David Sanchez - Feature Artist

Born in the small Los Angeles county town of Bell, Dave Sanchez grew up with a typical childhood engrossed in Hispanic culture. From an early age, Dave would sketch and doodle at any chance he could get his hand on a pencil and paper. “My earliest memories were always drawing. I don’t think I ever picked it up, I think I always had the natural desire to want to draw. In elementary school it was the only real subject I was good at. It was the only thing I got excited about. I feel like it’s kind of a blessing to always have that desire. It helped to push me where I’m at right now without having to try. Almost like a gift. Not to draw but to want to.” explained Dave.

It wasn’t until he traded in his pen for a needle at the age of 20 that his work was transformed into a more permanent art. “I was doing tattoos out of my kitchen. I would get home from work at an oil refinery and there would be like three or four dudes hanging out on my porch. At the end of the day I’d make like $70 or $80. At that time that was a lot of money. I thought if I did this every day I could make a better living than the oil refinery. I took a dive after quitting my job and landed face first. I didn’t make the money I thought I was going to at all. It was tough. I started working at a shop but I lost my apartment. I didn’t tell the owner but I was living out of my car. When he left I would park in the back. If I had a good day, I’d have enough money to eat and get a little motel room. That was usually 2-3 days a week.”

It was the natural internal desire to create art that ended up saving him from a life of nine-to-five. Despite the hardships, Dave would continue to spend his free time drawing and painting. From those drawings, he developed a signature style of art that allowed him to transform his art into a career. “I think Día de los Muertos was always part of my culture. I remember being in Mexico and seeing the kids actually eating the sugar skulls. I’ve always had that image burned into my head. The way I draw them now is how I pictured them as if they were alive and dancing. The first time I painted them I never showed anybody. I would sit in my basement and paint and paint. I would close the door and lock the world out behind me. That was my escape. I would never show anyone. I was still new at painting and I wasn’t too confident. It’s funny because I would have those drawings for over a year and they would just sit in my basement. Once I got them framed it looked 100 times better and I was more confident showing them. From there I got a lot of people hitting me up. I started doing a tattoo here, a tattoo there. I would photograph them and each time people would want them. It just kind of blew up. From there they got more refined from the originals. You can almost see the difference from the first ones and the ones I do now. I like to compare them to The Simpsons when they first came out and the way they look now.”

With his well-rounded ability to switch between different styles of art, it’s obvious Dave has yet to reach the peak of his artistic career. But to this day, Dave has maintained his childhood passion to draw and still gets excited with each and every tattoo and painting. “I think the most flattering thing for any artist is to be the source of inspiration for other artists. I get really flattered to see people that take my style and put their spin on it. I still feel the same kind of emotion when someone likes my art. It’s a great honor to have someone to wear your artwork. It makes me want to tattoo them too. I like that giggling little boy feeling I get when they like the finished product. I don’t show it but I feel that way. Through my art I can be a kid forever and I don’t ever have to work. I hope I never grow up and I don’t act like a rockstar. I feel extremely blessed to do this job and to be able to