Now that is one baby who knows how to pull off a button-down sweater!
My father was also a classically trained painter and taught me how to paint with watercolors. I went on to create endless country houses, groves full of light and dark streets. I was sent to art classes and got pretty good at it. But I detested a lot of my own work and I recall ruining some of it; picking up gouache and reworking a beautiful light green tree into a monotone dark blob. I acknowledged those mistakes and would sometimes write “????????” (“ruined”) on a drawing I took too far.
My father is currently a university professor. We haven’t painted together for probably fifteen years. He has one of my very big drawings framed on a wall and we often connect. He still critiques my work with a typical Russian “not bad, but you can do so much better” attitude.
Justice
Tell me about your work and influences.
I briefly gave up drawing after moving to the United States. Watercolors bored me and I didn’t know how to start anything new. Finally, I was dragged to a figure drawing session at “Art Not Terminal” in Seattle and was hooked. I could easily reproduce a perfectly proportional bottle of wine (especially a good year Bordeaux), but drawing people presented a new challenge at which I initially failed. I could draw, but nothing like those professional painters who attended the drawing sessions. Eventually, I sought to make bigger pieces and that’s when these large scale sanguine drawings made their first appearance; I wanted to make a very personal statement to someone I cared about, so I found nothing better than to use my hands. I drew big and red. I discovered new possibilities and finally something that defined my art.
I have been greatly influenced by French post-impressionism and even more so by neoplasticism. I once saw a Mondrian retrospective in d’Orsay in Paris, which was an incredibly captivating evolution of the artist’s career. I loved and could identify myself in his cubist period in particular, but found his last works tasteless. I obsessed over Eakins' portraits full of shallow eyes and sad faces, intriguing and sometimes amusing. I also have many literary influences, including Andre Breton, whom I’ve re-read several times, beginning to end.
Do you make art with your children? What other activities do you do with them?
I loved dragging Ilan to Manhattan museums when he was a newborn. He couldn’t protest. He would fall asleep in my arms or in the stroller while staring at paintings by the Old Masters on the walls. People would smile at him instead of paying attention to what they came to see. Ilan first had a reaction to a painting in the Neue Gallery and he loved to crawl in the Pipilotti Rist’s installation at the MOMA last year.
I’ve recently introduced my son to drawing. Being sixteen months old, he has just discovered that he can make something appear on a piece of paper with a crayon. I make drawings on a large board, so I would clip a piece of paper to the bottom of it where he can reach. He wants to imitate me. His first crayon was a conte crayon! I definitely draw when he’s around and he seems to like the quiet time with the music in the background.
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The Snake
How do you balance family, art, and making a living? Any advice on this subject?
Someone once gave me excellent advice: “Don’t create a life full of busy work around your baby, take the baby into yours”. I am constantly trying to reconcile the fact that I have a job, a family and want to draw and show more art. I acknowledge not being the best at one or another at times, but I think I’m improving at focusing on what’s important. I must work because it pays bills and I actually do enjoy it. Having a well paid job enables me to have ample control over my life and not depend on chance or opportunity. A baby is a commitment. Reconciling not having money, feeding a family and making art would be a bad combination, so I recommend focusing on work by day and being an artist all the time.
I think the key is organizing, planning and removing distractions and time wasters. Television and bar hopping has never accomplished anything. I try to discipline myself into making at least two large drawings a week – often when I am alone with my son or when he’s sleeping. I still acknowledge that I don’t make enough effort to make plans with my wife.
How has the current economy affected you as a father/artist?
It has affected me very directly: I am now the only working person in the family. After getting laid off my wife decided to change her career. She is back to grad school, which creates tremendous pressure financially and in terms of time. We do get help: we’re very lucky and thankful to have grandparents who are always there to watch the baby when we need them.
The bad economy has indirectly motivated me to create more art. There seems to be a growing interest in unknown artists like myself – the times where bad art could sell for tens of thousands of dollars is over. What matters today is raw talent, hard work and delivery. There’s no more space for flaky, spaced-out and drugged-up artists. I am very reliable and dependable and I have had a professional career of fifteen years to demonstrate it. I am now applying that to my growth as an artist.
How has your lifestyle changed since becoming a father?
First, having a child means never being alone. There’s always someone around who doesn’t only demand attention, but is a constantly evolving human being. This change is probably a good thing since I don’t drink nearly as much and I don’t meet as many strangers that bore me. I finally understand how much I was on the receiving end of the New York art and party scene. But this city is made of talented, hard working people. I am into creating things now. I hope very much to integrate this latter force.
Any recommendations you have for a current movie, TV show, book?
“Russian Debutante’s Handbook” by Gary Shteyngart
I don’t recommend the television show Lost. I hope it ends soon, so I can stop watching it and stop waiting for the next week’s episode obsessively!
To see more of Daniel Doubrovkine's provocative work, visit his online gallery by clicking here.
If you enjoyed this artist interview muchly, then you should take a gander at more artist interviews and good stuff here.
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