About Dave
Classical Art Training
Originally trained in drawing and painting, Dave has years of experience applying those design principles to print, screen and product design—as well as using strengths as a researcher and strategic thinker to absorb, analyze and create better and lasting solutions.
Dave graduated with honors from CSUC, Chico with a BA in Drawing & Painting and his work is found in both private and public collections, including the Janet Turner Print Museum (located at CSUC), where his work was recently displayed with Janet’s collection that spans six centuries and more than 40 countries.
Pictured: Dave starting to carve one of his Sandcastles at Pismo Beach, CA ▸
Strategic Thinker
Dave’s ability in the area of strategic thinking — absorbing, analyzing and creating solutions — has been used in dozens of areas during his career.
His broad knowledge and experience in the areas of both digital and traditional design, as well as publishing and technology, allow him to create solutions that yield quality, efficiency, and in the end—a better bottom line for any company.
“Creativity takes courage” — Henri Matisse
Pictured: One of Dave’s landscape paintings: “Quiet Morning” (Oil on canvas, 43×41, 1996). View my comments on this painting.
“Quiet Morning” (Oil on canvas, 43×41, 1996)
I love the shapes and interactivity between shapes in this painting. Everything we do in art is just “abstracting” our ideas from the real world. I painted this large canvas from a tiny magnet photo the size of a business card. I used elements from the photo but exaggerated or moved them as I saw fit to make the composition work. The dark mass of trees actually contains orange/burnt sienna colors to bring them forward against the blues of the receding mountains. This also gives a great impression of the late afternoon sun hitting the tops. I would paint this a bit differently today, but this still works.
Skills & Tools of the Trade
- A highly analytical & strategic thinker
- Imaginative problem solver
- Full stack developer
- WordPress & Divi Builder expert
- Photoshop expert with advanced Actions
- InDesign: (hardback/paperback books, ebooks, advertising, promotion)
- Server experience: AWS/GCP (Google Cloud Platform) deployment & maintenance, LAMP and OpenLiteSpeed stacks
- UI/UX/Prototyping: XD, Sketch, Zeplin
- Logos/Illustrations: product & technical
- Copywriting: websites, documentation, ads, how-to & technical guides
- Video encoding (streaming – DASH)
- Blender (3D)
- Some Premiere & After Effects experience
- Training & talent development
Creative Direction
Dave has a keen eye for detail and a love for creative problem-solving. With a consistent vision, everyone involved in creative efforts—whether it be a photographer, an app or web designer, or even the creation of seemingly mundane company forms—will benefit from a unified creative direction.
“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” — Vincent van Gogh
Dave’s First Seascape Painting: “Afternoon Wave” (Oil on panel, 6×6, 2019)
Early Adopter
In the early days of the “Desktop Revolution, when many were still pasting up mechanicals, Dave was seeing the future and purchased one of the first Macintosh computers, along with a game-changing program called Aldus Pagemaker (later purchased by Adobe).
Using his traditional layout skills and artistic background, he applied it to the new technology at hand—even using an early digital camera hooked directly to his computer to scan images.
Dave’s Landscape Painting: “The Clearing” (Oil on panel, 8×5, 2019). View my comments on this painting.
“The Clearing” (Oil on panel, 8×5, 2019)
“The Clearing” (Oil on panel, 8×5, 2019). Comment: this 8×5 was done entirely from my imagination and painted very quickly (around 10 mins), as is evidenced from the sketch quality. This rarely works, but sometimes you just nail it with an immediacy that can’t be matched. You have to know when to leave it, since reworking will often ruin the work.
Ongoing Education
Over 30 Certificates of Completion at Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning • 1000’s of hours of instruction from YouTube, books and other sources
Activities & Hobbies
Head cook: Northern California Burn Foundation, summer camp, ‘93 • Volunteer work in a Sri Lankan refugee camp (3 weeks), ‘84 • Inner city work in Dallas & OK City, ’81 • Society of American Magicians • Chico Conjurers Club • US Chess Federation • Mechanical puzzle inventor & collector • Reading & Researching • Oil painting (landscapes/seascapes/still lifes)
Pictured: Dave’s Landscape Painting: “Field Workers II” (Oil on canvas panel, 20×13, 2017). View my comments on this painting.
“Field Workers II” (Oil on canvas panel, 20×13, 2017)
As evinced by the title, this is a painting inspired by a 19th century Barbizon painter and was the second version (the first done around 1980). Of course some of the colors would not have been pushed like this with Barbizon paintings, and it no-doubt has a more modern composition—but the subject matter is there. I wanted a feeling of heavy atmosphere and really found that painting this was a joy. I used a warm underpainting like the American Tonalists which provides a great contrast with the cooler colors painted on top. As artists say, this makes the colors sing! This is just one of the aspects that made tonalism great. Also note the triangulation between both figures and trees, and between the tree-grouping. The placement of everything in the painting was very calculated and thought out.
Download Dave’s Resume
View Dave’s work experience and accomplishments.
“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” — E. E. Cummings
Dave’s Landscape Painting: “Evening Glory” (Oil on panel, 16×20, 2017). View my comments on this painting.
“Evening Glory” (Oil on canvas panel, 16×20, 2017)
This is another painting done entirely from my imagination, without reference to any photos or other sketches. This means I did no preliminary sketches but just jumped in with very large brushes and a general idea of what I wanted in my mind. I often work this way, starting with a general idea and just painting large abstract shapes. The details are not as important at the start unless one has a sold dark and light pattern. Once that is established, then the details are just icing on the cake. I wanted a quiet intimate scene that was both majestic and peaceful. This style is called Tonalism.