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A Pouty Bear, Commissions, and Tote Bags

A post in three parts. Here we go.
First, here’s a painting I just finished yesterday called Pouty Bear. Even though most of the animals I paint are smiling and happy, I occasionally change them up, even if I know that a different expression may not appeal to people.

My Angry Bear painting is not popular, but it’s still one of my favourites because I enjoyed the work. The grumpy lion, on the other hand, is a pretty good seller, and that surprised me. The Ring-tailed Lemur creeps some people out but definitely has its fans.

Will this pouting brown bear connect with people? Time will tell.
Commissions and Comic-Con

I’ve enjoyed most of the pet portrait commissions I’ve done. Each has a unique story. I like the back-and-forth with clients and am usually happy with the results.

I only paint two or three commissions a year, sometimes only one, so they’re not a big part of my work. I’m OK with that because custom paintings are labour-intensive. Each begins with initial client emails, vetting photos, and discussing expectations. This leads to the actual painting, printing and delivery, which takes several weeks at the best of times. That’s in addition to my daily editorial cartoons and paintings and running my business.

A whimsical wildlife painting takes several hours, too, but each of those paintings has the potential to become a popular print or licensed image that sells for many years. Although every commission advertises my skills to future clients, the painting itself is one and done. It’s unique and specific to the person who hired me. Very few people want a painting of somebody else’s dog.

For my clients, a commission is not an impulse buy; it’s an investment in a very personal and meaningful custom painting. Most people hire me after following my work for a while and becoming familiar with my art style and process. They’ve had time to think about a commission, decide they want one, and only then do they contact me.
At the Calgary Expo a few years ago, Jeremy asked me about painting his dog, Luna. It was several months later before he reached out and got the ball rolling for a Christmas present for his wife, Jenny. Luna is one of my favourite paintings. I enjoyed the experience and look forward to seeing them each year at the Expo. Jeremy and Jenny even visited the Banff Christmas Market this year and brought their dogs along.
I am asked about commissions at shows all the time. For the past couple of years, I have displayed an 18” X24” metal print of Luna in my booth, with a little sign in the corner that reads, “YES, I DO paint commissions. Ask me for more info.”

Since advertising the service with Luna’s painting, I get a lot more inquiries. But here’s the thing: Jeremy was the exception to the rule. Almost nobody hires me for a commission after meeting me at shows. And I’ve realized that talking about commissions is usually the quickest way to get somebody to leave my booth.

Whether it’s at the Calgary Expo or the Banff Christmas Market, here’s how that usually goes. While they scan the metal and canvas prints hanging on the grid walls that define my booth, they see the Luna painting and the commission sign. They get excited that I might paint their dog, and the first question is usually, “How much would that cost?”

I’ve used various talking points to try to soften the sticker shock. I mention that a custom painting is an investment and personal to them. I explain how much work is involved, including printing and shipping/delivery. But as soon as I mention it’s $1900, the disappointed look on most people’s faces is unmistakable.

The price surprises those who are used to buying underpriced art on Etsy, which is often generated AI or photo manipulation. I don’t know how much they thought a custom original painting would cost, but it was much less than what I just quoted them. Because even though very few will flat out say, “I can’t afford that,” it’s evident in their reaction, and that makes them feel embarrassed, even though they shouldn’t. I don’t drop two thousand dollars on anything without planning and careful consideration, so I don’t expect anyone else to.

But now they’re uncomfortable. Their initial enthusiasm for my work, which attracted them to my booth in the first place, is tarnished, and they want to escape this negative feeling as soon as possible. They’ll often ask for a card and say they’ll be in touch, leave the booth, and I know I’m unlikely to ever hear from them.

They never got around to flipping through the 40-50 different prints in the bins, nor did they see the magnets, coasters, stickers, or postcards. I’ll never know how many sales I might have missed if the commission price hadn’t scared them away.

As much as I love showing off that Luna painting, I won’t bring it to shows anymore. I’ll still get commission inquiries at The Calgary Expo, but I won’t advertise them. I’m likely to say that I’m not taking any right now with my current workload.

Like a commission, The Calgary Expo and Banff Christmas Markets are big investments, which I hope will result in excellent sales and allow me to introduce my work to new people. And when they see my happy, smiling animals, along with the occasional pouty bear or grumpy lion, I want to invite them in and show them around my booth rather than give them a reason to leave.

If they sign up for A Wilder View, they can always look into a commission later and decide on their own time that they want to talk about it.

As with all self-employment, art-for-a-living is about adaptation. When something isn’t working, it’s time to make a change.

Tote Bags

Thank you for all the positive comments and emails about the new Otter and Smiling Tiger tote bags I’m ordering for the Calgary Expo. These vibrant printed bags are 100% polyester textured canvas, machine wash and dry, and will withstand everyday use while looking great. Each measures 16” X 13” X 3”.
Several people emailed me asking if I’ll have them in the online store. As with any new product, I must guess how many I might need for the show. Production and delivery timelines mean I won’t get these for more than a month, so I need to order them on Monday to have them in time for the end of April.

While I think they’ll do very well, they’re a significant investment, and I’m erring on the side of caution, which means I hadn’t planned on ordering extras for the online store until I see how they do. And if I added them to the store first and they do very well, I won’t be able to order more in time for Expo.
But I’d love to hear your thoughts.

At $29 plus $5 shipping (in Canada) for one bag, would you buy one if I stocked them on my site? Depending on the feedback, I may increase how many I order tomorrow to accommodate online sales. Please let me know in the comments.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Banners and Bags

For years, I’ve been using the same vertical banners at the Calgary Expo, featuring my Smiling Tiger and Rat paintings.  While the old banners are still in good shape, they have my old website on them, www.cartoonink.com. And even though I rebranded to LaMontagne Art some time ago, I haven’t worried about the other address, because it will still take you to my site. I also know that most people aren’t looking at my banner and going to my site while standing right in front of me at my booth. In hindsight, it wasn’t necessary to ever include that info on the banner.

The banner stands I’ve used for years are made of heavy steel posts, cross beams and a base. They’ve done the job well, but they take extra time to set up and are awkward to load into an already packed car.
This year, I have replaced them with these retractable banner stands which are more compact and set up in seconds. While I could have gone with new images for both banners, I opted to keep the Smiling Tiger. It’s still one of my bestselling images, but more importantly, it’s part of my Calgary Expo booth and brand identity. People tell me they look for that banner. For the second image, my Rat painting is now retired, and I was happy to use my new Polar Plunge painting in its place. I think it fits this format well.

I had these printed at Vistaprint Canada and I’m pleased with how they turned out.

Shonna has been urging me to get tote bags for a long time, but I’ve never been enthused with the idea. There are many different products on which I could print my art, but that would mean buying, storing and transporting them as well. Having too many products gets expensive and complicated, and I wasn’t sure if tote bags would be the best investment.

At the Banff Christmas Market this year, I made a point of arriving early some days to check out other vendor booths. One vendor I know had her artwork on canvas tote bags and I was very impressed with the printing. She told me they sold well and I asked where she had them done. She generously shared the details for the Montreal company and said they were great to work with.
I created these designs for two of my bestselling paintings, and I am thrilled with how great they look. The print quality is better than I could have hoped, as is the construction and stitching. This vibrant printed bag is 100% polyester textured canvas, machine wash and dry, and will withstand everyday use while looking great. Each measures 16”X 13” X 3”.
I designed each bag as a wrap; the same image on both sides, with no text or advertising. I’ll have these two bestselling painting designs, my Otter and Smiling Tiger, available for this year’s Calgary Expo. I haven’t yet decided on how many I’ll bring, but they’ll retail for around $30.

Cheers,
Patrick

 

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The Ringleader

Some paintings come together easily. A reference photo may immediately inspire an idea, I’ll sit down and mock up sketches, and it will almost feel like the image creates itself.

This was NOT one of those paintings.

I’ve had more than a few frustrating experiences painting where the work didn’t seem to want to come together. I’ve beaten myself up about it, wrung my hands and thought, “Well, I used to know how to do this; I guess I don’t anymore.”

Eventually, I’ve made it through, and some of those paintings became bestsellers.
This painting has been something entirely different. Even though I had a clear idea of what I wanted it to look like, I couldn’t get it to feel right. It was inspired by a photo I took at the Calgary Zoo, and I even had the name of the piece before I painted the first brushstroke.

I came very close to calling this piece finished a couple of months ago. But I showed it to my artist friend Derek, who kindly told me what I already knew. It wasn’t working. The faces were laid out too uniformly, like a tic-tac-toe grid, and the personality wasn’t there.

So I went back to the beginning, discarding dozens of hours of work to start over again. The difference this time, however, was that I looked at it as one piece containing several characters rather than several characters I created separately and then assembled into one piece.
The first go round, I used a specific reference for each lemur I painted and drew them all individually. Even after I assembled them, I kept going back to the individual references for each, and it wasn’t easy to keep track of it all. I made it far too complicated.

When I started over, I abandoned the individual reference. I focused on the expressions and characters without worrying about making each look like a specific reference because I didn’t need it. Lemurs are lemurs; they don’t look all that different from each other. As long as the central character had the most personality, the others were the supporting cast, even though their details were still necessary.
The key to getting this piece back on track was to stop painting individual trees and just paint the forest. Even though this was a challenging painting, with a lot of redrawing and direction changes, I learned from the frustration. These kinds of lessons always contribute to better work in the future.

On Marc Maron’s WTF podcast this week, director James Mangold talked about lessons he has learned in filmmaking. He said that even though you need to start with a plan, if you hold it too tightly, you don’t leave any room for discovery in the process.

The finished piece still doesn’t quite match my original inspiration and vision. And while there are still the same nine lemurs as before, they’re more dynamic in their placement, different angles, placed higher and lower. There are more tails here and there, and I added hands for the ringleader as the central character.

But when I spend too much time with a painting, I can’t see it with fresh eyes anymore, so I don’t know if it’s any good.

What’s worse is that January and February are tough for me, as they are for many people. We’ve been enduring a period of bitter cold the past couple of weeks, and that always sucks the life out of me. I’ve forced myself to go for a few hikes and bundled-up bike rides to get out of the house and exercise, but it’s been a slog.

It’s also a time of year when I spend a lot of money on my business. From the final 50% booth installment for The Calgary Expo, the deposit for registering for the Banff Christmas Market, my first quarterly tax installment, paying for new promotional items, test prints for new products, plus restocking prints for anticipated spring client orders and Expo, and all the materials that go with that, it’s a part of self-employed stress I never get used to. It’s a maxim as old as time that you must spend money to make money, but nothing is guaranteed, so it’s always uncomfortable.

Finally, with the editorial cartoon side of my work, I must follow the deluge of bad news that breaks daily because he-who-shall-not-be-named continues his insane barrage of verbal and economic attacks on Canada. As much as I’d like to turn off the news to preserve my sanity, I can’t do that and still do my job.

All of this, aside from the 51st-state bullshit, is business as usual for this time of year. But when it piles on, it usually puts me in a pretty dark place.
Under these circumstances, my perception of how any finished piece looks is distorted. I have no idea how I feel about this painting and probably won’t for a while. I feel more relief that it’s finally over than satisfaction with the result.

I’ve done several paintings in my career where I’ve felt indifference for them upon completion but grew to love them over time. Maybe this will be one of those, but I have no way to know. Artists tend to put too much pressure on themselves and make more out of their work than they should, and I am no exception. Ultimately, it’s just a painting of some funny-looking lemurs, and I have spent enough time on it.

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”

Nobody knows if Leonardo da Vinci really said it, but it’s an oft-repeated quote because of how much it resonates with artists, that there is always room for improvement, and perfection isn’t possible.

With that in mind, I’m moving on and will start a new painting in a day or two.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Collectors from Across the Pond

Rich and Jill have been coming to the Bow Valley from their home in the UK every year for over a decade. While I don’t remember our first encounter in 2010, I had delivered an out-of-stock print of my first wolf painting to them at the Two Wolves gallery in Canmore.

I miss that place. The owners gave my whimsical wildlife work a shot at the very beginning, when I had only painted a handful of them and knew nothing about this part of the business. (Hi, Andrea!)

During other trips, Rich and Jill bought my art prints in Banff at About Canada under the previous owners. In those days, I offered black matted giclée prints on consignment, which means I supplied them to the gallery, and they would pay me when they sold. These days, my wholesale customers buy my prints outright, and I no longer offer matted prints.

But Rich and Jill liked that look and still wanted the giclée prints in that same size. So, in recent years, they have kept up with new releases through A Wilder View. And before they come to Canada to ski, they place a special order for the prints they want to take home. They order in the fall so I have it ready when they get here in December or January. I provide the prints in a roll and they have them framed in the UK.

This year, Rich told me in November that they wanted some coasters and a special order print of Spa Day in the usual 11″ X14″ size. He joked, “We just bought a larger house, mainly so we had more wall space for your pictures.”

But he also said, “Ideally, we would get a large format of the grizzlies, but I guess that’s not finished yet.”
Up until then, the above work-in-progress image was all they had seen. I had shared it in August, along with an unfinished series of sketches. That they wanted to order the painting before they’d seen the finished work was flattering and a little frightening.

Even though there was no pressure, I suddenly wanted to have that print ready for them, especially since this was the first time they wanted larger than the usual size.

After the Christmas markets, I focused on The Grizzlies and finished it for New Year’s Day. Rich and Jill decided on an 18″ X24″ print, giving me three weeks before they arrived, which was plenty of time. This was the first time I’d seen the new painting in print and I was pleased. While I’m proud of my poster prints and Art Ink Print in Victoria does a great job, a giclée fine art print has a texture to the paper that often results in richer colours and enhances the detail. The photos here don’t do it justice.
I met them at a local brewery for a drink to deliver their order this weekend. We haven’t had time for anything more than a short exchange on previous deliveries due to weather or distancing during the pandemic, so it was nice to sit and chat with them.

With this most recent delivery, they now have 16 prints of their own, plus trivets, coasters and prints they’ve bought for friends. As a self-employed artist, there is no bigger compliment than somebody who enjoys my work that much.

I’m grateful for anyone who buys my art, whether it’s a sticker, magnet, coaster, calendar, print or commission. Still, there are a handful of collectors whose ongoing support is sometimes overwhelming. Hopefully, I have told each of you how much it’s appreciated.

Because I had a little more time to get to know them on Saturday evening, I asked if they had any requests for animals I hadn’t yet painted. Though they own several other animal paintings I’ve done, they said they’re happiest with the bears, and I assured them there’s no chance I will stop painting those anytime soon. But Rich also took the opportunity to say, with an implied wink and a nudge, that he’d really like to buy a copy of my book.

I laughed nervously and hung my head in shame.

Maybe next year, Rich. Maybe next year.

Sigh.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Cartoons Amid the Chaos

As many of you know, my art business consists of editorial cartooning and whimsical wildlife paintings. My syndicated editorial cartoons used to provide a decent full-time living, but with the decline of newspapers, it’s now less than half of my income. Fortunately, my painted work keeps growing and carries more of the load when it comes to paying the bills.

But editorial cartooning is still a big part of my job. The images you see in this post show the different stages of each cartoon I draw, this one about the unwelcome trade war Canada now finds itself in with the United States.
Each week, I draw five or six syndicated editorial cartoons. I follow regional, provincial, national and international news and draw illustrated commentary on prominent stories. Many of my weekly clients across Canada only run my cartoons in their publications, some for over a decade. Other clients, especially daily papers, will pick and choose from submissions from several cartoonists. Despite the belief that journalism is unbiased, it most certainly is not. Some newspapers lean left while others lean right.

Prime Minister Trudeau is deeply unpopular everywhere in Canada, so most newspapers will run a cartoon that casts him in an unfavourable light. But, sometimes, I will draw a cartoon that calls out a right-leaning leader, like Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre or Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, and even as I draw the toon, I know that some of my Alberta newspapers won’t run it.

Editorial cartoons are not unbiased, nor are they supposed to be. Just like a written opinion piece, the cartoon is my perspective. Some readers will agree with it; others will not.

In addition to my syndicated work, I draw one weekly local cartoon for The Rocky Mountain Outlook, the newspaper of record for Banff, Canmore, Lake Louise and the rest of the Bow Valley. I’ve been their cartoonist since day one in 2001, and it’s a point of pride that I have never missed an issue. It’s rare that the cartoon on the editorial page isn’t about an issue close to home. While the Outlook has mostly supported my work for many years, each idea is subject to my editor’s approval. I don’t own that spot on the editorial page and can’t simply draw whatever I want.

With syndication, however, I have free reign. It’s then up to my newspaper clients to decide whether they want to run a cartoon I submit. If one rubs them the wrong way, they get four or five others that week to choose from.
Years ago, I recall that somebody in Canmore came up with a proposal that each business in the community should contribute to a tourism promotion fee. Some businesses complained they shouldn’t have to because they weren’t in the tourism business.

Even if you only ever see locals in your business, if they work in tourism, then so do you. Without tourism to pay your customers, your customers can’t pay you. If tourism suddenly vanished around here, so would most businesses in town and the people who work in them.

This weekend, in an unjustified demonstration of selfish aggrandizing aggression, the President of the United States levied a 25% tariff on all goods from Canada, with 10% on energy. I won’t get too deep into why none of this makes sense, but one easy objection is that this is not about fentanyl trafficking, as he claims.

A Homeland Security Commission in 2022 concluded that “Canada is not known to be a major source of fentanyl, other synthetic opioids or precursor chemicals to the United States, a conclusion primarily drawn from seizure data.”

A 2020 DEA intelligence report stated, “While Mexico and China are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the United States, India is emerging as a source for finished fentanyl powder and fentanyl precursor chemicals.”

Canada wasn’t implicated by either agency. But it’s hardly surprising, because the President changes his reasons for the tariffs with each passing day. One day it’s fentanyl, then immigration, then a wildly exaggerated trade deficit number that he calls a subsidy (it’s not), and today it’s that “Canada doesn’t even allow U.S. Banks to open or do business there. What’s that all about?”

It was another false claim that was easy to debunk, as the Financial Post did within two hours of the President’s declaration. US banks have been operating in Canada for a long time, one for more than 100 years.

You will have no trouble finding educated insight into this recent tariff issue, especially from economists and business leaders on either side of the border, who say this will be incredibly damaging to the economies of both countries.
Canada and the United States have had a unique, enviable, and friendly relationship for longer than any two countries. We’ve often referred to each other as family. We’ve had our ups and downs; every relationship does, but it has always endured.

This unprovoked schoolyard bully attack has Canadians upset and angry. The 51st state nonsense is insulting, rude and childish, especially repeated ad nauseum over the past few months. But we hoped it might pass, and the President would find other means to distract his supporters from his false promises to make their lives better. Shouldn’t at least those voters be his primary focus? Because this ain’t that, regardless of how he paints it.

Tariffs will not decrease grocery prices in the United States. Those prices are going to go up, as they will for cars, furniture, gas, heavy equipment, and many more components, parts and products that Americans import from Canada. Even the average oil change in the US will likely increase by 30%. Tariffs will impact purchases most people never even think about, and those in Congress more concerned with keeping their titles and salaries than serving their constituents know it.

But hey, their financial security isn’t in jeopardy. Not yet.

Realtors in Florida and Arizona are seeing more second homes on the market than in years as Canadians leave communities, no longer feeling welcome in the United States. My parents lived in Arizona in the winter for over a decade. A hairdresser once told my Mom she had to get a part-time job during the pandemic when Canadians couldn’t travel south.

Canadians represent 27% of all international visitors to the US, contributing $16.4 billion in 2018, according to the US Travel Association. Whether talk translates to action is anyone’s guess, but I’ve heard several Canadians say they won’t take a U.S. vacation anytime soon. Why go where you’re not welcome?

Buy Canadian stickers are now popping up all over Canada, and trade barriers between provinces will likely disappear, as they should have years ago. It’s ironic that an unwarranted attack by our closest trading partner might do more to unite Canadians than our own politicians have managed in recent memory.

The tariffs levied against Canada this week and our retaliation measures will severely impact both economies, and some experts suggest that Canada may fall into a recession. And just like businesses in this valley who didn’t think they were in the tourism business, Canadians and Americans will soon find out just how much it’ll hurt all of us when people in other professions start losing their livelihoods.

Late Breaking Edit: As of Monday afternoon, the threatened tariffs have now been delayed for 30 days following a phone conversation between Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump. This is not a reprieve. Canada remains under the same threat.
On Saturday, I paid my deposit and applied for the Banff Christmas Market this year. While anything can happen between now and the end of the year, I’m already lowering expectations. I’m currently sourcing and buying stock for the Calgary Expo at the end of April, but I’m no longer planning on some products. I don’t think people will have money to spend on luxuries, and my work certainly qualifies.

It’s clear this manufactured conflict will continue to escalate and dominate the news for the foreseeable future. People have suggested to me, that with all this fresh material every day, I must love the return of President Trump.

I can assure you I do not.
____
©Patrick LaMontagne 2025

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Polar Plunge

In June of last year, I painted my Big Bear on Blue polar bear painting, which is now a popular print. Pacific Music & Art used it as the cover of their 2025 calendar featuring my artwork. I like that painting and didn’t feel the need to create another polar bear image, at least not right away.

In July of last year, however,  I shared the following sketch painting, the term I use for unfinished experiments. Because I had just painted a polar bear, I didn’t see the need to take it any further.
But it had received a positive response, and a few people sent me emails asking if I would finish it. So, over the last week, I put the time in to complete it, and I think Polar Plunge will be a nice addition to my print releases for spring.

At the beginning of this year, I spent a few days looking through unfinished paintings. There are a couple I had forgotten about that I’d now like to dust off and complete, and I’d like to finish as many paintings in progress as I can before I start anything new.

I also created a 2025 list of folders with reference files, so I don’t have to wonder what’s coming next.

There’s always a short-lived high whenever I finish a painting. Years ago, it used to last for a week. Now, it lasts for about an hour, followed by a bit of a crash, for anywhere from a couple of days to a week. If I look through my reference files during that post-painting hangover, hoping to find the next idea, nothing inspires me.

This year, I decided to eliminate that problem. Art for a living is a job, and when one painting is finished, I need to start another, regardless of whether I feel like it. Thankfully, I now have 28 new folders containing reference images for paintings I can start right away. Some are paintings I need to finish, like the group of ring-tailed lemurs I’ve been working on. As I complete a painting, I’ll choose another folder and start the next one. And even if I’m not ‘feeling it,’ that will pass soon enough as I get into the new piece, because lost in the details of a painting is about as happy as I get.

I have never painted that many images in a year, but that’s not the goal. I simply now have 28 options and no excuses not to start a new piece.

When I’m not feeling especially creative, it helps to think of each painting as a commission. When clients pay me to paint their pets, I have a deadline or know that I’m wasting their time and money if I don’t work on their painting. Guilt is a strong motivator.

I’m trying to shift my perspective regarding my own paintings where I’m the client, and by not working, I’m wasting my own time and potential revenue.

I’m also working to create a new portfolio this year to attract new licensing clients. Even though many of my licenses aren’t exclusive, some companies are still reluctant to use an image on similar products if another company uses it, even if the market conflict is minimal. Anything can happen, and relying on only a few clients risks future income security. The loss of newspaper clients in recent years illustrates that point well.

While editorial cartooning is still a large part of my business, newspapers have experienced a steady decline for years, so it no longer provides a full-time income on its own. If I hadn’t had the whimsical wildlife side of my business, which is now the most significant portion of my income, I would have had to get a part-time job a few years ago.
Last week, I delivered the year’s first print and sticker order to the Calgary Zoo. It was warm, with plenty of sunshine, and there weren’t many people. Even traffic was light, so I had an enjoyable day. When I got there, I chatted with the retail manager and the staff I know, then wandered through Canadian Wilds, my favourite part of the zoo.

I texted my friend Kayla, one of the zookeepers, asking if she was working and where she was. She said she was in the North American porcupine enclosure, so I went there. Kayla was one of those who asked me if I was ever going to complete this new polar bear painting, so I was happy to tell her the finished painting was imminent.
Porcupines are nocturnal, so they’re not active during the day, but like any animal, they’ll make an effort when food is involved. Because Kayla was inside the enclosure, feeding the cute and prickly resident, we had a nice chat while I got some decent reference shots. Add those to the ones I’ve taken at Discovery Wildlife Park, and there is now a Porcupine folder in my list of paintings I’d like to get to this year.

Though I took many more photos of different animals that day, most weren’t worth keeping. Bright sunny days and photography don’t usually mix. No matter how you compensate with camera settings, the lights end up too bright, the shadows too dark, and you can only fix so much in Photoshop. The sun is also low in the sky this time of year, which doesn’t help.

Normally, I’d be disappointed, but there have been plenty of days I’ve come home with dozens of shots worth keeping, and it often takes me years to get to them. And as I’ve explained, I have no shortage of paintings to get to this year. Hey, I delivered an order to one of my best customers, got out of the office, and had a nice day outside in the middle of winter. I have no complaints.

While I’ve recorded the occasional high-speed video for YouTube, it’s been quite a while, and I want to get back to using that platform to help promote my work. I’ve been spending a lot of time lately learning to use new recording software and hardware. Something many artists don’t realize when they want to turn their hobby into their work is that the business and promotion side of self-employment requires constant adaptation and continuing education. While it takes time away from creating art, it’s necessary for career longevity. Just because something worked well ten years ago, doesn’t mean it will today.

While I’m learning the ropes of these new tools and preparing to create more videos, I’ve got a few more paintings in progress to complete, and as I do, I look forward to sharing them with you.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Raptor Rain

Painting the wet look in this one was challenging because I had to decide where to draw the line. I could have added more rain in the background and foreground, but I’d risk it looking too busy. The same could be said for the water droplets I painted on the feathers. More definition might equal more distraction.

Had I made the eagle wetter, it would mean flattening the feathers, making a dome out of the crown of its head. More accurate, perhaps, but I like painting fur and feathers, so I kept the wet look but still showed the definition. Maybe it had just given its head a shake.

Ultimately, I chose to go with what I do best: the detail in the face, expression and personality. Too much time spent on painting the forest might mean nobody sees the tree. A painting is not defined only by what you include but also what you choose to leave out.

I already have a bald eagle painting that’s been popular for many years in both prints and licensing. It often feels that if I paint more than one of an animal, the second might not be as good as the first, or at least as well received.

That’s foolish, of course.

People like both of my Snow Leopard and Snow Queen paintings. I’ve watched snow leopard fans choose between them at markets, and neither is the consistent winner. I’ve also painted more bears than any other animal, and there’s no chance I’ll stop anytime soon. I’ve also heard no complaints.

Jackie and Shadow on the FOBBV webcam in their nest in Big Bear Valley, California

I’ve seen plenty of eagles on several trips to Vancouver Island and on visits to the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale. A few years ago, a subscriber (Hi, Eileen!) sent me a link to a wildlife cam near her home in Big Bear Valley, California. Ever since then, right around this time, I enjoy checking in on Jackie and Shadow as they try again for another viable clutch of eggs. Nothing so far, but fingers crossed.
Though we romanticize eagles, imagining them soaring high in the sky for the sheer joy of flying, they’re experts at energy conservation and efficiency. Flying takes a lot of effort, and unless it’s for food or mating, an eagle is most content sitting in a tree all day. That’s also why some scavenge and eat carrion when available rather than hunt for fresh prey.
They have exercise runways at the Birds of Prey Centre, and the flight training is fun to watch. Though they try to release most rescued birds back into the wild, it’s not always an option and some become residents. The staff weigh the birds to keep them hungry enough that food is still a motivator. When it’s time for exercise, food rewards entice the birds to fly back and forth on the runways.It doesn’t take many trips for the eagles and hawks to get tired, and bald eagles and other raptors will overheat if they fly a lot. They cool off by holding their wings open and panting like dogs. After training sessions, especially on warm days, the eagles return to the open aviary for a shower. Placed on a perch, the staff hose them down, and the eagles obviously enjoy it.
I’ve taken several wet eagle photos on multiple visits, and had the idea for this painting a few years ago. My recent trip down there this summer reminded me to paint this raptor in the rain.

Cheers,
Patrick

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The Grizzlies

“How long does it take you to paint one of these?”

It’s one of the most common questions I get.

Do I include all the time and travel? Taking, sorting and editing reference photos? How about sketches and roughs? What about the paintings where I took the reference a few years ago but wasn’t inspired by them until much later?

I’ve never completed a painting in one sitting. It’s usually one or two hours at a time. When I’m not painting, I draw editorial cartoons, do my bookkeeping, admin work, format and order products, email clients, and try to have a life, none of which is on a schedule. Sometimes, I start a painting and don’t return to it for a week. Right now, I have at least five paintings in different stages of completion.

So, technically, I have no idea how long it really takes to complete each painting.

But rather than bore a market booth customer with a complicated, existential answer to a simple question, I usually ballpark it and say, “Somewhere around 15 or 20 hours.”

I don’t know if that’s more or less than what they expected.
The spark for this painting was reference photos I took at the Calgary Zoo in June of 2023. I enjoyed watching long-time grizzly resident Skoki straddle a log while resting his arms on another log across it. It reminded me of somebody bellying up to a bar to order a drink.

He sat there for a good long while and I took dozens of photos of him turning this way and that. The painting that first came to mind was four or five grizzlies sitting at the log, like buddies at the bar. I even figured I might call it Grizzly Bar.
I did some drawings shortly after that and returned to them whenever I had the time. While Skoki was the inspiration, I used several bears in my photo archive as reference for the bodies and faces. If nothing else, I figured they would be good sketches for the book I’ve been talking about for years, but to my eternal shame, never deliver.
Once I had several sketches, I pieced them together, trying to find a composition I liked. The five grizzly bear buddies soon became five members of a family. It reminded me of a grizzly bear version of a Sears family portrait photo shoot. Refining the shapes so they fit together, and reimagining the expressions meant losing a lot of the sketch detail I had already drawn, but that’s just part of the process.
Many paintings begin as one idea but take on their own life while I work. I have no idea how many hours I’ve put into this piece, but it’s more than any painting before.
Rather than work in colour from the start, as with other paintings, I started this one in greyscale because I wanted to play with the values and experiment with the scene. Once I had a good starting point, I painted colour in the background and foreground, leaving the grizzlies for last.

I’ll confess I don’t much like painting landscapes or scenery, so I wanted to get that out of the way to get to the part I love most — the bears, of course.
Initially, the berries in the foreground were bright red. But when I showed this work-in-progress image to my buddy, Derek, at Electric Grizzly Tattoo, he suggested they might be a distraction from the bears. It was a helpful critique. So, I toned down the berries and made them a deeper burgundy and blue.
As brown bears come in many shades, from dark brown to red to blonde, I had initially planned to have a more noticeable colour difference between the five. But it looked weird, and I didn’t like it, so I erred on the side of more subtle variations in fur colour.
One of the nice things about working digitally is that at the end of each painting session, I can look back at the image when I opened the file and compare it to progress at the end of a session. It’s often a big difference, and that’s satisfying. However, when a painting nears completion, two hours of work may be barely noticeable before and after. That’s usually how I know it’s time to call it done.

For you digital painters, this was a very big file with a lot of detail. The finished dimensions are  30″X40″ at 300ppi. Near the end of this piece, with seven layers, the working file size was over 1.5GB. Thankfully my computer can handle it, but I still closed and reopened the program every half hour or so to prevent any lag. With a file this big, a crash can happen and losing an hour of work is a real risk.
Deciding whether I like a piece or not takes time, but I’m pretty happy with how this turned out. I liked my Meerkat piece when I finished it, but it took four weeks of it hanging on the grid wall beside me at The Banff Christmas Market before I realized it’s one of my personal favourites.
Because of the current uncertain economy, I’m not yet committing to doing puzzles again right away. But when I do, I think this grizzly family is worthy of consideration.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Cheers,
Patrick

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The Ticking Clock

New subscribers usually follow me for my whimsical wildlife art. They’re often unaware that half of my business, about 40% these days, is drawing syndicated editorial cartoons for daily and weekly newspapers in several Canadian provinces. In addition to painting my wildlife art, I draw six or seven cartoons each week.

A short time ago, I wrote a post about my disappointment at the outcome of the US election. For my email subscribers, I prefaced it with a clear statement that the narrative they were about to read was political. I suggested that subscribers who’d rather not read that opinion piece could close the email, and I’d have something more up-tempo for them later.

Of course, one subscriber who kept reading (his choice) and didn’t like it, sent me an email that read, “Nobody cares about your TDS, JUST DRAW PICTURES. I am embarrassed to own your art work now, stop it.”

TDS means Trump Derangement Syndrome. I had to look it up.

The loudest advocates for freedom of speech are almost always talking exclusively about their own. Because I long ago learned the lessons about the futility of online arguments, I didn’t respond, and he unsubscribed.

Though the following is not political, it’s not upbeat. It’s not a New Year’s post that this will be the best year ever! Some might consider it dark and sombre as it puts a harsh spotlight on the fact that we each have an expiry date, and none of us knows when that is.

If you’re not up for that kind of read, this is your exit. Drive safely. We can meet up a little further down the road.

Still here? Your call.

I saw a news article this week titled The Celebrities We Lost in 2024. Many on the list I hadn’t heard about their passing or had forgotten I’d seen it. True to my nature, I noted each cause of death. It happens once you reach a certain age; you realize that, yeah, it’s coming. Unfortunately, I began ruminating on my pending demise years earlier than I should have, a consequence of OCD and anxiety issues.

I’m not afraid of death. I imagine, for many, it’s like going to sleep. You’re awake, then you’re not. Out, brief candle, and all that. If there’s something afterward, I’ll find out then. I am, however, terrified of failing health, physical infirmity and cognitive decline. The shit you think only happens to other people can and will happen to you or those you care about.

I am also afraid of regret, a life unlived, and unrealized potential.

I don’t care if I’m remembered. Most of us aren’t. I once read a conversation where the question was asked, “What was your grandfather’s name?”

Upon receiving the answer, the follow-up question was, “What was his grandfather’s name?”

Very few of us could answer the second question correctly, and that’s the point.

If I’m going to be here, and if it doesn’t matter much in the cosmic timeline, I’d like to do something worthwhile, or at least fool myself into thinking so.

So far, I feel I haven’t.  Sadly, that perspective means I’ll likely never feel like I’ve done enough because I couldn’t even tell you what that means. Whatever laurels may come, I will never rest on them. Retirement doesn’t appeal to me. I need to keep busy. It’s the only way to turn the volume down on the noise in my head.
On that list of celebrity passings, for the ones that didn’t say, I found myself looking up their causes of death. Mostly, it was the usual suspects I don’t need to list. They’re the indignities of disease and illness that can strike any time but become more likely the longer we’re here.

And I found myself looking at their ages; the ones that stood out were those around my own. We view the world from the space and time we occupy. I was once an arrogant 20-year-old who viewed 40 as something that happened to other people.

My Dad’s brother and their father both died at 53, the age I am now. While both were consequences of vice and bad habits, I didn’t realize how that fact has coloured my perspective for much of my adult life. Whether I registered it or not, I have long viewed my fifties as old age. Even though I am in good physical health (mental, the jury’s still out) and barring any skeletal spectre’s finger settling on my forehead, odds are I have many productive years ahead of me and miles to go before I sleep.

Regardless, I have long heard a ticking clock. And when the bell tolls, I won’t ask “Why me?”

It means I don’t often enjoy moments as they happen because I’m a pessimist by nature. I know that good or bad, young or old, fate does not have a conscience. It doesn’t discriminate.

My wife’s only sister was 20 years old when she died, thrown from a horse. She was an experienced rider, and it was bad luck that it happened in the wrong place. Five feet in any direction, and she might have been fine. It was a simple accident, and suddenly, she didn’t get to experience all the little things most of us take for granted.

And yet, some very nasty prominent people amass obscene fortunes through nefarious means, exploiting millions of people they’ll never meet and live well into their senior years. We might kid ourselves that money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell buys comfort and health care.

Life ain’t fair. Never has been.

So, while I may not always enjoy the little things as I should or stop and smell the roses, I have no delusions about my time here. It can end today or in forty years, likely in a manner I don’t see coming.

I know it’s an unhealthy perspective, but at the end of each year, I often look back with regret for the things I’ve wasted my time on. And for the failures, of which there are many, I take a deep breath and with a furrowed brow and through clenched teeth, resolve to try, try again in the year ahead.
Though clichés and platitudes, there are lessons I clearly haven’t yet learned, that I’d do well to remember heading into 2025. Perhaps they’ll give you something to consider as well.

You can’t change other people. You can only change yourself. To many you know, your value is only what you can do for them, and they have assigned you a specific place and position in their life. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Some want to see you grow. Others want you to stay right where you are.

Change never happens when you’re comfortable. Discomfort is often a necessary trigger to motivate sedentary people into action, especially when you’ve finally had enough of whatever you can no longer tolerate.

If you do the same things, you get the same results. Blame is easy. So are excuses.

Your job will be posted before your obituary. How you spend your days is how you spend your life.

I don’t know about you, but I have spent far too much time watching television and following unimportant news stories designed by an algorithm to trigger my negative emotions. It is nobody’s fault but mine because I allowed it and kept returning for more.

If you want to spend less time on your devices, then spend less time on your devices. The choice is that simple. You break a bad habit by replacing it with a better one. And yes, it’s hard to do.

There are 8 billion people on the planet. Expecting them to see the world exactly how you do is foolish and arrogant. We are each the product of our genetics, upbringing and experiences; no individual life is a copy of another. And yet, out of fear and a need to feel secure in our choices, we might call somebody else stupid if they choose to drive a different car than we would.

Stand in someone else’s shoes. Consider that you might be wrong.

Don’t take criticism from people who would never take it from you.

Success means different things to different people. You won’t know what winning looks like if you’ve never lost. There is a price to pay for everything. Nothing worthwhile happens without effort and sacrifice. They don’t engrave how many likes and shares you got on your tombstone.

Most people aren’t thinking about you. They’re thinking about themselves. What a relief. Live your own life. Let others do the same.

We’re all on different paths but most definitely heading to the same destination.

Time’s ticking.

Good luck.
____
©Patrick LaMontagne 2024

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Open for Business


I woke this morning to news alerts that Canada Post will return to work tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. That’s good news, but unfortunately, not soon enough to save the holiday season for most retailers and small businesses whose online sales are critical this time of year.

I suspended my store over a month ago, but with the news that shipping may resume, I’ve updated my stock, reactivated each product, and am ready to resume taking orders, with one very important caveat: anything I ship won’t get there by Christmas.

It will take Canada Post some time to get through the enormous backlog of mail that’s likely bursting at the seams all over the country. I imagine that will be the priority before any new mail.

But we work with what we have.
I still have plenty of 2025 calendars available, plus various prints, postcard sets and large vinyl stickers in my regular stock. So, if you’re still looking for your 2025 calendar full of funny-looking animals and don’t need it shipped for Christmas, you may place your orders.

FREE DELIVERY FOR CANMORE RESIDENTS

With decent weather this week and no out-of-town plans, I’m happy to deliver orders anywhere in Canmore, but with two minor conditions. It’s a minimum $25 order for free delivery, and I’m only taking payment by e-transfer. Please email me your order with the address to patrick@nulllamontagneart.com, and I can reply with a total and set up a convenient delivery time.

My thanks,
Patrick