We sat down with LA-based visual artist and illustrator, Dustin Croul, who created a series of vibrant illustrations for our tote bag, concert brochure and lineup poster! Read on to learn about how he got started as an illustrator, what inspired him through his work for Levitt LA and what gets him in a creative headspace.
I began my illustration career when I graduated Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. When I moved to Los Angeles last summer the passage into the city gave me a sense of affirmation towards wanting to share my illustrations with the LA/worldly populous. I have been in search for higher and deeper meaning through the medium. It has been an absolute thrill since then.
My work is playful, gestural, and offers a hint of whimsy. I love trying to boil down objects and characters to their most natural emotional state of essence. I evoke that with an array of textures and layering of dynamic shapes through my applied knowledge of printmaking, which I then execute through digital media. I wish to capture “the feels” and any bit of nostalgic resonance an illustration can manifest.
Hands down it has been the people and the wonderful serendipitous moments that come with meeting other creatives in the city. The city is a huge amoeba of artists and there’s always the surprising delight of a random inspirational interaction just around the coffee shop or across the record shop in the R&B section.
The inspiration came from wanting to combine elements of MacArthur Park with the rich experiential moments of enjoying a concert experience where time stands still. To me that specific moment is when everything nuanced and worrisome fades and there is a mutual moment of being and a reverberation of joy and love through the entire space. I wanted to encapsulate that because it is so fleeting and to me that is why Levitt has made such an event.
I absolutely love listening to Japanese Ambient music when I draw the “sound-scape” stuff. Big fan of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s works. Any ambient music for that matter! Listening to it I get transported to these strange environments sculpted by sound where I can think freely and conjure up ideas.
Check out more of Dustin’s work on his website.
