pd www.​hire​anil​lus​tra​tor.​com/​p​a​u​l​-​davey and www.​mat​ta​han.​deviantart.com

Intro­duc­tion

Paul Davey (alias Mat­ta­han) grew up in a small town in the beau­ti­ful hills of Man­ches­ter, Jamaica. The name Mat­ta­han is based on the patois pro­nun­ci­a­tion of Mat­ter­horn, a pop­u­lar cig­a­rette brand in Jamaica. Paul is cur­rently work­ing as a free­lance illus­tra­tor and is accept­ing com­mis­sions.

Where are you based at the moment?

I’m living in my Miami right now just because this is where my family is. I have plans to move to New York for 2009 and then back to Jamaica when the time is right. 

Do you think you would attract bigger clients if you drew more Caucasians?

Yes, but I prefer to create images that I can relate to. They usu­ally revolve around me and people in my life. What they’re feel­ing and how they make me feel are things I con­sider when I’m plan­ning and I’m not sat­is­fied with my work unless it gives me some kind of vis­ceral reac­tion when I look at it. I just don’t know a lot of non-​blacks for me to include them and their expe­ri­ences in my work.

Are you a comic book artist or an illustrator?

I guess both. I enjoy illus­tra­tion a bit more though, if only for the higher qual­ity of the work pro­duced. Comic art can get redun­dant but there’s a strong feel­ing of sat­is­fac­tion when you’ve aptly told a story in sequen­tial. It’s a feel­ing that I’ve been pur­su­ing more lately.

Apart from your sketch­book is all of your work digital?

Pretty much. I work with acrylic from time to time. But I’m spoiled by Painter. I no longer have the patience to work with tra­di­tional media on a reg­u­lar basis.

Apart from art and illus­tra­tion what other things are you into?

Hip Hop and, to a lesser extent, pol­i­tics. When the two meet it’s all the more inter­est­ing. Thusly, I’ve been lis­ten­ing to Nas’ most recent album repeat­edly since it came out and I’m anx­iously await­ing the new Dead Prez album.

Who are your favourite artists/illustrators alive today?

James Jean always comes to mind first when­ever I’m asked this ques­tion. The rest are all from deviantART: Stan­ley Lau (Art­germ), Jana Schirmer (janaschi), and Keron Grant (kerong).

You got a deviantART gallery and a Hai! pro­file, why don’t you have your own website?

I’ve been work­ing on one for a while now, but not actively. I guess I was sat­is­fied with my DA and Hai! pro­files. Lately I’ve been toying with the idea of set­ting up a pro­fes­sional look­ing port­fo­lio site.

Have you ever con­sid­ered work­ing in the field of Sci-​Fi art or even com­puter game art?

I have but I don’t think I have much to con­tribute to that genre. I don’t really have a pas­sion for it. Most Sci-​Fi gigs seem to deal with the same themes and concepts.  I sup­pose it would depend on the project.

Have you ever dis­played your work in art galleries?

I would like to some­day. I haven’t had the oppor­tu­nity as yet. I guess I’d first have to find a gallery that shows my kind of work. I used to work for The Museum of Con­tem­po­rary Art in North Miami (I guess I’m still tech­ni­cally employed there). The kind of work they show often bog­gles my mind.

Are you involved in any col­lab­o­ra­tive projects at the moment and is there anyone you would like to work with?

Not right now, but I’d like to work with a good writer on a graphic novel.

What’s next in the pipeline for Paul Davey?

My graphic novel. It’s in the pre­lim­i­nary stages right now, only a few pages done. But so far I’m very happy with it. It’s a fic­tional story but it’s based in real­ity so I don’t know if people will really go for it.

Bob Marley or Jimi Hendrix?

Bob all day.

Callaloo and Salt­fish or Gizzada?

All of the above, with some fried plan­tain and a Red Stripe. 

Amer­ica or Jamaica?

Amer­ica for now, Jamaica in the long run. Moving back has been a long-​time goal for me. It seems to be within reach right now, but there are a few things I have to sort out first.

You can see more of Paul Davey’s work at
www.​hire​anil​lus​tra​tor.​com/​p​a​u​l​-​davey and www.​mat​ta​han.​deviantart.com

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Cats: Editor's Choice, LCS Interviews
Tags: America, Bob Marley, Interviews, Jamaica, James Jean, Jana Schirmer, Jimi Hendrix, Manchester, Miami, Nas, New York, Paul Davey, Paul Davey (Mattahan), professional looking portfolio site, Stanley Lau (Artgerm), The Museum of Contemporary Art, www.hireanillustrator.com/paul-davey, www.mattahan.deviantart.com