what I know about art; from the absolute basics of shape, color and contrast on up to distorting perspective and animation; and outline it in a form accessible to new and old artists alike. I’d like to update as much as I can, which should be at least three times a month, starting with the Elements and Principles of Design as a foundation for more complex concepts to cover afterwards. I’ll do my best to keep this minimum, and answer any specific questions anyone might have.
For anyone who thinks they can’t make art, I’d like to show that they can. For everyone who does make art I’d like to share a little of my insight in case they might learn something new, or find a new approach to their own work. And for myself, I’d like to learn more about art along with anyone who might read this blog, and I’ve found the best way to learn is to teach.
Thanks for reading! I’ll post some more things soon.
