Meet the Artist...
Dave Badolato
I have been immersed in art/design my whole life. My father is a career print specialist/graphic designer as well as being a pretty good artist himself, so there was never really any doubt for me as far as what I wanted to do "when I grew up."
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Art and hockey have always been my two biggest passions, and they came to be at about the same time. My father took me to my first hockey game at five, where I immediately fell in love with the goalies and started endlessly drawing hockey players. I was eventually also really into aircraft and sharks, so I would always check out those kinds of books from the library and draw the pictures I liked. I guess you could say sharks and hockey players were the first "portraits" I did without knowing it at the time.
PORTRAITS
It was early on in high school that I discovered my knack for the human portrait... As a freshman, my first portrait was a self portrait done in Prismacolor (colored pencil). It became pretty obvious that portraits was my niche, and continued to develop my technique with various media. I had my first commission as only a sophomore, and I would eventually go on to be awarded my class' Excellence in the Arts Award, as well as become a statewide honorable mention for the Maryland State Scholars of the Arts 2001.
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The rest, as they say, is history and I have been doing commissions and personal pieces ever since! It has always been a dream of mine (and every artist) to do it as a living, and though I took the scenic route to get here, it's made me appreciate it that much more.
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OIL PAINTING
Oil painting, through the years, was a little more sporadic and after high school it had taken a backseat to other things in my life. Aside from graphic design, I was mostly known for being a portrait artist. It wasn't until my late 30's when I got back into oil painting more seriously after I officially started running my own art/design business from home. Many late nights have been spent immersing myself into rediscovering the pure freedom that painting gives you, where there are no rules and no wrong.
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Like doing portraits for a living, it's awesome to finally say the same about "all" my art. Like my father always said, "If you do what you enjoy, then you never have to work a day in your life."
I currently sell most of the paintings you see posted, but also accept commissions. I am also proud to have some of my work exhibited in coastal South Carolina area galleries. Check back often, as I'm always releasing new pieces!
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GRAPHIC DESIGN
In addition to drawing throughout my childhood, I was also heavily exposed to the print design world by tagging along with my father. He taught me how to lay up jobs the old school way, by hand, before there were computers. I used to tag along when he would do press checks or pick up proofs from printers, and always loved getting tours and watching the big Heidelberg presses.
I did all of my school projects that old way, as well as book cover designs for various contests at school (usually winning them). Fonts, illustrations, everything, was done on a light table by hand even all through high school as computers started to become the standard (ahh, the Pagemaker days).
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Eventually, after a brief stint in the Marine Corps and a few years of bouncing from job to job, I went back to school for Graphic Design and have been either freelancing or employed in-house ever since.
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I currently serve clients all over the country, and you probably see some of my work in major airports, Ohio elections, or even some pieces you've picked from your mailbox. From business cards to large signage, the only limit is your imagination!