Eisner Award Winner Dave Dorman is best known for his iconic painting style showcased among several different Star Wars comic book titles from the ’90s and 2000s. He has even been voted the Best Star Wars Artist, and his Star Wars art was taught in university courses across the country.
The man is practically a legend, and now he is bringing to Zoop his new artbook, Oil & Water: The Art of Dave Dorman.
The Beat caught up with Dorman through Zoom for an interview about the artbook and where he was going with its production!
DIEGO HIGUERA: I had a couple questions, the first one that comes to mind is if you could tell us about the inspiration behind the your new art book. What do you hope fans will take away from it? What inspired you to get it started?
DAVE DORMAN: Well, I’m getting old, and, you know, I’ve been in the business for 40 years. I’ve had just a tremendous amount of varied projects during that time. A lot of people know me for certain things like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Aliens, Predator, Batman, or GI Joe, but the amount of work that I’ve done in other areas that would still be of interest, I think fans would be interested in seeing.
So I’ve decided to go ahead and do a book collection. Hopefully it’ll be more than one because I have quite a few pieces of artwork to show you. I just thought that now that I’m, you know, getting up there a little bit, and my work is slowing down, that it’d be good to be able to expand my fan base and show a lot of the artwork that probably a lot of fans haven’t seen.
HIGUERA: So in a way, it’s just so you’re able to get your work out there more and be able to connect with a lot more people. I wanted to get into your career. You mentioned iconic franchises like Star Wars, Jones, and GI Joe. How has working on these different worlds influenced your art style?
DORMAN: Each project I tried to make a little bit more interesting than what it was when I came into it. Obviously, the high quality material that I’m dealing with, with Star Wars or Aliens or any project, the challenge for me is to come up with imagery that will make the viewer look at it and be interested in it enough to come and take a closer look at it. So I would have to do something a little bit different than what’s been done before.
So the influences that I’ve had in the material that it was already done certainly would guide me into how I would look at subsequent material that I would produce based on that license. Star Wars, there was a lot of artwork, pre production artwork, and obviously, the films itself. However you have the comics, and you have the pre production art, and you have the movie posters, and those are things that set fans expectations for the look that they feel comfortable with the characters and the scenes from Star Wars.
So I took that as as my guidelines, and I didn’t want to consciously go beyond what was being done with the movie posters and the comics and that type of thing. I didn’t want to do real abstract or real stylistic stuff. I was hired to do powerful and dynamic imagery for Dark Empire, which was the first of the series that I worked on, and I wanted to make it reminiscent of a brand new movie poster for each issue to catch the viewer eye and say, Wow, that’s a new Star Wars poster.
Then they’d pick up the book and say, Well, it’s a good story. So that’s the approach that I would take on a lot of the product that I would do for licensing and publication. I mean, it’s not necessarily the same approach I would take for something like Magic, the Gathering cards, where they just wanted straight science or fantasy illustration or production work. Like Aliens/Predator. They wanted something that was very reminiscent of the previous characters designs, but a little bit more elaborate. So there I wasn’t going too far off the mark in what was done before. Each project is different. I have to look at it and see what the demands are. And obviously the work that comes before that, before it gets to me, will be an influence on how I look at that project.
HIGUERA: How did it feel to shape the visual identity of Star Wars in your own way?
DORMAN: It’s really odd. We go back to me being 17 years old and seeing the original Star Wars in the theater on the first day, and being very excited about it. Energizing my creativity and certainly influencing the way that I approached artwork after that. I would have never believed that years later I’d be working with Lucasfilm. Producing new Star Wars artwork and developing those characters into what we now know as the expanded universe look of the characters. So its really been a fan’s dream as well as an artistic challenge.
To be able to take something that was so well established for 13 or 15 years with the first three films, and then once we get into the expanded universe, break it out of what everyone was familiar with in the films and give them new looks and new approaches to the characters. So it’s very gratifying and kind of humbling because there are so many fans around the world that have really picked up and enjoyed the expanded universe material and subsequently the prequels and the sequels and the other material as well.
HIGUERA: You have so much work with Star Wars, and I don’t think a lot of people know that you did so much of the artwork for a lot of the original GI Joe toys.
DORMAN: I think I did a little over 100 illustrations for the research and development department of Hasbro. None of this artwork was originally supposed to be published. It was for in house presentation to the board of directors and other people that were involved in the creation of the characters. So I would take the character designs that the designers did, the small sketches, and break apart where they show all the joints and everything, show it as a toy.
I would take that design and paint the character as if he existed in real life. So you don’t see the joints. You don’t see anything. All the wrinkles look right. Everything, all the equipment looks right. So those were all done for presentation. So when they would go to the board of directors and they would say, Okay, here’s this year’s line of toys, and they would give out the little portfolio of each character with the line drawing and color drawing and the costume breakdown and the exploded version of the toy and the three view of the toy, and then they’d have this character that I painted to give them an idea of what he should look like if he existed. So that was just really fun work that I did for about six years.
HIGUERA: Is that in your art book? How much of it?
DORMAN: Yeah some of that will be! I’m touching on a lot of things in the art book. The comic book work, Star Wars, the GI Joe work. I did a lot of GI Joe work for a couple of different companies, actually, not only for Hasbro and their design staff, but I’ve done packaging artwork for Palisades. I’ve done covers for GI Joe comics, and some things for GI Joe mag, Kids magazine. There’s a lot of stuff there too. There’s going to be a little bit of everything in the book.
The book will be 124 pages, and I’ve been searching through my art files just in the first couple of days, and ended up with 500 different pieces, and I haven’t really attacked a couple of other hard drives of artwork. So that’s why I’m hoping that, if this book sells well that I can do a second book and a third book. There is a reason why I’m doing a sort of compilation of all these artworks.
Legally, if I were to do, say, a book of Star Wars or a book of Aliens or a book of Batman or whatever, if I did a whole book on one character, I would have to get a license for doing that from whatever company that I’m dealing with, but contractually, I’m allowed to show some percentage of the artwork without having to deal with all that paperwork as long as I give proper credit.
I think a lot of people don’t realize what I’ve done, and so it’s nice to expand my fans’ experience with the varied projects that I’ve done. Including a lot of artwork that I’ve done that’s unpublished, that isn’t really genre oriented. It’s not necessarily science fiction or fantasy or superhero. It’s just paintings that I’ve done just to either please myself or challenge myself.
HIGUERA: Oil & Water features a mix of both famous and early works, how did you decide which pieces to include in the collection?
DORMAN: Well, the hard part is really trying to anticipate whether I’ll do a second volume or not. So do I want to put all the really, really, really good stuff in the first one and sort of starve the second book for really good stuff by not having it? I’m just hoping that pulling from 1000 pieces of artwork is going to put some really nice artwork in every book. I admit that when I started my career, I wasn’t as good as I am now. So I look back and see some of that artwork is not up to my current standards. That was 40 years ago, and I’m 40 years a better artist now. I hope that the fans and students who are looking at it will look at some of that early work and say that it’s good. I can see where I’ve developed and learned from those pieces, and got to be a better artist over time and it’s good to have sort of that perspective.
So when I was showing examples of my work in lectures and such, and I’ve done lectures at colleges and schools and demonstrations for elementary schools. It’s always fun to talk to students and kids about the artwork and I’m not afraid to show a lot of the early stuff where I might have faltered on certain things because I wasn’t as experienced, but it’s good to talk about those things. I think that young artists need to understand that they’re not going to be top notch right out of school. Art is a learning experience throughout your lifetime. I can say 40 years on that I’m still learning new things about my art and how I approach it. So those are things that I like to share when I speak with especially students and kids. And you know, the book will show a bit of that
HIGUERA: I did have to ask, did you have a favorite unpublished piece that you’re looking forward to fans seeing?
DORMAN: I can’t say I have a favorite piece necessarily, but I think some of the work I’ve been doing for myself feels different because I don’t have the pressure of an art director or editor looking over my shoulder. I feel more confident working on these pieces. When viewers look at them, I hope they see something a little more relaxed, yet still energized, as I push myself creatively without the burden of seeking someone else’s approval. It’s all my vision. So, the new pieces I’m including are ones I’m really excited to show, and I’m eager to hear what fans think about them—even though it might not be Batman, Captain America, or Obi-Wan Kenobi.
HIGUERA: was there a particular message that ties the works in the book together? Is it more of a showcase of just artistic range?
DORMAN: It’s a showcase. It’s not specifically aimed at any particular theme, other than simply showing that Dave’s a painter.
HIGUERA: You’ve had this extensive career, you’ve worked so much, you’ve gotten from one point to where you are now. Can you think of a specific work or series that marked the significant turning point in your career?
DORMAN: If we talk about a major turning point in my career, it would definitely be Dark Empire. I was in the right place at the right time and consider myself very lucky and fortunate, especially as a big Star Wars fan. I was right there when all of it happened. Before that, I had already done some work with Lucasfilm, including on Indiana Jones, so they knew my work. When my name came up to do covers for Dark Empire, they approved me. There were a lot of lucky breaks at that point. I think my strong interest in the project, combined with my style and technique, came at the perfect moment. Lucasfilm specifically wanted the characters to resemble the actors, which aligned well with my style. They also wanted something dynamic and poster-like, and that was another fit for me.
I had connections with both Lucasfilm and Dark Horse prior to this, having worked with them for a few years on other projects. So, I was just a regular painter doing my work, making a living, and having fun with various projects. When Dark Empire came up, I said, ‘Yes, I’d like to be involved,’ and they said, ‘Yes, we’d like to have you.’ That was the big career change for me. Everyone knows how popular Star Wars is, and at that time, there wasn’t much Star Wars material out there. Aside from Timothy Zahn’s paperbacks, there were no toys or anything else—it was a lull in Star Wars fandom. When Dark Empire came out, it, along with Timothy Zahn’s books, reignited fan interest. People wanted more, and everything grew from there. I was pulled along for the ride, and I’m very happy for it, as I believe Dark Empire still represents some of the best work in my career. I’m still working on Star Wars 30 years later, and it was truly a career-changer for me. I don’t know where I’d be without Star Wars in my life. I know I’d still be a painter and illustrator, but having Star Wars and the associated projects has made me incredibly grateful—to both God and myself—for having the greatest job in the world.
Another significant change for me came when I taught myself how to paint. I attended one year of college for fine arts, but I wanted to study illustration. I then spent one year at the Joe Kubert School, but at that time (the late ’70s), they were only teaching black-and-white pencil line drawing and comic book work—no painting curriculum. Joe Kubert knew I wanted to paint and advised me not to continue for a second year, since I was more interested in painting than in panel work. I realized I was happier doing single illustrations rather than six panels per page for comic books, so I focused on painting.
I started painting in oils and worked exclusively in oils for 25 years because I was very comfortable with them. I taught myself various techniques and styles, often experimenting beyond traditional methods. Not having a teacher telling me what I couldn’t do allowed me to develop my own approach.
About 15 years ago, I was confident in my style and wanted to experiment further, so I began using acrylics alongside oils. Acrylics dry faster, which is useful for a commercial artist aiming for quick turnarounds. Traditionally, artists are taught that you can’t mix acrylics and oils because they’re incompatible, but I figured out a way to make it work. Over the past 15 years, I’ve developed techniques that combine acrylics and oils to create different looks in my work. It’s been a rewarding journey of experimentation and discovery.
HIGUERA: Do you have anything you want to say to fans or people picking up your book?
DORMAN: Well, we’ve talked a lot about the pros of the book, like featuring familiar characters and things I’ve been involved with over the years, as well as showcasing personal work that fans haven’t seen. I think it expands what fans might think of my artwork beyond just specific licenses like Star Wars, Aliens, or G.I. Joe.
From seeing fans’ reactions at conventions, I can tell they get excited when they see my artwork at my table. They realize I haven’t just done one thing my whole career—I’ve worked on so many fun projects. For example, Magic: The Gathering players might say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you worked on Magic!’ And then we talk about that. The G.I. Joe fans, who are often very focused on that franchise, might say, ‘Oh, you did Batman? That’s really cool!’
What I hope comes out of the book is that it broadens fans’ interest in my artwork, showing them the wide range of projects I’ve been a part of.
English (US) · 