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Farewell to Two Wolves

It is with mixed emotions to report that Two Wolves Trading Co.  is closing its doors in September.  As many of you know, this is the place where my work is currently sold in Canmore, but it has meant a lot more to me than that.

As owners for the past eight years, Andrea and Michelle have worked very hard to create a unique store and gallery that sold more than just the ‘wooden mountie’ fare you find in most tourist stores out here.  It has been an oasis of unique items, products, and artwork and I’ve been proud to have been a small part of it.  While I enjoyed seeing my work on the walls, the best part about Two Wolves was getting to know the staff and owners over the past two and half years.  Rarely a week goes by that I don’t stop in two or three times, just to say Hi and kid around with whomever happens to be working.  I’m really going to miss that as they are all wonderful people who have always made me feel like I belonged there.  I will also miss sharing the art side of things with Fraser McGurk and Beth Cairns, two very talented local artists whose work and friendship I enjoy and from whom I’ve learned a lot.

I was pretty new at the retail art game when I approached Two Wolves to sell my work, but they gave me a shot and I appreciate that more than they know.  Over the past couple of years, they’ve been encouraging, shared their knowledge of the art retail business with me, had me in for painting demos, opened a few doors for me and have been very supportive of my efforts.  They’ve treated me very well and I consider them all friends.  The good news is that Canmore is a small community and while I won’t be able to stop in and annoy them with my eye-rolling sense of humour whenever I want to, I’ll still see them all around town.

From a business standpoint, it’ll be an adjustment.  While my work is still for sale at ‘About Canada’ in Banff, I’ll be on the lookout for a new location to show and sell my work in Canmore.  I have no intention, however, of rushing it.  After being treated so well by the folks at Two Wolves, anywhere else is going to have a lot to live up to and I’m willing to shop around.

Best of luck to Michelle, Andrea, Sheshoyna, Angela, Fraser and Beth in whatever future opportunities you pursue.  It has been a privilege.

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Fear and loathing of photo-painting

Anybody who knows me in professional circles knows that I’ve never been a fan of photo-painting.  While I don’t go out of my way to rant and rave about it, I’ve been pretty clear that I don’t like the practice of painting on top of a photo, that I’ve always felt it had a cheat quality to it, very much like paint by numbers.  I’ve had to bite my tongue and hold my anger in check whenever somebody has suggested that my paintings are just photos that I’ve painted over or manipulated.  It happens often enough that I have a chip on my shoulder about it.

I’ve always felt that if you’re going to learn how to use paint brushes in Photoshop, how to make them work for you, why not go all the way and just start with a blank canvas?  Use the photo for reference, but don’t go sampling the colours and painting on top of it.  I’ve pretty much dismissed it as something not worth my attention, resigning myself to loathing the practice, and making a concerted effort to ignore it.  People are going to do it, regardless of what I think, so why bother wasting my energy on it?

Now, I’ll admit to thinking twice (three, four times) about writing this piece, because it reveals flaws in my character.  While we all have them, of course, most of us don’t like to out ourselves when it comes to the things we keep hidden under the image we like to project.  But, there is rarely an opportunity to grow when you lie to yourself and as someone who follows the antics of politicians for a living, I can only stomach so much hypocrisy without pointing a finger at it, even when it comes to my own.

This week, I had occasion to throw open the door to my feelings on photo-painting for three reasons, all of which were revealed through posts on social media.

The first, was a link posted by a friend, an article by a vegetarian who had to deal with some of her ‘friends’ shunning her when she chose not to eat meat anymore, even though she wasn’t expecting them to do so as well.  I went looking for the article to include here, but I couldn’t find it.  Suffice it to say, it spoke a lot about our innate fear of change and how often the things we hate (strong word, there) are things we fear.

The second, was a piece written by Sam Spratt,  a guest on Scott Kelby’s blog this week.  While I enjoyed the whole blog entry about his thoughts on digital painting, the part that resonated most with me, was about artists who fear technology and how people skilled in one medium will often look down on those who work in a different medium.  I’ve talked about the latter myself in previous blog entries.

Third, and finally, Russell Brown, one of the pioneers of Photoshop and somebody who continues to look for new ways to push the technological and creative envelopes, revealed an add-on extension for Photoshop called the “Adobe Painting Assistant Panel” which is designed to help turn photos into paintings.  To be clear, I have nothing but the utmost respect for Russell.  In fact, I even painted his portrait recently.

I’ll admit that if somebody ever told me that I feared technology, I’d be taken aback.  My tools of the trade are all about technology.  Photoshop, Wacom tablets, my computer, laptop, painting on the iPad, I am a digital artist.   But after being exposed to those three sources this week, I began to ask myself, “Is it possible that I might be afraid of technology?”

The answer, it turns out, is No.  It’s not technology that I’m afraid of.  What I am afraid of, is obsolescence.

I know a lot of photographers who lament the fact that anybody can buy a DSLR camera these days, set it on automatic, take a photo and call themselves a photographer.  If you go looking for them, you’ll have no trouble finding MANY discussions online, often heated, that complain about people who are being hired to shoot weddings, portraits, and events, who are mediocre at the craft, essentially taking money away from ‘real’ photographers.

This is clearly a case of anger motivated by fear.  If the paying public can’t tell the difference between somebody with a point-and-shoot and a dedicated professional photographer, then how is anybody expected to continue making a living at it?

I’m not a photographer, so whenever I see this fear being played out in arguments and discussions, it’s pretty easy for me to see what’s going on.  It’s easy for me to pass judgment.

And yet, I didn’t see it in myself until just this week.

The reason I don’t like photo-painting is because I’m afraid that the paying public can’t see a difference between painting over a photo and the work that I have devoted years of my life to becoming skilled at.

That wasn’t easy to admit.  In fact, it’s downright humbling.

I’ve also realized that the same thing applies to how I feel about similar practices playing out in editorial cartooning.  I’ve seen competitors take a photo they found on the net, apply a few filters to it, slap on a caption and it gets published in a major daily newspaper.  This is happening quite often these days and I’ll admit to being pretty angry about it, upset that they were cheating.  The reality is that I’ve been afraid that if that’s all it takes to get published, then anybody can call themselves a cartoonist and they won’t need me, that the time I spend drawing is wasted, because some editors just don’t see the difference, or they don’t care.

My wife, Shonna, always a sobering voice in discussions where my emotions get the best of me, spelled it out quite well when I broached the subject with her this week, about my realized fear of photo-painting.

While I can’t recall her exact words, she basically suggested that it doesn’t matter how somebody creates their work.  If they take a photo, apply a few filters to it and call it a painting, it doesn’t really affect me at all.  They still have to sell it.

That was my moment of clarity in all of this and what will finally enable me to put it behind me.

Art isn’t about how it’s done.  Art is about how you feel when you experience it.  That applies to photography, sculpture, painting, music, performance, etc.  If you take a photo-painting that somebody has done and put it beside one of my paintings, the viewer most likely won’t care how it was created.  They’re just going to care if they like it or not.  If both pieces are for sale, they’re going to buy it based solely on that.  That’s how it has always been with art.

Some people really like my whimsical animal paintings and some don’t like them at all.  Some people buy them, some people don’t.  The fact that there are folks out there painting on top of a photo in Photoshop doesn’t change that in the slightest.

I’m still afraid of obsolescence.  I can freely admit it.  But I can use that, because fear is a great motivator.  It makes me try harder and scramble, eagerly seeking out opportunities to further my business and to ensure that I remain self-employed doing what I love to do.  While I have no intention of doing any photo-painting myself,  I’ve decided to no longer fear it.   As a consequence of that, I choose to no longer despise it, either.  It’s just another method for creative people to express themselves and that’s a good thing.  That’s art.

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Live in Vegas!

While it’s true that I’ve only got a few more skills than a professionally trained monkey (hey, I’m a self-trained monkey!), you know you’ve hit the big time when you’re invited to perform in Vegas!

Those wonderfully shortsighted folks at Wacom could have chosen to file a restraining order, but instead they invited me to present at their Expo booth at Photoshop World in Las Vegas next month.   Anybody who’s read anything on this site knows that I really enjoy working with these people, so all kidding aside, it’s an honour to be included with the other names in their guest roster.

That’s me with Wacom’s Joe Sliger at the booth last year.  Seriously, what’s with all the guys in glasses and beards?

I’ve been presenting to schools and other small groups for years, have done a number of painting demos at a few different galleries, and have had a couple of occasions to be a guest presenter for Wacom webinars over the past year.  I’ve even run a small demonstration booth for Wacom on my own about a year ago during Scott Kelby’s ‘Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it’ tour when it stopped in Calgary.  This will be the first time I’ve been invited to present live at their booth at Photoshop World, however, and I’m really looking forward to it.  I’m actually quite comfortable talking to people, especially when it comes to digital painting, as I enjoy this work a great deal. In fact, the real trick is getting to me to shut up,  which is probably why the session is only 45 minutes long.  I fully expect someone to be standing in the wings with a big hook, right around the 43 min. mark, ready to pull me away from the podium. (Yeah, I see you, Wes!).

The great thing about this opportunity is that it gives me a reason to paint something brand new,  something I can show during the demo in different stages, painting a little at each stage and talking about the different ways a Wacom tablet allows me to create the work I love so much.  The bad news, however, is that I have only two weeks to complete it, which means I need to stop typing, and start painting.

For those of you who will be attending Photoshop World in Las Vegas this year, stop by the Wacom booth whenever the Expo is open.  Check the schedule on the Photoshop World site for the Expo Floor hours.  They’ll have a number of different tablets on hand that you can try and a great group of pros eager to show you the tablet ropes or answer any questions you might have.  My presentation on the Wacom demo stage will be on Thursday, September 6th, from 3:00-3:45, but I plan to be spending time in their booth at other times during the conference, helping people out.   I wonder how long it’ll take before they call Security.

 

 

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The Exposure Card

This was a cartoon I did just for fun and for my fellow freelancers, whether they’re photographers, designers, illustrators, or any of the myriad professionals out there who make their living doing piecework for clients.  Ask any freelancer that’s been in the business longer than five minutes and they’ll have a story (probably many of them) of clients who’ve tried to pay with exposure.  For the uninitiated, that simply means that instead of paying for the work, the client cries poverty, but offers to put a link to your website on their website (or Facebook page, or Twitter feed, or on their bathroom wall) so that others who do have money will find you and hire you.

Most of us have fallen for this at least once.  Some of us more than once.  A certain cartoonist painter type I know (who shall remain nameless) has fallen for this at least a few times, because I’m such a…I mean he’s such a nice guy.

Unless the exposure comes from a company that has a lot of clout and comes in the form of more than just a link, but an actual testimonial, blog entry, press release or genuine concerted effort on their part to let others know about you, then exposure isn’t worth the paper your bounced mortgage cheque is printed on.  If you do end up working for a big company whose reach with all of that press is genuine, it’s a safe bet that they’re already paying you or offering perks that really do benefit your business.

To really see the value of exposure, consider the average Joe searching for an accountant in the yellow pages or online.  Joe gets the website address, goes to the site, finds the contact info and just before he phones or emails the accountant, he stops and thinks, “well hot damn, who designed that logo?”  or “who took that photo?” or “who designed this website?” and instead of calling the accountant he desperately needs to ward off the tax man, Joe clicks on that tiny link at the bottom of the page with your name on it and not only hires you, but pays you well for the privilege.

Those stories usually begin with ‘Once upon a time…”

That’s the sales pitch that exposure clients are basically giving you.  The irony is that the freelancer works long hours on the project that ultimately isn’t appreciated by the client (because they didn’t pay for it) and when the exposure results in absolutely nothing, many freelancers blame the client.   Worst of all, even if the exposure does result in a referral, it’ll most like be for another client who doesn’t want to pay you anything for your work.  Cheapskates tend to associate with other cheapskates.

Freelancing is a tough profession, and not for the thin skinned.  Most people will not value your services as much as you need them to and you’ll have to say “No” to a lot of people who want something done for nothing.  At least once a week, I get kidded about not having a real job because I draw cartoons.  I have a sense of humor, so I’m used to it, and usually let it roll off my back.  Occasionally, if I’m caught on the wrong day, I may get defensive, however,  and tell them in no uncertain terms,  they have no idea what it takes to do my job.

But I love my work, and many of my freelancing friends feel the same about theirs.  Sure, we’ll complain about it sometimes, just like everybody does about their job, but for a certain personality type, working for somebody else from 9 to 5 is one of the seven circles of hell.  We still have our bosses, though, they’re just usually temporary.  The big difference, however, is that we hire our bosses just as much as they hire us and when one of them pulls the exposure card, the correct response is, “I’m sorry, you’re just not the right fit for this company.”

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Wacom’s Bamboo Splash Tablet and ArtRage Studio

Wacom just released a new entry level tablet, the Bamboo Splash, and I had an opportunity to put it through its paces.

The Bamboo Splash tablet is designed for the amateur or beginner digital artist.  It’s perfect for kids and teenagers, allowing them to experiment with digital art without having to spend a bundle to do so. Best of all, even though it lacks the bells and whistles of the more advanced tablets, it doesn’t sacrifice much in performance.

As I draw syndicated editorial cartoons almost every day, I wanted to see if I could still get real work done using the Bamboo Splash, rather than with the medium sized Intuos5 that I use every day.

The Wacom Intuos5 is a professional tablet.  With the programmable Express Keys, the Touch Ring, high end pen, and the onscreen customizable features, not to mention the larger size, it’s unfair to compare the two tablets as they are designed for different skill levels.  As I’ve been doing this for a living for many years, I’ll admit that the Bamboo Splash isn’t tablet enough for my daily needs, but then again, it isn’t meant for me.

The Bamboo Splash tablet was simple to set up.  Plug it in; install the drivers from the CD, restart the computer and it was working flawlessly.  Visiting the preferences utility, I found that very little aside from ‘Tip Feel’ was changeable.  For a beginner, that’s ideal.  It’s ready to go, out of the box, nothing confusing.

Put simply, it’s a great device.  The Bamboo Splash has 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, which is plenty.  While a number of people may wonder about the size, your mind figures it out fast.  I work on a larger tablet every day, mapped to two screens.  I keep all of my Photoshop tools on one screen and draw on the other.  That means I’m really only using half the tablet for drawing.

When using the Bamboo Splash, I didn’t change my screen mapping, so I was only drawing on half of the smaller tablet, too.  After a few minutes, I didn’t even think about it.  My mind just figured out that brush and pen strokes required less movement.

This cartoon (with the political commentary left out) was drawn and painted entirely with the Bamboo Splash in Photoshop and it worked very well.  While I did keep reaching for the Express Keys and Touch Ring of the Intuos5 out of habit, once I got used to their absence and reverted to using keyboard shortcuts or drop down menus in Photoshop, I was able to work smoothly and still got my cartoon out to my newspapers on time.

Trying to draw with a mouse is an exercise in futility.  You really do need a Wacom tablet to draw with a computer.  While the Intuos5 tablets and Cintiq devices will represent more of a financial investment, you’re not risking too much with the Bamboo Splash.  The tablet comes in at well under $100.  Best of all, it comes with two very nice pieces of creative software.  One is Autodesk’s Sketchbook Pro and the other is ArtRage Studio.

I spent some time with ArtRage, and it was very enjoyable to use. While it’s not designed to be a professional illustration and painting tool like Photoshop or Painter, it offers a lot to anybody wanting to try their hand at digital art.  With pencils, crayons, chalk, oils, watercolors and a number of other tools, there’s very little to limit your creativity.  It even supports layers and blend modes, and has a number of other fun tools and settings to mess around with.

Pairing ArtRage Studio with the Bamboo Splash was a great idea, because they’re both designed to allow you to create digital art, without a steep learning curve.  You can start working with both right away and if you’re like me, preferring to figure it out as you go along, you’ll be able to get pretty far without having to look through the manual.

When you do want more info, the ArtRage website has plenty of tutorials.  You can also upgrade the software to ArtRage Studio Pro and they have iPhone and iPad drawing apps as well.  If you do want to try out the mobile apps, I’d recommend the Wacom Bamboo Stylus as a drawing device to go with them.

Here’s a video I recorded for Wacom’s ‘See What You Can Do’ campaign, designed to share a little bit of my thoughts on digital painting, and to show some of the drawing and painting tools available in ArtRage Studio.

 

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Painting a Bison Totem

This is the latest in my series of whimsical wildlife paintings, the Bison Totem.  As usual, I have the most fun when I’m working on this type of painting, especially since each one presents its own unique challenges.  With this one, it was trying to get the ‘wool’ to look right, and it took some trial and error.   One of the great reference photos I worked from, was courtesy of one of my favorite wildlife photographers, Moose Peterson.  I also used a couple of other photos I bought from a stock photo company, so it wasn’t such a problem seeing the great detail, as it was to replicate it with brushes.

One of the things I’ve learned from working on these animals, is that I could spend weeks painting every little hair that I see in the photos I reference, but it would be a wasted effort.  For one, these animals are caricatures (although not extremely exaggerated) of the real thing, so replication is not the goal.  But also, people aren’t looking at a painting in actual pixel size, so nobody really cares if every hair is perfect, and they’re not holding up the three photos I used for reference to compare them inch by inch.  If they are, they should really get a hobby, because that energy could better be spent elsewhere, like cleaning out the garage or something.

I do obsess about the details, though.  It’s part of my nature (ask anybody who knows me well), and I use it to my advantage in these paintings.  That being said, there comes a point in every painting when any further detail is a waste of time because the viewer won’t see it.  It has to look great at full size, but zoom into any painting close enough and it just becomes a mosaic of pixels and colored noise.  I really do enjoy it, though, painting all those little hairs, music playing in the headphones, just being in the image.  Most of my perfect moments in life, those instances of peak experience (read Maslow), are when I’m painting.

If you’d like the technical info, this painting was done on a medium sized Wacom Intuos5 tablet in Photoshop CS5.  No idea how long it took me, but it was many hours.  The full size painting is 18″X24″ at 300ppi.  Something different this time was that I switched out the nib in my Wacom pen.  Having always used the standard nibs that came with the tablet, I read a blog entry by Wacom’s Joe Sliger about the different nibs and figured I’d try the flex nib for this painting.  That’s the one with the little spring in it.  While it had nothing to do with what the painting looks like, I absolutely loved painting with this nib.  Had a little bit of give to it and while I got used to it quickly and didn’t think about it, I really think I’ll be using this nib more often.  Just feels better in the pen.  Here’s a link to Joe’s article if you’d like more info on the different nibs.

While working on this painting, I saved the image at different stages so that I could make the following video.  It’s a time lapse of different stages in the painting, this being one I’ve been planning for quite awhile.  I’ve had the reference for the bison for over six months, and the music, bought specifically for this painting, for almost as long.  As a big fan of movies, I love soundtracks and this dramatic piece just seems to add something to the video.  It was fun to put together.

Thanks for stopping by to see the latest piece and for reading my thoughts on it.  I feel privileged to be able to paint these creatures and I’m pleased when others like them, too.

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Whose life are you living?

Art is a weird job.  Whether you’re a musician, painter, photographer or any other professional in a creative field, your job is largely going to be one where you’re flying by the seat of your pants.  When you’re first starting out, you spend a lot of time looking to the people who’ve come before you to see how they got where they were going and that’s a good thing.  Most success stories start that way.  If you’re lucky, as I have been, you’ll find a few mentors along the way, people who might see your potential and give you a helping hand.  It’s important to listen to those people because they just may save you from making some mistakes.  Oh, you’ll still make lots of mistakes, but if you’re smart, you’ll skip a few, too.

While you’ll always have something to learn as an artist, eventually it’ll dawn on you that you’re no longer a student.  You’ll start to realize that not only are you really uncomfortable at the kids table, but you’ve felt that way for some time.  Getting up from that table will be uncomfortable as well, because you may not be sure that you’re entitled to.  There are some who may turn to look at you with distrust and stern expressions when you do so.  Resist the urge to sit back down.

Deferring to your elders will eventually reveal itself to be a double edged sword.  While their experience and expertise should be respected and admired, their course is not your course, and in an artistic career, modeling yourself after someone else’s successful career will not propel you forward.  It will, in fact, keep you prisoner.  At some point, you’ll begin to realize that what worked for somebody else is not going to work for you, based on nothing more than your gut instinct and the knowledge gained from your own experience.  Chances are that some who’ve come before you won’t see what you see, and they’ll tell you that you’re doing it wrong.  Some will even resent you for your audacity.  To move forward, you have to learn to make peace with that and hopefully won’t turn around to see smoke rising from any bridges behind you.

We get caught up in following every little trend and bit of advice, flailing about to hop onto the coattails of others because they may appear to be more successful, and we feel that if they’re doing it, it must be right, even if everything in our being tells us its wrong for our own path.  Successful people don’t become so by copying someone else’s dance steps.  Photographers that try to be Annie Liebowitz, painters that try to mimic Van Gogh, and actors that pattern themselves after Tom Hanks are eventually going to realize they have no identity of their own and that their life’s work is a poor copy.

Learn from your predecessors, evaluate their methods, and admire their successes, but be yourself.   Someone else’s judgment should not supersede your own, simply because they appear to be more successful or have had a longer career.  If you only get this one go round, and you’re fortunate enough to be able to do so as an artist, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

 

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Lessons, Light, and Joe McNally

Joe McNally is an incredible photographer whose work I’ve enjoyed for awhile.  Visit his website at joemcnally.com, look through his portfolio, and it’ll tell you all you need to know about him.

Sure, I like taking snapshots like anyone else, but I don’t want to be a photographer.  The mechanics of photography reminds me of my struggles with high school math, and even though the calculations involved with ISOs, shutterspeeds, and aperture settings eventually become somewhat instinctual to an experienced shooter, I really haven’t the interest in doing the work it would require to become proficient with a camera.  My time is already maxed out learning to be a better painter.

So why did I bother attending Joe’s ‘One Light, Two Light’ seminar in Calgary yesterday?  Well, there were a couple of reasons.  One, Joe is a master of light.  There is something in the quality of the portraits he takes that seems a little ethereal.  There is a life in his images that evokes an emotional response.  To me, that’s the definition of art.

The other reason is that Joe has a reputation for enjoying his work.  Anyone who underestimates the value of passion is completely missing the point of an artistic pursuit.  Joe will be 60 in a few weeks and has been working behind a camera for more than 30 years.  Not only does he still seem to be enjoying himself, but he has an infectious sense of humour and a charismatic way of teaching that is incredibly inspiring.

This wasn’t a Photoshop seminar.  All of the work Joe was doing, in fact, was ‘in camera.’  I also found out that when he works for National Geographic, something he has done many times, they require that none of the files ever sees a photo-editing program.

Joe’s ‘no B.S.’ tone when he talks about gear, technique, and ‘the rules’ was refreshing.  I hang around a lot of photographers and some of the arguments these folks have when it comes to gear, settings, and quoting the ‘experts’ can be downright combative.  Joe doesn’t seem to bother himself with that nonsense.  At one point, he even held up his camera and said, “This is just an expensive blender.”

It might seem obvious to say that you can learn a lot from the work of other artists.  Too often, however, a painter will only look at other painters, a sculptor at other sculptors, and a photographer…you get my point.

I know of many talented artists who are doing very well and have a great many devoted followers.  While I appreciate their expertise, their work may not move me.  I’m absolutely certain that many would say the same when referring to my artwork.  Hey, different strokes for different folks.  So, when you find work of another artist that does excite you, ask yourself why, especially if they don’t work in your medium.  Obviously there’s something there that’s worth exploring.  Joe’s work speaks to me, and I don’t say that lightly.

When I mentioned on Facebook that I was attending this event, my photographer friend Susan joked, “What do you need with flash anyway?” referring to the fact that the workshop was all about flash photography and the different techniques to get the best results.

Another photographer friend, Gudrun, who was sitting with me at the seminar, posted on her page after the event, “Joe McNally’s seminar today was good, but my favourite part was watching how excited Patrick got seeing some of the lighting results!”

They were both right.  While the technical aspects were interesting to watch, most of it was entirely lost on me as a painter.  I worked on sketches whenever Joe was talking about the gear.  It was the results that made me sit up and take notice, and yes, I found it exciting.  Great light just does it for me.

I found myself looking at some of the portraits and techniques, asking myself, how would I paint that light?  What would I do differently? How could I replicate that photography technique in a painting?

Art is supposed to be about expanding your horizons, not limiting them.  While there are other art forms I do want to try, sculpting being one of them, I’ve never been bitten by the photography bug, which is probably a good thing, considering how much money they spend on gear.  Hanging around with photographers for a number of years, however, has taught me just as much about my own medium as it has about theirs.

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A Portrait of Madeline Kahn

This is a painting of the late, great Madeline Kahn in her role as Elizabeth from the movie ‘Young Frankenstein.’  One of the great comedic actresses of our time, who died too soon in 1999 at the age of 57.

While she had many movie, theatre and television roles to her credit, she was perhaps most famous for her roles in Mel Brooks classics,  ‘History of the World: Part I,’, ‘Blazing Saddles,’ and of course, ‘Young Frankenstein,’ all of which are favorite films of mine.  To this day, any of her comedic performances can still make me laugh out loud and I wonder what valuable information have I failed to retain in favour of storing an endless amount of lines from these movies in my mind.

The technical part of this painting was that it was not only black and white (Mel Brooks insisted on it for this film), but also that it was intentionally grainier than the HD films we see today.  He wanted to recapture the look of those old horror classics for this spoof.  As such, gathering detailed reference was tough as I could find no high resolution reference, even from the DVD itself.  With that in mind, I decided to go with a softer painted look rather than sharp detail.  This was tough for me to do, especially given the fur on that fox around her neck.  I had to refrain from the detail I normally paint into animal fur.  This outfit, by the way, is what she was wearing during one of the funniest scenes in the film.

I painted this portrait for no other reason than the challenge of working with less than ideal reference and to practice my portrait work.

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Going back to Photoshop World

Last year, after returning from Photoshop World in Las Vegas, I wrote a blog entry about the experience and expressed some disappointment about the shortage of learning opportunities for me personally.  I also said that it was unlikely that I’d be returning in 2012.  The passage of time lends perspective, however, and I’m pleased to say that I will once again be heading back to Mandalay Bay in September.

Why the change of heart?  Simply put, I’ve adjusted my expectations and have realized that for the most part, Photoshop World hasn’t changed over the years so much that I have.  While I stand by my assessment that there isn’t nearly enough of a focus on design and illustration, I also know that complaining about it on a soapbox isn’t likely to change that.  I sent an email to the powers that be last year about that part of it, it was well received and I’m confident that the views I expressed were weighed and considered.   I’m content to leave it at that.

This year, weighing the event solely on what it is instead of what I’d like it to be, I believe it still has a lot to offer to me.

As far as the classes go, I won’t even have close to a full schedule, but there are a number of them that I want to take this year, especially regarding the new features in Photoshop CS6.  With the new schedule recently revealed on the website, I’ve had an opportunity to go through and see what will interest me most.  One obvious choice is Corey Barker‘s 3D classes.  The Photoshop CS6 Extended 3D features are apparently greatly improved, and judging by his recent work and positive things he’s said, I’m anxious to learn a little of how he’s accomplishing some of his very impressive imagery.  While I have no desire to become a 3D artist, I do plan to incorporate some 3D elements into editorial cartoons on a regular basis.  Having done so in the past, it can be a real time saver, which is important when faced with tight deadlines.

There are some social media and business classes I’d like to audit for any new information, and a surprising number of photography classes that will no doubt benefit my painted work.  Classes on portraiture, lighting and composition all have the potential to teach me how to improve my paintings, as the goal for both photography and illustration is to end up with a stunning final image.

While the classes are an important  part of Photoshop World, especially if you’re new to the game, the official learning opportunities alone wouldn’t be enough to entice me back.  There just isn’t enough specific to my discipline.  But notice that I said, ‘official learning opportunities.’

Something I’ve been realizing this past year is that there is a lot I can learn from simply being at this event.  Over the years, I’ve met some incredibly talented and knowledgeable people, leaders in their own respective fields and niches, and many of them aren’t even teaching at the event, but they’re still there.  Simply being connected to these people and talking with them candidly has great value.

Over the past year, I have been fortunate to work with the great folks at Wacom on webinars and other projects, have worked on illustration commissions for renowned wildlife photographer Moose Peterson and Photoshop Instructor Dave Cross, have written for Photoshop User magazine and have  contributed to two books written by colleagues.  I have realized significant exposure and growth of my painted work and have taken advantage of other opportunities I can’t yet discuss.  Much of this has been a result of my time spent, and the people I’ve met, at Photoshop World.   If you’ve been following my work for awhile, you’re well aware of the two Guru Awards I won in 2010.  Although arguably insular in scope, those wins opened a number of doors for me, and I do believe that without them, I might not be as far advanced in my career as I am today.

As an aside, and because a number of people have asked me, I won’t be entering the Guru Awards again.  Were I fortunate to enough to win, the experience would clearly pale in comparison to that first year.  I’d rather see somebody else realize their own opportunities.

Furthering the relationships I’ve built with experts and practitioners in the many niches of this media industry is alone worth my time.  While many of these connections are genuine friendships, it’s also just good business.  Networking is a buzzword that’s thrown around by many without real understanding of what it means.  Simply put, it’s forging bonds and connections with other professionals and building relationships that have the potential to be mutually beneficial to everyone involved.  While these connections can be made online, it isn’t the same as sitting down with somebody over lunch or sharing a drink exchanging information.  I can point to two very specific chats I had last year, revealing very valuable information that ended up directly impacting my career.  Both of them were completely casual run-ins in the halls with acquaintances between classes.

This year, I plan to spend some more time with the folks at Wacom and it’s the one time of year I actually get to chat with Colin Smith at PhotoshopCAFE in person.  Considering he publishes my DVDs, probably important to talk face to face once in awhile.  Since I’ve painted him, but haven’t yet met him, I plan to finally talk with Russell Brown from Adobe, and catch up with a number of others that I talk to online regularly but only get to see once a year.

Freelancing and working from home is a great life and I wouldn’t change it.  But it’s often a lonely day-to-day when the majority of your communication is done through email and social media.  Connecting with other industry professionals who  deal with the same challenges I do, whether it has to do with software, technique, or business has become very important to me and I’ve realized that Photoshop World provides the right venue for me to do that well.  I also find that each year I come home inspired and motivated to do my best work, a byproduct from simply being around other creatives who enjoy what they’re doing.  That kind of energy is contagious and that battery can always use a recharge.

All that aside, I really like Vegas and it’s a good excuse to get out of the office for a week.