Interview With The Artist: Gavin Michelli

By: Courtney Glover

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Gavin Michelli of DeviantArt. Gavin is a 35 year old father of two from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has a BFA in Fine Arts from Louisiana State University. He’s been working as a professional artist since 2005. I had first met him a couple of years ago at Anime Con in the Shreveport/Bossier area in Louisiana. Watching him draw, you could see the joy in his eyes as he put pencil to paper. It was truly inspiring.

Gavin does a little bit of everything. He’s a comic book artist, colorist, inker, digital artist, and illustrator. He also works as a graphic designer for a marketing agency. When asked what other types of art he’s dabbled in, he replied “I’ve also dipped my toe in the swimming pool of hand lettering, video editing, and sculpting.” As I’m sure you can tell, Gavin doesn’t believe in specializing. You could say he’s the original jack of all trades artist.

When asked how long he’s been creating art, Gavin said,“Ever since I could hold a crayon! As far back as I can remember, drawing has been kind of the thing that defines me. I guess it’s how I make sense of things, so to speak.” Gavin was first inspired by the art of Luis Garcia-Lopez. “He’s the creator I was trying to imitate at first, even before I know his name,” Gavin told me. Luis Garcia-Lopez has done the box art for the Kenner Super Powers action figures along with most DC merchandising art. Gavin is still a huge fan of his art to this day. He’s also a big fan of Jim Lee, artist of the X-Men comics. “I picked up X-Men #1 at a grocery store news stand one day when my mom was shopping, and I was just floored. I think I’ve traced just about every panel of that book.”

Gavin was interested in art from a very young age. His earliest drawing was from kindergarten, a He-Man drawing that his mom has always held on to. As a young child, you would find him drawing Superman and He-Man, copying scenes from books, or drawing his toys. His official career didn’t begin until 23 when graduating college. His first art-related job was for a school uniform shop

as a graphic designer and silkscreener. He still enjoys drawing He-Man, Superman, Ninja Turtles, and other characters from his childhood. He has a deep love of classical history and enjoys drawing Roman and Greek characters as well.

Shortly after beginning his first job, he had learned about DeviantArt (about 2007) and saw others posting commission rates on the site. He decided to give it a shot. That’s where he met Roland Paris and the two became fast friends. Roland was an inker for Marvel and would become his mentor in comics. Gavin began to accompany him to different comic cons. While there he was able show his portfolio around and was able to land his first gig as a colorist.

When asked about his favorite tool to create with, he replied,“Right now, I'm using a Fujitsu T-904 convertible laptop for my finished work. I've got a 5x7 spiral sketchbook that I scribble in constantly, as well as a pad of 8.5x11 cardstock that I draw on. For sketching, I use a 0.5 mechanical pencil, and I ink with Prismacolor pens or on my laptop.”

If you get the chance, be sure to check out his page on DeviantArt. As a fellow artist, one can’t help but appreciate the detail and love he puts into every single piece of artwork. Childhood heroes that are once again brought to life, thanks to Gavin. Gavin Michelli is a truly gifted artist.