Can you explain your digital painting technique?

D: It is the simplest of things. It is actually the first technique I ever learned years ago in my first digital illustration class in college. We simply scan in our drawings and then paint underneath them with the brush tool using WACOM tablets. It is not any different than how many thousands of illustrators work, and how comics are created today. We use Photoshop very simply, and don’t treat it too much differently than if we were painting with traditional mediums (which we also use quite a bit). Perhaps the only thing we do is paint under our pencil lines, rather than inking them. We rarely use ink, or vector graphics for line work. The pencil gives the work a rather messy organic feel despite being painted digitally.

Kin-san’s Business Trip

Could you tell us about the concept of the SHIFT cover?

K: As scuba divers, the health of the oceans is on our mind quite a bit. Humans are basically killing the oceans through overfishing, pollution, and global warming. The idea for the piece came from reading lots of articles about the great pacific garbage path. In the middle of the pacific ocean is the Pacific Gyre, a place where there is not much current and so trash from all over Asia and North America collects here. The surface of the ocean is littered with garbage and the water is higher in plastic nurdles than plankton. We were thinking about how horrible it would be to dive in a coral reef littered with the waste of human consumerism.

D: A lot of our panoramic works deal with the relationship between nature and our modern technological world. Usually we envision nature invading urban spaces in an attempt to reclaim these urban jungles. With this piece we imagined these trash monsters, creatures we have thoughtlessly created, invading this coral reef. The bunnyfish is coming out to battle these garbage leviathans. The bunnyfish has evolved into sort of a mouth piece for us – he stands for anything that is important to us – exploring new cultures, traveling, good food, ecology, etc, so they are a natural choice to be doing battle against the garbage mankind has tossed into the sea. It is kind of a protest piece in that sense, while at the same time working as just a fun illustration. We usually like to address these subjects in childlike or comical ways.

The Battle on the River-Tyne (Ootside! Yeandme!)

What are the perks of being married to your business partner?

D: Sex breaks!

K: I have no qualms about slapping my business partner if I disagree with him. I could never get away with that if we weren’t married.

D: Seriously though – we just don’t know any other way. We starting working together, began Kozyndan, while still at University. It is just natural for us. We are always together and quite used to having our relationship and career intertwined. Most of the time it all flows and it is all smooth so it works very well for us.

What exciting projects do you have lined up for the near future?

D: Oh man – hopefully nothing! We want to take a break for a while! We probably won’t but we have cleared our show schedule for the rest of the year after our two shows in Europe this month. We are going to Okinawa for a month or two to make art on our pace without looming exhibition deadlines.

K: We also have several art books projects that we have gotten about halfway through. We would like to start tackling them and get more books published. I think we’ll use the small break from exhibiting to get some of those finished.

Have you got a message for our readers?

Kozy and Dan: Enjoy Life! Be good to the world and to each other.

Kozyndan “Beneath the Surface”
Date: May 30th – June 14th, 2008
Open: 12:00 – 20:00
Place: Maxalot Gallery Amsterdam
Address: 191 K Lutmastraat, De Pijp, 1074 Amsterdam
Tel: +31 (0)6 3434 6031
https://www.maxalot.com