Saturday 2 August 2014

Interview with Dominic Joseph Eckstein alias Neecko; creator of "Joe's Bar Toons"



July 7th 1960 I was born Dominic Joseph Eckstein, everyone calls me Nick, and my good friends call me Neecko.  It would be a pleasure if you call me Neecko!
My mother says I picked up doodling at about 3 months and I have been doodling ever since. I generally doodle all day, I doodle at work, I doodle in the house, I doodle in the car, I doodle everywhere, I even doodle in the bedroom. Early in my years a very good friend of mine noted that I was quite good at doodling and encouraged me to keep all my thoughts and doodles as they may come in handy one day. Following his advice I would doodle up any thought that would pop into my head and save them for the future.  So naturally when it was time for me to go to College I chose a degree in Commercial Art as I now had many doodles at hand that I wished to take to the next level. A funny thing about Commercial Art is that technically doodling does not fall in this field of study; otherwise I feel I would have greatly succeeded. After college I also found that there are few careers in doodling so I took a job in sales.  Flash forward 30 years, add a computer graphics program and a boat load of doodles and here I am.
Joe’s Bar was created from a single panel cartoon that I doodled up in 2012. The cartoon was set in a bar with a drunk questioning a clown sitting at the bar with a statement of “Hey . . . You Know What’s Funny?”, and the caption reads “EVERYTHING!”  There’s a lot of truth in that statement and this became the premise of my work. I somehow realized that Joe’s Bar would offer me the environment to take basically any funny thought I had saved over the years and put it to use. I have been doodling Joe’s Bar ever since.

1          Are you an artist/creative person/ art admirer?  
All 3 are in my genetic makeup!

2          How is art important in people’s lives?
I mostly do humor, and love to use my art to make people laugh. When you’re smiling you feel good!

3          Do you have a favorite artist? Why do you like him/her?        
Many, but I probably like Picasso the best

4          What's your favorite place to see art?
Do you have a gallery/museum-going routine? Depending where I’m at any museum or gallery falls into my ongoing routine

5          Do you own any pieces of art? If so, what are they?    
I do, I have a friend; whom I feel, will be very famous for his work one day and I have started collecting his pieces. His work is much like Jean-Michael Basquiat’s.

6          If you are an artist,What’s your favorite piece of work that you have created?
Well that would be my webtoon Joe’s Bar Toons.  You can review my work at www.joesbartoons.com


7          what are you working on at the moment?
            I am continually working on my Joe’s Bar Toon as it has really taken off in just the 11 months I have been producing it.  I currently have around 12,000 total followers and average around 300,000 page views on my website per month.

8          Do you sell your work? If so Where all do you sell your work?          
Currently no, however I do plan on moving my webtoon into a viable financial resource shortly.

9          Do  you make a living off your art?          
Not as of yet, however as my webtoon becomes more financially viable, I plan on doing it full time.

10        Do you think your country’s government gives enough financial support to local artists?           
Yes, I believe so.

11        Do you support local artists? If so, how?
            Yes, I belong to several artist groups, and interact with local artist whenever we meet.

12        What are you doing when you’re not creating? What (other) hobbies do you have?        
I like all forms of exercise and try to stay mentally and physically fit.

13        What would people be surprised to learn about you? 
That although I have been creative from an early age Joe’s Bar Toons is my real first venture into trying to break into the Webtoon medium. Surprised by my Success so far.

14        Technically, what would you consider to be a piece of art? Why?    
Really everything is art to me!  I find all creativity and forms intriguing!

15        Do you have any tips or inspiring words for others?    
Stay the course, as they say “Rome was not built in a Day!  No matter what you do you only get better with practice!

16        Where else can we find you?
Facebook: Joe's Bar Toons

Tapastic and soon will be promoting myself on Patreon.

No comments:

Post a Comment