Five Questions with… Dave Whamond

Hey all. If you’ve ever taken a look at the “Weird Zone” section in OWL (or this post), you’re familiar with the awesomely funny work of artist Dave Whamond. But I thought you might like to learn a bit more about him, so I decided to do something about it!

I sent Dave five questions, and he was kind enough to answer them all — he even answered one in the form of a comic. Cool, huh?

On with the questions!

Q: Where is your favourite place to work?

Dave: I have a nice studio in my house, which is perfect for me. I used to work in a busy studio downtown with a bunch of other illustrators and designers. It was great but WAAAAY too distracting. I find that I get a lot more work done without interruptions, especially when it comes to thinking up ideas. Those people were just too darn fun.

Q: Your illustrations make a lot of OWL readers laugh. What makes you laugh?

Dave: Where do I start? I guess I could sum it up by saying that I like quirky, offbeat humour. I still love watching cartoons, too. And now that they make cartoon movies in 3-D, are you kiddin’ me? What could be better than that? At the other end of the spectrum, I like simple things, too, like laughing at the misfortune of others on America’s Funniest Home Videos and YouTube. I laugh out loud at a guy trying to ride a motorbike for the first time and losing control and zooming off into a bush. Gets me every time.

Q: If you weren’t an artist, you’d be…

Dave: A mad scientist. Mostly because I like to do an evil laugh. BWA-HAA-HAAA! Seriously, I would definitely be doing something creative. And I would be my own boss. Once you work for yourself, it would be difficult to do anything else. I also have taught illustration at the Alberta College of Art in the past and that can be rewarding, too. It’s great to see students that you have taught out there making a big splash in the world.

Q: Do you have a catchphrase?

Dave: I used to say “Get outta town!” all the time when someone told me something exciting or hard to believe. In fact, I haven’t said that for a while — maybe I’ll try to bring it back. Everyone out there, start saying “Get outta town!” all the time. We can start a trend!

Q: Would you rather have three eyes or three ears?

Dave:

Excellent! Many, many thanks to Dave for answering all my questions — not to mention his fantastic work in OWL every month. It’s truly a pleasure!

By the way, you and I aren’t the only ones who recognize Dave’s genius. Earlier this year, he won the Reuben Award (given out by the National Cartoonists Society) for book illustration for My Think-A-Ma-Jink, his first picture book with Owlkids. Congratulations again, Dave!

Talk to you next week.

Craig, owlblog@owlkids.com