interview conducted September 2025
by Jen “Lil’ Bit” Schleusner
For full disclosure, I am a longtime fan and collector of Derek’s art and mugs – and in the past few years, have gotten to chat with him more as well as join in with him, and other talented folks, on the Tiki Pop Art panels at Dragon Con. Having said all that, I was still immensely happy to get the chance to pick Derek’s brain at bit more formally about his history and work.
1. Your current art style blends Mid Century Modern aesthetics with Tiki Pop – what are some of the early inspirations that drew you to this? Was there a moment that made you realize this was the artistic style you wanted to focus on?
My early inspiration was everything around me at the time! I was born in 1960, so I grew up surrounded by all this art that was created in the 50s and 60s.
My Dad’s jazz albums, my Mom’s recipe books, my collection of Mad magazines, Rat Fink Model Kits….even before I knew I was gonna be an artist, my young brain was soakin’ up all those images like a hungry sponge!
A few of the artists that had an early effect on me were Jim Flora, Jack Davis, Cliff Roberts and Ward Kimball, to name just a few. It was after working for Marvel and Cartoon Network back in the late 80s and early 90s when I decided I wanted to give those gigs the boot and make with the retro art bit. I wanted something that was mine! I had grown tired of working on other people’s stuff…I was ready to dance to the beat of my own bongos!
2. What role, if any, do you think your work has played in the Tiki Pop art revival and continued popularity?
Well, I ain’t gonna suggest that I’m the Grand Poobah of Tiki Pop or nothin’, but I would like to believe that I played a part in keeping the whole tiki revival going.
I hear from fans of my art that I’ve been a big influence on them as artists or just fans of the genre. I was very fortunate to land the gig to make art for San Diego’s Tiki Oasis way back in 2001. And I’ve been scribblin for them cats ever since! Surely that’s helped keep it goin’ for a bit longer, if not….then what has this all been about?!
3. How do you continue to create classic, nostalgic designs while also keeping pieces currently relevant?
Back when I made the decision to ditch Marvel and Cartoon [Network] and focus on my retro art obsession, I spent months studying all my vintage art reference…trying to figure out how to capture that look and feel. I wanted my art to transport the viewer back in time…like little time machines! And now, after workin in that style for over 25 years, I don’t have to think about it too much…it’s just my style. Whether it’s relevant or not is up to the fans…but I like to think that it may just be!
4. How did you begin your partnership with Dragon Con (i.e. the massive pop art alley display, the tiki shirts, etc.)? What keeps you coming back?
Once I started scribblin’ in my retro style I decided I needed to get my art out in front of the people…It wasn’t as easy in the early 2000s to get your work out there! And since Dragon Con was my local comic convention, I woulda’ been a fool to not take advantage of that. So around 2004 I started selling prints at the event and have been coming back every year since. In 2010 I contributed a blk and white image for the yearly Dragon Con coloring book. The cats that run the gig really dug it and asked me to add color so they could print it as a tee. The t-shirt was crazy popular with the attendees that year and sold out really quik-like…So that was really the beginning of our working relationship. Over the years I’ve created several other t-shirt designs, key cards, badges, banner art and most recently fabric designs for hawaiian shirts.
What keeps me coming back is the people! My relationship with the Dragon Con organizers, and with my fellow Artist Alley artists is a big draw…but the fans that continue to support this nonsense year after year…I dig them cats the MOST! The life of most artists is pretty solitary. I myself have been a freelance artist almost my entire career, so I am alone a lot! And working alone, you second guess what you’re creating from time to time, so it’s really important for me to get face to face with the fans and hear what they have to say about the scribbles. It keeps me goin’!
5. Are there any artists that currently influence you and/or make you excited to keep creating?
There’s a lot of talented cats out there these days….too many!! In the world of tiki art I have always been a big fan of Big Toe, Horne, Ruzic, Mookie, Mulder ( sounds like a weird law firm ) But my influences are still primarily all the amazing artists that created the stuff back in the day….the stuff that lit the retro fuse back when I was just a little crumb snatcher! I still live in that retro world, surrounding myself with vintage art, clothes, and collectibles in order to channel the vintage vibe. I love it when I stumble upon a really cool vintage illustration I have never seen before, that always flips my switches and gets me excited to scribble more art!
6. Is there anyone you would like to collab with that you have not yet been able to?
Might be weird to say, but no, not really…I’m a solo act! There are a handful of people that I collab with on an ongoing basis ( Dragon Con, Tiki Oasis, Tiki Farm ) and I value those relationships a great deal, but these days I’m more about working on all the stuff that I never seem to have time for. So, I have been taking on less and less commission gigs.
My early career was all about trying to gain control over the art I create. I spent a lot of years makin’ art for clients and having little control over the final product. That’s why after several years of working on advertising illustration, Marvel Comics and Cartoon Network I decided I needed a change. That’s what led to me taking the retro plunge!
7. Any new upcoming projects you are particularly looking forward to (that you can discuss)?
Wish you’d have asked me that earlier! Then I could have bragged about my mug signing at the Disneyland Hotel and my trip to the Tiki Farm headquarters that happened in February of this year! Right now I got squat and diddly planned…Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m finally going to finish a beatnik nursery rhyme book that I’ve been working on forever…So I got that goin’ for me!
Other than that, I’m gonna’ keep making new prints and sketches and working on new Tiki Farm mugs and new Tiki Oasis art. And I just recently finished more art for a Dragon Con hawaiian shirt to celebrate next years 40th anniversary.
8. And finally, what is your favorite Tiki mug that you have designed so far? Any design you would really like to do in the future, but current production methods make it not feasible?
That’s a great question…a real noodle scratcher! Most all of the mugs I’ve designed have been produced by Tiki Farm. When I was out visiting the Farm recently for a mug signing event they had all my mugs on one wall…it was crazy! There were over 50 different mugs displayed! I had no idea we had created so damned many.
So, deciding on a favorite is a dilly of a pickle! I guess it would have to be the moai mug I created for Tiki Magazine…The Tiki Mag Mug! LOVE the clean design and economy of line. And it was huge…measured nearly 10″ tall! It was also a very popular design, so much so, that we brought the design back on a smaller scale as Moai Suave and added a topknot for the Moai Sophisticate mugs.
A more recently released mug is my second fave…A devil mug named Sin Is In!
Several years ago I had sketched out a Halloween cat mug that wasn’t do-able at the time….so hopefully now we can make that happen. I’ll keep ya posted!
Check out more of Derek Yaniger’s prints, glassware and more at: The Art of Derek Yaniger. You can also catch a sneak peak of his Dragon Con 40th Anniversary Hawaiian shirt design HERE on his Instagram!
