The Beast - April 2022

Local Artist... Dave Homer from Bondi

Bondi’s Dave Homer is the local artist behind this month’s epic cover illustration. He shares his local favourites with The Beast...

How long have you lived here? I moved here from the Sunshine Coast in 1999 and, aside from a few years living in the US, I’ve been here ever since.

Why do you live here? Sydney is one of the few cities in the world where you can live on the beach and be a few kilometres from the city, but the sense of community here is one of the main reasons I’ve been here for so long. As well as an eclectic group of locals, there’s an amazingly diverse bunch of tourists, backpackers and visitors that make the place what it is.

What's your favourite hang? Costa’s on O’Brien Street - incredible arepas, coffee and croissants. And the Icebergs - I see that view every day from the pool but it never gets old. I can sit there for hours as the sun sets, especially when my buddy Matty is making cocktails.

What do you do for work? I’m a working illustrator. The majority of my work comes through my agents in New York and Sydney. I illustrate creative campaigns for companies like American Express, Coke, Ikea, Doordash, and most recently Ferrari. I was a partner in a creative team called Debaser, designing album covers and branding for artists and bands. We won four ARIAs for Best Cover Artwork. I still do a bit of music-related work.

What's your favourite thing about work? I love my job. I have one main driving passion in life and I’m very fortunate to be able to draw all day for a living.

Where can people see your work? By visiting my website at davehomer.com, and my Instagram, @davehomerdraws. The website has all of my most recent commercial work and the Insta is a more diverse collection.

What are you working on at the moment? I’ve been doing quite a bit of commercial work for the NFL team, the New England

Patriots. That will continue next year, and I have some exciting projects coming up for Kiehl’s and some new album artwork coming soon. I’m also working on my second collection of NFTs at the moment, which I am really psyched about!

Did you study art? I studied at the Queensland College of Art. It was a great experience and it taught me to think creatively.

When did you discover you had a gift for your craft? This is the only thing I’ve ever been able to do and the biggest passion all my life. It was always what I was going to do for a living, especially when it became painfully obvious that I couldn’t do anything else!

Who are your artistic inspirations? I’ve started following a huge group of really talented but as yet unknown artists on Instagram. Of the bigger name contemporary artists, I’m a huge fan of Tristian Eaton’s recent work, and Shepard Fairey’s approach and prolific output is astonishing.

Any other local artists to look out for? I absolutely love Martine Emdur’s work, and Dion Horstmans’ steel and acrylic sculptures evoke such incredible movement and power. I own one of his drawings and am currently pestering him to make a sculpture for my apartment (Dion, I’m looking at you buddy!).

Any words of wisdom for young aspiring artists? Don’t try and emulate what’s on trend at any point; find your own style, trust it and build on it.

Do you have a favourite quote? I’m not big on inspirational quotes, but Amanda Gorman’s, “The only approval you need is your own,” resonates with me.

Any other words of wisdom for readers of The Beast? I wouldn’t advise taking any words of wisdom from me!

Interview James Hutton Photo Izrayl Brandon