If you take a little bit of Rat Fink, mix it will a whole lot of Don Martin and Al Jaffee and large portions loose women, monsters and corpses, and put it all into the blender, you will have something resembling the artwork of artist Doug MacDonald. Doug Mac, as he’s called, supports himself Illustrating for national magazines with titles like Girls and Corpses, and Ol’Skool Rodz, and his drawings
throb and glow with the delight he feels while creating them. “I really do have fun. When I’m sketching or drawing and I laugh, I know I’m onto something.” Doug is a hip looking, somewhat quiet guy in his mid 40’s. He’s got a great sense of humor and plenty of funny voices to go along with all the strange characters who live in his head. Doug started drawing at the age of 10, copying comics from his Mad Magazines. Later in life, he went back to his childhood love of drawing and set out for a career in illustration. Doug has developed his own unique style and is now a regular feature in some of the strangest and coolest magazines you’ll ever see. Despite all he has accomplished, he continues to grow as an artist; “I try to challenge myself with every piece, so I don’t get into the rut of, “Oh, I did this one last week.” His work is bold and crazy and not for everyone. “I push it as far as I can push it, until [my clients] tell me not to go that far. I try to go as far as I can without making it pornography… or just so wrong, I might get arrested. ” He designs covers and shirts for rock bands, and posters, covers, and full page spreads for magazines catering to various segments of underground culture. Where does he get his ideas? He likes to “really get into the sickness of my mind and pull it out…. I love nightmares. I love waking up from a good nightmares and being ‘Oh my God that’s so disturbing! I think I need to go draw or sketch that right now.'” Doug still loves drawing despite the feast or famine nature of freelancing. When asked about a typical work day, his response was, “Well, I get up, and wonder about getting a real job. {laughs} ‘Why am I doing this? I should just look at the want ads!'” but in the end he knows it’s all worth it: “Like when I go to Barnes and Noble and pick a magazine off the rack and I see a full page illustration I did. I forget about the money, and I forget about the apartment, and I forget about the bills. I forget about everything, and it brings me back to when I was 10 years old. The process of creating and drawing, I still love. I love it. Every time I start on a new piece, I remember why I’m doing this.” He says, “I’m always grateful for the customers, even when they are a pain in the butt… any time anyone gives me money to draw, that’s living the dream, you just have to pinch yourself.”
by Dragon
