>> Narrator: Live from San Fransisco,
it's theCUBE covering Samsung Developer Conference 2017.
Brought to you by Samsung.
>> Okay welcome back everyone
here live in San Fransisco at Moscone West,
is theCUBE's exclusive coverage of
Samsung Developer Conference #SDC2017.
I'm John Furrier co-founder of SiliconANGLE media,
co-host of theCUBE.
My next guest is artist, director, and producer
Rob Prior, at Robprior.com.
Great to have you, thanks for spending time.
>> It's good to be here.
>> Alright.
Great to have you.
You're super impressive.
I was amazed by the work behind me on the wide shot.
Can we go to the wide shot?
You can see the work you've done.
You were just here behind us on the main Disruptor studio
with Stan Lee who was Marvel Comics, legend in the industry.
>> Legend.
>> I mean absolutely legend.
And he's here promoting, you know,
the edge of the network with Samsung.
Games and all that good stuff,
part of the developer conference.
>> Yeah.
>> But you were up there painting
with both hands in real time.
And did this art.
>> Yeah, it was less than an hour, I think this one was.
I don't know I don't even keep track anymore.
I'm just like...
>> So you do both hands.
So how did that come about?
How did you get to the two hands?
>> When I was about,
alright, I was going to be an artist no matter what.
My entire family line were artists, but none by profession.
So, I was kind of not even given a choice.
So I got to be about 10 years old
and I thought the same thing that every 10 year old thinks,
"what if I loose my right hand?".
No 10 year old thinks that.
So I switched at 10.
I switched to, you know I was born a righty,
I switched to be a lefty.
I switched everything.
I switched, you know, baseball,
how I threw a balls, playing guitar.
I switched everything over.
So for two years, no mater how much any one begged me,
to like, my grades were going down,
cause no one could read my writing, cause I'm like...
>> Cryptic.
>> Yeah it was weird, and so at that point
I made my left hand as good as my right hand.
And I was published very young.
I was published at 13, internationally at 15.
And 13, when I got published, I had math homework due,
and I had a painting, a cover due.
And I'm like oh my god how am I going to do, I mean.
>> Screw the homework, I'm going to do the painting.
>> Yeah, so I picked up two brushes
and I'm was oh yeah I can do this.
Then I actually figured out that I could
do my math homework and paint simultaneously.
I shut my eyes apparently, when,
I don't know when I do it, but when I paint,
my eyes are shut a lot of the time.
>> Wow, that's awesome.
So great skills, so it gets it done faster,
but it's also creative.
Talk about your work, your artistry, cartoons.
You started doing, what did you get into first?
And how did your career evolve?
Take us through the evolution of your career,
because now in the tech scene,
you're doing some awesome art,
but we live in a digital world.
>> Yeah.
>> How's that?
You're doing cartoons, covers.
>> When I first started out, I was doing interiors.
Like just pen and ink interiors.
And then I started moving into color painted covers,
and, you know, sort of gradually went from,
you know from black and white work
to full color work, to being, doing a lot
of different magazine covers, book covers.
You name it.
I worked heavily with TSR,
which is Dungeons and Dragons at the time.
>> Yeah.
>> And I just sort of moved forward and kept...
>> And you got then you got to Hollywood started with movies.
What movies did you work on?
>> Oh my god, I've worked on a lot of low budget movies.
I worked on TV series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Firefly, Angel.
God, so many.
I mean, like literally that whole era of TV shows.
You know, movie wise I've done stuff
with Fast and the Furious.
Wow, it's amazing, when you get asked,
when you have a giant body of work.
When you ask that question all I see are ducks going across.
>> Well you just came off stage, so you're really
in painting mode now, and you just did this painting.
>> Yeah.
And how long did it take you do this one?
>> I'm sorry?
>> This art, how long did it take you to do this one?
>> This was a little under an hour.
I painted one earlier as well on the main stage
during the keynote speech.
And that one took me 45 minutes or something like that.
>> So they're giving their talk, and you're painting away.
>> Yep.
>> And you've done this at concerts?
>> Yeah
>> Tell us what other venues have you done?
>> Things like this.
I've done it with concerts.
People like Tech N9ne, Linkin Park, you know,
Steve Aoki, Flo Rida, just to name a few.
So I do it while they're performing.
So I'll do a full, like, four foot by eight foot painting
in about an hour and a half.
But when I'm doing gallery work it takes me
about a day, maximum two days a painting.
>> Yeah.
Well you're considerable talent.
You mentioned before we came on camera,
you're going to do the Linkin Park memorial
at the Hollywood Bowl.
>> I am, I'm going to be painting there on the 27th,
at the Hollywood Bowl.
You know, there's going to be a lot of people there,
just, you know I think they said the tickets sold out
in, like, 39 seconds, or, it was crazy.
>> Yeah.
>> But I'm fortunate to be able to do that.
>> Yeah.
>> And pay my respects as well, so.
>> Well great work you're doing.
I'm really inspired by that
because one of the things we're passionate about
at SiliconANGLE and theCUBE here
is social science, arts, and technology coming together.
That's clearly a trend that's happening.
I start see the younger generation too coming into
this world, and certainly, you have four kids,
I have four kids too.
We talked about that earlier, but,
they're getting immersed in this digital culture
and might miss out on some of the analog art.
>> Absolutely.
>> And what's your thoughts on that,
because, this is like, you do both right.
>> Yes.
>> So you get your hands dirty, I see your hands are dirty.
>> Yep they're filthy.
>> Good job, you really roll up your sleeves,
little pun intended.
So, this is the key to success.
Share your thoughts and vision for the younger generation
and other artists out there,
because art will be the front and center piece
of technology inspiration, user interface, gaming,
augmented reality.
>> No, absolutely, you know what, here's the thing.
And this is something that you and I were talking about
just a little bit ago.
I think the, we as humans have a choice.
You know, especially kids nowadays they can go
and they can be fully immersed,
but then they miss all the other things, you know.
I've seen kids at tables texting
each other instead of talking.
But I think if you take the analog era,
the thing, like the live painting.
Cause I use, I'll take a picture of this
I'll pour it into the computer,
ill clean it up, and I'll do that.
I think mixing the two worlds is vital, you know,
in advancing forwards as humans.
I mean that's just my opinion,
I try to teach my kids that as well.
>> Yeah.
>> You can't forget about the real world.
>> Yeah.
>> Because the real world's going to be here no matter what.
>> Yeah.
>> So, you know-
>> And then game developers are out there
right now working on a lot of ideas, inspiration,
you've drawn monsters before.
>> Absolutely >> Some of the characters here
from Marvel with Stan Lee.
There is, do you need the creative spark?
>> Oh absolutely.
And look there are, creative spark, anything can be a tool.
You know, so, the computer, doing computer art
is an amazing opportunity
to explore a new kind of tool, right?
To invent and create new creatures or new things.
It's all on how you use it.
And then you get the people,
I said this on stage the other day,
you get people who are taking photos
and then pressing 27 filters and calling it art.
I think you have to go backwards and, once again,
be able to do the analog.
Write your story, create your idea
and take any tool that's available and make it happen.
Whether it's to picking up a paintbrush,
whether it's getting on a computer on a Wacom tablet.
>> So you think that's practice
from a young artist standpoint
is get down and dirty, get analog.
>> Absolutely.
>> And that's your inspiration sandbox, if you will.
>> Absolutely, you know, and I think,
here's an example.
It's hard to have a gallery show of all digital stuff.
Beause then it's just prints of things that you've done.
There's no brush strokes, there's nothing there.
And a lot of art collectors want to see the stroke.
They want to know it's one-of-a-kind, that's it.
>> Yeah the prototype. >> Yeah
>> Or whatever the inspiration was.
It's inspiring.
>> Absolutely.
So I tell all artistes,
and even to the best computer artists,
I'm like, go analog, get your hands dirty, paint.
And let that speak as well.
>> I've been lucky at my age to see a bunch of waves
of innovation in technology.
It's super exciting.
I'd love to get your thoughts, from your perspective,
and the artistry community, and you've been in L.A.,
over the past 10 years, maybe even 20,
but say 10 an easier number.
10 years ago the Iphone wasn't even out, right?
>> Oh god.
>> So actually, 10 years ago it was the Iphone,
but let's say 11 years ago.
There was no Iphone, there was, YouTube just hit the scene.
So this whole digital culture has just shifted.
>> Oh absolutely.
>> Apple was a no name company in 2000, right?
Micheal Dell once said, " They should give
the stock back to stockholders".
(laughter)
So Steven Jobs proved them all wrong.
What is the scene like in your world
around the last 10 years?
What's been the disruptive change?
Where's the enablement?
What's been bad?
What's been good?
What's your thoughts?
>> You know, in the art world itself,
it's something I just mentioned,
what's disrupted the art world,
is people coming in and literally just being,
what I call, a button pusher artist.
You know, they figure out a filter or a tan,
or whatever, they make art on their phone,
and they're like.
And that disrupts a lot of things.
Because then it shows,
or can teach, kids or artists, or anybody.
People our age, whatever, it doesn't matter.
That it's okay to do that and skip all of the steps,
and I think that's the biggest point
is the technology has allowed people to think
they can skip steps, but you can't.
You can never skip the step-
>> What's the consequences of those steps skipping.
What's the consequence there?
>> So, if that's what you are,
and you've figured out filters,
and you get hired to do a job,
because maybe you're the greatest filter button pusher
in the world.
But then all of the sudden your computer goes out.
What do you do?
>> Call Apple Care.
>> Yeah, there you go.
>> Cheese bar appointment. >> I know, I konw
You're screwed basically.
>> You are.
I mean, I knew way back in the 20 years ago,
if you were versed in drawing cars,
and you got a job doing storyboards for a commercial,
and all of the sudden they said,
"Hey we're changing everything.
Now we're taking out all the cars
and now it's real people".
If you're not good at drawing real people,
you lost your job.
Same basic concept.
>> Yeah.
>> You have to take it all in, you know, in a giant ball.
And for the people who are like,
"I don't want to touch a computer".
Man, that's-
>> So it works both ways.
>> Absolutely works both ways.
>> So what you're saying, if I get this right,
is the computer's a great enable and accelerant
of a finished product.
>> Rob: Absolutely.
>> So you use it, you'll take this print you did behind us,
you'll touch it up, and you'll turn it into posters,
you'll sell it, you'll syndicate it.
>> Yep.
>> Etcetera, etcetera, but you did the work here in an hour.
With both hands.
You did it just on the fly, total creative, creativity.
>> Yeah, I mean, today's world, I think,
if we let things go too much
then the computer takes over
and we loose a part of ourselves.
>> And what about your social friends.
Like musicians, you know?
>> Oh my god.
>> So what's the musician vibe, same thing?
I mean tools are out there now,
my son's doing some stuff on Ableton live,
he loves that software suite,
but he's still laying some guitar licks down.
>> Absolutely, and you know, the great thing
about in the music scene,
I heard this a lot when Pro Tools first came out.
Everybody was like, "That's the death of the producer".
No, that was the beginning
of a different kind of producer.
And if you can do things at home and you're good,
then it's great.
>> What's the culture like in L.A. right now
in terms of the creative producer, creator?
Cause you've got like a maker culture on the geek side.
Robotics, maker culture put stuff together,
build some new things.
Now you got a creator culture which builds off
the maker culture, then you got the builder culture
all kind of coming together.
What's the success formula in your mind,
besides the managing the tools.
What's the mindset of the new producer,
the new director, the new artist?
What do you see as success points?
>> These are some of the best questions I've ever been asked.
Like, literally in every interview
I'm answering the same ones.
No, this is great.
I think, I think it's a little bit of the wild west
out in L.A., you know, and all over.
Because, you're forming amalgamations.
The director of a movie is no longer, possibly,
just a director.
He's also working on some of the cinematography.
Maybe he's an editor, you know,
it's a jack of all trades thing.
And I think a lot of the people that had one trade going in,
and were really good at it,
are finding that they're getting passed up sometimes
by the person who can do four or five different things
including being able to be versed at technology
>> Yeah we're seeing a lot of the things happen
in the computer industry,
just to share on my side of the table.
Data scientist is the hottest job on the planet.
Doing data.
Some of the best data scientists are anthropologists.
>> Really?
>> Like weird majors in college.
But they have a unique view of the data.
They're not parochial in their thinking.
They're looking at it differently.
Or they have a math background,
and obviously math is pretty important in data science,
but also, it's not just prototypical,
you got to be this spec.
It's a little bit of a different artsy kind of a feel,
cause you got to be, look at things differently.
You got to be able to rotate around 360.
>> And that's exactly it.
That you've got to have, you got to be thinking outside
of the box at all times nowadays.
>> Well Rob what's next for you?
What' going on?
You got a lot of things going on.
>> Rob: Oh wow.
>> You got a lot of business ventures,
you make a lot of money on your prints, you're famous.
You're exploring new territory.
What are some of the boundaries
you're pushing right now creatively,
that's really getting you excited?
>> Well, I'm going to be directing a movie coming up.
Which I find great because it allows me to take
every bit of all the things I know
and put it into a package, that's fun.
I've got several gallery shows coming up.
I've got a gallery show that I'll be doing with Stan,
which will be New York and L.A.
And, just getting on stage with more and more bands.
You know, I think-
>> You're a cult of personality,
what's it like working with Stan?
He's a cult of personality.
>> Oh my god, Stan is, Stan's great.
>> People yelling stuff at him,
"hey what do you think about that".
I mean there's a lot of culture in the Marvel Comics world.
>> Oh man he, you know, and look he's like what, 95.
And he's got more energy than I do.
Literally last night, we're all out to dinner
and I left before everybody else did.
Stan outlast me.
A 95 year old guy, and I'm like,
"I'm too tired, I got to go to bed".
And Stan's still going, you know.
>> The energizer bunny.
>> He's an animal.
>> Well great for coming on.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Great art, got amazing art right here
>> Thank you so much for having me man.
>> Great job, congratulations. >> Thank you
>> Good to see the arts.
Analog and the digital worlds connecting.
This is the key to success in the technology business.
Bringing an artisan mindset to great technology
for vital benefits.
That's what theCUBE believes, we believe it.
And so does Mr. Prior here.
Check out the art, robertprior.com.
Check it out. Robprior.com.
It's theCUBE live from San Francisco.
More after this short break.
>> Thanks for having me.