Category: People

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Out Among the Living

IMGP5319The key to being creative is to find a way to break out of your routine.  By staying where you are, by taking comfort in the walls you build around you, you don’t free your mind, you enslave it.

Working at home, I feel safe.  This is my domain, the place I own and control, even if it’s only an illusion.  I can turn off the phone, close the blinds, lock the doors, and cut myself off from the world.  In that environment, I can create in complete solitude and safety, uninterrupted, exploring my imagination.  And I like that.  Most of the time, it works for me, especially when the goal is to get work done.

But even though silence and isolation can bring peace to a busy mind, allowing the elusive quiet thoughts to be heard and explored, imagination needs stimulation, too.  For that, one needs to go out into the world.

Draw from life.  I’ve heard that so many times from so many artists that I can’t even give credit to any one person.  If you ask me to draw a tree, a dog, a building, a lamppost or anything else, you’ll probably get a rendering that will look pretty much like what you ordered.  Everybody knows what a tree looks like.  But no two trees are the same.  The only way to see that is to go look at them.

Draw from life.  That means going out among the living.

I like coffee shops, especially ones with corner booths or seats.  If I can put my back to the wall, make myself small, become unremarkable and unnoticed, then I can sketch people as they go about their business, natural and unaware.  Propped up on elbows, heads in hands distorting faces, scowls or smiles while they read, backs hunched, faces quiet in thought, legs crossed or up on chairs, heavy sighs, changing positions, settling out of their routine.  No posturing.  No posing.  Just there.  That’s life.

Shopping malls, especially in the food court.  Up high, looking down on the unsuspecting masses walking by.  On a bench removed from the crowds, but still on the periphery, able to observe without being observed.  Laughing, talking, tired, driven, meandering, texting,  kids tugging on parents, parents clinging to that last nerve, couples holding hands,  husbands sitting on benches looking bored as they wait for their wives to come out of a store.   Sketches have to be quick in a mall.  People don’t stand still for long.  It’s all about catching the feel of what you’re looking at, not so much the details of every fold of clothing, every wisp of hair, but the shapes and structure, the lights and darks, the hard lines.  You see them, take a mental snapshot, sketch and they’re gone.

Airports are wonderful.  People are just waiting and most often they don’t really want to be there.  No matter what people say about the journey vs. the destination, few people enjoy killing time in airports.  But they sit, they stand, they drink coffee, they read, they doze off, they browse in little shops for things they don’t need and they watch the time.  And artists draw them.

Parks, lakes, hiking trails, campgrounds, people hold themselves differently in natural places.  A little less rigid, time to think.  You’re less likely to see them texting or talking on their phones, at least you hope so.  Ties and collars loosened, jackets open.  Bagged lunches open on a picnic table, eyes a little glassy.  Heavy sighs releasing the tension, enjoying the sunshine.   Throwing a ball for the dog.   Arm draped over a bench, legs crossed.  Lying on blankets.  People use natural places to escape, sometimes only for a few minutes.  But it’s better than nothing.

I like zoos, too.  Where else do you get to see animals from the other side of the world?  A lion basking in the sunshine, his face suddenly erupting in a yawn as he falls over for a nap.  There’s a feel to that scene you don’t see in a photo and it helps to sketch that live, in person, breathing the same air and trying to share the same feeling.

My buddy has a cabin in British Columbia.  For years, he has allowed his friends to use it and it never fails to inspire me, even if sometimes I don’t realize it until after I’ve returned home.  Up in the woods, rustic and most importantly, quiet.    Little curiosities and knick knacks adorn the place, gifts left by guests, photos tucked into mirrors, half melted candles stuck into wine bottles that were probably opened and enjoyed in that very place many years ago.  I love being there because it’s a change of scenery and it’s peaceful.  When I draw there, it’s almost always something different than I would draw at home.  So a change of scene is sometimes all that’s required to reveal those hidden creative alleyways and roads less traveled.

I’m rarely without a sketchbook. Many times it may stay in my pack or in the car, but too many times to count, I’ve been able to steal five minutes in one place or another to draw what I see.   It’s just not the same thing to snap a photo with a smart phone.  Later, when you download the photo and try to sketch it, you won’t be able to put yourself back into the place, and feel what you felt that compelled you to take the photo in the first place.  You might come close, but it won’t be the same.

The trick to drawing from life is to try to be removed from the scene.  If the person you’re sketching sees you and has even the slightest inkling that you’re focused on them, they will change and you will have lost the natural posture that drew your attention in the first place.   When that happens, move on.  The moment is gone, but another is close by.

Sketching is practice and need not be shown to anyone else, and it certainly doesn’t need to be finished.  Different perspectives, capturing moments, opening yourself up to possibilities you might not have considered.  You can’t do that by existing in the same place day after day.  It’s not always easy.  I’m just as guilty as the next guy of being too busy to take an hour or two to just sketch.   It takes effort to change habits, and if at first you don’t succeed.  Well, you know.

Gestures, sketches, drawings, paintings.  All of these can be done in the studio.  But if the studio doesn’t change or grow, neither will your art.

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Avalanche Movies Rolls Credits

May-2,-2013

A few years back, I found myself considering a part-time job.  In my late 30’s, working full-time at home as a freelance artist, it wasn’t about the money, but getting out of the house a little more.  As much as I like working for myself, I missed having coworkers, even though when I had them, they drove me nuts.

The only place in Canmore I wanted to go for an evening job was Avalanche.  Make a little extra money, sure, but best of all, I got to be around movies, something near and dear to my heart.  I’m hardly the type of person that can discuss great cinema, tell you anything about Fellini or discuss the hidden nuances in Woody Allen films.  In fact, I can’t stand Woody Allen films.  I just love movies.

But Avalanche also has a reputation.  People like working there and that’s something you can’t fake, because they seem to like their jobs even when the owners aren’t around.  In a business well known for hiring teenagers and young adults, I was easily the oldest guy there.  Little did I know, the ownership was changing just as I was hired on, and I’ll admit that I thought I might have made a mistake.  But Jeff assured me that the owners weren’t just handing it off to anybody, they were making sure that it went to people who would keep the culture of Avalanche alive.

Enter Patrick and Camille, and I had no reason to worry.

I already had a work ethic; it’s something I take pride in.  But working at Avalanche, it didn’t take long to realize that everybody else there did, too.  Many of these ‘kids’ worked harder and knew more about customer service than most adults I’ve met and worked with.  For a lot of them, this was a coveted first job and with a lineup of their peers in this community waiting to take their place, few took it for granted.

My time at Avalanche was short, just over a year as I realized I was too busy for a part-time job, even though it was only a couple of nights a week.  But I enjoyed it and am thankful for the experience, because though I left a while ago, they still treat me like one of their own.  I even came back that year to work a shift with another former staff member, so everybody else could go to the Christmas party and we were happy to do it.  How many employers would you do that for?

To understand what kind of environment and direction Avalanche has provided to kids in this community, you need only look to the adults many of them have become.  Responsible and hardworking, they’re the type of people you want to know, hire and work with, because they know the value of doing a job well.

Customer service is a talk they walk at Avalanche.  Rather than just point a finger to a corner of the store when you ask for a movie, staff will take you right to it or go and get it for you.  That direction comes from the top.  Even as a customer, I still can’t walk by a crooked DVD case on the shelf without straightening it.

The place always smells of popcorn, free for the taking while you peruse the store, and if once in a while a batch gets burned, it’s usually because all of the staff are helping customers and didn’t get to it in time.  But a new batch isn’t far behind.

Only a fraction of late fees are ever collected.  Most of the time, they’re forgiven outright.  The only time you can be guaranteed to be asked to pay them is on the many occasions when they’re donated to benefit a local charity or cause.  And in this community, people are always happy to give more than they owe.

Walking into Avalanche, you never have to worry that you don’t know what to get.  I can’t tell you how many times Camille, Patrick or Jeff have taken the time to walk around with us, pointing out movies we should see, often  sleeper hits we’ve never heard of and then thoroughly enjoy.  It’s gotten so they even know what we like.  One of my favorite movies is “The Way.”.  This movie so inspired me that I painted Martin Sheen’s portrait from it.  I may not have ever seen it, had it not been recommended to me by Camille on one of those walks through the new releases.  That portrait now hangs in Sheen’s home in California.

Every dog in Canmore knows Avalanche.  Not only is it one of the few places where they’re welcomed to come on in, but there’s a never-ending bag of dog cookies behind that counter.  Even if you aren’t renting or buying a movie, dogs are always welcome to stop in for a treat, if they just happen to be on their way by.

For someone who lives outside of this community, you might view the closure of a movie rental business to be inevitable.  In the age of digital downloads and faceless automatic rental kiosks, it might seem that this business model has seen its day.  Not here.  As mentioned in their release, Avalanche is only closing because “our location is no longer available to us.”

You don’t just go to Avalanche to rent a movie, you go because you might run into someone you haven’t seen in a while. It’s one of the still locally owned gems in this town where they know you and they’re happy you stopped in, even if it was just to say Hi.  If this is the end for Avalanche, it will be mourned by this whole community.  Small towns have a way of disappearing one business at a time and while we all want the modern big box chain convenience, nothing comes without sacrifice and we lose a bit of ourselves each time it happens.

Hopefully somebody out there will want to write the sequel in another location.  If you’re that person, Patrick and Camille would like to talk to you.  If you want to know where to find them, just follow your dog.

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Remembering Ralph

This week will see a lot of tributes to former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, who passed away on Friday, March 29th.  He’d been a television reporter and radio personality for a good chunk of his career, the Mayor of Calgary from 1980-89, and in provincial politics from 1989-2006, the large majority of that time as the Premier.  Many Albertans just called him Ralph, a testament to his ‘man of the people’ persona.  He was loved and despised, depending on who you were talking to.

As an editorial cartoonist, I liked Ralph a lot.  He was fun to draw, was never boring, and I knew I’d miss him when he retired in 2006.  One thing about Ralph, you always knew where he stood.  Unlike so many politicians who will waffle on their ideals depending on the latest public opinion polls, you knew what you were getting with Ralph, even if you didn’t always like it.  He was human and he made unpopular decisions sometimes.  He also screwed up.  But the difference with Ralph was that when you called him on it, he’d either argue his point, tell you to get over it, or in some cases, even apologize.  There wasn’t a lot of bullshit with Ralph.

Like many Albertans, I have fond memories of Ralph Klein.  He did a lot for this province.  If you want specifics, just do a Google search.  You’ll find no shortage of anecdotes and stories about King Ralph this week.  One of my favorite personal stories took place right around his retirement.  Knowing his resignation was coming and having already thought about the cartoon I’d do, this is what I came up with.

2006Toon

Under the guise of the ‘official portrait’ I tried to include as many of the controversies and noteworthy events from Ralph’s career as I could.  There were his days socializing at the St. Louis Hotel in Calgary (written on the glass in his hand), the famous “shoot, shovel and shut-up” comment as well as the one about eastern “bums and creeps” straining Calgary resources.  In his pocket, the $400 Prosperity Bonus cheques he gave to every Albertan after the provincial debt had been paid off.

The cartoon appeared in the Calgary Herald and a number of other newspapers.  Shortly after, I received an email from someone who wanted a framed print of it, minus the ‘official portrait’ post-it note.  I had removed that feature from the image when I’d added it to my portfolio.  Two more print orders followed.  Sometime the next month, Klein was honored at Mount Royal College in Calgary and a day later, I opened the Calgary Herald to see the photo below.  Much to my surprise, one of the framed prints had been a retirement gift for Ralph.  I ordered a copy of the photo for my office.  Forgive me that I no longer remember the name of the Herald photographer who captured the scanned image below.

Ralph

I look at the caricature now and I see all of the flaws.  As I am a better artist today than I was then, there are a lot of things I would have changed and done better with this image, but every artist looking back on anything they’ve done could say the same thing of prior work.  So, I try to look past that.  It’s a good memory of moments in my career, both the time spent painting the caricature and knowing that Ralph was given a copy while he was still in good health.  This is how I’d like to remember him and I’m glad I ordered the photo.

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Martin Sheen and The Way

You could never consider me a film snob and I’ve never wanted to be a filmmaker or an actor, but I love movies.  Great stories told on the screen by talented storytellers, always a collaboration between the writers, directors, actors and all of the other professional creatives and technicians that make up the industry.    I just know what I like, regardless of critical acclaim or popular opinion.

Earlier this year, I watched the movie, ‘The Way’ and it had a profound affect on me.  Written and directed by Emilio Estevez and starring his father, Martin Sheen, it tells the story of a father and son and their experiences on the Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James.  I’m not ruining the movie for you to tell you that the son (Estevez) dies early in the film at the beginning of his own pilgrimage and the father travels to Spain to retrieve the body.  Despite it seeming to be against his nature, Sheen’s character, Tom, decides to walk the Camino, and in doing so discovers his son and himself.

My wife and I rented this movie and I really enjoyed it.  Likely because I’m now in my early 40’s, dealing with my own evaluation of life and meaning, and realizing that there is probably less time ahead than behind me.  There’s a reason they call it a midlife crisis.  Had I watched this movie in my twenties, I doubt it would have affected me as much.

Shortly after seeing the movie, I found myself browsing in a bookstore and noticed the book, “Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son.”  Written by Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen, it’s a memoir of their perspectives in life,  Sheen growing up and becoming the father while going through his own trials of life, and Estevez seeing many of the same events from the son’s perspective and his thoughts about his own life and career.  It was a truly enjoyable read and one I’d recommend, but as the book references the making of The Way, I’d see the movie first.

I’ve always felt a connection to Martin Sheen, not because I know the man, but because of my own father’s resemblance to him.  Not just their looks, but some of their mannerisms as well.  My Dad’s about the same age, and while he isn’t the spitting image of Sheen, at certain times in their lives he looks remarkably similar.  So much so, in fact, that when we were stationed in Germany, a woman in Brussels insisted that my father was Sheen, even though he denied it.  I always thought that was cool, so naturally I gravitated toward Sheen’s movies.  While watching The Way for the first time, there was one scene where I paused the film and said to my wife, “Holy cow, does he ever look like my Dad.”

As it is a movie about fathers and sons and I’ve always had a great relationship with my Dad, I bought him a copy of the DVD and then sent him my copy of the book as well.  After watching the movie, he called me and asked, “So, when are we going?”

Pretty sure my Mom and my wife would have serious concerns about he and I taking off to Spain for a couple of months to walk the Camino de Santiago.  But I was pleased that he enjoyed the movie and book.

So why the painting?  Well, first of all, I’m more inclined to paint characters, not the actors themselves.  In our society where the privacy of celebrities is almost non-existent when they’re out of their homes, people seem to think they know them from what they read in gossip rags and see on trashy shows like Entertainment Tonight and Inside Hollywood.  I’m under no such illusion.  Simply because I watch their movies and read their memoir, I wouldn’t dare assume I know Martin Sheen or Emilio Estevez.  The book only shares what they wanted to share, and the movie, while infused with their own experiences I’m sure, is about characters Estevez wrote, not the actors themselves.  But good storytelling can make those characters seem real, and in this case, it was Sheen’s character, Tom, for whom I felt a connection.

Having bought my own copy, I’ve now seen the movie a few times, the last time with the purpose of gathering reference.  You may not see in the painting what I see in it, because it’s a scene that, to me, said so much about the journey the character was taking.  This image of Tom looking up and what he was seeing, was brief, but his expression spoke volumes, given what he’d been through.  The scenes that follow really get to me each time I see the movie, and I don’t mind admitting that.  It’s a wonderful story with rich characters, played by a very talented cast.

Lately, all of my work has been product driven.  Editorial cartoons on deadline, illustration commissions, painting commissions, even my Totem paintings have become about prints, licensing and always selling the end product.  As a result, it’s been awhile since I’ve truly enjoyed a painting from start to finish.  One of the reasons I painted this portrait was that it had no deadline and has no commercial value, other than that it will find a place in my portfolio.  I painted it for myself, simply to paint something personal, and I’m pleased to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was a bit like a vacation from the work of being an artist for a living, and I wanted to find the joy in it again.  There is a balance to be found there and I’m still working on it.  This painting was a good start.

For more on the technical details of this painting, click on this link.

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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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Portrait of Russell Brown

For those of you who don’t use Photoshop, you likely have no idea who this is, unless you’re thinking that I got this painting of Abraham Lincoln all wrong.  For those who do travel in the circles of this industry, the man needs no introduction.

Russell Brown is the Senior Creative Director at Adobe, the company that makes Photoshop and a whole host of other creative software that makes the design and publishing world go round.  Not only has Russell been with Adobe for over two decades, but he was greatly involved with the creation of Photoshop 1.0.  He travels the world in his role, attending many different shows and events, and best of all, he always seems to be having a good time.

For the uninitiated, Photoshop can seem to be a daunting and technically challenging exercise, kind of like reading stereo instructions.  For those of us who create, edit, and realize ideas with this software on a daily basis, it’s quite the opposite.  Russell is proof that learning how to use software can be incredibly fun.  Just as sports buffs talk about player stats and get excited about the draft, Photoshop users look forward to new evolutions of the software and wait with great anticipation to see what new features will take our creativity to another level.  Russell Brown is usually one of the guys who shows it to us first, and he does it with style.

From dressing up as the Mad Hatter to a mad scientist (many call him Dr. Brown), Russell recently showed up at Photoshop World in Washington, D.C. dressed as Abraham Lincoln, and apparently stayed in character for much of the event.  While I wasn’t in attendance, he posed for a shoot in the Westcott Lighting booth and a number of photographer friends posted their shots of Steampunk Abe Lincoln.  Russell was obviously approaching this role with great enthusiasm.

I knew right away that I wanted to paint him.

It may come as a surprise to people in this industry that I have never met Russell Brown in person, although we have had email contact over the last couple of years.  As he is always experimenting with new creative techniques, Russell was searching for images to use for a 3D printing process where a laser printer carved part of the image into block of wood, then another pass printed the image on top, giving it a raised relief look.  He chose my Wolf Totem image for this experiment and then sent me a copy of it.  It sits on the mantle in our living room.

We had also talked about using some of my other Totem images for another project, but that one died on the drawing board.  It was still fun, hashing out the details for awhile and sharing my work with him.

Perhaps my favorite story about Russell, however, is about his generosity.  We have a wonderful animal shelter here in Canmore.  Built and run by a very dedicated group of hardworking volunteers, it is a constant effort to find funding and support.  It is a no-kill facility and the animals are very well cared for, with large rooms to live in, indoor and outdoor activity areas, with the goal of finding every one of them a home.  Because of the circles I travel in, a friend asked me if I could help find them some design software for their publicity efforts.  Figuring I had nothing to lose, I sent an email to Russell and asked if he could help.  A very short time later (that same day, if I recall correctly), he asked for the shipping information.  The Bow Valley SPCA received Adobe’s entire Creative Suite less than a week later and they were incredibly grateful.

Now it should be stated, that Russell told me he can’t normally do that sort of thing, so please don’t start sending him a ton of emails asking for free software.

I came very close to meeting him and thanking him in person at Photoshop World in Las Vegas last year, but every time I saw him, he seemed to be on a mission or already talking to somebody and I didn’t want to interrupt him.  He told me later by email that I should have, so this year I definitely will.

As for the painting, I bought the use of the reference photo from a photographer friend of mine, Michelle Hedstrom.  Check out her site at www.ogrephotography.com.   In the interest of showing that my effort is not to copy the photo directly, she has allowed me to post the photo here.  I need reference to get the likeness right, but no photo is ever part of any of my paintings.  These are painted from scratch starting with a blank digital canvas.

This one took about 15 hours, and as it wasn’t a commission and had no commercial application other than a portfolio piece, it was a lot of fun because there was no pressure at all.  It was simply a case of his having a great expressive face, that he was so into the role and that I’ve seen him perform in character, that I wanted to paint him in the first place, as personality is very important to me in my paintings.

For some reason, it just seemed funnier to make him look a little more sinister than stately, so I went with it, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.  I’m sending the full-resolution file to Russell today, to do with as he likes.  The full size painting is 18″X22″ at 300ppi, so it’s pretty big.  It was painted in Photoshop CS5 on an medium sized Wacom Intuos5 tablet.

Considering that Russell changed his Facebook Profile Pic to this image yesterday and shared the image, I’m taking that as a sign of approval.

If you’d like to see a short timelapse of the painting, complete with overly dramatic musical accompaniment, here’s a video I recorded yesterday as well.

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A portrait of Jim

My buddy Jim and I have been good friends for over 15 years, and last night was his 50th birthday, so another good friend of his and I threw him a party.  Not a huge affair, about 25-30 people, I think,  but a good time sharing laughs with friends.  Whenever I go camping at a lake in B.C.  or to my buddy’s cabin, it’s usually Jim that I’m going with.  He loves taking snapshots of his friends and road trips, and has collected many memories on film over the years.  As he recently bought a new computer, a digital camera wasn’t going to be far off, so my wife and I, along with two other couples went in on a very nice camera, a Canon Powershot SX40, a higher end but user friendly camera, great for high quality point and shoot photos with a fantastic 35X built-in zoom lens.  Came very close to getting him a DSLR, but this was a better choice for someone who just wants to capture memories of people and places, without requiring a ton of photography knowledge.  Along with some other accessories we bought him, he was very pleased with the gift and I’m sure he’ll get a lot of use out of it.

One of the great things about my profession is that on rare occasions, I can create a gift that is unique to me.   While he would have been pleased with the camera alone, I decided that I wanted to paint a portrait for Jim’s 50th as well.  Fortunately, those times you can count on me having a decent camera with me is when I’m out camping or at the cabin, so it turns out that I’ve taken quite a few photos of Jim over the years, and had many to go through.  Only a couple were good candidates for reference photos, however, and I count myself lucky that the one I ended up using was only two years old.

Painting a portrait like this has a few challenges.  Over the years, Jim has had a mustache, a goatee, a full beard and will often alternate between them.  So even though he doesn’t have a full beard right now, he did in the reference photo and he will again in the future, I’m sure.  He’s got a little more grey now than he did a couple of years ago, but I only added in as much as I had to.  After all, he was supposed to like the painting.  While the little details are important, creative license is as well.  My intent was to capture his likeness, but more importantly, his personality, and I think I did that.  As is my nature, I obsessed over the details on this one, as I’ll have to see it for years to come, but I was very pleased with the finished work, and it looks great on canvas.

As much as I’d love to be able to paint portraits for a few other people, the reality is that Jim is probably the only one for whom I could have done this, as most of the time, I’m not snapping photos of people on a day to day basis, and certainly not with anything better than my phone.  If I suddenly started taking head-shots of my friends with my DSLR, it would be pretty obvious to any of them why I was doing it.  This is also the reason I had to rely on photos I already had, so as not to give it away.  This was a unique gift that I was happy to give, and one I’ll unlikely be able to do for anyone else, at least not anytime in the near future.

The background for the portrait is Cleland Lake in B.C., a forestry lake that we’ve been going to for many years, Jim for over two decades.  That particular view is from his favorite spot on the lake.  The painting was printed at 12″X16″ on canvas and framed, and he really seemed to like it.

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The upside of 2011

Bighorn Sheep TotemAll things considered, 2011 was a great year.  While every year will have it’s challenges, I’ve been fortunate that I’m honestly able to see each year of the past decade as having continual forward momentum.  The work I’m doing is far beyond what I had hoped for when I first started in this profession and I’m very grateful for it.

I became nationally syndicated in September of 2001, sending cartoons out across Canada each week, and got very few bites.  For two years, I had no more than three newspapers, paying the bare minimum rate, and I will admit to almost giving up on it more than a few times.  With a full-time job to pay the bills, I had to get up at 5:00am each morning to get a cartoon out before I went to work.  When I came home, I had to sketch in the evening and work on the weekends in order to manage it all.  Finally I started making progress, got a few more papers, took advantage of other opportunities, and about six years ago, I was able to leave my job and play this game full-time.

Through it all was my ever supportive wife, Shonna, and I’m incredibly grateful that she never told me not to do any of this.  The only caveat given when I went full-time was that if I couldn’t pay my half of the mortgage and bills, I had to go back to work.  Canmore is an expensive place to live and we couldn’t do it on one income.  Fortunately, it never came to that, and each year has been better than the one before.  At the time, it was an incredible struggle, but in retrospect, I’m glad I had to go through it because it makes the present all that much sweeter.

If my 2001 self could see the work I’m doing now, he’d be pleasantly surprised, and I try to think about that when I’m having a bad day or feeling sorry for myself because of a heavy workload or when money is tight.  So far, I’ve not only gotten what I wanted, I’ve gotten much more.  Best of all, I discovered that I loved getting up at 5:00am to work, I still sketch in the evenings, and being self-employed means you often work weekends anyway, so I was already used to the routine.  Now, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Here’s a recap of my professional highlights of this past year, some of which I’d forgotten about until I went back through the blog entries month by month.

iPad Painting: Started playing around with this in January, and damn if it hasn’t been a lot of fun figuring it all out.  Ended up trying four different styli and half a dozen apps.  It would seem that I’ve finally settled on the Wacom Bamboo Stylus, the Nomad minibrush, and the procreate app.  The combination of those three gives me the best results, and while I don’t consider anything I paint on the iPad to be finished work, I would go so far as to call it advanced sketching, and I plan to keep doing it.

PhotoshopCAFE DVDs:  In March, I finished my first DVD, called Cartoon Illustration Techniques in Photoshop.  Easily one of the most difficult projects I’ve ever worked on.  Having only done a little bit of sound and video editing for a failed Flash animation project a few years back, it was a struggle.  But I finished it, it went into production, and is selling well.  I’ve heard from many who bought the DVD that have learned a lot from it and complimented me on my instruction, so I’m guessing I didn’t do so bad a job.

The second DVD, Animal Painting in Adobe Photoshop, was a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable as I wasn’t teaching raw Photoshop beginners.  It was more about the painting than the software and while it was a challenge, the difficulty I went through with the first DVD paid off while recording the second as there were few problems I hadn’t already solved.  Recording one DVD this year would have been enough of a milestone, but I never expected to record two, and to be very pleased with both of them.

Cartoon Ink: While my old website was ‘fine,’ it had become difficult to use and it was no longer the image I wanted to project.  While I had always done my own website in the past, this time I realized one of the most important business practices that so many have learned before me.  Hire professionals to do their job, so you can focus on doing yours.  With that in mind, I hired Erik Bernskiold of XLD Studios in Sweden to create a new website for me.  I knew Erik’s work and know him personally, so I was confident he would deliver much more than I could create myself.  With the help of Elizabeth Gast at Design by Firgs, another colleague and good friend who consulted on the site, and created an improved evolution of my logo, I was very pleased with the final logo and website and would highly recommend both of their work.  The time I saved was well worth the money spent and reduced stress.

Wacom: I began to form a relationship with the great folks at Wacom at Photoshop World in 2010 after I won the Guru Awards for two of my Totem paintings and I couldn’t be happier about it.  Having used their tablets since the late 90’s, you won’t find a bigger fan, so I’m very pleased to be working with them from time to time.

Over the course of the year, I’ve been featured in the Wacom eNews, have represented the company and demonstrated their products at one of Scott Kelby’s seminars in Calgary, and have been a featured guest on two of their one-hour Wacom webinars.  The people I’ve worked with at Wacom have been incredibly supportive and are absolute pros at what they do and I look forward to a continuing relationship with them.

The photo shown here is Joe Sliger demonstrating the new Wacom Inkling for me at Photoshop World this year.  He is also one of the moderators of the webinars.

Island Art Publishers: In July of this year, I began a licensing deal for some of my Totem paintings to be produced on art cards.  These are distributed throughout Western Canada and the northwestern U.S. and time will tell whether this arrangement bears any fruit.  An artist friend once told me that art cards are often your best advertising, because not only does the person buying it see your work, but so does the person receiving it.  You may not make much money early on, but it’s enough to get your work out there to a market that otherwise might not see it.  And the cards look really good.

Photoshop World: While it’s true that I didn’t learn much about technique or improving my work at this year’s Photoshop World in Las Vegas, I still think it was worth attending because of the networking opportunities.  Having recorded two DVDs for PhotoshopCAFE, it was great to finally meet the owner of the company in person, and see their operation on the Expo Floor.  I was able to meet a few more of the Wacom folks in person, and talk with other industry professionals I otherwise might not have had the opportunity to talk to.  Online interaction is fine, but it doesn’t compare with face-to-face conversations.  So while I won’t be going back as an attendee, I still think this year’s trip was well worth it.

knmadventuresAt the time, I was doing some illustration work for wildlife photographer and instructor, Moose Peterson as well, and being able to go over sketches with him in person was a real treat, as most of the time this would have all been done online.  The other benefit of the Photoshop World conference is that I get to meet with so many talented photographers, many of whom I consider close friends.  For somebody who relies on great photo reference for my painted work, their skills and talent are often one of my most valuable resources, not to mention their generosity with their work, and the support they offer for mine.

Paintings: Saved the best for last.  I am so very pleased with the progress I’ve made on my painted work this year.  The first half of the year, I was so busy with the DVDs and other work that I only painted one animal in my Totem series, the Great Horned Owl.  When I realized this in the latter half of the summer, I was ticked off.  The work I love to do most, I had placed in last priority.  In retrospect, however, I’m glad it happened because when I realized it, I vowed it would never happen again and it stoked the fire.  The end result is that from September to December, I’ve painted a number of new images and I feel they are my best work to date.

I had been becoming bored with painted caricatures of people in the past couple of years, but recently, I’ve realized that it wasn’t people I was bored with painting, just caricatures of them.  Beginning with a couple of iPad paintings, I’ve discovered how very much I enjoy painting portraits, and I’ve done a couple of pieces recently that I’ve really enjoyed.  Inspired by the work of Drew Struzan and others, I think I’ll be painting a lot more portraits of people, if nothing more than for the sheer enjoyment of it.  While style is always evolving, I think my paintings now have a definitive look that is mine, whether it’s people or animals, and it’s one I want to continue to develop and refine.

I’m now getting commissions to paint pet portraits and caricature this year, and it’s really enjoyable work.  The painting of Don Diego that I did for my DVD, the memorial to Titus the cat, and to being able to finally create a real painting for my folks of their dog, Bailey, it’s looking like this could be a big part of my work in the coming years.  Working on another commission at the moment, and having fun with it.

My real passion, however, is still the Animal Totems.  Nothing I’ve ever done in my career has filled me with as much joy as that I get from painting these whimsical caricatures of wildlife.  Not only are they fun to work on, but they sell well in the galleries which means others like them, too.  I’ve been fortunate that a number of wildlife photographers I know have been willing to sell me the license rights to use their photos as reference, or have enjoyed my work enough to want to trade me the use of their images for canvas prints of the painting when it’s done, both of which I’m more than willing to do.

Humpback Whale TotemEach of them is my favorite for different reasons, but the one I was most happy with this year was the Humpback Whale Totem.  I don’t know if it’s because I’ve wanted to paint it for so long or that it was such a challenge to paint an animal with no fur or hair, and the end result lived up to my expectations.  Either way, these paintings are the only work I’ve ever done that I still enjoy months and even a year after I’ve painted one.  That alone tells me this is the work I’m meant to do, at least for now.

As you can see, I’ve had a very good year, and I’m grateful for it.  For all of you that follow my work, your messages of support here on the blog, through social media, and email are all appreciated.  It’s a solitary existence, this freelance lifestyle, and it’s nice to know that others are getting enjoyment out of the work I do.  And if you’re struggling with your own creative endeavors, whether you’ve just begun or are just trying to keep going, I would urge you not to give up.  It may not seem like it in the moment, but I assure you, if it’s something you love to do, it’s worth the effort.

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Portrait of Harry Morgan

Harry Morgan passed away this month, peacefully in his sleep at the age of 96 years old.  While he had many movie and television credits in his career, he was most known for the character of Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M.A.S.H. , the role he won an Emmy for in 1980.  The impact of the series on our culture is well known and to this day, I still enjoy watching it in syndication, even though I’m sure I’ve seen every episode more than a few times.

The combination of writing and acting talent on that show was incredibly rare, and what I loved most about the character of Colonel Potter, was that while he was regular army, he had a great sense of humor, and a big heart.  When I heard that Morgan had passed away, I was saddened to hear it, but not too much.  Hard to feel bad for a man who lived a long life doing the work he loved.  Better to be inspired by his example, than mourn his loss.

I thoroughly enjoyed painting his portrait.