Monty's Muse

Last Blog Entry from Blogger

2011-04-19T13:41:00.002-06:00

Hi Folks:

For those following this blog, I just wanted to let you know that I have a brand new website, still at www.cartoonink.com, but I've also moved my blog. So while I will continue to write regular blog entries, they won't be from here.

If you'd like to continue following my blog, there is a RSS feed available and it can also be accessed on the Home Page, or you can link to the blog directly here. All of the old blog entries have been imported, so it'll be the same content.

Thanks for following me this far, and maybe you'll follow me a little farther.

Cheers,
Patrick

Now Available at PhotoshopCAFE!

2011-03-26T06:56:00.006-06:00

While the hard copy of my first DVD will be making its debut at Photoshop World this coming week in Orlando, it is now available for purchase as a download from PhotoshopCAFE. The hard copy will be available in the next couple of weeks.

This is a little surreal, having my own training DVD, but part of the natural evolution of being an artist. 'Learn it, do it, teach it' is a fairly common saying, and it does tend to bring things full circle. While I will always have more to learn, and will never be finished working to make myself a better artist, it's been an interesting experience teaching a little of what I've learned so far.

This was a huge undertaking for me, and I wondered if I'd ever get it done, but I'm very pleased with the result, and already planning my next title. By all accounts, the second one should be a lot easier.

Coming Soon: My First Training DVD

2011-03-23T08:44:00.004-06:00

Regular readers will know that I've been working on a DVD for PhotoshopCAFE for a number of months, now. With a final push through a very busy week, I managed to get everything finished this past weekend. The final editing days were difficult, but I managed to meet deadline, and the DVD is now in production.

Entitled 'Cartoon Illustration Techniques in Photoshop,' I recorded over 4.5 hours of training, taking the viewer through the entire process I use to turn a sketch into the finished image you see above. The majority of the lessons are done in real time, so I'm actually working while talking, and only a couple of painting sessions are sped up and narrated. This is the process I use every day when drawing my syndicated editorial cartoons and when creating cartoon illustrations in the same style.

This is my first DVD for PhotoshopCAFE with plans to record more on other techniques in the near future. It will be available for purchase online and at the PhotoshopCAFE booth at Photoshop World in Orlando next week. As soon as it's available, I'll be posting links.

While the entire process was difficult, and more than a little frustrating at times, I learned a LOT about audio and video recording, had incredible support from Colin Smith at PhotoshopCAFE, and am pleased with the result. My intention at the beginning of this was to record the DVD I would have liked to have had when I was first starting out cartooning in Photoshop and I think I achieved that.

Great Horned Owl

2011-02-28T08:00:00.005-07:00

This is the latest painting in my Totem series. Hard to believe I started this image in November. I've worked on it at a few live painting demos, and when I could make the time, but I've gone weeks at a time without touching it, due to my heavy workload.

I've received a lot of publicity and attention over the previous paintings, especially the Wolf and Moose after the Photoshop World Guru Awards in September, but I've been frustrated lately that I hadn't been able to get another one finished, even though I've had two on the go for months. The last thing I want is to be halfway through 2011, and still be talking about paintings I did in a year ago.

With that in mind, I took whatever bits of time I could this past week to get it done, as well as a home stretch effort on Sunday of about 6 hours of painting. I nitpicked this to death at the end, and probably could keep doing so for a number of hours, yet, but eventually it gets to a point where you'd only see a difference on extreme closeup, and it would be minimal at best. My biggest concern was that I wanted the end result to be better than, or at least as good as the Wolf and Moose paintings. Hopefully I achieved that, but I'm too close to it to be objective.

In the end, I easily spent over 30 hours on it, and at this moment in time, it is my best effort. I found myself smiling a number of times while painting, because it seemed I was being smiled at, and that's always a good feeling. Even had a few moments where the image seemed to be painting itself yesterday, and that never ceases to surprise me. With my headphones on, music playing in my ears, painting without thinking and no distractions, that's as close to a perfect moment as I get.

While I'm pleased with the final image and that I have finally added another painting to the series, I would like to find more time to devote to these paintings, so there aren't months in between each one. Next up will be the Bighorn Sheep, which is the other painting in progress at the moment.

iPad Painting: Daniel Day-Lewis

2011-02-22T11:27:00.008-07:00

Here's another painting drawn on the iPad for fun and practice. This is Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting from the movie 'Gangs of New York.' According to the DVD extras, Daniel Day-Lewis was so committed to the role, that he stayed in character while on set, even when the cameras were off. I've seen this movie a few times, and for me, the character of The Butcher is the best part of it.

Had a few requests for progress shots from the last iPad painting I did, but since I hadn't saved any file copies, I kept that in mind while painting this one. Click on any of these images to see them a bit larger, although size is limited by the iPad resolution.

Image 1-3

Image 4-6

Closeup

Now that I've done a couple of paintings and a number of cartoons with the iPad, I'm aware of a few limitations, aside from the resolution, that make it difficult to ever really do any finished work.

First, the brightness of the iPad. If I paint on full brightness, it's a little hard on the eyes, so I paint with the brightness set to about half or 60%. When I send the images by email to my desktop computer, they're a fair bit darker than they are on the iPad, so all of these images have had exposure adjustments in Photoshop.

My desktop and laptop computers are colour calibrated, so it's a little unnerving to paint in colour on the iPad, because it doesn't look the same when I bring it into Photoshop. This is why I painted in black and white first, in order to get the values right. After that, I added a colour layer in the ArtStudio app, then I flattened it and continued painting. As you can see, most of the work, however, was done in black and white.

While I'm pleased with the way this painting turned out, I might have chosen a difference reference photo to work from, as I think I could have found a better pose for the character. But since this is as far as I intend on taking this image, no harm, no foul. It was good practice.

iPad Painting: James Whitmore

2011-02-15T05:48:00.008-07:00

Here is another painting done on the iPad, very different than my usual style. This is a value study of the great character actor, James Whitmore. If I were to title this piece, I'd probably call it 'Brooks Was Here,' as it's not so much the actor that I wanted to paint, but his character, Brooks Hatlen from The Shawshank Redemption.

For every larger than life Brad Pitt or George Clooney on the silver screen, there are a hundred brilliant character actors like James Whitmore. The sort of actor that everyone recognizes, even if you don't know his name, and have never see him on the cover of People magazine. I love rich characters in movies, but those characters can just as easily fall flat without the right actor breathing life into it.

This painting was a pleasure to work on, as Brooks Hatlen has always been one of my favorite film characters. It didn't feel right to paint this as a caricature, and even with the resolution limitations of the iPad document size, I could have spent many more hours on it. It really was a joy to paint.

Once again, I used the ArtStudio app and the Targus stylus. In a reversal of my usual method of painting on a white canvas, I filled the canvas with black, and then painted in shades of grey. This next image is zoomed in to 100 percent, so making it any larger would have given way to pixelation.

I've recently realized that I need to always have a painting or image to work on that has no deadline. While I spend all day drawing or working on my business, this piece was done over two evenings while watching TV, and an hour at the coffee shop yesterday morning. It was a nice break from the commission work.

With no shortage of wonderful character actors to choose from, I would imagine I'll be painting many more of these.

Work in Progress - Great Horned Owl

2011-02-11T07:38:00.003-07:00

A sneak peek at the progress on the next painting in my Totem series. Other commission work and editorial cartoons have been taking up the bulk of my time lately, so I haven't been able to spend as much time on this as I'd like, but I'm looking to change that.

This is the most challenging piece I've ever worked on, and there is a lot more detail yet to paint. I can't even estimate when this will be done, but I'm just going to keep working on it, and hopefully it will be sooner, rather than later. I have many more animals I want to paint.

Wacom eNews

2011-02-09T14:51:00.006-07:00

The February Wacom eNews is out, and I'm very pleased to be featured in it. You won't find a bigger fan of Wacom than me.

Having owned half a dozen drawing tablets over the past 12 years, I wouldn't be able to do any of my work without one. I feel it's important to note, I've only replaced tablets when new ones have come out with better features. I have never had one die on me and to my recollection, the only problem I've ever had is that a pen started acting up on me a couple of years ago, and Wacom replaced it right away, no questions asked.

I remember doing a painting demo at a gallery last year, and explaining to a parent why a Wacom was such a good investment for his daughter who was showing some real artistic talent. While I let her try out the tablet, I was telling him how inexpensive the entry level Bamboo tablets are, how they had a lot of the same great features as the Intuos4, and even told him where he could buy one.

He asked me if I worked for them.

iPad Painting: Billy Connolly

2011-02-06T06:37:00.010-07:00

With my heavy workload lately, almost everything I've been doing has been for a deadline. Even the animal paintings have now become one more item on my 'to-do' list. It has begun to wear a little thin, so I wanted to work on something this week that was just for fun.

I'm really enjoying working on the iPad, and despite the fact that some people lament that it's not pressure sensitive like a Wacom tablet, the drawing apps available are incredibly versatile. I haven't painted any people in awhile, and I've been itching to get back at that, if for nothing else, than to improve those skills. Billy Connolly is on a growing list of people I've always wanted to paint, so he was as good a subject as any.

A few years ago, I read his biography, entitled 'Billy,' written by his wife Pamela Stephenson. I was already a fan of his comedy, but I've grown to become a fan of him personally as well. 'The Big Yin' is such a talented musician and actor, a brilliant comedian, and a dangerously intelligent man.

At one point, I had intended to do a full painting of him, and someday I still might. But for now, this was just an exercise to take drawing on the iPad a little further than just drawing a cartoon character. With the Targus stylus I recently acquired, I felt I could finally do some painting on the device.

I could have done this in colour, but I thought for this first go 'round, I'd stick with black and white. While I didn't keep track of the time, as I worked on this off and on over the course of a week in the evenings, I would estimate that it took about four or five hours, working on the ArtStudio app. Somebody recently asked me on Facebook if I preferred this one over the Sketchbook Pro app. Having used both, I do prefer ArtStudio to Sketchbook Pro, even though the latter is still a very fine app to work with. I just find the tools in ArtStudio easier to use, and there are more of them.

It's doubtful that I'll ever do finished work on the iPad, because the resolution capability of the app doesn't allow for extreme detail, but I will definitely keep stretching, to see how far I can take it. This is undoubtedly the first of many paintings I'll experiment with on the iPad.

Photoshop User Magazine Recognition

2011-02-04T07:33:00.006-07:00

Photoshop User magazine launched a new feature in their March 2011 issue called Notable NAPP Members. I'm very honoured that they selected me as the first one.

It's always nice to have one's work recognized, and lately I seem to be getting more than my share of publicity. I've had a lot of wonderful milestones and opportunities this past year, but I'm trying to keep things in their proper perspective and take it all with a grain (or a pound or two) of salt. Wiser folks than I have cautioned that you should never believe your own hype. While I'm grateful for the publicity, I think that's excellent advice.

Even though being a freelance cartoonist and illustrator isn't always a 'wine and roses' profession, it's enough that I get to do what I love for a living.

(click on the article to zoom in)

Reprinted with permission by NAPP and Photoshop User Magazine.

iPad Cartooning: An Ongoing Experiment

2011-01-29T08:03:00.015-07:00

Having done some finger painting on the iPad, I thought I'd be happy just continuing to do that. I was getting pretty decent results, having a fair bit of fun, and didn't feel I was really lacking in any tools that would allow me to create the images I wanted.

I had heard the Pogo Stylus was a compromise at best, and many were using it simply because they couldn't find anything better. I bought the Dagi Stylus after reading a good review, but it ended up scratching my screen in three places on the first day so I stopped using that right away. The scratches, by the way, are not obvious. I'd have to point them out to anyone wanting to see them. No real harm done, but enough that I wouldn't use that pen again. I'd almost given up on finding a stylus, until I started hearing really good reviews about the Targus stylus (also sold as the Griffin stylus).

Since it was less than $20, I figured I'd give it a shot. Ordered one from Best Buy, with low expectations. I'm happy to report that I LOVE this pen. It works so well on the iPad screen. The rubber tip looks like it might have the consistency of a pencil eraser, but it actually has a fair bit of give, slides nicely over the screen and doesn't require a great deal of pressure to activate the drawing apps.

You'll notice that I'm wearing a glove on my drawing hand. While you can buy pre-fab gloves for this sort of screen work that look nice and pretty, I just bought a pair of glove liners from a local sports store. I cut the thumb, index, and middle fingers from the gloves, so that I can still use my fingers to activate the app features, such as tool presets, zooming, panning, etc. But by keeping the last two fingers on the glove, I can rest my hand on the screen while drawing, without the heel of my hand activating anything on the app. Works very well and as an added bonus, it cleans the screen as you draw.

It should be noted that I do NOT have a screen protector. I tried a couple when I first got my iPad and hated them. The installation was incredibly frustrating, and once I did get one applied well, I didn't like how it made my images look or the feel of the screen so I removed it many months ago. It is my understanding that a screen protector will seriously decrease the effectiveness of some of these stylus pens, so be warned that if you have one on your iPad, your experience may not be as good as mine.

I do have the Apple case on my iPad at all times, and those three little scratches on the screen made by the Dagi stylus are the only ones I've ever had. Since I use the iPad every day, and have been using the Targus stylus quite a bit as well, I'm not worried about getting any more scratches at all, so I won't replace the screen protector.

The app I used for this cartoon is ArtStudio. I also use Sketchbook Pro and like them both. While I will still do some finger painting for large brush painting, and less precise work, I am definitely going to continue to keep using the Targus as it's a great addition to my iPad workflow.

Digital Painting Interview with Psd Tuts+

2011-01-25T16:27:00.006-07:00

Back in November, I was approached by Psd Tuts+ about an interview regarding my digital paintings. It was a good experience, but to be honest, I'd kind of forgotten about it. This morning, someone brought to my attention that the interview was online, so I went and took a look and found that I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I especially liked that they put the interview in the 'Inspiration' category. It would be nice if another artist was inspired by something I love to do.

I've realized that I've been putting painting on the back burner lately because of other deadlines and obligations, but I hadn't realized just how much I've missed it until I read the interview. With two paintings on the go, I really do need to make the time, especially since it's the work I enjoy most.

If you'd like to read the interview, here's the link.
Amazing Digital Animal Paintings of Patrick LaMontagne

Thank you for continuing to hold...

2011-01-24T08:16:00.008-07:00

Lately, I've been working on my training DVD for PhotoshopCAFE, entitled Cartoon Illustration Techniques in Photoshop. It has been a steep learning curve with regard to the audio and video software and hardware. Even though I had an animated editorial cartoon for about five months a few years back, this has proven to require a very different set of skills.

I've had a number of false starts and have had to rewrite session scripts when I realized that I had forgotten to talk about crucial steps. I've also had more than a few sleepless nights trying to make sure that everything I talk about is going to be coherent.

Worst of all, fitting this very large project into my already heavy workload has been challenging and this has taken far longer than I had intended it to. But, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and thankfully, it doesn't appear to be a train. As in all things new and difficult, I've no doubt that I'll come out the other side better for the experience with another set of skills to add to my repertoire. I'll also be in need of a little time off.

So for those who've been asking when the DVD will be done, I plan to be able to make that announcement very soon, and thanks for your patience.

ImagineFX goes digital!

2011-01-21T12:53:00.003-07:00

Just found out this morning that my favorite digital art magazine, ImagineFX has finally become available in a digital format. Regular readers will know how much I like my iPad, and one of the best uses for it is reading magazines. I've got four shelves on a bookshelf in my office containing many printed issues of Photoshop User magazine, various Computer Arts titles, and ImagineFX.

I had canceled my ImagineFX subscription awhile back because I didn't have enough time to sit and read a magazine and some issues were going on the shelf unread. Figured I'd catch up before diving back in. One thing I love about the iPad is that I can have an entire library with me all the time, and magazines are perfect for this device. I can zoom in on artwork, read as much or as little as I want in a sitting, and quickly find an article in the future without having to sit down and flip through a stack of magazines. Best of all, it doesn't take up any shelf space.

I've renewed my subscription, at a fraction of the cost, and all I'm missing out on is the DVD that comes with the printed issue, which most of the time I didn't use anyway. ImagineFX is by far, the best digital art magazine on the market. I'm not even a sci-fi or fantasy artist, but I have learned more from this magazine about digital painting over the years than I have from almost any other resource.

Happy to now have it back, and in the format that I prefer.

Legend In My Own Mind.

2011-01-11T15:50:00.035-07:00

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love movies. It's not that I'm the type of guy who can name the cinematographer from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest or anything like that. I've never seen Citizen Kane and I didn't really like The Godfather. Sacrilege in some movie circles, I know, but I'm not a cinema snob. I just love being entertained by a good movie.

I don't watch awards shows, and I have no interest in celebrity gossip. I really don't care who's sleeping with whom in Hollywood, and don't understand why anybody else does, either. I will admit, however, that I like hearing that somebody whose work I love is a nice person, too. For example, on the commentary track for Aliens, Bill Paxton tells a story about what a class act Sigourney Weaver is and how hard she works. I love that movie, and that somehow makes me like it a little bit more.

I do have my favorite directors, screenwriters and actors, but only because certain people consistently create or star in movies I like. There are a number of movies I've seen a dozen times or more, and I get something different out of them each time. A consequence of this affinity for the silver screen is that I have an uncanny knack for remembering movie quotes, and let me assure you, that's a useless skill. Pretty sure I'll need some bit of information that was discarded from my brain years ago, just so I could remember what Frances McDormand said to Billy Crudup in 'Almost Famous.'

One of my favorite movies is Legends of the Fall. Not because I particularly like the story, but because I got to work on it. While it's true that I was only an extra, I got paid well for it, and it was a lot of fun.

In 1993, I was an instructor at the Air Reserve Training School at Canadian Forces Base Penhold. It was a full-time job teaching basic training, and I enjoyed it. At the end of one summer session, my boss mentioned to us that she had heard that a major Hollywood movie was filming in Calgary and that they needed extras with military experience. Nobody else from the training school or my unit tried out, but since I had no immediate plans, and it was a paying gig, I thought it would be pretty cool.

At the time, Calgary still had fully operational military bases and the film crew was working in conjunction with the military to ensure they got the right people. I went down for the audition at one of the hangars on the base. The audition wasn't about acting, it was just so that the production company could find out what your military experience was so they could assign you a position in this fake WWI Canadian Army.

The next weekend, there were 60 of us learning WWI foot drill on a parade square, being yelled at, marched around and basically being treated like we were all back in basic training. Since we were all reservists or regular force members, it was more entertaining than anything else. Their full intent was to run the movie WWI army like a real army WWI army.

We were given rifle training on authentic WWI Lee Enfield rifles. Mine had a stamp from 1917 on one of the metal parts. This was the main reason they wanted people with military experience, and only the 60 from the original weekend were going to be firing weapons. For those unfamiliar with weapons and firing blanks, there is usually something called a BFA (blank firing attachment) fixed to the end of the muzzle on a rifle during training exercises. Blanks can still cause serious injury at close range, and a BFA helps prevent that. During filming, however, the BFA's were removed as the rifles had to look authentic. This meant that everyone was VERY serious about weapons safety as there was an added element of danger. Only those with weapons training were issued blank ammunition and rifles.

The following weekend, there were 700 more men, and those of us that had been trained the week before were assigned men that WE had to train in the WWI foot drill that we had just learned. Let's just say that we weren't ready to go on parade, but they were trying to instill at least a little bit of discipline. They divided us into companies and that's who we were with for the entire shoot. I'm almost positive that these added guys didn't have to have military experience, as they were only being used on the shoot for two or three days.

The week after that, we were working full-time. I stayed with a friend in Calgary for three weeks, sleeping during the day, working all night long. We had to be at one of the Calgary colleges each day by 2:00PM, where they would take us out to a location north of the city. Each morning, after shooting, they would bus us back to Calgary at 6:00AM. I never got more than 6 hours sleep those three weeks and almost no time off. That was what we had all agreed to when signing up.

Apparently they had paid a rancher for the use of three or four of his fields for the duration, and they ripped it to shreds converting it to a WWI battlefield. The first time I saw the battlefield, it was eerie. A field full of mud, burned trees, elaborate trenches, craters full of water, and barbed wire everywhere. I found out later, that they put that field back to it's original condition after filming, and that the rancher was paid very well.

The main tent in the staging area consisted of two large connected circus tents, one full of tables and chairs like a beer tent where everybody would gather at the beginning and end of shooting and where they would put us if they had an hour or so with nothing for us to do. The other half of the tent was wardrobe and makeup and let me tell you, it was incredibly organized. They fitted each of us for authentic WWI uniforms that they got from a prop house in London. These were real WWI woolen uniforms. We were shown how to put them on, complete with puttees. It was a factory of efficiency, and everyone was incredibly professional.

They treated everyone fairly, but tolerated absolutely no screwing around, especially in the beginning. Because they were issuing working firearms, there was ample security on set and they double checked everything when it came to signing weapons in and out. The first day, about 20 of the 700 were kicked off the set for not following the rules. It wasn't open for debate and they gave no second chances.

Each day, we'd be briefed on what was going to happen that night along with constant safety briefings. We would then march in formation, according to company, down to the battlefield. They really ran it by the book.

For those first three nights, the 'army' just basically ran across a muddy field, back and forth all night long. It was very well lit, but it was tough. Most of those runs were rehearsals. We were to pick our own path, know where we going to run, so that when filming began, nobody was running into each other, we all knew where we were going. We knew where the explosions were going to happen, and there were tech guys sitting in holes all over the field. From the camera side, they couldn't be seen, but from our point of view, it was a bunch of guys in bright jackets in plain sight with control boards in front of them. Their job was to detonate the squibs (movie explosives) on the field. With 700 guys running across, these guys were pros. NOBODY was hurt by an explosive during the whole shoot, to my knowledge.

In the beginning, somebody would come up the line, I think it might have been one of the assistant directors and just start pointing at every third or fourth person before every rehearsal. "You're dead, you're dead, dead, dead, dead..." and this just meant that somewhere in your run, you fell down, and we were told specifically not to ACT. You just fell, and then stayed still. When they started shooting, a couple of guys were kicked off set for being 'theatrical' when they died, mugging for the cameras.

It was cold and rainy some of the time, but they had constructed the trenches with shelters in them that the cameras couldn't see, and they would get us back to the circus tent to get warm regularly. Lots of coffee and tea, plenty of food for everybody, ample time to rest up for the next scene.

Once the first three days were over, that's when the real fun began. Initially we had to go through metal detectors going through to wardrobe in our underwear and t-shirts, just so you couldn't bring in cameras or recording devices. Anything like cigarettes, lighter, stuff like that, you could just hold in your hand so they could see it.

Interesting side note about cigarettes. They'd let the smokers smoke during filming of the daylight trench scenes to add to the authenticity, but they'd give out hand rolled cigarettes that looked like they'd been run through a washing machine and then rolled in mud. I tried one, and it was horrible.

With just the 60 of us, and the cast and crew, they slacked off on the security a little because we'd earned a certain degree of trust. They started to allow us to bring in cameras, with the understanding that they could only be used at certain times and never be pulled out during filming. While I didn't take these photos, they were taken with permission. Unfortunately, all of these you see here are scans of small prints, and my scanner sucks. Still, you can click on any of them to see them a bit larger.

Our company went from about 50 guys down to 10 after the first three days, and we all got along really well. With no women on the set aside from crew, it was just a bunch of overgrown boys playing army in an amazing playground, and what could be more fun than that. The cast and crew were fantastic, and I don't recall one personal bad experience the whole time.

Some memorable moments:
Brad Pitt.
The first night the actors came into the trench, everybody was a little nervous. Close quarters in the trench, so they had to squeeze between us. One guy in my company got a tap on the shoulder and when he turned around, Brad Pitt was trying to get by. He kind of stammered, "Oh excuse me, Mr. Pitt," to which Mr. Pitt replied, "F**k off, call me Brad."

Aidan Quinn.
One morning, when we were all getting ready to board the buses back to Calgary, the crew needed one company to stay behind to film some daylight stuff. Turned out that whoever stayed wasn't going to get to go back to Calgary at all that day. The 10 of us were asked, and we said, 'sure.' We were having fun, although we were exhausted. The scene was with Aidan Quinn and he felt bad that we had to stay behind. After the scene was shot, we were told to get back to wardrobe and they'd give us a clean change of uniform, and then we could find a place to nap.

While we're getting changed, Aidan Quinn walks in with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, carrying a flat of Labatt Genuine Draft and said, "where do you want it?" He sat and had beers with us for about an hour, posed for photos with some of the guys, and said thanks for sticking around.

No Egos
One night, had to be about two in the morning, they kept having technical trouble with something. Could have been a camera, lights, I don't know, but it was a very cold night. They kept debating whether or not to send us back to the tent. Finally, somebody called out for runners from each company and they brought back heavy duty coffee containers to the trenches. We all had our own cups in the kit they gave us, so while they didn't want us to leave the set, they still wanted us to be warm. This happened once in awhile, and there were strategic holes in the trenches for modern items to be hidden when shooting started, including those coffee containers.

Thinking they had the problem solved, they brought Brad Pitt and Henry Thomas into the trench, and by this time, we were fairly comfortable around them. They were nice to us, kidding around, that sort of thing. The problem, whatever it was, persisted, so they were going to pull the actors back to their trailers until it was solved. Brad Pitt said, "we got coffee, we can wait here."

He and Henry Thomas sat and chatted with us for over an hour, answering questions, telling stories, laughing a lot, just hanging out in the cold like the rest of the guys.

Taken Care Of
One very telling experience about how well we were treated. One night, near the end of the third week, our company was running across the battlefield in some scene, explosions going off everywhere, firing our weapons, and a squib exploded very near me. I wasn't in any danger because I knew that whoever set it off knew exactly where I was, but we had been told that if an explosion went off near us, even if we hadn't been told to die, we were to fall down. So, myself and the guy nearest to me both collapsed, right into a crater full of water. We managed to keep our heads out of the water, as well as our rifles when we fell, but just laid there until we heard CUT. It was a good two minutes in that cold water and I was soaked. As soon as the director yelled cut, he sent in a crew to get us out of the water. They got us out of the field quick, into a van, drove us to the circus tent and into fresh dry uniforms very quickly. They gave us coffee and wouldn't let us leave until we assured them we were warm enough to keep going. Best of all, we didn't ruin the shot.

There are plenty of other things that happened on the set, but what I remember most is that the actors in that movie were genuinely nice guys and treated everybody with respect. The crew treated us well and on the last day of filming, the director, Edward Zwick, told us all that we had performed beyond his expectations. He said that it was like working with stunt men, not extras, which was nice to hear.

The experience of Legends of the Fall reinforced my love for movies. It didn't make me want to be an actor. Hell, it didn't even make me want to be an extra again, but working on that one movie just reinforced my love of the art form. It even changed how I watch movies, because sometimes I'll see a certain camera shot in a movie, and I'll remember that I know how they do that. It's probably one of the reasons I enjoy Director's Commentary on DVD's so much, too. That's where all the stories are told.

I've still got photocopies of the script and some storyboards, some photos I took and others took for me. I've even got some videotape that somebody from the crew sent to one of the guys in my company weeks after filming, showing unedited dailies, including some with the actors.

There are a number of scenes that I can pick myself out in the movie, just because I recognize myself or guys in my company. But for the most part, there's only one place you can definitely see me in the movie, and that's this one below, that I copied from a YouTube clip. I haven't seen it in awhile. When I showed it to my wife, she said, "you look like a baby!" It was, after all, 18 years ago.

Incidentally, this was a breakfast scene in the WWI camp, filmed at sunset. We were told that Brad Pitt's character Tristan was riding into camp with scalps around his neck, and we were supposed to part the way. They wanted us to look shocked at what we were seeing but not to exaggerate it too much. While Brad Pitt did come through on the horse and we did get to see that, what we're actually looking at in this photo is an ATV coming through with a camera on it.

If you'd like to see the actual clip, here's a link to one somebody posted on YouTube. You can see me on the left of the screen from 2:56-3:00.

I'd like to work in movies again someday, but in an artistic capacity, maybe as a digital painter or a character designer. But for now, I'm happy with the memory that I got to do it once, and it was great. If you ever get the chance to be an extra in a movie, paid or otherwise, I would advise you to do it, just for the fun of it. It really was one of the best experiences of my life.

Inspired by Drew

2011-01-07T11:56:00.011-07:00

Every artist should have other artists they look to when they need to find that spark to take their work just a little further. Lately I've been working through the winter doldrums and feeling a lack of inspiration largely due to a difficult project I'm currently working on, one that isn't very creative. While very worthwhile, I'm not really having any fun with it and that's frustrating.

It's only temporary, and the end is in sight, but in the meantime, I went looking for a little inspiration this morning, and found it in a very familiar place, in a book called, "The Movie Posters of Drew Struzan."

I've written about Drew Struzan before on this blog. Having reread that blog entry this morning, I realized that anything else I say about him would be repetition. He is easily my favorite artist (no really, my absolute favorite artist.) While the size of the images in this video do not do his work justice, you'll still get the idea of why I continue to be in awe of and inspired by, the work of Drew Struzan.

2011: The Year I Turn 40.

2011-01-02T09:01:00.001-07:00

When I used to think of a midlife crisis, I thought of shallow guys buying flashy red sports cars, hanging out with twenty year old bleached blond bimbos, and trying desperately to hang on to whatever was left of their youth. The reality is a lot less 'TV sitcom' than that.

Some psychologists have started calling it 'midlife transition' instead of 'midlife crisis' because 'crisis' has a negative connotation to it. So far, their political correctness hasn't figured out how to keep me in my 30's, though.

In the grand scheme of things, 40 is just a number, and since nobody really knows when their time is up, midlife is an assumption. I could kick off tomorrow, or have 60 more years coming at me. There is no expiration date tattooed anywhere on my body, that I'm aware of, although I wouldn't be surprised to find a 'Best Before' date.

Logically, I shouldn't have a problem with turning 40, but as Spock (the Vulcan, not the baby guy) always told McCoy, humans are not logical.

Time's ticking. I've had a great ride so far, but there's a lot I want to do that I haven't done, both in my work and in my life. In previous years, my New Year's resolution has simply been to keep moving forward and try to be a better person. I've come to realize that's a cop-out, because there's no accountability. So for the first time in a number of years, I'm setting some actual goals for the year, some specific and professional, some general and more personal, but all overdue.

Learn Adobe Illustrator (again).

I used to work for a sign shop here in Canmore. Really interesting job and I found that I really liked creating vector art. To this day, I use paths and vectors in Photoshop regularly while drawing cartoons because I like using the tools. While I still do contract work for the sign shop from time to time, I've realized my vector skills haven't kept up with each new version of Illustrator, even though I keep upgrading with each new release (although I've yet to buy CS5). Continuing education is important in any field, and I haven't done much of it in the last couple of years.

Learn more 3D in Photoshop CS5 Extended.

This cartoon was created a couple of years ago using Hexagon, Carrara, and Photoshop. I'd like to use more 3D elements in my work. While I don't intend to try and become an expert, it's fun and challenging, and I want to get better at it. The whole reason I chose the Extended track of Photoshop was for the 3D and aside from building the occasional rudimentary model for an editorial cartoon from time to time, I wield those tools like I'm performing surgery wearing oven mitts. Very clumsy with no finesse. I'd like to change that this year.

Learn to sculpt

I've been feeling the urge to do this for a couple of years now. I've had ALL of the tools necessary sitting in a toolbox in my office closet for about a year. I've done my research, bought Sculpey polymer clay, a couple of books on how to use it (including the one pictured above), and acrylics for painting after it's been baked. I have no excuse not to get started, and no pressure to produce anything good because I bought it just to have a hobby again. A wise man once said, when your hobby becomes your work, you need to find another hobby and I think this might be it. I'd just like to see if I'm any good at it.

Paint. Every chance I get.

Last year, I discovered what I love to paint most, so this year, I want to paint more animal totems. In a perfect world, I'd like to paint every day, and even if it's only for 10 minutes, I plan to do that, starting today.

In 2010, I only painted one person, Bert Monroy, and I'm missing that, too. I'd like to paint some more images of people this year, and I have a list I've kept over the last year, with about a dozen names on it. The great thing is that while they're all well known character actors, none of them are what you would consider A-list celebrities.

Work Less, Play More!

I work too much, and I put it ahead of everything else. I've often taken on work that I should have realized would do nothing to advance my career, made poor use of my best skills, and was of very little interest to me, not to mention that it usually wasn't worth it financially. That stops completely this year. I learned how to say 'No' last year. This year, I'll be saying it a lot more.

I get bored very easily, so while I still intend to be very busy, it'll be on projects and commissions that are worth my time. There's no point in being your own boss if you're still doing work that you shouldn't be doing.

When I do take time off, however, I'd like to slow down a little more, relax and enjoy life. Time off shouldn't mean watching TV all the time or going for coffee every day. While those pastimes do have their place, I'm looking for more experiences that create fond memories. More, hiking, camping, caving...hell, I'm going skydiving this year. That last one is right out of the midlife crisis manual. Page 36, I think.

Be Less Cynical.
This one will be tough, because despite the successes of last year, I focused too much on the dark side of people. I'll often blame that on following politics for a living, but I've recently realized that it's a choice, and to paraphrase an all too familiar phrase, if I let it ruin my life, "then the politicians have already won."

My wife says I hold people to unreasonably high standards, including myself. I expect everyone to take the high road, wanting to believe that people will do the right thing most of the time. And then inevitably, when someone's unethical behavior still gets them ahead, I end up disappointed and angry. This year, I'm going to try and let that go and be less judgmental. Cut everyone a break, including myself. Nobody's perfect.

You'll hear of people who've faced life threatening illnesses that thankfully survive the ordeal. Often, they'll tell you that the challenge they faced was the best thing that could happen to them because it made them realize that life isn't to be taken for granted, that it was a gift to be given a wake-up call.

I'm going to try and look on turning 40 the same way. And just like last year and the year before, I'll still try to keep moving forward, and to be a better person.

Farewell to 2010, a very good year.

2010-12-30T08:34:00.005-07:00

Well, that year went pretty damn fast!

I'll be honest, I tiptoed into 2010, since there were warning signs that the economy was going to hit me pretty hard. Thankfully, I came through relatively unscathed, even though I suffered some bumps, bruises, and frayed nerves. In the end, however, it was a better year than the one before, which is saying a lot, since 2009 was pretty good.

I went back and skimmed some of the blog entries from this past year, and I'm pretty pleased with the way the year unfolded.

Editorial Cartoons

When 2010 began, there had been some pretty big shakeups in the industry. I lost a bunch of newspapers in January when Sun Media told all of its editors to ditch their freelance cartoonists. It seemed every week in January and February, I'd get another phone call or email from an angry editor (not angry at me) telling me my services were no longer required. Some of those editors I'd worked with for years.

Canwest News Service was in severe financial trouble as well, and it was a very scary time for anyone working in the newspaper industry. I seriously thought that this might have been the beginning of the end for the editorial cartoon portion of my freelance career, but as the year went on, I recovered those losses and then some, and it really didn't hurt me. If anything, it was the wake-up call that I needed to start planning for a future that likely won't include editorial cartoons.

A few of my colleagues didn't fare so well, and in the 'Be Careful What You Wish For' category, I'm very thankful that I never did get that daily newspaper job that I wanted so badly when I was still new at this ten years ago. Turns out there was a lot more stability in freelancing.

While you never know which cards newspaper budgets will deal in 2011, I'm a lot less nervous about it than I was last year at this time. The big lesson is the same one nature herself has been teaching throughout history; those who adapt, survive. In this economy, that's true for every profession.

Freelance Illustration

I was more selective about work that I accepted this year. Clients that I like working with who pay their bills took precedence over the ones who began a conversation telling me they wanted it cheap and fast. When I was just starting out, I took whatever came through the door, as most of us have to, but I've learned from most of my mistakes, and can now recognize which jobs will advance my career, make best use of my skills, foster relationships with long term clients, and in a perfect world, will be enjoyable to work on.

That doesn't mean I didn't make mistakes this year, because I had a couple of big ones. One of them could have cost me a fortune had I not recognized it for what it was before I'd invested too much of my time and money into it. So, I did need to relearn a couple of lessons in 2010.

Get EVERYTHING in writing, and if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Those Animal Paintings

In January, I posted my third painting in the animal series, the Bull Elk, and in that blog entry, I said, "Hoping to get at least 15 of these done before April."

I laughed out loud when I read that again this morning. 15 by April?! Sure, if I had NOTHING else to do, that might have been feasible. Not sure where the line is between optimistic and delusional, but at least you can't say I didn't aim high.

At year's end, I have seven of them finished, with two more in the final stages. While I still would like to have fifteen done by April (hey, I didn't say which YEAR in that blog entry), I'm not going to beat myself up if it doesn't happen.

When the year began, I was just starting to look into getting prints done, and talking to galleries. As the year closes, I'm regularly doing painting demos in Banff and Canmore, the paintings are selling well in both locations, I'm now getting queries for commission work, and I'm making long term plans for many more Totem paintings in the years to come. It's exciting, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it leads, because I can't remember ever enjoying my work as much as I do when I'm painting these animals.

The challenge is, of course, finding more time to do it.

Surprises

I was asked to illustrate a 1970 Mach 1 Mustang in a somewhat realistic but still cartoon style by a friend for their annual car club auction. This friend handles all of my computer work, builds my custom computers every couple of years when I upgrade, and is only a phone call away when I need help, so I agreed to do him this favour.

This was very difficult and I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. I didn't have much fun while working on it and wished I'd said No. In the end, however, I was quite pleased with how it turned out, and I'd like to try something like this again in the future. I've had some nibbles from other car enthusiasts who've seen it and while no real bites yet, it was a nice piece to add to my portfolio. And I'm sure I can do better on the next one.

Another surprise was that I bought an iPad, and I'm really not a 'gadget guy.' I spent weeks going back and forth on whether it was just a toy or legitimately worth it for my business. When I finally decided to buy one, I kept waiting for the buyer's remorse to kick in, but honestly, I love the thing (and not just for Angry Birds). It's a great portfolio display device, an enjoyable magazine and book reader, and an incredible portable sketch pad. Who knew that I would love finger painting so much?

Photoshop World

Las Vegas was easily the highlight of the year for me. I had known before going to Photoshop World, that I'd been nominated for two Guru Awards from the three images I'd submitted, and while I wanted to win, I went into the event expecting to lose, especially for Best in Show. The number of talented people that attend that event means you can't take anything for granted, so as cliche as it sounds, it really was an honour just being nominated.

I could play humble and say that awards don't matter in the grand scheme of things, but I'd be lying if I said that these particular ones didn't mean anything to me. I was very pleased. The icing on the cake was the Wacom Cintiq tablet that came with the Best in Show Award. While I still use my Intuos4 every day for cartooning, that Cintiq is a joy to paint with.

While I plan on returning to Photoshop World again in 2011, it is very unlikely that I will enter the Guru Awards. The work that I would submit would probably just be another in the Totem series, so while it would be new animals, the style wouldn't be anything they haven't seen. It would also be very difficult to top the experience I've already had.

I've met some wonderful new people this year through my work, formed new relationships, built on old ones, and for the most part, I've kept moving forward, even though I ground the gears a few times while shifting. It hasn't always been the smoothest of rides. Despite a few errors on my part, I wouldn't have done anything differently in 2010, because I'm happy with where I'm at right now. I will, however, be starting 2011 with some course corrections.

But that's a blog entry for next week. Happy New Year.

The Week After

2010-12-27T06:52:00.015-07:00

My wife and I gave up celebrating Christmas a number of years ago. After years of working in the tourism industry, the holiday became something we dreaded, not looked forward to. One of the hardest things new staff in this area have to get used to is that you do not get Christmas off to go home and visit your family. This valley is run on tourism, so all of the hotel rooms are full of people coming to the mountains with their families. Those hotels, restaurants, and ski hills need to be staffed. Unfortunately, few of these families seem to be having a stress-free vacation and that usually lands on the staff as well.

While neither of us work in that sort of job anymore, we never reignited the 'Christmas spirit'. Our home looks the same on Christmas Day as it does in the middle of July. We don't decorate, exchange gifts, or do anything remotely Christmas related, aside from attend a couple of parties. And really, it's just because we enjoy seeing friends, although this year, neither of us were much in the mood for that, either.

A few years ago, we convinced our parents not to give us any presents, so there is no swapping of the gift cards or cash, or blowing our budget on things none of us need. For a couple of years there, it was almost like putting in an order...tell me what you want, and I'll go buy it. We don't have children, so Santa doesn't need to come to visit, anymore.

This year, we did go home to Red Deer for the weekend, and it was nice and quiet. Friday with my wife's family, Saturday with my folks, then home Sunday afternoon. A couple of nice dinners, but very quiet and relaxing, and no gifts exchanged. Played a few games, had a few laughs, and enjoyed each others' company.

While I wouldn't try to convince anyone else to give up Christmas, especially if they have children, it is definitely time for a lot of people to put on the brakes. Whether it's for the obvious religious reasons or simply for spending time with family, each person should figure out what exactly it is that they're celebrating.

I've watched in disbelief these past couple of weeks as every single day, there was at least one segment on the news about our current debt crisis, how people are living beyond their means with massive credit card and household debt, and advice from experts on how to curb holiday spending. All the while, many retailers are reporting record sales at the malls and online. The same will happen this week, no doubt, as big ticket items (and everything else) are on sale. Remember when Boxing Day was just a day? Now it's a week. Judging from the footage we see on the news each year, people aren't thinking about their fellow man when they're pushing and shoving and rushing those doors to get 20% off a 3D TV.

Sure, you can call me Scrooge or Grinch, and you'd be accurate. While many people talk a good game about the holiday spirit and the true meaning of Christmas, there seems to be less and less evidence of it with each passing year. We keep buying more and more stuff trying to make ourselves happy, and when it doesn't work, we just buy even more stuff. It's the same reason a cocaine addict needs to keep taking more and more of the drug and never manages to get back to the initial high.

It's as if everyone has gone mad and forgotten the lessons we were supposed to have learned the past couple of years from a near-depression economy. But it's Christmas, and nobody wants to hear it, even though the 'Ghost of Christmas Past' credit card bills will show up soon enough.

I sincerely hope everyone had a good Christmas, and that it was free from pain or tragedy. But now that it's over, ask yourself what you didn't like about it, remind yourself throughout the year that YOU control your holiday, not the media, and not Big Box retailers. If you want to cut back next year, tell your family about it in July, before anybody has bought anything. Warn them that you won't be buying as many gifts and ask them to do the same. And if you're met with anger over the mere suggestion of it, that should be your first clue that something is seriously wrong.

If you really believe in the 'true' meaning of Christmas, whatever that may mean to you, put your money where your mouth is.

Another iPad Finger Painting

2010-12-16T18:13:00.009-07:00

This finger painting was done on a new app that I bought for the iPad, called ArtStudio. I had been using Sketchbook Pro, and even though I still consider it a great painting app, I now prefer ArtStudio by a wide margin. Without going into great detail, I'll just say that this is as close to Photoshop as I've seen in an iPad painting app, and I found it very easy and enjoyable to use.

There are third party stylus pens available for the iPad, but they all seem to have mixed reviews, and one I tried put a few little scratches on the screen, so I've opted out of trying another one just yet. For now, I'm content to just keep on finger painting, as I don't think I'm really losing anything.

I don't know how much time I spent on this painting, as it was just ten minutes here and there over the past couple of weeks. It is doubtful that I'll ever produce any finished work on the iPad, but I'm enjoying using it as a sketch pad.

Final Painting Demo of the Year

2010-12-14T09:42:00.005-07:00

Last Saturday, I was painting in Banff, but this Saturday, I'll be in Canmore again for the final painting demo of the year. Still working on the Owl and the Bighorn Sheep, and they're really starting to come alive. I'm working on the fine details of both paintings and while they won't be done 'til January, they're awfully close. Probably another five or six hours left on each.

If you happen to be in the area on Saturday the 18th, and would like to see some digital painting, ask some questions, or just stop by to say Hello, I'll be at Two Wolves Trading Company from 11-3.

Hope to see you there!

Painting Demo Prep

2010-12-11T08:06:00.006-07:00

A couple of half finished paintings I'll be working on today at Editions Gallery in Banff. This morning, I'm taking an hour to do my prep.

The prep work for one of these sessions is fairly easy, just making sure I have all of the pieces I need. For hardware, it's my laptop, Cintiq, spare Intuos4 tablet, iPad, secondary display monitor, connection cords, power cords, and extension cords. For software, it's having the working files for the paintings, the reference photos to paint from, the Photoshop brush set for live painting and making sure that it's all working well. Finally, I need to bring any surplus canvas and paper prints to have on hand if the event generates any extra sales.

I've done 6 or 7 of these now, and each one gets easier. What's the difference between the first one and the one I'm doing today? Well first of all, I was incredibly nervous the first time, and today, no nerves at all. As in all things, the hardest part is usually taking the first step. At this point, it honestly just feels like going to a part-time job.

In the beginning, I was disappointed if these live sessions didn't result in sales, but that's no longer the case. The paintings are selling well now without the demos, so the goal from these appearances is just to generate interest and provide a little education. While somebody may not buy a painting today, they may see one a month from now and remember that they saw me working on something similar. Sometimes having a connection to a painting, having a story to tell about it, makes the image more desirable.

There's a lot more I need to learn about the publicity and sales aspects of these paintings, and I imagine that will always be the case. So I've chosen to keep doing these painting demos on a regular basis, and just consider it 'on-the-job' training.

NAPP-A-THON

2010-12-09T05:38:00.006-07:00

Anybody who knows me professionally will have figured out that I'm a fan of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. I've been a member for 6 years and I've often told people that if there was only one organization I could belong to, it would be NAPP. I have learned a lot from this affiliation.

Whether it's their online training, their crash courses on the first day a new version of Photoshop is released, or the great experience of attending two Photoshop World events, NAPP consistently gives me good value. And best of all, I consider so many of the people I've met online and in person through NAPP to be valued friends and colleagues, not to mention some of the most talented people I've ever run across.

The best thing about NAPP, is that they try to have fun with their training, even though it's often intentionally cheesy. If you're not a NAPP member and would like to get an inside look at how they operate and what they offer, tune in tonight for NAPP-A-THON. Even though it's free, be sure to register in order to qualify for prizes. 7PM Eastern for three hours. Should be fun.

And yes, there will be cheese. Guaranteed.

Another Painting Demo in Banff

2010-12-07T09:37:00.002-07:00

The Bow Valley is usually quite busy this time of year. Whether it's folks visiting for skiing or other winter activities, shopping for the holidays, or just taking a break from the city and coming out to see the fresh snow on the mountains, there are plenty of people milling about Banff and Canmore on the weekends.

With that in mind, I'm going to be doing a couple more painting demos before the year closes out. This Saturday, December 11th, I'll be at Editions Gallery in The Cascade Plaza in Banff from 12-2, 3-5, and 6-8, working on the Bighorn Sheep and Great Horned Owl paintings that I currently have on the go.

If you're in the area, stop by and watch a little digital painting, ask a few questions, or just say Hello.

A Weekend Pass.

2010-12-05T16:26:00.007-07:00

The next few weeks are going to be very busy, as I have a lot on my plate, so I took the weekend off to recharge the batteries. No email, no Blackberry, no work.

A buddy and I headed out to a friend's cabin in Golden, BC on Friday morning, and I think that it was just what I needed to make it through the rest of the year. With no electricity, no phone, and no running water, the cabin is one step removed from camping, and a perfect retreat. A bit of a hike to haul in the gear, but it's worth it.

I've been going to the cabin for over 13 years now, and it is one of my favorite places to unwind. I'm very thankful for our generous friends who allow a few of us the privilege of using it whenever we want to.

With a fire roaring in the wood stove, plenty of food and drink, I spent most of the day Saturday reading a book, which is a luxury I don't often allow myself these days. I've been wanting to read Outlook reporter Rob Alexander's book, The History of Canmore and as I really enjoy learning about this area, I couldn't put it down. I found myself looking at Canmore with different eyes when I got back into town this afternoon, wondering what the early settlers would think of what we've built upon their foundation.

Beautiful drive home today through the mountains, and already back to work sketching this evening, but I'm in much better spirits than I have been in the past month, and feel a little better about the heavy workload I've got that will take me into the New Year.

Bighorn Sheep - Work In Progress

2010-11-26T08:24:00.005-07:00

This is a sneak peek progress shot of the Bighorn Sheep painting I'm working on. After the success I've had with the Moose and Wolf paintings, I feel a certain amount of pressure that my next paintings have to be better than anything I've done before. While that's always the goal anyway, it's different right now in that I'm very aware of it, so I'll likely obsess about the details on the current paintings quite a bit more. I'm also enjoying working on two pieces at the same time. Hoping to spend a few hours next week on the Great Horned Owl piece.

Lately I've been feeling the itch to get back into doing some paintings of people. Aside from some editorial cartoon caricatures, I haven't painted a likeness of a person since the Bert Monroy caricature I did five months ago. The next one will likely be an actor or musician, but not anybody on the A-list. There are a number of character actors I've wanted to paint over the years and I think it'll be time to finally tackle one of those in the new year.

No photos were harmed...

2010-11-18T07:20:00.012-07:00

Had a painting demo this weekend at Two Wolves Trading Co. here in Canmore. Many people have never seen digital painting before and it's fun to show them how it's done. A few brave souls even gave it a try when offered the chance, although most were nervous that they were going to break the tablet. I assured them that Wacom makes a sturdy product.

Something I'm hearing more and more of, is questions asking what I'm doing to photos to get them to look like paintings. I've almost drawn blood from biting my tongue when this comes up. I know that I'm not alone in my frustration when faced with this, as I've talked to other digital painters who deal with the same false assumption.

I will admit that it's unfair for me to judge anyone too harshly, because as I said, many people don't know how digital painting is done. Unfortunately, I've realized that whenever somebody sees a computer, they automatically think that anything produced on it has been done by some sort of trick, as in a filter or a piece of software doing all the work.

While I do use photos for reference, just as any portrait, wildlife, or landscape artist might, no photo has ever been part of the image that results in one of my animal paintings. I don't even use photos for textures in these paintings. It's all brush work, and it starts from a blank white 'canvas.' Each one of these takes around 20 hours of work to complete, sometimes more.

The animal paintings are caricatures of real animals, so I need to know what the anatomy of a real animal looks like, just as you would when doing a caricature of a person. Even though the finished paintings are different from the photos I use for reference, all of the photos are used either with permission (I have some very generous friends) or are paid for, either in trade of a print or cash.

Photoshop is a wonderful piece of software, but despite the name, it's not just about editing or manipulating photos. Much of the illustration work you see in magazines, on the net, or in ads has been drawn or painted in Photoshop. It's an incredible illustration tool and I love working with it, but there are many days that I wish Adobe had called it something else.

Painting Demo

2010-11-13T10:48:00.004-07:00

Today and tomorrow, I'll be doing another painting demo at Two Wolves Trading Co., as mentioned in a post earlier this week.

The images you see here are what I'll be starting with. At this point both of them are still at 72 ppi, which is only web quality. I still consider these both quite rough. I usually don't blow an image up to 300 ppi until I've got 'the bones' of the image done, which I'm pretty sure I've got for the bighorn sheep, but not quite for the great horned owl. There are still some structural issues I'm not quite happy with, but that will come with a little more time.

The reason I start at 72ppi is that I even though I have a fast computer, Photoshop doesn't always do well with really quick sweeping brush strokes when it comes to a large size image with a high resolution. With painting at a lower resolution, I can move the pen/brush as fast as I want without any lag. Lately I've found a lot of good results with painting very fast in the beginning at low resolution. It gets to a point where I'm not thinking too much while I'm doing it, and if you ask anybody that knows me well, they'll tell you I almost always think too much. At this size, I'm just throwing colour and brush strokes around, figuring out what's going to work and what's not.

The other reason I start with images at this stage when I do painting demos is that people don't want to see the first blobs of paint and then be told that eventually it will look like a bighorn sheep or an owl. They want to be able to see the animal I'm working on.

A little different method this time around. I'll be using my new Cintiq tablet, which means I'll be painting right on the screen. Another great use I've found for my iPad is using it to store my photo reference. Great screen quality, and I can flip through the different images I'm using quite easily.

If you're around Two Wolves Trading Co. in Canmore today (across the parking lot from Safeway beside Starbucks) between 2-4 or tomorrow between 12-2, stop in, ask questions or just watch. I'm able to talk and paint at the same time.

Photoshop User Magazine

2010-11-10T06:34:00.009-07:00

Got a nice smile this month when I opened the December issue of Photoshop User magazine. While NAPP had asked me last month for permission to use my images, I didn't realize it was going to be such a big spread, so it was a very nice surprise. While this image of the Wolf Totem is the first page of the article, all of the Guru Award winners from Photoshop World in Las Vegas AND Orlando earlier in the year are featured on the subsequent pages, so my Moose Totem is in the article as well. A great spread of images. They even quoted my Photoshop World blog entry.

The above photo doesn't do the image quality justice. I switched to the Zinio reader and the digital version of Photoshop User when I bought my iPad, so this is a photo of the screen, which never quite works out. The magazine was already great quality, but I prefer being able to zoom in on the images to check out the detail. And it takes up a lot less space on my bookshelf. The actual iPad image of this page looks incredible.

Photoshop User is available on newsstands, but it's included if you're a NAPP member, just one of the many perks. Usually it's 8 issues a year, but just recently NAPP announced that they're increasing it to 10 issues. For regular readers, that's a big bonus, as it's one of the few magazines I read religiously.

Another Painting Demo

2010-11-08T07:19:00.020-07:00

Another painting demo is scheduled for this weekend in Canmore!

Two Wolves Trading Co.
Saturday, November 13th, 2:00PM - 4:00PM.
Sunday, November 14th, 12:00PM-2:00PM.

Of course, if there is enough interest on either day, I'm happy to stick around longer than the times listed above. In addition to the giclee canvas prints, Two Wolves now has two sizes of matted paper prints available for the Grizzly, Ground Squirrel, Moose and Wolf paintings.

For this painting demo, I'll be working on the next two paintings in my Totem series, a Bighorn Sheep and a Great Horned Owl. If you're in the area, and are curious about digital painting, come on by and I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Here's a sneak peek at the Bighorn Sheep in progress. This is still pretty rough. I begin these paintings at a resolution of 72ppi, so that I can move as fast as I want with any brush, and there won't be any lag whatsoever. After I get the basic image worked out, I'll increase the resolution to print quality before painting in the detail.

I anticipate that the horns are going to be the big challenge on this one. There are many ridges, with lots of texture, and to get the detail that I want, I would imagine this one may be the toughest one to date. Then again, wait 'til you see the feathers on the Great Horned Owl.

If you're in the Bow Valley, hope to see you at Two Wolves on the weekend!

NAPP-Canada Facebook Page

2010-11-04T05:53:00.014-06:00

Having been a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals for the past six years, it should be pretty clear by now that I'm a fan.

There are only a couple of organizations I belong to, and this is the one I'd hate to be without. From weekly video tutorials, the latest news and info about the digital image industry, not to mention that these are the folks that put on Photoshop World twice a year, NAPP has almost everything I need to stay at the top of my game.

I consider many of the people I've met through NAPP to be good friends, and I've yet to meet a more helpful bunch of talented people. While many of the forums you'll find online often degrade into squabbling playgrounds, the NAPP forum is well moderated, very civil and supportive, and is one of my most valuable resources. I can't count how many times over the years I've had a problem that was solved instantly by posting it on the forums, whether it was specific to Photoshop or just freelancing in general.

Since social media is obviously not a passing fad, NAPP has recently expanded their already active online presence to include localized Facebook pages. In the U.S., they're focusing on cities and states. Here are the links to the NAPP-Chicago page and the NAPP-Arizona page to give you an example.

Internationally, there are national Facebook pages for different countries. I was asked to run the NAPP-Canada page and I'm happy to do it. While much of the information I post will be related to NAPP events and releases that aren't region specific, I intend to put a Canadian spin on things wherever I can, which will hopefully involve more than references to Tim Hortons and hockey.

You don't need to be Canadian to 'Like' the page. You don't even need to be a NAPP member, although when you see all of the great benefits, you'll probably want to become one. Become a NAPP member, I mean. Not Canadian.

Here's the link. Hope to see you on the Facebook version of the Great White North. Cheers!

iPad Halloween Diversion

2010-10-30T07:33:00.012-06:00

Even though my schedule has been full for quite awhile (and for the next few months), I find that it's necessary to make time away from the deadlines. I've mentioned before that I try to go for at least an hour long walk most days, even though I only manage it about 3-4 times a week. I may just be going to the bank downtown, but it takes 40 minutes each way to walk there, and half of that is in forested area or green space, so it's a nice break from the office and good exercise.

I'll often feel guilty about taking time off when I have a full to-do list, but I've learned that breaks are necessary to preserve my sanity. Time with my wife or friends, playing the guitar for an hour, going for coffee some mornings with the boys at Beamer's, getting some fresh air, or even just watching a movie will often be all the battery recharge I need to keep me motivated for the next item on the list.

While it may seem funny to classify it as a break, sometimes just drawing something for fun is a welcome diversion as well. Regular readers will know that I've been experimenting with iPad sketching and painting lately with the Sketchbook Pro app. I find that I'm really enjoying finger painting on the device. I've been working on this one for a couple of evenings while watching TV. No deadline, no plan, just switching brushes, trying different opacity, textures, and colours, and really just having some fun with it.

I will admit to being a little frustrated that I can't get the detail I want sometimes because of the resolution the app is capable of, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's just a sketch app, not Photoshop and a Wacom tablet. Had fun with it, though, and that was the whole intent in the first place.

Happy Halloween!

Business As Usual

2010-10-27T07:19:00.016-06:00

While I normally try to have a blog entry done every week, lately I have been remiss, simply because of my heavy workload. Because of the projects I've agreed to, and the fact that I want to put my best effort into them, I have decided not to take any new commission work until the new year.

Here is a brief update of the various items I'm working on, in addition to the daily editorial cartoons.

Cartoon Illustration DVD
This has been a big learning experience so far and I've got nothing but positive things to say about PhotoshopCAFE. I've had a ton of great support while I learn the ropes. In a perfect world, I'd like to put everything else aside just to pour all of my energy into this, but the bills have to be paid, so it's a juggling act.

There have been a few hiccups, but nothing insurmountable. The first install of Photoshop CS5 Extended didn't take, and it was freezing up daily. A reinstall thankfully solved that issue and it's been working well ever since. Camtasia Studio 7 is the video screen capture software that I'm using, and so far, it's working smoothly. For any Mac users out there, I've been told it doesn't work well on that platform, so fair warning, but I'm on Windows and the only issue I experienced was a conflict with my Wacom tablet. A download of the latest tablet drivers solved that problem.

I've been using a CRT monitor as my main monitor for years as I've always preferred them to LCD screens, but due to aspect ratio limitations and the requirements for recording, I finally had to make the switch to the 24" Samsung that I've been using for my painting demo display. I've used a dual monitor display for years, but the new size makes it feel like I'm using three. Whether it was the LCD or the larger size, the first couple of days I had a splitting headache and sore eyes. I'll admit to being worried that this was going to be a major problem, but I've since gotten used to the new display and am quite enjoying the increased screen real estate.

Lesson plan and sketches have been approved, test recording has been done and submitted, so all that's left is the actual recording, which I've started this week. I won't lie, it's been pretty intimidating, but I've no doubt I'll be pleased with it when it's done.

Totem Prints
The paintings are no longer available at Editions Gallery in Red Deer as I removed them earlier this month. After a number of months in the gallery, there wasn't one sale and apparently not much interest in them. Whether it was because of the style or the subject, I don't know, so I'm just going to accept that Central Alberta may not be the right market for these paintings, at least not now.

The paintings are selling well in Canmore and Banff, and I made a trip into Calgary yesterday to pick up another batch of prints. This is the first batch of framed canvas prints and I'm very pleased with how they look. The framed Wolf and Moose Totem paintings will be available in both Banff and Canmore today in the 18"X24" size.

A line of matted paper prints will be available at Two Wolves Trading Co. in Canmore today as well. The Moose, Wolf, Grizzly, and Ground Squirrel in two sizes, 11"X14" and 16"X20". Each print is mounted with a black matte, open edition, ready for framing. I'll eventually have all of the Totem series available in matted paper prints.

New Totem Paintings
Another live painting demo is scheduled for Two Wolves Trading Co. in Canmore on November 13th and 14th, working on a bighorn sheep as my next image. I've wanted to do this one for awhile. I already have the next four paintings planned out, and have secured the rights to the reference photos for three of them. As I haven't done any new paintings since I finished the Wolf, I am very anxious to get started.

There are a couple of other projects I'm working on that I can't talk about yet, but needless to say, I'm busy, and while there are days I'm hanging on by my fingernails to balance it all, I'm doing what I love for a living, and grateful for it.

Pros and Cons.

2010-10-16T08:14:00.007-06:00

"There's a mark born every minute, and one to trim 'em and one to knock 'em."

According to Wikipedia, "The earliest known appearance of the above phrase in print is in Opie Read's 1898 novel A Yankee from the West," even though the more common, 'There's a sucker born every minute' is often wrongly attributed to P.T. Barnum.

Freelance artists, in my experience, can be a naive bunch, and there are plenty of people out there willing to take advantage of them. I've been guilty of falling for a few empty promises on more than one occasion in my career and even though somebody can warn you of giving in to temptation, you most often learn the best lessons from experience.

Many of us just want our names and our work out there, to repeatedly have those Sally Field moments when you can stand on stage and say, "You like me, you REALLY like me," when in fact, those moments are few and far between if you allow yourself to be taken advantage of. There are plenty of con artists out there willing to promise the world, and it's easy to let the dollar signs in your eyes blind you to the fact that you're selling your work (and often your soul) for bargain basement prices.

I've recently had a couple of life lessons handed my way in that area, and I'm grateful for them, primarily for the fact that I was able to learn from them, without any great financial cost or significant loss of time.

Without going into great detail of one of the situations, I'll simply say that I ignored a gut feeling. I'd said that I'd required a written contract, but still began work without one. Then when push came to shove, and I insisted on it, I was told that the contract for this sort of arrangement would come at a later point, that this is how things were done 'in the real business world,' and that I was a rank amateur if I didn't know that.

The worst part of it was that, for a very short time, I almost believed it. The situation went south fast, the deal fell apart, and ultimately, I was threatened with a lawsuit (later recanted, sort of). After consulting a lawyer, I was told not to give it a second thought as nothing was ever put into writing.

There were a number of things I could have done better in this bad arrangement, but in the end, I wouldn't have changed anything, because I won't fall for the same trap again. Having done more research after the fact, talked to other illustrators with more experience than I have with this sort of arrangement, I've confirmed that I really was setting myself up for a very big fall. While a contract can always be revised, I shouldn't have put one pencil stroke on paper without at least a written understanding of the agreement, signed by both parties.

Too often, artists will ignore their own instincts in order to prevent the boat from rocking. Concessions are made that should never even be considered, in an effort to be 'a nice guy.'

After you agree on a price, get a deposit of half of the money up front. If somebody gets angry when the subject of money enters into the conversation, then they don't have any. You wouldn't have gotten paid, anyway, so you're no worse off.

If they get angry or try to avoid the question of a written agreement, then you're better off parting company because you weren't likely to get what you thought you were, anyway. Once again, you have nothing to lose (and everything to gain) by walking away.

In retrospect, the experience was very unpleasant, but it could have turned out worse. I learned from it, and am moving on, better prepared for the next offer that sounds too good to be true.

Some suggested reading for freelancers, to better protect yourself.
Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines

Photographers's Survival Manual: A Legal Guide for Artists in the Digital Age

Licensing Art 101

Bighorn Sheep Sketches

2010-10-10T13:11:00.007-06:00

With a number of projects on the go, not the least of which is my pending DVD, I find that lately I'm putting all of the work ahead of the fun. I've had the 'life's too short' mantra rattling around in my noggin in recent weeks, so with that in mind, I've begun the next painting in my Totem series. This time, it's a Bighorn Sheep.

My retired parents enjoy camping in the East Kootenay area of BC, and just recently, one of these critters was hanging around the trailer a little too much. My Dad, knowing that I was planning on painting this animal, snapped a bunch of very good, very detailed reference photos for me, so there's no need to hunt for source material on this one.

With any of these paintings, I'll often do rough sketches first. While I won't usually use any specific one as the basis for the painting, sketching roughs will often get me thinking about different approaches I can take. The three sketches shown here are all different, but each of them helped me make a decision.

The first sketch is a little too cartoony, I think, and doesn't fit the series. The second has the right attitude, but not the right angle. The bottom one is probably the closest to what I'll start with. It has the attitude I want, I like the profile, and while I guarantee the finished product will look very different from this sketch, I'm ready to start painting.

iPad Finger Painting

2010-10-02T08:26:00.010-06:00

Here's a finger painting I did with the iPad and the Sketchbook Pro app. This took about three weeks, but I didn't spend many hours on it or anything. I was just painting 10 minutes here and there whenever I had a spare moment, while having coffee or watching TV. It was simply an exercise to get more familiar with the device and the software.

In previous posts, I mentioned the Dagi Stylus and how it left a few tiny (almost imperceptible, but not) scratches on the screen, so I stopped using that right away. I tried to apply a couple of screen protectors to the iPad, but neither of them worked the way I wanted them to, so I ditched those as well. I have an Apple case for my iPad, and since ditching the stylus, there have been no new scratches, so I don't think a screen protector is required. While I had originally felt that I needed a stylus to get any real use out of the iPad as a sketching tool, I have since changed my mind.

Sketchbook Pro is a solid program. It supports layers, opacity (both brush and layers), has a small selection of layer blend modes, allows zooming in to work on detail, and is fun to draw with. It doesn't support pressure sensitivity, but I don't see that as a failing. It makes excellent use of what the hardware has to offer.

The problem with sketching with the iPad is not in the device, but in the people who use it. So many artists out there are expecting it to be a Wacom tablet, and that's unrealistic. It just doesn't have the processing power to do what a Cintiq does. The iPad is not a Wacom tablet, and it was never designed to be. To get the portability, battery life, and performance that the iPad currently offers, other features had to be sacrificed. I did not buy the iPad to replace my laptop. It fills a need somewhere between a desktop and a laptop, and I'm getting a LOT of use out of it.

I choose to view art with the iPad as simply another medium. Finger Painting is something I could easily get used to, because it's nice to zone out, work on a sketch or painting and just enjoy the process. I will never achieve the level of detail on an iPad that I can get from painting in Photoshop with a Wacom tablet. I'm perfectly OK with that. It's a sketching tool, and that's all I expected from it when I bought it.

All that being said, being able to plug my small Intuos4 tablet into my iPad would be very cool. Less fingerprints. :)

Suck it up, Princess.

2010-09-25T07:19:00.013-06:00

My wife, Shonna is a wonderful woman who has encouraged me in all of this cartoon and illustration stuff from day one. But supporting both of us on one income was never a realistic consideration, especially in a town like Canmore. So about six years ago, after a number of years of my working long evenings and weekends building my business, I had come to a point where my business could not grow anymore unless I quit my full-time job. But I still had to be able to pay my half of the bills and mortgage.

Looking back, it was easily the most frightened I have ever been in my life.

While it hasn't always been a smooth ride, it is the best decision (aside from asking Shonna to marry me) that I have ever made, since every year of self-employment has been better than the one before.

I realized something this morning, though. What was once very exciting and frightening has, in the past couple of years, become routine. Day to day editorial cartoons, regular illustration gigs, a few projects here and there, but all within an acceptable margin of safety. While I've been busy and making a good living, I haven't really taken any new risks. All that has changed recently.

The past month has been a whirlwind of activity, some of it brought on by winning the two Guru Awards at Photoshop World, other stuff that had been in the works already, but it's all coming at once and I've been freaking out a little. OK, more than a little.

All of a sudden, I'm working on a training DVD to teach people how to do cartoon illustration for a very well known mover and shaker in the world of Photoshop. Somehow, I'm now good enough to teach? When the hell did that happen? I've had to buy new recording software, learn to use it, and figure out how to narrate drawing and painting techniques that I consider instinctual.

In the course of less than a year, I've gone from painting one funny little grizzly bear to having bought an inventory of many canvas prints of 6 more animal paintings to supply three galleries, and have been shocked that people are actually starting to buy these things. Thankful for that last part, because the financial output has not been insignificant. I've started muttering a new mantra over and over again as I gnaw on my fingernails, "you have to spend money to make money."

I've now got writing assignments for two companies that I've long admired, and one of them may become a regular gig. Add to that pending character sketches for another possible dream opportunity, an overdue website redesign for a client and myself, the illustration gigs I'm barely managing to keep up with and 7 editorial cartoons each week, and it's a full slate.

We've all heard the phrase, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. I haven't been this nervous of all of the things I've committed to since those first months working from home full-time. While I may be a complete stress case at the moment, I realized this morning that it's the best thing that could have happened to me, because I am no longer in a routine.

Personal growth involves risk and fear, and often the more the better. While the challenges will be different for everyone, the scenario is the same. If you just put a little on the line, then you get just a little back. If, however, you try to fly farther and faster than you've ever gone, it's true that you could end up in a spectacular fireball of failure that people will see for miles, but with a little faith and luck, you just might push envelopes and break barriers.

Either way, it should scare the hell out of you.

PhotoshopCAFE Training DVD

2010-09-14T11:03:00.009-06:00

As of yesterday, I've signed an agreement with PhotoshopCAFE to record a training DVD. This DVD will focus on the tools, techniques, and work-flow that I use to illustrate cartoons in Photoshop.

As someone who has watched a number of video and DVD tutorials over the years by artists I admire, I'm pretty excited about having the opportunity to record one of my own, and it seems like the next logical step in my career. Simply by cartooning and illustrating almost every day for over a decade, I've developed my own way of doing things. If there are a few things in my toolbox that other artists can learn from, then I'm more than happy to pass it on in this format.

While there is the possibility of recording more than one DVD, I'm just going to focus on this first one for now. This week, I'll be working on initial sketches for the image I'll be illustrating, and a lesson plan to figure out the specific techniques I'd like to focus on.

I'll admit to some nervous apprehension about doing this, but that happens with any new project, so it's not unexpected. One thing I've learned over the years is that the best advances in my career have come from stepping outside of my comfort zone and taking big leaps of faith. This feels right, so I'm happy to be getting started.

I'll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, and while we're on the subject, here are another series of snapshots of the different stages of an editorial cartoon. Click on any of these images to see them a bit larger.

The pencil on paper sketch.

The 'Ink' Layer.

Flat Colour Fills

Light, Shadow and Texture

The final cartoon, with titles, talk bubble, and background colour.

Rocky Mountain Outlook Article - Sept 9, 2010

2010-09-11T10:31:00.003-06:00

This article appeared in this week's issue of The Rocky Mountain Outlook. Been a cartoonist for this paper since their first issue almost exactly 9 years ago. While the rest of my papers get a syndicated cartoon each week, The Outlook gets an exclusive one on local issues. I enjoy creating these cartoons the most as I get feedback from people I know (both good and bad) and it's MY local paper, too.

Click on the article to enlarge and read it.

Photoshop World Guru Awards

2010-09-04T13:49:00.010-06:00

Photo Courtesy of Doug Zeliff

Back from an exhausting week at Photoshop World in Las Vegas. Without going into every little detail of the week, I'll just say that it was well worth the trip. Took some great classes, hung out with some incredibly talented people, and went with very little sleep. Just like last year.

As posted here before, I was fortunate to be up for the Illustration category and Best of Show for The Guru Awards. I was very pleased (and surprised) to win both categories. This really was the best part of the week, especially when you consider the wealth of talent I was competing with. I am very honoured to have won these awards.

Photo Link from www.photoshopworld.com

Big thanks to all of my friends and family who posted a LOT of comments on Facebook, Twitter and the NAPP forum, not to mention all of the emails I got after the win. It was very overwhelming and appreciated.

As much as the awards themselves are great, they came with a couple of very nice prizes. For the Illustration category, I won a Wacom Intuos 4 tablet, and for the Best Of Show, I won a Wacom Cintiq 12wx.

Photo Link from Wacom.com

To quote a friend this week, "Monty finally got his Cintiq." While I brought the Intuos4 home with me, thankfully they're shipping the Cintiq. Couldn't imagine how I'd get all that through customs, otherwise.

Nothing quite compares with hanging out with other creatives for a week. Everybody I met wanted to be there, and there was no shortage of inspiring experiences. Would have liked to have seen a bit more of Vegas this time around, but that's not why I was there, so it'll have to wait for another time. Funny thing, I didn't take any photos, so fortunately I have a few photographer friends who were willing to share.

Back to work tomorrow, but taking it easy today.

Back To Photoshop World

2010-08-27T05:00:00.006-06:00

As anyone who runs their own business knows, there is a lot of work before and after any 'time off', so I found myself having to draw double the cartoons this week and warn all of my newspapers that they won't be receiving any next week. Month end invoicing today will be the last thing I have to do before I can forget about editorial cartoons until September 5th.

Having been a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals for the past 6 years, last year was my first trip to the Photoshop World conference, an event that NAPP puts on twice a year. In recent years, they've hosted it in Boston or Orlando in the Spring, and Las Vegas in the Fall.

A friend of mine jokingly calls Photoshop World, Geek Fest, and I can't really blame him. From the name alone, it's easy to see why that would be the interpretation. You might imagine that attendees are a bunch of shut-ins and social misfits still living in their parents' basements getting together to discuss the ins and outs of a computer program while ironing their pocket protectors. I assure you, that isn't the case.

Photoshop World is attended by around 4000 people twice each year. A week of classes and training, new techniques in photography, illustration, design, photo restoration, lighting, production...it's a big list. Basically, anybody who uses images in their profession is likely using Photoshop these days, so there's something for everyone.

With pre-con classes, expo classes, and the regular schedule, there are over 100 classes to choose from in a four day period. It's like going back to your busiest week of school, and it's exhausting.

The instructors are the best in the business, and all are very approachable and knowledgeable, as were all of the NAPP staff. These people work harder than anybody I've seen. All of the people staffing the info booths or directing people in the halls, moderating classes and organizing the details are actually the people who run the day to day operations at NAPP headquarters in Florida.

The Tech Expo features many of the companies that support those of us who work with Photoshop and other software and hardware for our creative professions. Adobe, Epson, Mpix, Sitegrinder, Kelby Training, Peachpit Press, Wacom, Corel, and a whole host of other companies. The Expo also features more classes and product demos.

From the perspective of justifying the worth of the training alone, it's a no-brainer, but there is another reason I attend this conference, one that can't be measured in dollars and time.

As anyone who works at home can tell you, it's an undesirable situation from a social perspective. While you can still communicate with other creative professionals online, there is something to be said for spending real time with somebody else who understands the same challenges and situations that come up on a daily basis.

You can have the most supportive friends and family, but unless they do what you do, they'll never really get it, nor should they be expected to. Love 'em or hate 'em sometimes, there are real benefits to having coworkers. Coworkers understand your job.

One of the things I found most surprising about last year's conference was that I rarely heard anybody bitching or complaining about their work. People wanted to be there and were eager to discuss their 'jobs.' Not a lot of wallflowers at this conference.

Had it not been for Photoshop World, I would not have created my animal paintings this past year. This conference helped me realize that there were a lot more avenues open to me than cartoons and caricatures. Additionally, the quality of the paintings is better because of lighting and painting techniques I learned at the conference.

Some of the business practices I've incorporated this year, that have moved me forward, are ones I learned from talking to other creatives. Many of the photos I used for reference in paintings this year came from photographers I met at the conference, people I now consider friends. It's the very best of networking.

For creative professionals, especially those who work with ever changing mediums, it takes no time at all for your skills to become stagnant, or worse yet, obsolete. Constant education and training is not a luxury, it's a requirement. And while there are online courses, DVD's and books available all year round, in my experience, it's not enough.

When you get together with other passionate artists, there is a lot of positive energy to tap into. That probably sounds corny to some, I'm sure, but I rode that wave for months after last year's event. I was inspired by too many people to count, and that's a lot harder to come by than it sounds. I'm looking forward to an even better conference this year.

See you in a week.

Photoshop World Classes

2010-08-23T17:13:00.010-06:00

One of the best things about Photoshop World is the wealth of classes that are available, more than a few options in every time slot. Whether you're a photographer, illustrator, graphic designer, photo retoucher or restorer, there is something for everyone, and it's not just Photoshop. Lightroom, Illustrator, Painter, InDesign, Dreamweaver and a number of other programs are taught at this conference as well. There are professional photo shoots (complete with location tours and live models), design classes, business classes, and a whole host of other opportunities to learn from some of the best instructors in their respective fields.

One of the great things about last year is that I attended some of the classes that were probably designed for photographers, but with the logical approach that whether photo or illustration, an image is an image, and any tips on improving one should apply to the other. I wasn't disappointed. One of Scott Kelby's classes in particular, about post-production for portraits, dramatically changed how I approach caricature and my animal paintings.

While prior class selection is not required, it's always a good idea to have a rough idea of what you're going to take. The great thing about the classes is that NAPP encourages attendees to get up and leave, and go to another class if they find that their first selection wasn't what they were after. I did that a couple of times last year.

There are a few options to choosing classes prior to arrival at Photoshop World. Anybody considering attending this event, now or in the future, might want to go take a look to see all that it has to offer. The first resource is on the Photoshop World Schedule Page, the second is an interactive pdf that Dave Cross creates for each conference. I used this last year and it helped a lot.

This year, I'm pleased to be able to use the iPhone/iPad app created by Shawn Welch specifically for Photoshop World. It has the ability to create a detailed class schedule, maps of the conference centre to find your next class, and is very easy to use and change.

As of today, I think I've finalized my class schedule, but there is nothing to say that I won't change any of them right up until the last minute. For the curious, here's my current list.

Painting with Photoshop - Bert Monroy
Photoshop and Illustrator: The Perfect Match - Corey Barker
Photoshop and Illustrator - Bert Monroy
Critter Tails: Bear With Me - Moose Peterson (wildlife photography)
The Copyright Zone - Jack Reznicki and Ed Greenberg (US copyright law)
Tweeting with Authority - Rod Harlan
Blogging for Photographers - Scott Kelby
Why Should I Be On Facebook - Terry White
The Many Uses of White Seamless Background - Zack Arias
The Third Dimension - Bert Monroy
Hollywood Lighting on a Laptop and Bokeh: The Science of Focus and The Art of Blur - Vincent Versace
Illuminating Creativity - John Paul Caponigro

As you can see, only a third of these classes are actually about Photoshop. The others are about networking, business, and image techniques. There are other classes available on the Expo Floor as well, and no shortage of other opportunities to learn new techniques.

Later in the week, I'll have a little more on why I chose to attend this conference again this year.

Photoshop World Guru Finalist

2010-08-21T07:11:00.011-06:00

(from the Photoshop World Special Events page)
The Guru Awards are a special Photoshop competition just for conference attendees of Photoshop World, and were created to honor and recognize the design, photography, retouching, and creativity of our attendees. Since their humble beginnings in 1999, the Guru Awards have now become the most prestigious and coveted awards in the international digital imaging industry.

Anyone who follows this blog will know that my main focus this year has been my animal paintings. I've never had as much fun with anything I've done in the past as I do with these paintings, which is saying a lot, because I get a lot of enjoyment out of most of my work. It only seemed fitting that this year's submissions were taken from those images. The irony is that last year's Photoshop World experience provided the inspiration for painting the first one, which led to the whole series.

I submitted two images into the Illustration category (the moose and the wolf) and one into the Artistic category (the ground squirrel).

I was incredibly pleased to receive an email this week, informing me that the Moose Totem qualified as a finalist for the Illustration category.

There was a second email, however, which was much more surprising. The Wolf Totem painting has been selected as a finalist for Best in Show category, which means it's in competition with the best in the Artistic, Photography, Photo Restoration, Commercial, Photo Montage, Photo Retouching, and Illustration categories.

A large part of the reason I attend is to be inspired by the work I get to see there. Win or lose in either of these categories, I am incredibly honoured to have had my images selected from the wealth of artistic talent that attends this conference.

Fine, but do I have to call it Tweeting?

2010-08-19T16:01:00.010-06:00

One of the greatest things about having a blog is that you can travel back in time to see what you've said and to revisit old opinions. Some remain the same, but if a person is trying to grow, many opinions will likely change.

My very first blog entry in February of 2008 (has it been THAT long?!) was called, "I'll blog, but I still won't Facebook."

About a year and half later, I posted a blog entry entitled, "Mmm...this crow sure is tasty!" which talked about how I finally caved and joined Facebook, having created a personal page and a business page, which at the time was called a 'Fan Page.'

Having learned my lesson, I ended that blog entry with the words, "So I'm on Facebook, dammit, but please don't make me Twitter. I really don't want to Twitter. You're going to make me Twitter, aren't you?"

You're smart people. You see where this is going.

Once again, social media has reared its ugly head and short attention span and I have succumbed to the potential of expanding my business presence on the Internet.

I read a lot of marketing, freelance, and self-employment books. I've always had the feeling that I started in the art game rather late, so I spend a lot of time trying to 'catch up,' which is a ridiculous notion, if you think about it. Who exactly am I trying to catch up to? Regardless of that philosophical discussion, I have always been driven and doubt that will change anytime soon.

Lately, I've seen the benefits of being on Facebook. There are a handful of clients that would not have hired me had they not found me there. I have reaped the rewards of being connected to other self-employed professionals who have helped me expand my business simply by their willingness to share their knowledge and resources. That, too, would not have happened without Facebook. I feel my business is much better off this year over last year, as a direct result of the connections I've made from that particular brand of social media. And last year was a pretty good year!

Many of those books I've mentioned have talked about the benefits of Twitter, in addition to Facebook. Rather than sit on the fence any longer, I joined Twitter this week. If it works out to be a benefit, I will continue to explore the possibilities it offers. If not, I can just as easily remove myself from it. At this point, I'm just going to give it a try and see what happens.

If you'd like to 'follow me' as they say in Twitter parlance, my name on Twitter is CartoonInk.

My Best Work

2010-08-15T14:25:00.014-06:00

Quite often, I'll hear somebody say something like, "I wish I could draw," or "I can't even draw a stick man."

Obviously the latter is an exaggeration. I've yet to meet ANYONE who can't draw a stick man. But the statement about wanting to draw is usually made by somebody who hasn't tried. I don't mean, playing a game of Pictionary and not being able to get their idea across, I mean REALLY tried.

I'm still on the fence regarding the 'talent' vs. 'skill' debate. A lot of people will fall back on the crutch that they don't have talent when most of the time, I've found that it's just that they don't have the interest. There's nothing wrong with that, either.

My wife is an excellent cook. She enjoys trying new recipes, experimenting with ingredients. I don't cook well at all. I can BBQ a steak, make a pot of Kraft Dinner or throw something in the oven. Sure, it'd be nice to be able to cook, but I just have no interest in it. Who knows, I could become good at it, but I'm just unwilling to put in the time.

I never went to art school, and I used to be a very poor artist. I would draw from time to time, but I wasn't good at it. It wasn't until an opportunity showed up a little over 10 years ago that I figured I had nothing to lose by putting in a little more effort, and it became a fun hobby.

One thing led to another and I found myself becoming quite passionate about wanting to become a better artist. I read magazines, watched instructional videos, took a couple of online courses, studied the work of other artists, and worked very hard to improve my skills. In the meantime, I was building my business, getting more newspapers and clients, and about 5 years ago, I was able to quit my job, work full-time at home, and make a nice living at it. Not bad, for somebody who, for most of my life, wasn't good at drawing.

In the interest of proving this point, here are some pieces of work that I did a relatively short while ago. At the time, each of these was my best work. I look at them now, and I honestly do not want to show them and find it hard to believe that anyone every hired me. But it's important to see that all it takes to become better is time and effort. I was proud of each of these pieces when I created them. I spent HOURS on them.

Click on any of these to see them a bit larger.

I often wonder what I'd be missing out on if I had never pursued this course, and I'm very grateful for the opportunities that led me here. Often I'll run into somebody who hasn't seen me in 20 years and when they hear what I do for a living, their response is, "I didn't know you could draw."

That's because at the time, I couldn't.

There is no magic formula to being an artist. It's a simple matter of working at it. It's a cliche, but as in all things, you get out of it what you put into it.

It will take time to become good at anything, and whether you do it or not, that time will pass anyway. Who do you want to be on the other side of it? If you want to draw, paint, sculpt, play music, dance, sing, or follow any other passion, it's a simple matter of starting and following through, especially when it isn't going well.

There are a few simple truths that anyone wanting to be an artist has to learn to make peace with, whether it's a hobby or a profession.

1) There will always be somebody better than you are. Get comfortable with that or you won't find any joy in it. The only person you are REALLY competing against is yourself. Seek out the work of better artists to inspire you, but don't waste your time comparing yourself to them. Everyone has different circumstances, so nobody's work should look the same.

2) If your work from this year is no better than your work from last year, than you are being lazy. Try harder.

3) Your best work should always be work you haven't done yet.

For the record, the following two pieces are what I would call my best work of THIS year. I shudder to think what my impression will be of them five years from now, and am a little excited to speculate what my best work will look like then.

Eyes On The Periphery

2010-08-08T08:25:00.009-06:00

The most enjoyable time of the week for me is on Saturday or Sunday mornings. Even though I may be working on a deadline for the coming week, there aren't any deadlines for either of those days. On weekends, editors aren't expecting a cartoon, and so my pace need not be frenetic, which it often is on a Monday or Tuesday morning.

I am still up at 5:00AM or close to it. Since my wife likes to sleep in, this means I've got a few hours of solitude, aside from a couple of cats who keep me company.

On these mornings, I usually find something motivational to listen to on my headphones while I'm working, and it's often a TED talk. Here's a link to a definition that, in my opinion, doesn't even scratch the surface of what TED is. It is so much more than words on a page, it is creative thinkers sharing ideas that are outside the norm.

This morning, I found a TED talk that explained a small part of what is wrong with the current business model, a model that is prevalent all over the world today. I've said it before and I firmly believe that when you're dealing with people, whether it's clients or staff, business IS personal. Find out what people want, find out what motivates them to do their best, and there is no limit to their potential.

I've got colleagues that work through the night. Often I'll see Facebook post times of 4:00AM from artists that are just ending their day and some of them don't rise 'til noon. My best work is done when I get up around the same time they're going to bed, and I've got no creative juices left after 10:00 PM.

There is a reason artists and other creative types work odd hours, and why many are driven to work for themselves. The established work and business model does not encourage creativity, it stifles it. Creative people don't know why they work the way they do, they just know what works and what doesn't, and when you mess with that formula, when you remove one ingredient, the recipe just doesn't work anymore.

If businesses want to empower their workers to find new creative solutions, to not only find missing pieces of established puzzles, but to build and solve NEW puzzles, they need to realize this.

One of my favorite quotes is often attributed to Ben Franklin or Albert Einstein. Regardless of who said it, it speaks volumes about the world we live in and the human condition.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

We need to change our thinking.

The Life Cycle of a Mosquito Cartoon

2010-08-05T08:17:00.007-06:00

I've done this sort of thing before, but for those who haven't seen it, and because people have asked, I thought I'd post the different steps I take while creating the artwork for a cartoon, editorial or otherwise.

The Sketch: I still like to sketch on paper even though I'm very comfortable with digital drawing and painting. I just like the feel of sketching on paper. I then take a digital photo with my SLR camera. I used to scan the sketch, but frankly, my scanner has become temperamental in its old age and I find that it takes a fraction of the time to take a photo, put the camera card in my card reader and drop and drag it into Photoshop. Less than 30 seconds.

Ink: This part is completely digital. I put the sketch on one layer, drop the opacity, and then trace over the pencil on an 'ink' layer in Photoshop. I set that layer's blend mode to Multiply and delete the sketch layer.

Flat Colour: Below the Ink layer, I create different layers for the different major areas and colours. For example, there would likely have been about 5 colour layers for this one. I then create a merged colour layer from all of them to paint on, but leave the separate colour layers below to use for selections. For example, I can Ctrl-Click on the Wings layer, and I'll only be able to paint on the wings, even on the merged layer. Keeps things nice and clean and easy to work with.

Texture, Light and Shadow: This is where the painting comes in. By using different brushes, I add in detail. I then add the text and talk bubble on a separate layer, and often a simple background just for more depth and contrast.

There are many other little technical details involved in the process, but this is basically how every editorial cartoon is done.

Sales AND Service

2010-08-03T19:15:00.011-06:00

It is important to realize that the relationship between an art gallery and an artist is symbiotic. Without the gallery, the artwork may not be seen, which means the artist would not make a sale. If the artist chooses to be unethical and sell for a cut-rate price behind the gallery's back, there is a very real chance the gallery will one day find out, remove the artist's work, and sales will dwindle or cease altogether.

I've heard of artists that complain because the gallery takes 40%-50% and the artist doesn't make as much money as they would if they sold directly to the buyer. Artists need to realize that a gallery has a significant amount of overhead invested in the hanging of the artwork. There is rent, power, payroll, commissions, and let's not forget profit. If they don't make any money, what's in it for them?

While I do sell to customers directly, I've made it my policy that anyone wishing to buy from me in an area where my work hangs in a gallery, should buy directly from that gallery.

A phone call came in the other day from a potential client that was staying at a campground here in Canmore. Turns out the gentleman had seen my paintings in the Banff Editions Gallery and after returning to his trailer, he and his wife decided they wanted one. Rather than drive back into Banff, the customer asked if they could buy directly from me.

The first thing that ran through my mind was that the man was trying to get a better deal by buying from the artist directly instead of the gallery. This is an all too common tactic, and one that should not only be discouraged, but refused in all but a few specific cases, such as close friends and family.

Turns out, however, that this gentleman wasn't looking for any kind of backroom deal, he simply wanted to meet the artist and see all of the work again. He even mentioned that the manager of the gallery had shown him more work on my website and blog, paintings that were not yet printed, but could be ordered. In my opinion, the gallery manager made the sale.

I packed up the paintings I have here at home, and drove down to the campground. I met his family, showed him the paintings, explained a bit about the process and presented him with options. They made their decision, and ordered a painting that was hanging in the gallery, but one I didn't have a spare for, so I would have to order it. Without prompting, the gentleman offered a deposit for the order and shipping, gave me his information, and it ended up being a very enjoyable experience. They even took a few photos with me.

One thing that struck me odd about the whole affair, however, was how surprised he was that I came to meet him. He made comments about it being exceptionally good service. Later in the week, I went to the gallery and paid the manager the gallery's commission from the sale, and he too said he was surprised (and pleased) that I went down to the campground to meet with the client. He said most artists wouldn't have done that.

Now it was my turn to be surprised.

When did service become absent from business transactions? When did it become something exceptional to treat a buyer as if their business is appreciated?

Artists need to realize that the purchase of a piece of artwork is, for the most part, an emotional decision. There is an intangible element in the image that makes the buyer feel something, makes them willing to part with their money, so that feeling will last.

By meeting the artist, by having a chance to speak to him or her, to ask questions and find out more about the person behind the work, it adds value to the piece. Not financial value, but emotional value. That client now has a story to go with that painting, something he wouldn't have received by buying a picture off the rack at WalMart.

It would be wonderful to meet and interact with every buyer, but that's not often possible. When the situation presents itself, however, taking a half hour to go and meet someone who thinks enough of my work to part with a few hundred dollars of their hard-earned money, is a small effort on my part.

Art is a business, despite the arguments of those pretentious artists (pronounced arteests) who feel it beneath them to taint their creative process with any discussion of money. Good business involves good service, and until that becomes the norm again (as I hope it does), offering that service will set you apart.

Eye on the iPad

2010-08-01T17:39:00.011-06:00

It often surprises people that I work on a PC as many assume that all artists work on a Mac. When my father retired from his military career, he worked for a number of years at a computer sales and service shop in Red Deer. As a result, he was always building a few computers in the basement, something my sister and I benefited from.

As I replaced computers over the years, with more power and more speed, I never felt I was compromising. The computer I use today is 3 years old and still manages very large painting files extremely well. I have no loyalty to a PC computer, it's just what I'm used to and what currently suits my needs. Just as I refrain from arguing politics or religion, the Mac vs. PC debate holds no interest for me. If I ever feel I'm not getting what I need, I'll switch.

Case in point, I recently bought an iPad, which is my first Apple product. A friend of mine had one the week it came out in Canada, and I will admit that my first reaction was, "Oooh, shiny!"

But, as time went on, and my initial infatuation faded, I began the process of evaluating whether or not this would be a valuable addition to my work flow and business, or just an expensive toy that I didn't really need. I ended up buying it for a few very simple reasons.

My Portfolio: Last year, I spent almost $800 on very professional portfolio prints, new business cards, and promotional postcards prior to going to Photoshop World. While the cards and postcards lasted the whole year, the prints proved to be an investment that lost its value over time.

I don't own a high quality printer, because frankly, I don't need one. Most of my clients are online and my canvas prints are done elsewhere. Aside from certificates of authenticity for my paintings, the occasional print order of a cartoon or illustration, and a few other promotional posters, I don't do a lot of printing. It's more economical for me to get prints done elsewhere, and I never have to worry about ink drying out from lack of use or colour calibration issues. I have a Xerox all in one, which suits my office printing needs, but that's it.

I don't want to take last year's prints with me again this year to Photoshop World. For one, they're all caricature paintings, and my focus has shifted away from that. Those images are also more than a year old, and in my opinion, my work has improved since then. Rather than get new prints done of my animal paintings and other illustration work, I've just saved it all onto the iPad. The screen quality is incredibly good, better than any print, and I can change the portfolio as often as I like without spending any more money.

The iPad is a slick looking piece of hardware, and while that won't hide a bad portfolio, it will definitely enhance a good one. The latest hardware does contribute to your image, in the eyes of a new or potential client.

Portability: It is important to know that the iPad does not replace a laptop and contrary to the opinion of some naysayers, it's not just a big iPhone, either. It falls somewhere in between. I did not get the 3G version, as I have a Blackberry to fill that need, and adding another monthly bill to my budget just didn't seem smart. Many places I frequent have Wifi, and more businesses are adding it all the time.

Where a laptop takes time to boot up, the iPad switches on and off instantly, is a smaller item, and has a battery that lasts days, rather than a few hours. And while many PC manufacturers are promising tablet PC's designed to compete with the iPad, they can't compete with the apps. And I'm not talking about the games and noisemakers, but the apps that actually contribute to productivity.

I can keep track of my investments with Bloomberg, read magazines with the Zinio reader, and choose and edit all of my classes at Photoshop World using their app. Add to that my access to satellite radio, a book and document reader, and it becomes a very versatile device. I've also downloaded a number of my Gnomon training DVD's and other movies to it, so I can watch them on a plane, or waiting in an airport.

Sketch Pad: One of the main selling features for me, however, was the SketchBook app. There are a number of sketching apps out there, but this one had the best reviews. At a very economical $8, it was worth the investment and it is an incredibly powerful little piece of software.

The only problem is, how do you draw on a device that doesn't come with a pen? Fortunately there are third party manufacturers out there to turn to. I narrowed it down to the Pogo Stylus, the Boxwave Stylus, and the Dagi Stylus. The Pogo and the Boxwave are apparently good, but they've been compared to drawing with chalk. The Dagi stylus, on the other hand, provides a more accurate drawing experience, but the disc on the tip is made of hard plastic and there was a concern with it scratching the screen.

There is a lot of debate out there on whether or not a screen protector is necessary on the iPad. It's almost as bad as the PC vs. Mac debate but it just seems to come down to preference. After hearing from someone who uses the Dagi for drawing (see video) and her assurance that it wouldn't scratch the screen, I ordered it and began to use it. Unfortunately, I did notice a couple of very small scratches, and now have a screen protector on order. Since the scratches are incredibly minor (can't be seen unless you're really looking for them), I chalk it up to experience and no real harm done.

BUT, while I was doing my research on the iPad, I found a video of a guy who did a full painting on his iPad, using only his fingers. Just to see if I could do it as well, I tried a sketch yesterday afternoon, painting and drawing with my fingers. I really enjoyed it and was very pleased with the result.

As you can see, it's still just a sketch, but it's comparable to what I could accomplish with a stylus. I can email the file to myself or export it through iTunes, and it becomes every bit as good as a sketch I've done on paper or with my Wacom tablet. Important to note, there is no pressure sensitivity on an iPad. You get different shading by varying the brush opacity.

Even if the screen protector works well with the Dagi, I think I'll still be doing a lot of 'finger painting sketches' because I found it quite enjoyable to paint this way, which is something I didn't expect.

Is the iPad for everybody? No, I don't think so. As in all things, I think each person needs to do their own research and decide for themselves. I spent a couple of months weighing the pros and cons of this purchase and after using it the past couple of weeks, I'm very pleased. It is everything I needed it to be to justify the expense.

Wolf

2010-07-23T07:54:00.003-06:00

Another in my Totem series, this wolf was difficult. Different types of fur and hair present different challenges and as in most of my paintings, I'm learning as I go, experimenting with different brushes and techniques.

I've got a few illustration projects on the go right now, one of which I want to put all my energy into, because it's quite an exciting project if it works out the way I want it to. It's a risk, but anything worthwhile usually is. Photoshop World is quickly approaching as well, and I'm beginning to get ready, but more on that in later post.

Why I mention all of this is that this will be my last painting in this series until mid-September. My next couple of months are booked solid and everything has to take priority over these paintings right now, even though I enjoy them so much. But, taking a break is usually a good thing creatively, because I'll come back to it fresh and hungry, which has always ended up bringing out my best work.

New Business Cards

2010-07-17T07:29:00.004-06:00

There are many options out there to choose from when it comes to promotional material. Some are good, some are just gimmicks and a waste of money, so it's up to each individual or business to decide which will provide the most value for their advertising dollar.

One thing that seems to remain constant, however, is the business card. Anyone in business needs one. Fortunately, it's relatively easy to find good quality at a good price if you do your research.

My main focus this year has been getting the word out on my animal paintings, so I felt I needed a new card that showcased that work. While these paintings don't show all the work I'm capable of doing, they are a happy medium and currently the best representation of my digital painting and illustration skills. With Photoshop World coming up again in six weeks, which is a great opportunity for networking and making new contacts, it seemed like a good time to design and order new cards.

For something a little different, I went with four designs, printed on both front and back. A little variety with a consistent design style for all four. As I paint new animals, and cards run low, I can keep changing the design to reflect my newer work and simply order a smaller print run of the new design. This also means that I won't need to print promotional postcards this year, as the cards will do double duty in that regard.

Time will tell whether this is a good design or not, but at the moment, I quite like it.

Freelancer, Heal Thyself.

2010-07-07T16:25:00.009-06:00

Went for a nice afternoon hike up to Grassi Lakes today on the south side of the valley. Canmore is a wonderful place to live. A few minutes in any direction and you're out in the wilderness. The Grassi Lakes hike is a short one, and even with a break at the top, it's only about an hour round trip, less if you're really moving.

It's no secret that I'm a workaholic. Many freelancers can tell you about the early days of their career when the bills kept coming, but the work didn't. The phone wasn't ringing, there was nothing in the email in-box, and sleepless nights led to frustrating days.

Thankfully, I haven't had to worry about that for a few years, now. These days, I'm grateful that not only does the work keep coming, but I'm able to politely decline the less than creative jobs, those same jobs that at one time paid the mortgage.

But old habits die hard and it's still difficult to say No. As a result, I have once again accepted far too much work and I've got deadlines that stretch into the Fall. As my friend, Carol, said on Facebook today, "Typical story of the self-employed. Not sure when the next drought's coming so gorge at the feast."

As I've gotten older, it would seem that mental stress takes a much more physical toll on me than it used to. For the past couple of months, I've been dealing with fairly constant lower back pain, and I've realized that it is likely 80 percent mental. Since I'm very well aware that most of my stress is self-inflicted, I've taken steps to change that.

Walking an hour or more a day four times a week seems to do the trick for the most part, both mentally and physically. My wife, Shonna, finally got me to go to yoga once a week, as well, and I really am enjoying it. I highly recommend it if you can find a good studio.

Thankfully, my back pain has retreated. While I know it could return at any time if I'm not careful, I've been almost pain free for the past two weeks, and I've no desire to go through that again. That's why, even when the work load is at it's heaviest, I'm making that hour or two walk just as much a priority as the deadlines I'm working on.

Of course, while I was up there, I took some photos of the locals, a variation of ground squirrel called the Golden Mantle. You can tell these little critters get fed WAY too often by the tourists, because they are not shy. It wasn't hard to get some great photos, because this little guy kept coming back and posing (yes, I said POSING), hoping to be rewarded with a treat, no doubt. I did not oblige.

This is just one of the photos I got, nice and close, great detail. As I was taking these photos, I started planning the painting I will likely do of this little guy. Which means, of course, that I was thinking about work. :)

Moose

2010-07-04T10:51:00.003-06:00

Here is the latest painting in my Totem series. I start out painting these thinking that each will end up looking happy and whimsical, but I am always surprised at the personality I see at the completion of one of these paintings.

My wife, Shonna, is my best critic. She knows that I need a critical eye, and after working on a piece for MANY hours, I often overlook a problem area that she can spot instantly. Even though she does not draw or paint, her second opinion helps me a great deal. For that, I am grateful. This morning, near the end of this image, I asked her to come and take a look. She smiled and said, "I'm trying to figure out the expression. It's like he knows something. It's a smartass moose."

That suits me just fine.

Caricature - Bert Monroy

2010-06-25T09:13:00.004-06:00

If you travel in digital painting, Photoshop, or illustration circles, Bert Monroy should need no introduction. For everybody else, he's one of (if not THE) original pioneers of digital painting and photo realistic illustration. This guy literally wrote the book (more than a few) on digital painting. I would encourage you to visit his website, read his bio, and take a look through his incredible portfolio. The work that went into his Damen painting speaks volumes about his attention to detail and his skill as a digital painter.

I've had the pleasure of learning from Bert for many years, either through his books, DVD's, tutorials, or classes. At Photoshop World, I was fortunate to have a one on one portfolio review with Bert and while I was prepared to have a pretty frank and honest critique, he was quite complimentary and had only a few notes of places I could improve a few images. It was a real privilege and I look forward to taking more of his classes at Photoshop World this year.

I took a candid photo of Bert at Photoshop World last year and that was my main reference for this one. Fortunately I surprised him and got a big smile, but it was with a little point and shoot camera and the quality left a LOT to be desired. Even the Genuine Fractals 6 plug-in didn't help as much as I needed it to, although I highly recommend it for enlarging images. Fortunately, the folks at NAPP came through for me and sent me a high-res version of Bert's promo photo. While the expression wasn't good for a caricature, the detail was great, so it helped a lot. Thanks, Larry and Felix!

As in most of my paintings, I got to a point where I was painting in details that nobody is ever going to see, and while I could have worked on this for another week or two, I'm sure, I don't think it would have made a difference. I also have other images I'd like to work on, and ending this on a Friday seems appropriate.

It's intimidating to do a digital painting of someone who has far superior skills, but I wanted to do the piece anyway, and I'm happy with how it turned out. As always, I'm sure I will look at this six months from now and see room for improvement, but I imagine that will be true for every image I ever do, so no sense dwelling on it.

Yeah, but did you learn anything?

2010-06-20T17:02:00.010-06:00

Over the past five weeks, I've done three digital painting demos at three different galleries. The first at Editions Gallery in Banff, the second at Editions Gallery in Red Deer, and the third at Two Wolves here in Canmore. All three currently have my paintings for sale.

I'm pretty comfortable with my regular cartooning and illustration gigs, as I've been doing them for a number of years, but the animal paintings, the canvas prints and the whole gallery experience is still pretty new. I've had the benefit of help and advice from a few generous artists who've shared their experience and saved me time and money. The gallery owners and managers have been top notch at all three locations. But, there are just some lessons that have to be learned through experience.

The first thing I learned...Demos and artist appearances usually generate more sales from what I've been told, so I had high expectations. But in these cases, sales were incredibly slow, or non-existent. Thankfully, I've been told by those in the know that I shouldn't take this personally and not to see it is a reflection on the quality of the paintings. Art is in a slow period right now, and I've heard this from a number of artists who are used to selling a lot more than they have in the past couple of years. We are in a down economy and art is a luxury. While the purchase of the canvases was a significant outlay of money on my part, I'm fortunate that my other syndicated and commission work provides me with a good living, so I can afford to be patient.

The second thing I learned...people don't want to be indoors when it's hot and sunny. Truth be told, I think I already knew this one. We've had a very rainy May and June here in Alberta, and as luck would have it, the painting demo in Red Deer fell on one of the nicest sunny Saturdays of this year, a two day break from the dreary weather. Nobody wanted to be in the mall, and who could blame them?

It was a repeat of that weather phenomenon this weekend in Canmore. With a lot of ArtsPeak events being held outdoors and the weather being absolutely perfect (after a previous week of rain), I barely saw anybody today at Two Wolves.

Third and probably the most important thing I learned from these digital painting demos...hope for the best, but be ready for the worst. There was nothing I could have done differently to improve the situation at any of these events. I did my part and in my opinion, so did the gallery staff in all three locations. No matter how well you take care of the details, sometimes the dice just don't roll the way you want them to.

If nothing else, I met people who had never seen digital painting before and were fascinated at what can be created without actually using 'real' paint. Two people in Banff, one person in Red Deer, and one in Canmore have bought Wacom tablets since seeing the demo. I know, because they emailed me and told me, and two of those tablets were for children. I think that's pretty damn cool, because it meant that something I showed them inspired them in some small way to believe in their own possibilities. You can't buy that kind of validation.

All three galleries anticipate things will pick up over the summer, and all want to give this another try in November when the holiday season gets under way. I think it's worth another shot in the Fall, so I'll look forward to that, but I'll know not to put so much pressure on myself next time.

As for slow sales, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little discouraging, but I'll keep working on these paintings, simply because I believe in their potential, and they're just so much fun to create. I find myself thinking of something that Randy Pausch said in his famous Last Lecture at Carnegie Melon University. He said, "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things."

If you haven't seen this, MAKE the time. This embedded video is the short version. If you'd like, the actual last lecture is over an hour long and can be seen at this link.

ArtsPeak Canmore Painting Demo

2010-06-18T12:16:00.007-06:00

This weekend, I'll be painting live at Two Wolves Trading Co. in Canmore, the third and final painting demo until the Fall.

ArtsPeak is a great event, Canmore's annual arts festival which draws a lot of visitors. There is no shortage of things to see and do, and there are plenty of artists making their work available to peruse, enjoy, and purchase. While I've been to ArtsPeak events before, this will be my first year participating and I'm looking forward to it. I'm pleased that my last painting demo is here at home.

Two Wolves currently has four of my paintings for sale in both sizes. The Grizzly, Raven, Elk, and Ground Squirrel Totems in the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Series as Limited Edition Giclee Canvas prints. Since the magpie is finished, I'll be working on two paintings for the demo, a moose and a wolf. I expect both to be done in the next couple of weeks. I'm also working on a caricature portrait, so here's a sneak peek (very cropped of course) at all three. There is still a lot of work to do on all of them, but I have high hopes that these will be my best pieces yet. At least, that's my intention.

Additionally, the 1970 Mach 1 Mustang painting that I did for the Rolling Sculpture Car Club charity raffle will be available for viewing on Saturday and Sunday at their Father's Day Show 'N' Shine event. Tickets for the raffle are still available and the draw is on Sunday. The painting is a 12" X 16" giclee canvas print and is in a limited edition of 75. They are raffling off #1. I'm hoping to get over there at some point to take some reference photos for future vehicle paintings.

While it was never my intention to start painting cars, I've received a lot of positive response from this one, and I learned a lot in the process, so I'm eager to try another one. Who knows, maybe one of the attendees or exhibitors might want to commission one of their own car.

The prep and execution of these painting demos has been taking up a lot of my time lately, and while I've enjoyed the experience and learned a lot, I'm looking forward to having some time to work on some pending illustration commissions, finishing up the three current paintings, and getting started on an overdue redesign of my website. One thing that's great about having a full 'to-do' list all the time is that I never have to worry about being bored.

If you find yourself out and about in Canmore this weekend, stop by Two Wolves and say Hi.

Magpie

2010-06-13T08:33:00.003-06:00

This is the latest in my Totem series. While I find birds a little tougher to paint than mammals, mainly because a mammal's features seem to be more malleable, I think I managed to capture some personality with this little lady.

One of the toughest things about painting these is finding the right reference photos. While I didn't rely heavily on one image for this one, I did use a number of photos provided me by photographer friends in Bozeman, Montana. Christine and Levon Pentecost very graciously spent some time one day taking photos of the magpies that frequent their deck and I used a number of them as reference the whole time I was painting this one. I am very grateful for their assistance and they've got a standing offer of any painting they want. Check out Christine's wonderful photos at this link.

Finishing these paintings is the toughest part. As I've mentioned many times before, I never know where to stop and I'm often plagued right up until the end with questions that go unanswered. Is there enough expression? Could I add more detail and if I did, would it really make a difference? Is the pose right? Is the lighting right? Could the composition be better?

While there is always room for improvement on any image I paint, sometimes too much overtime on a painting will ruin it, and I just have to say, "Done."

Since I'm always trying to improve my skills, I'm sure I'll look at it a year from now and have no trouble finding ways to make it better, but for now, this is the best I've got, and I'm happy with it. Most importantly, I had fun.

Live Painting On Location - Part Three

2010-06-10T08:04:00.002-06:00

This is the ad that Two Wolves Trading Co. in Canmore put into the local weekly paper today. Artspeak is a great event, but because there are so many venues, lots of artists, and plenty to see, it will remain to be seen how many people will come into Two Wolves to see my digital painting demo.

Over the past week, I've talked to a few artists who are much better known than I am about my Red Deer gig, and they said they've all had dead days at gallery appearances as well. Sometimes it just happens. As I mentioned in the previous blog entry, I'm simply going to prepare as best I can and let the weekend unfold without worrying about it. If it's busy, great. If not, oh well.

Any day I'm painting is a good day, anyway.

The Best Laid Plans...

2010-06-07T08:18:00.003-06:00

The live painting demo in Red Deer on Saturday was a dud, for lack of a better word. While the gallery did their best to promote me, and the staff were as diligent as possible in getting the word out about the event, the traffic just didn't materialize.

My equipment worked well, I made a fair bit of progress on the moose painting, but I only saw around 30 people in the six hours that I was there. The gallery manager and I had a few theories on this (because we had a fair bit of time to talk). The weather in Red Deer has been horrible for the past two weeks, and this was the first nice sunny weekend in a long time. The Red Deer Farmer's Market (always a big draw on Saturday) was packed for the same reason. My wife and mother-in-law went down and said that it was a zoo. There was also a Children's Festival downtown on the same day.

So it wasn't just that there wasn't anybody coming in to the gallery, there actually wasn't anybody in the mall. The place was really dead. I went for a lunch break at one point and the rest of the mall looked like it was getting ready to close.

Initially, I was pretty ticked off and it seemed like the trip was a waste of my time, but with a little time and perspective, I've made peace with the fact that it was just one of those days. You can do your best, and so can the people around you, but sometimes the stars just don't align to produce the results you want. And as much as it's nice to have big plans and high hopes, I think next time I'll just prepare as best I can and set aside any unreasonable expectations.

There are worse things in life than a slow day at the gallery.

Board Game Illustration - Crows

2010-06-04T08:50:00.002-06:00

Here are some illustrations for another game commission I just finished working on. There are more tiles than shown here, but I just selected a few large ones and a few small ones to give the general idea.

Now that this one is done, I'm on to the next game.

Game Tiles

Full Box Design

Board Design

Live Painting On Location - Part Deux

2010-06-03T07:00:00.005-06:00

Here we go again, this time at Editions Gallery in Red Deer on Saturday. A lot more walking traffic in this location, so here's hoping it's busy. Of course, if a bunch of people decided to buy some of my paintings while they're there, that might be nice, too.

While I had originally hoped to have the magpie painting finished by the time this event came around, it was delayed due to the deadline on the Mustang image. Since it takes at least two to three weeks to get the canvases printed, there really is no sense in rushing it. In addition to working on the fine details of the magpie painting, I've also started painting a moose this week, so there will be two images in different stages of development. A little variety can't hurt.

1970 Mach 1 Mustang - Digital Painting

2010-05-30T11:28:00.008-06:00

A friend of mine is a member of The Rolling Sculpture Car Club here in the Bow Valley. Since he and I have done a number of back and forth trading of favours for our businesses over the years, he asked if I wouldn't mind painting an image and printing it on canvas as one of the items they'll be raffling off for their annual Show 'N' Shine. This event coincides with Canmore's Art Speak Festival and Father's Day. He even provided me with the reference images of the car they wanted, even though they weren't nearly as high-res as I would have liked.

I agreed to this project far too easily, in my opinion. At first, I did it as a favour and was suddenly overwhelmed with the fact that I had just added another deadline to an already VERY busy schedule. I'm also trying to get as many animal paintings done this summer as I can and have two more live painting demos to prepare for. This took time away from that.

It was only about halfway through the project that I found out that all of the funds raised would be going to the 'Food For Learning' program. "The purpose of the program is to provide a daily nutritious lunch for students who participate in the program."

So, at least when I was cursing this image (which was a LOT) while working on it, I could take solace in the fact that it was for a good cause.

I found this an incredibly intimidating painting to work on. I have very little experience with this type of rendering, and even though I had decided early on that this would be an artistic rendering of the car, and not an exact scale perfect replica of a 1970 Mach 1 Mustang, I spent a lot of time obsessing over the details. I find vehicles very tough to draw, and finding the balance between accuracy and art wasn't fun. True car buffs will be able to recognize where I took liberties.

This easily took over 20 hours to complete, is one of the most difficult paintings I have ever worked on, and was very frustrating. Truth be told, I didn't enjoy working on this until the last few hours when I realized it wasn't going to look as bad as I initially thought it was. This was WORK.

But it's done, I'm actually quite pleased with it, and I find myself thinking that it's a good thing this happened. It forced me to step outside my comfort zone and face a challenge that I wasn't sure I was up to. At least now I have the confidence to tackle something like this again. So, while I'm not looking to repeat this type of painting any time soon, there is a possibility that someone might see it at the Show 'N' Shine and want to have one done of their own custom car, and I would accept that commission.

But when it comes to the cost, they shouldn't expect any favours.

Weighed, Measured and Found Wanting.

2010-05-28T15:57:00.008-06:00

Many of us have met or heard of those artists that feel it is beneath them to treat their art as a business, that it pollutes their creative energy and that to work for money would interfere with the voice of their muse. This type of artist is easy to spot. They're usually living off of government grants paid for by those of us who work for a living or they are still in art school, protected from the real world.

Make no mistake about it, I do this work because I love it and I have a lot of fun, but I'm also in it for the money. This is a job. Like everybody else, I've got bills to pay and while I know my wife loves me, she's expecting me to pony up half of that mortgage payment every month.

That being said, this doesn't mean I take any gig that comes through the door. Just because something is offered, does not mean it should be accepted.

A potential client sent me an email yesterday, after being referred to me by an artist colleague for whom I have a lot of respect. He didn't take the work that was offered, and I never asked why, but he sent the client my way because he thought I could do the work well and might even enjoy it.

Basically, the client runs a small reputable company with an established track record over a number of years. They supply seasonal holiday images for different products for some minor and major department stores in the United States and Canada. So that I don't violate any implied nondisclosure agreement, that's all I'll say on the company specifics.

The gist of the gig was that they would supply me with a few images to establish 'the look' that I was supposed to achieve, and I would have to produce three images that matched that look very closely. The illustration style was digital painting of good quality, nicely detailed, but in a style I have no doubt I could replicate. They have other artists that they work with that receive the same instructions and the whole catalog of images is supposed to end up looking like the same artist worked on it.

The money that was offered was good, there was even an advance on acceptance of each illustration. The deadline was also reasonable. But of course, there was a catch.

When the images were completed, nothing about them would be mine. I would receive no credit, in print or otherwise. Additionally, I would not even be able to show the images in my portfolio or claim that I had created them. They would own all of the images and all rights attached to them. This includes their being able to resell the images at a future date without any further compensation to me.

Let me be clear about this. This is NOT an illegal or unethical practice. This is a contract called 'Work For Hire,' and while it is often an undesirable arrangement, it is one that many corporations insist on, although it isn't always this strict.

Keep in mind, if a magazine hires an artist to create an image, there may be no credit on the image itself, but after the initial printing, the copyright on that image still belongs to the artist. There may be publication guidelines, such as not being able to show the image until 30 days after publication, or something like that, but the image is still only licensed to the magazine, not sold.

In a work for hire situation, the artist no longer has any rights to the image.

On the pro side, it was good money, I would still be illustrating and painting, and it appeared that this would be an ongoing gig, with repeat work. On the con side, however, I would be illustrating in a style that was not my own, producing formula work, and there would be nothing creative in it at all. There would be no enjoyment in it.

As a freelance artist, whether it's illustration, photography, cartooning, painting or any other art form you may want to practice, you'll need to establish your own guidelines about what work you will and won't take. In the beginning, you may have to accept a number of the more undesirable jobs just to pay the bills. I detest creating business logos, unless there's a cartoon element to it, but I took those jobs early on because I couldn't afford to turn them down. Sooner or later, though, your decisions will end up being based more on your vision for the future of your business, rather than just cash in hand. Eventually, money just isn't enough of a reason to take any job that comes in.

I once did a bunch of work for Cracked Magazine, in one of it's recent incarnations. At first, it seemed like a really sweet gig. The money was OK, it was more photo manipulation than cartooning, but there was enough illustration in it to justify my doing it. I think I did about three or four different spreads for them, and I hated it. The work I was tasked to do was crass. It wasn't that it was morally wrong or involved nudity, it was just base toilet humour, the kind of stuff I'd be embarrassed to show to anyone. While I handed in work that was technically good and my best effort at the time, there was no pride in it, no sense of accomplishment. In fact, I felt like I needed a shower after it was done.

It was after that job, that I knew I couldn't take anymore work that I wouldn't want to put my name on. When you work hard to build your reputation as an artist, your name becomes your brand, and you want to protect it. And once you do that, you'll get so that you won't let anyone strip you of it, either.

(For a more detailed look at Work For Hire, check out Tom Richmond's excellent blog entry on the subject.)

My Name In Lights

2010-05-26T09:54:00.009-06:00

Somebody once said, 'Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.'

While that's often used as a warning for people who express their desires without thought to the consequences, it can also illustrate the power of positive thinking. Seems it's working out for me, lately, and even though I'm very grateful, I'm living in a perpetual state of shock with how well things are turning out with my latest gamble.

It's no secret that my main focus in recent months has been my animal paintings and giclee canvas prints. Things have moved a lot quicker than I expected and I'll admit to being more than a little overwhelmed by it all. It seems like just yesterday I had the idea for these at Photoshop World, even though it's been 8 months (that long? really?!) since that conference. Now I've got paintings in three galleries, have had a lot of great publicity and am doing live painting demonstrations.

My buddy Darrel, who has been my oldest and closest friend for the past 20 years took these photos for me yesterday in Red Deer. The sign is on the main route through the city in the parking lot of Bower Place Shopping Centre, home to Editions Gallery where I'll be doing my next painting demo on June 5th. Even though I grew up as a 'base brat' and lived in a few different places, Red Deer was my home before the Bow Valley. It's where I went to high school, then college, and where I met my wife, Shonna. Our families still live there.

Now, I know it's just a mall sign, and it's only a store promoting a minor event to entice a few people through the doors. It's not as if it's a big gallery show in New York or being hired as a concept artist on a major motion picture. But at one time, when I had no idea what I was going to do in life, this was home, and it does feel like a little bit of validation.

The spot Darrel took these photos from was no accident. He would have been standing right outside the former Crown and Anchor pub, where he and I used to spend many Friday or Saturday nights in the late 80's and early 90's. As he said in his email this morning, "Ah, would have never guessed you'd see your name in lights back in those days."

He's right. Never saw this coming.

It's never too late to take a chance on something new, and who knows, if you ever wonder if you're on the right track, the universe may give you a sign.

Banff Editions Gallery - Painting Demo

2010-05-23T06:35:00.009-06:00

Yesterday found me painting live for most of the day. I've had more than my fair share of public speaking over the years, so I'm very comfortable talking to and meeting new people. I used to be a full-time instructor with the Air Reserves for a couple of years, I regularly speak to schools about editorial cartooning, and I've had a few other occasions where I've had to address rooms full of people. Speaking to groups doesn't really phase me anymore.

I will admit to being nervous, however, while preparing for my live painting demo at Banff Editions Gallery yesterday. My friends have seen me paint on the laptop at the coffee shop for years, (yes, I'm one of THOSE people), but I've never had the opportunity to do so for strangers. While I do consider myself a commercial artist, these paintings are still fairly personal, as is the process of creating them.

It's no secret that art isn't selling very well these days, largely because it's a luxury and we're in a down economy. But, with the May long weekend bringing more people to Banff, it was worth spending the day at the gallery to see if the added novelty of the artist on site might entice a fence-sitter to buy.

The gallery did their best to promote me ahead of the weekend. Some posters were up, the staff mentioned it to a lot of people, and when I arrived yesterday morning, there was a table set up at the front with my paintings front and center when customers walked in the door. With a laptop, my tablet, and secondary display monitor, it was a relatively quick setup.

Painting live is very different that painting alone in my office, because it's less about painting, and more about entertainment. The average person is unlikely to be attracted to a big display screen filled with a bird's foot while I paint in the tiny details. What always got them to come over was seeing the full screen magpie I was working on, so I would zoom out to make that visible when I saw someone approaching the door. As a result, I was often painting on a dummy layer, so that if the large brush strokes at that size worked out well, I could keep it, but if it didn't, I would just delete it and start over on that section when the viewer left. Still, I did make a lot of progress on the painting by day's end.

In my opinion, it went very well, despite the fact that the traffic just didn't materialize. With the sketchy weather outside, we figured we'd see more people, but it wasn't very busy. More than a few times, we found ourselves alone in the gallery for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. I did talk to a number of very interested people who had never seen digital painting before, three or four traditional medium artists stopped by and asked all the right questions about the digital medium, and I even met a couple of photographers that had no idea you could paint with Photoshop, even though they use it everyday.

But the best part of yesterday was meeting a couple from Calgary. They came in to the gallery, went right to the screen and started asking questions. I opened up other images for them from my portfolio, showed them different techniques, explained how I designed brushes and how they could be used. When I asked them where they were from and what brought them to Banff today, the gentleman said, "Oh, we came to see you."

I guess they'd been in Banff the weekend before, liked my work and when the gallery manager told them I'd be there yesterday, they decided to come back again to see the process. It really did make my day that they thought enough of my work to take another drive to Banff. I was very flattered. What made it especially nice was that they bought a ground squirrel painting at the end of their visit.

One sale, some valuable experience, and I was able to educate a few more people about digital painting. All in all, a pretty good day.

(photos were taken by lovely wife, Shonna Raiwet).

Where Have I Seen This Before?

2010-05-20T16:13:00.023-06:00

I've had an interesting and challenging week. Some website problems are now solved, some lower back issues are now on the mend, and some stress is being dealt with. Just one of those weeks, and since my life is pretty damn good, I think it was just my turn to take a few punches.

Probably the most interesting situation this week was that of another artist passing off my work as his own. Mark Bruton is a caricaturist from Kansas, and up until this morning, a number of his art pieces on his site were incredibly derivative, if not outright copies of work by other artists. Without going into great detail, he obviously copied an image online, pasted another head on it and passed it off as his own work. Now, if you really want to see his stuff, Google it, because I'm not going to increase his web traffic by providing a link.

This was brought to my attention by another caricaturist, and word of this offense went viral pretty fast. I don't know how many phone calls or emails Mr. Bruton received in the last 24 hours, but I'm sure it came as a bit of a shock. When I called him, I got an answering machine, but I left a message anyway. The offense was reported to Facebook and other online regulators by many artists, both by those who'd been directly ripped off and by artists defending their colleagues.

As of the writing of this, only one of my images still remains on Mr. Bruton's Facebook page, and that is the one you see here. How long it will remain on his page is anybody's guess, but the word is out and I have no concern that Mark will be making any money off of my work. Not only did he steal my image, he didn't even try to cover it up. You'll notice that a portion of my signature is still visible in his copy. Click on the image to see it larger.

Incidentally, this Indiana Jones piece was my final piece for Jason Seiler's caricature course a few years back. Ironic that Mark decided to take the image that not only has the most supporting work to prove my ownership (sketches, mockups, reference photos for the pose), but it had a significant number of witnesses during the creation of it, most notably my classmates in that course. It was also published in a magazine last year.

So while the theft is a serious offense in the art community, it's also quite laughable because it was so obvious. The online caricature community went postal on this guy in the last 24 hours and I doubt he'll do it again, because he's now being watched by too many people. Perhaps he should take up basket weaving, because his caricature career isn't going anywhere good, anytime soon.

This leads me to my point. If you're a creative professional that works with images and you put your work on the web, expect that sooner or later it's going to get stolen in one fashion or another. There are thousands of pages out there on copyright law and registration,watermarking, flash galleries, and how to protect your images. Bottom line, however, is that if someone wants to steal your images, they will. We need the net for publicity, and that opens us up to theft. Just as a retail store needs to let people in, in order to sell their wares, they are going to have to deal with shoplifters, regardless of how much security they have in place.

If you do find yourself the victim of theft, it then becomes a question of how far are you willing to go to seek retribution? In this case, it appears that simply shaming Mr. Bruton into removing the images worked. Would I have paid a lawyer thousands of dollars to take the man's house? No. My money is better spent elsewhere. A cease and desist order is usually enough.

Photographs are probably the most widely stolen images online. I know of a few editorial cartoonists that will find a photo online, apply a Photoshop filter to it, and include it in their cartoon, which then gets published all across the country. I highly doubt those photos were paid for.

As in all things, it ultimately comes down to, what kind of artist are you going to be? If you start out stealing images early in your career and base your art on theft, how long do you think you'll be able to get away with it? Eventually every artist hopes to be well known, but with more fame (for lack of a better word) also comes more scrutiny.

Many artists use photo reference for their images, so when does it become theft? I've used photo reference for caricatures, but I learned long ago to never use only one source, otherwise it's completely based on another artist's work. I have bought stock photos from online libraries for reference when one source really was the best solution, though. Lately with the animal paintings that I'm doing, I use multiple references, but there is always one main reference for each image. These have been obtained from generous photographer friends, or purchased directly from photographers with an explanation of what the images will be used for.

There's a saying I really do believe in. It takes money to make money. Through the NAPP organization, I know many photographers and they're all trying to eke out a living from their images, just like I am. While it may seem harmless to cut and paste a photograph from the net and use it in your own work, you are stealing from somebody who has invested a significant amount of time and money to develop the skill to take that photo.

So the next time you're tempted and figure nobody will know, here's another popular saying to consider...What goes around comes around.

The Balancing Act

2010-05-18T07:38:00.005-06:00

This weekend is the Victoria Day long weekend in Canada, the first long weekend of the summer season. This area will be full of people, which is why I'll be doing a painting demo at Editions Gallery in Banff on Saturday in an effort to sell a few of my animal paintings.

The Bow Valley, which has been home to my wife and I for the past 16 years, is an area that consists of Banff, Canmore, and Lake Louise, a major destination for visitors from all over the world. I worked in the tourism industry for a number of years, and my wife still does. It took quite awhile to get our families to accept that we were not able to take time off on long weekends and holidays, because that's when resort towns are busiest. It's likely one of the reasons we don't celebrate Christmas anymore, because it just loses it's appeal when you don't get the time off for years on end.

One of the most difficult things about being self-employed is fitting everything in. While you do get used to juggling it all as time wears on, it never becomes easy. Everything has to be budgeted, especially time off. If your priority is relaxing and doing nothing, self-employment is not for you. When others are taking time off, you're often working.

While I try to make time for a social life, my business is a very high priority. Self-employment is almost never a 9 to 5 job, there isn't any vacation pay, benefits plan, or regular paycheck. And even though it's not for everybody, I've found that it fits me quite well. If that means I check my email while I'm out camping, then so be it. As far as I'm concerned, it's all part of the gig. I take a lot of flack from friends and family that I'm never completely relaxed and that work is never far from my mind. I've made peace with that, even if they haven't.

When you find what you love to do for a living, you're willing to put in the long hours. I'm not the type of person to ever completely shut off, anyway. I've tried it and I don't like it. I get bored very easily. If I'm not visibly working, if I'm out for a walk or on vacation, you can bet that I'm at least thinking about the next cartoon, illustration or project.

It's just the way my mind works, and since that's where all of the art comes from, I've got no intention of changing it.

Live Painting On Location

2010-05-04T16:31:00.007-06:00

Now that my animal paintings are in a few galleries, I've booked a painting demo day at each of them. This will be a new experience for me but I'm optimistic. I'll be painting with my tablet and laptop, with an external 24" widescreen monitor so viewers won't be talking to my back or looking over my shoulder. I plan to work on an almost finished piece at each location, so I'll be painting in the details when I'm working live. That way, I can answer questions and explain the process and the brushwork.

While the times are tentative at this point, the galleries are beginning to advertise, so I figured it's time I do the same. Should any of this information change, I'll provide further updates as they come up.

Editions Gallery - Banff, Alberta
Saturday, May 22, 2010.
12:00-2:00 | 3:00-5:00 | 6:00-8:00
2nd Level Cascade Plaza - 317 Banff Avenue

Editions Gallery - Red Deer, Alberta
Saturday, June 5, 2010.
12:00-2:00 | 3:00-5:00 | 6:00-8:00
Bower Place 4900 Molly Banister Drive

Two Wolves Trading Company Inc. - Canmore, Alberta
Saturday, June 19, 2010 and Sunday, June 20, 2010
10:00-12:00 | 2:00-4:00
108-1240 Railway Ave. (directly across from Safeway)
This is in conjunction with Artspeak, The Canmore Arts Festival.

Why Photoshop CS5 Makes Me Smile!

2010-04-16T06:11:00.006-06:00

Ever since I attended Photoshop World last year, and saw a very small preview of the new brush tools for Photoshop CS5, I've been eagerly anticipating its release, which happened on Monday, April 12th.

I've spent a lot of time this week looking at live release videos, webinars and blog entries talking about all of the new features. I'm not going to list them, because there are so many great new things in this release. It's a big one and there appears to be something for everybody. Photographers, illustrators, designers, and any other creative artist that uses Photoshop should be blown away by Photoshop CS5. Here is a link to the NAPP Learning Center, where you can see just some of the new things contained within.

I've been a Photoshop user since version 5 in 1999. When Photoshop 7 was released, the new brush engine changed everything. Digital painters could make their own brushes. They were incredibly responsive, and it opened up a whole new world of possibilities. I couldn't produce the detail that I do in many of my paintings without this feature. CS5's new bristle and mixing brushes seem to be just as groundbreaking.

I am fortunate to love what I do for a living, and I wouldn't presume to take it for granted, how incredibly lucky I am to still get excited about my work. This week, I've been pretty excited, because once again, the new brush engine is all about possibilities.

To paraphrase Robert De Niro in The Untouchables, "Enthusiasms... Enthusiasms... What are mine? What draws my admiration? What is that which gives me joy?"

Painting in Photoshop!

Want to see it in action? Check out Tim Shelbourne's review and demo at TipSquirrel.

Now Available Online

2010-04-14T07:43:00.009-06:00

My giclee canvas print paintings are now available online at Two Wolves Trading Co. right here in Canmore. Click here to take a look.

The ground squirrel canvases arrive on Monday the 19th, and will be at Two Wolves and Banff Editions Gallery the day after. I plan to drive them up to Red Deer next week as well. While it's been a little strange getting used to the logistics of ordering, shipping and delivering these paintings, it's kind of exciting, too. I've wanted this for a long time and now that it's all happening, it's a little surreal.

In the next month, I plan to have a complete redesign of my own website up and running, complete with an online store. The commissions and paying gigs always seem to take priority, and as I've been quite busy lately, the site redesign keeps getting bumped down the to-do list. Here's hoping I can get it done in a timely fashion.

But even when my own online ordering is operational, I will be referring interested buyers to go to the retail locations to make their purchase. My website store will be for those people without access to the Bow Valley or Central Alberta retail outlets who didn't see them there first.

Business and Pleasure

2010-04-11T07:54:00.011-06:00

Drove up to Red Deer on Friday to drop off my paintings to the Editions Gallery in The Bower Place Shopping Centre. Smaller than the Banff store, but great location for traffic.

Since my family lives in the area, this gave me a nice excuse to spend the day and evening with my folks. My sister came out to the house, so we had a nice family dinner, something we don't get to do often. A shame my wife had to stay home for work, but what can you do?

Met up with my friend, Darrel, on Saturday and while it was too short a visit, we got to hang out for a few hours before I drove home to my demanding deadlines. We stopped by the mall to see how the paintings were displayed and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the smaller ones were front and center in the doorway and the larger ones were near the counter.

While art isn't exactly flying off the walls these days, thanks to our shaken economy, it's nice to know that with great visibility in the three locations I'm now in, they'll at least be noticed, which gives me a better chance.

With a somewhat significant investment in the 32 canvases that I've bought, I plan to see how they do for the next little while before ordering more. As of next week, when the ground squirrel canvases arrive, I'll have 8 paintings (4 of each size) in three gallery retail locations and a full set of spares here at home.

As cliche as it may sound, you really do have to spend money to make money, so fingers crossed that this gamble pays off. I seem to have a pretty good track record when it comes to taking positive risks with my business, so I'm optimistic. Of course, I'll still keep painting new animals while I wait to see what the future holds for the ones I've already done.

In the meantime, I'm working on editorial cartoons, illustrations, private commissions, a new website, and another painting. Quite busy right now, but I have no complaints.

More Welcome Promotion

2010-04-07T10:07:00.003-06:00

My animal paintings will be available at Editions Gallery in Red Deer as of this weekend. The Red Deer Advocate did an interview with me over the phone a couple of days ago, and it appears in today's edition.

Here's the link.

Digital Painting Interview

2010-04-01T11:54:00.005-06:00

The Rocky Mountain Outlook is the newspaper of the Bow Valley here in the Canadian Rockies. It serves the communities of Exshaw, Canmore, Banff, and Lake Louise, Alberta. I've been their cartoonist since 2001 and because it's my home, it is my favorite paper...but don't tell my other papers.

Here's the interview online about my recent paintings that appeared in today's edition.

This is what the print interview looks like (click to see larger). While I couldn't save it large enough to be legible, it's the same text as the online version. Pretty happy with how they formatted the images they used, though.

The Banff Squirrel

2010-03-29T05:00:00.004-06:00

Here is the latest piece in the Rocky Mountain Wildlife series of paintings that I am working on, a Columbian Ground Squirrel. These critters are all over the place in this area. In fact, a photo of one of these little fellas made international headlines last summer, and was dubbed The Crasher Squirrel.

This little incident was the main reason I included this painting in the series because Banff Tourism is taking advantage of the hype in some of their marketing campaigns, and using 'The Banff Squirrel' to attract visitors. Given that the recession hit tourism pretty hard around here, who can blame them?

As always, I had a lot of fun painting this little guy, but I'm eager to get started on the next one. Initially I wanted to have 12 or 15 of these done by the end of April, but that is proving to be an unrealistic goal. My cartooning and illustration commissions had to come first, I'm afraid.

Now that my first three paintings are in Editions Gallery in Banff and Two Wolves Trading Co. in Canmore, I will be putting a lot of my energy into getting more of these done before the busy summer season is here.

As with the others, this painting will be available as limited edition giclee canvas prints in two sizes. Here's a closeup.

Bits and Pieces

2010-03-25T13:09:00.012-06:00

Even though none of us like to think that we are our work, what a person does for a living can often be quite revealing, so most of us know that when we meet new people, eventually somebody is going to ask, "So, what do you do?"

I honestly never have a straight answer. If I say, "cartoonist," most people think of comic strips. If I say "illustrator," most people think children's books, at least that has been my experience. The funny thing is, I don't do either of those things. I can, but I don't.

While a lot of my work is editorial cartooning, painting commissions, and larger illustration contracts (boardgames, card games, etc), I find that I do a lot of subcontract work as well, meaning people will often hire me to provide a small component of a larger job. For example, a company may need a cartoon as part of their newspaper ad, but they don't need me to design the ad. A graphic designer may need an illustration for a brochure, but I never talk to their client and often don't even see the finished job.

I used to work for The Canmore Sign Company a number of years ago which means I get work from my former employer from time to time. The best part of subcontract work is that I'm working for another design professional who knows what I do and speaks my language. In turn, he knows that he's going to get exactly what he wants without any hassle. And on the rare occasion it's not right, he knows I'll fix it.

Here are a couple of examples of that type of work. I provided the cartoon animals for this sign. That's it, just the animal heads and paws.

This next image is part of a larger piece that will incorporate text and a logo on the side of a trailer. But all I did was the flags. And because they were provided on different layers, they can be moved, rotated, warped or skewed, depending on what the final design calls for.

I'll often work on projects that take months, but often it's just a quick couple of days. This next one was a mixture of both. This is a bus graphic that I did last year for a local company called Chinook Rafting. Click on any of these images for a closer look.

I would have enjoyed this project a lot more had I not been so busy with other work at the same time. Still, I like seeing this bus driving around the Bow Valley. Always makes me smile. Recently, I was contacted to expand on this design for their trade show banner. Since the raft was already done, it meant adding in the scenery, some more water and the text, placing holes (people will stick their heads through for photos) in the right places and painting in a little more of the life vests as a result.

After I sent the files to the company printing the banner, I was done. It took me the better part of a weekend to get it all right, but it was a small job based on work I had done before. A tight deadline, but I enjoyed the work.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that you can be a commercial artist and find your particular niche without trying to be everything to everyone. If you do try to be a Jack Of All Trades, you'll just end up being miserable, you won't become really good at any one of them, and you won't have any fun. Trust me, fun counts.

These Little Moments.

2010-03-21T08:00:00.002-06:00

Sitting at my computer on a Sunday morning, working on my second cup of coffee, listening to wonderfully sweet acoustic tracks on 'The Coffee House' on Sirius Satellite Radio, and painting in the fine detail of my latest animal painting. The light is just coming up outside.

My favorite part of these paintings is when the personality of the animal starts to come through. I start seeing the animal as a living breathing creature and even though it's not real, I find myself working to get the 'likeness' just right. I realize that as this goofy little ground squirrel smiles at me from the screen, I'm smiling back while I work on his whiskers.

These little moments seem to be happening a lot lately when I'm painting, little realizations that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. For that, I'm incredibly grateful.

Paint As You Like...

2010-03-18T13:50:00.005-06:00

If you're a regular reader of my ramblings, you'll know that I've recently had my animal paintings accepted into Editions Gallery in Banff. The image above is a bio that the gallery requested I provide. I printed off a stack of these and will drop them off, tomorrow. Even though it's a revision of other bios I've done, I don't particularly like doing them. What should I have included? Should I have written it from the first or second person perspective? Too long, too short? In the end, I just did what I always do... take a shot at it, and hope for the best.

My first stretched canvas prints arrived on Monday. Three paintings, two sizes, two limited edition print runs. I had 12 canvases printed this first time around, and they look great, although it was weird for awhile as I've never seen my work on finished canvas. Quite a different look. Not shiny like a glossy print, or bright like a monitor, but rich deep colors. I think I like this look.

I really wanted these printed in Canada, and after a recommendation from another artist, I took a gamble on a company here at home. Hats off to The Giclee Factory in Quebec, because these really do look beautiful. The colour, manufacturing, and quality of the materials are top notch, not to mention that they were carefully packaged and arrived without a scratch on them. The price was good, too.

I sat down at the kitchen table Monday evening and signed them after many test signatures on a spare piece of canvas. Those gold and silver paint pens can be temperamental and many artists have stories about a big blob of paint spurting out and ruining a canvas, so I was very careful. There's something really bizarre about signing my name and then adding 2/250 beside it. Am I really going to sell that many?

I delivered 6 of the canvases to the gallery in Banff and they were very well received. If they sell, I'll be painting many more in the months and years to come. Of all of the work I do, these paintings have given me the most joy and the gallery has said they'll hang any others I do as well. I'll also be meeting with a location here in Canmore next week, and other venues in the area in the weeks to come.

I've been making my living full-time as an artist (cartoons and illustration) for about 5 years now, but it's funny how I seem to have been waiting for this. I didn't really FEEL like a real painter (digital or otherwise) until I was signing those canvases. It was a really good day and hopefully one that I'll look back on as the beginning of a new stage in my career.

The Wearing of Hats

2010-03-10T09:45:00.007-07:00

FedEx has informed me that the canvas giclee prints I've ordered will be here on Monday. I'm quite excited about getting these because the day after they arrive, they'll be up for sale at Editions Gallery in Banff.

One of the requirements of selling limited edition canvases is that each image needs to have a Certificate of Authenticity. Having done my research, I felt qualified to design my own and ended up with the image you see above. You can click on it to see a larger version.

While there is a design element to the certificate, it really was more like office work. It was something I had to do in order to prepare my work for sale. While I like the way it turned out, I would have much rather have been working on another painting.

Many people think that being a self-employed artist means you just draw and colour all day, and while that is a big part of it (my favorite part), it's still a business and there are the administrative duties that have to be taken care of. When running your own business of any kind, you have to wear a lot of hats, especially if you have no staff.

Emailing cartoons to newspapers across Canada, updating my website, visiting multiple media websites to track cartoon usage, as well as answering correspondence from clients, potential clients, editors, readers, and others who have dropped me a line, are just some of the things I handle on a daily basis that have very little to do with art.

From week to week, there are also the bookkeeping duties that accompany any business. Invoicing, payments, reconciling accounts, quarterly income tax filing, quarterly GST filing, budgeting...you get the idea. This is the part of my business where creativity would be a very bad thing. While I don't enjoy any of this work, I'm fortunate that before I was self-employed, I had worked in office administration and was an accounting clerk. Little did I know at the time that those skills would leave me very well prepared to run my own business.

I know artists (and other self-employed people) who are two or more years behind in their taxes and GST payments and they have no idea who owes them money, yet they wonder why they're always broke. This stuff can be very intimidating and incredibly dull, but it is very necessary to keep a leash on it. If you haven't the skills, hire a bookkeeper and an accountant. It is well worth the expense and you'll get a lot more sleep.

It's very necessary to become good at the admin stuff, because the quicker you get at it, the less time you're away from the reason you're in business in the first place. Budgeting time is just as important as budgeting money.

People often ask me why I get up at 5:00 AM everyday even though I work at home. I often tell them that it's because I have newspapers on the east coast and I have to account for the time difference. In reality, that's only part of it. I know that even if I wasn't doing editorial cartoons, if I was just doing contract work for illustration or simply painting art pieces everyday, I would still get up at that time. The reason is that at 5:30, when I've had my shower, got a cup of coffee in hand, and am sitting down in my office to work, there are very few distractions. People aren't calling, there is minimal email, and it's still relatively dark outside. For me, it's the best time of the day to work.

So, if you're considering breaking out on your own and becoming a freelance artist full-time, be prepared that to be successful, you'll be spending half of your time doing necessary work that you won't enjoy. That being said, it is my opinion that it is a worthwhile sacrifice to make in order to have the freedom to spend the rest of the time doing work you WILL enjoy.

Self-employment isn't for everybody. Many artists like working for larger companies. They enjoy the 9-5 routine, weekends off and vacation pay. But if you're tired of that, and think you might want to take a stab at working for yourself, know in advance that you won't have a chance without self-discipline.

And in the interest of full disclosure, that's the biggest struggle I face every single day. :)

The NEW Wacom Cintiq 21UX

2010-03-01T09:13:00.003-07:00

Awhile ago, I mentioned that I was holding off on buying a Wacom Cintiq because I had a hunch that something new was on the horizon. While it was just idle speculation, apparently even a broken clock is right twice a day, because my patience has been rewarded.

Wacom announced the newly redesigned Wacom Cintiq 21UX today and it has all of the functionality (and more) of the Intuos4 tablet, meaning all of those cool newly designed Intuos4 buttons are now on the Cintiq. The touch strips are on the back now, which I find incredibly ingenius. If you're holding on to screen while you work, that's exactly where you want them.

While I'm disappointed they haven't brought out the same features for the 12WX, it could be right around the corner. Unfortunately $2000 is a little out of my budget right now, considering I'm just about to pull the trigger on a new Epson printer and invest in a bunch of canvas giclee prints.

So the Cintiq will have to wait for a little while longer, but it's nice to know that it's out there, and you can bet that I'll be saving my nickels and dimes for this purchase in the near future. In the meantime, check out the video on the Wacom site. Amazing!

Fur and Feathers

2010-02-26T11:01:00.006-07:00

As regular readers will know, I've been working on a series of animal paintings lately. While I had originally planned on having fifteen done by April, that time line is proving to be unrealistic due to my current commission workload.

My intention had always been to sell prints of these images, but my initial research into that market revealed other avenues I hadn't considered. With the generous help and advice from galleries, books, and a few other artists, I now have a clearer direction in mind.

There's a lesson, by the way. Ask for help. You'll be surprised how many people are willing to share their time and knowledge with you, if you simply ask nicely. And remember to pay it forward.

A couple of months ago, I started talking to a local gallery about selling giclee stretched canvas prints. This has been a bit of a nervous process, because I know that galleries get approached on a daily basis by artists wanting to showcase their work. Most of the time, the art is declined, either because of the quality or because it isn't any different than the work they've already got for sale.

I was fully prepared for rejection. As any working artist will tell you, that's just part of the job. Too many artists take it personally and fail to realize that galleries are basically art stores, and if their wares don't sell, they won't be in business for long.

Yesterday, I received confirmation that my work has been accepted for display and sale on a consignment basis at Editions Gallery in Banff. I would have been happy if they'd agreed to take only one piece, but they've asked for all three of them in both of the size runs I've laid out. They will also consider any others that I paint in the future.

Considering how much I love painting these pieces, this has turned out to be a very good week for me. It has also further reinforced the lesson that nothing comes without a certain amount of risk. While some people have told me I should do more 'traditional' styles, I've no desire to try to be the next Robert Bateman. He's doing quite a fine job of filling that role himself.

I'm a cartoonist who loves to paint, so whether it's caricaturized portraits or whimsical looking animals, I'm quite content with the marriage of those two styles. I also have an awful lot of fun with them, and as any artist will tell you, that always shows up in the work. Case in point, I'm working on another animal right now, and having a great time doing it.

As Henry Miller once said, "Paint what you like and die happy."

Happy Birthday, Photoshop

2010-02-17T08:04:00.017-07:00

It is with no shame that I freely admit my affinity for Adobe's pride and joy, Photoshop, even though making such a statement is incredibly nerdy. But, whether you're a collector of Star Wars action figures or you know the first, middle and last name of every hockey player that ever played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, there's a little bit of nerd in all of us.

On Friday, February 19th, Photoshop turns 20 years old, and I find that kind of exciting. Without boring you with the advances that have come with each successive edition, suffice it to say that my life would be radically different without this powerhouse of the Adobe line of creative software.

A pet peeve of mine has always been the inability of many to get past the PHOTO in the word Photoshop. While it's true that it was initially designed as an aid for photographers to process their work, Photoshop has become invaluable to many other art forms.

I would estimate that out of the 50-70 hours that I spend working on cartoons, paintings, and illustrations each week, over two thirds of that time is spent in Photoshop. Almost every professional illustrator, cartoonist, digital painter, 3D artist, and graphic designer around the world uses Photoshop every day, often without touching a single photograph. It is as important an art medium as any that has come before it, standing on the same level of credibility in today's world as oil painting did in the past.

Having belonged to The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) for the past 6 years, I'm constantly involved in learning the ins and outs of Photoshop. From the online tutorial videos that are posted each week to the ever helpful collection of talented artists on the forums, my NAPP membership continues to be some of the best money I spend each year.

Add to that the online courses, instructional DVD's and my recent trip to Photoshop World, it's clear to anyone that knows me, that learning more about Photoshop occupies a significant part of my professional life. And just to further reinforce the nerdy image, it's just so damn cool. I love this program.

At the Photoshop World keynote, the following video was released as a teaser of things to come, hopefully in Photoshop CS5. How could any digital painter not get excited about this? And pardon Russell Brown's narration style. There was a football theme to the keynote and he's always intentionally cheesy.

So while everybody else is watching Survivor tomorrow night, I'll be tuning in to Adobe and NAPP's Live Webcast starting at 7:30 pm Pacific Time (10:30 EST). Hopefully there will be more surprises announced for the upcoming edition of Photoshop.

Rolling the Dice

2010-02-01T12:39:00.004-07:00

To regular followers of this blog, I must apologize for the time between posts. I normally try to write at least one post a week, but you'll likely have noticed that hasn't been the case in recent weeks. Hopefully, that won't continue for very much longer.

It isn't that I haven't got a lot going on, because I really do. It's just that much of the work I'm doing is 'in progress.' Some of it I'm not allowed to talk about due to client confidentiality, and the rest of it I won't talk about, simply because to do so would be premature. I am expecting some good news in the next couple of weeks regarding the advancement of my art ambitions, but there is no guarantee that I'll get the answer I want, so having done my due diligence, I'm now in 'wait and see' mode.

What I can say, is that many of my plans for 2010 are coming along nicely and even though the year has just started, I am confident that the next six to twelve months are going to hold some very big changes for my career.

Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first. ~Frederick B. Wilcox

Something In The Mountain Air

2010-01-21T07:01:00.009-07:00

The Olympic Torch made its way through Canmore and Banff yesterday. With the Olympic Games beginning in less than a month, many are considering this the beginning of the home stretch to Vancouver.

The 1988 Calgary Olympic Games was a very exciting time for this area, and although I lived in Red Deer and was in high school at the time, I do remember that Alberta was buzzing.

I'll admit to being a bit of a cynic about the Olympic Games in general. As an editorial cartoonist, my daily swim in the cesspool of politics usually has me focusing on the inevitable scandals and the costs associated with this sort of thing, but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself catching a little bit of the Olympic Spirit yesterday.

We have a number of current and former Olympic athletes that live in Canmore, and I know a few of them. That acquaintance is not because I travel in elite circles, it's simply that most of them are just regular people with big dreams. They live and work here because this is where the training facilities are, and Canmore is a relatively small town. Many of these current Olympians hold down jobs or go to school and are training on the side. They're up earlier than most of us and often go to bed later, because they're in the gym, on the trails, and on the ski hills pushing themselves to go further. You have to admire their dedication.

The only reason I went to see the torch relay yesterday was that the route brought it close to my house, so I packed up the camera, walked out to the road and waited in the sunshine. What surprised me was how many other people were lining the route, and there really was an air of anticipation. It was quite contagious.

When the torch rounded the corner and came into sight, the applause and cheering was quite electric and I found myself getting a little caught up in it. To be honest, I can't even tell you why.

I didn't know who the runner was, and the torch itself is just a high-tech Bic lighter. But still, I felt something special. Whether it came from the people around me, or the big smile on the runner's face, there was definitely something there and I was happy to be a very small part of it.

This morning, I find myself grateful for the experience. I might even be a little less cynical about it all.

GO, CANADA!

Bull Elk

2010-01-10T09:54:00.003-07:00

Another in my series of animal paintings. Hoping to get at least 15 of these done before April. This current run will all be animals you're likely to see in the Rocky Mountains of Canada.

Here's a closeup.

Happy New Year.

2009-12-28T05:30:00.002-07:00

With the year drawing to a close, I find myself reflecting on 2009 and setting goals for what I'd like to see happen in the year ahead. I realize, of course, that many around the world are engaged in the same introspection at this time of year, and I think that's a good thing. It is true that you can't know where you're going without realizing where you've been.

I had a great year, personally and professionally. I was inspired by more people this year than ever before and I found it addictive. I want a lot more of that.

While I don't have a laundry list of resolutions, I do have two that I adopted a few years back and that has served me well so far. Keep moving forward and try to be a better person. Since I find that each year is consistently better than the last in every way, I must be doing something right.

Once again, as one calendar comes off the wall, and another goes up, I find myself hungry. Hungry for change, new challenges, new inspiration and a chance to take my work to another level. I have big plans for 2010, exciting and frightening at the same time, because it involves no small amount of risk, but as Charles Dubois once said, "The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."

So I'm going to take those risks this year, and scare the hell out of myself in the process. I encourage you to do the same.

Happy New Year.

Drew Struzan - The Appreciation of an Artist

2009-12-23T08:11:00.005-07:00

Click on the image to go to YouTube video.

Anybody who knows me well, knows that I LOVE movies. I have this very strange (and quite useless) talent for being able to recite quotes from movies, sometimes after only one viewing. It can be rather annoying to my wife, but I think she's resigned herself to the fact that love it or loathe it, it's part of who I am.

Bearing this in mind, it should come as no shock that one of my very favorite artists makes his living painting movie posters. Not just any movie posters, but some of the most iconic movies in cinema history.

I've always been a big fan of Drew Struzan's artwork, even before I knew who he was. Apparently, so is Frank Darabont, the filmmaker responsible for such movies as The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Since both of those movies are based on Stephen King novels, it should come as no surprise that he made the movie The Mist as well, another Stephen King adaptation. On that DVD, there was a short documentary entitled 'Drew Struzan - The Appreciation of an Artist', a very pleasant surprise for me when I rented it, and one of the main reasons I ended up buying the DVD.

I once sent an email to Drew Struzan, expressing my own appreciation for the inspiration his work had given me. I expected no response, but we ended up having a short back and forth conversation, in which I sent him a low-res copy of my Indiana Jones caricature. Much to my surprise, he sent me back a low-res initial proof scan (watermarked, of course) of his original Indiana Jones poster to show that he had used a similar pose in his initial work on the poster. He cautioned me not to share the image and I have not betrayed that trust, which is why I won't show it now. It's only a small jpeg image anyway, but I still have it and enjoyed receiving it.

Struzan has a few wonderful books for sale and I enjoy looking through them every chance I get, but he doesn't sell prints, although you can buy the movie posters. One dream among many in my life is to one day have a Drew Struzan original. Considering that the cost of his originals are in the tens of thousands of dollars, it won't be anytime soon, but I plan to live awhile longer yet, and stranger things have happened.

I did a Youtube search for Drew Struzan the other day and I found the DVD extra I mentioned. I always find it incredibly inspiring. In the video, Struzan says, "There's three reasons why I paint. One, to make myself happy. Two, to make other people happy, and three, to support my family. And when those come together, of course, that's true satisfaction."

That's the type of artist I want to be.

Winter Blues

2009-12-16T11:17:00.005-07:00

Every once in awhile, I find myself desperately searching out inspiration, something to offer a pick-me-up when I've allowed my outlook to become less positive than I want it to be. Winter is a tough time for me to stay motivated and it's something I struggle with every year. I'm not a fan of the cold, which seems utterly ridiculous when you consider I live in a country where winter lasts half of the year. The fact that there's less light doesn't help, either, regardless of how much exercise and Vitamin D I get.

This year, it hit a little early for me, likely because we just came out of a very bitterly cold deep freeze in my part of the world. Temperatures around -30C for a couple of weeks. That takes it's toll on a person's psyche, or at least it does on mine. But like anything in life, when things get tough, you find the tools you need to help you get through it. The following video is one that always seems to give me some much needed perspective when things get a little tough.

Take the time to watch it, and see if it doesn't do the same for you.

Raven

2009-12-11T10:18:00.004-07:00

"Season's Greetings, everybody, from KBHR, the heart and soul of Cicely, Alaska. This is Chris In The Morning. From where I'm sitting, I've got a great view of all the yuletide decorations going up all over town. That's right, everywhere I turn my head I see ebony birds roosting for the holidays. You know, twinkling colored lights are nice, and so are plastic Santas and reindeers and manger scenes, but I'll tell you something, friends... nothing like the sight of a beautiful black-as-pitch raven to get you in the Christmas spirit."
- Chris Stevens, Northern Exposure.

This is the second animal painting in the series of many that I'm currently involved in. When compared to the grizzly bear painting I recently did, I'm not sure which was more difficult, fur or feathers. But I enjoyed painting both, and learned a lot from each.

Here's the closeup. And while my wife and I don't really celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays for those of you that do.

Wacom's New CINTIQ Touchscreen Prototype

2009-12-10T10:37:00.007-07:00

More than a few times on this blog, I've mentioned my fascination with the Cintiq tablet. The closest I've come to pulling the trigger on buying one was a couple of months ago following my visit to Photoshop World, where I was able to try out both models and figure out which one I liked best.

What stopped me from buying it was Wacom's release of the Bamboo line of tablets, which featured the new touch technology, in addition to the usual pen features. While still not quite up to the Intuos4 standards, the new added touch technology is receiving good reviews. On a hunch, I decided to hold off on buying a Cintiq because I figured that touch tech would be on the next evolution of Cintiq. I love working with my Intuos4, so I can afford to be patient.

I received this link today on a Google Alert. While it doesn't look like it'll be released very soon, as this is still a prototype, this is evidence that it IS coming. The only flaw I can see in this demo is that with the current Cintiq tablets, you can rest your hand on the screen and draw with the pen, much like traditional drawing. With this new prototype, it looks the heel of your hand would actually trigger the leaving of paint on the canvas. I would hope that they've thought of this and will provide settings that will prevent this from happening.

Either way, it's going to be a very exciting evolution for digital painters when it arrives. Once again, Wacom appears poised to knock another one out of the park.

Here's the link in it's entirety.
http://www.touchuserinterface.com/2009/12/wacom-multi-touch-display-future-of.html

Seek and Ye Shall Find

2009-12-01T08:28:00.012-07:00

Whenever I paint something really detailed, I get emails from other artists asking me questions about how it was done, the latest round generated by my Grizzly Bear painting.

I don't mind getting questions, because I've posed plenty of my own to other artists over the years. While there is always the chance my question might be ignored, I've found that many successful artists are willing to take the time to offer encouragement to others. I've received help and advice from folks like Jason Seiler, Tom Richmond, Stephen Silver, Eddie Tapp, Bert Monroy...I could go on and on. Despite how busy they may be, there are some amazing people out there who are more than happy to point up-and-coming artists in the right direction. I try to do the same.

One question I get asked frequently is whether or not I went to art school, and the answer to that one is 'No.' I have, however, learned from the work and instruction of many different artists, including those listed above. Whether it's been through tutorials they've written, books and DVD's I've bought, online courses I've taken, or simple examination of their work, I've definitely received an art education, just not a formal one. Since I am always looking to learning something new, I would say that I'm more self-motivated than self-taught.

I've been working on sketches for my next animal painting and am about to put paint to canvas (digitally, of course), but thought I'd get a technique refresher by watching one of my favorite learning resources ahead of that, one of the digital painting DVD's by Neville Page. If you're not familiar with Neville Page by name, you are likely familiar with his work. He's been the lead creature/character designer on such movies as Cloverfield, Watchmen, Star Trek (2009), and the eagerly anticipated James Cameron film, Avatar.

He has four digital painting tutorial DVD's available through The Gnomon Workshop, under the main title 'The Techniques of Neville Page.' If you're serious about becoming a digital painter (whether it's creature design or not), I would suggest checking these out. They deal with everything from Idea Development and Sketching to Brush Creation and Rendering Techniques.

I would highly recommend any of the resources from The Gnomon Workshop. I own 11 of their DVD's by 4 different artists, and I can guarantee that more of them will find their way into my own library in the future.

There is no trick to becoming a better artist. Like any skill, it's the result of hard work, constant practice and continuing education. There will always be somebody better than you out there, no matter how good you get, and you can look at that in one of two ways. You can be envious of them, or you can learn from them. I prefer the latter.

Happy painting!

Grizzly Bear

2009-11-24T12:56:00.005-07:00

I'm fortunate to live in The Canadian Rockies, an area rich in wildlife, and home to some of the most majestic animals in the world. Bears, wolves, elk, and many more species are wandering the woods just down the street from my home.

I recently found myself inspired to do a series of wildlife paintings, but I wanted them to have personality and life to them. Something different, something fun. So this grizzly bear 'portrait' is the first in the series.

My close friends are well aware of the irrational fear of bears I've had for a number of years. I call it bear-anoia. Frankly, I've never understood it. I love bears, and always have, but found myself quite nervous about running into one while on a hike or out camping. There is a difference between being 'bear aware' as they say in these parts, and worrying that Yogi or Boo-boo is going to jump out from behind every bush doesn't exactly enhance an excursion into the great outdoors.

I don't like having phobias. I used to be claustrophobic, but I cured that by taking a couple of guided trips into the Rat's Nest Cave in this area. Very tight spaces and no easy exit. Now, I can't get enough of the place. So to deal with the bear thing last summer, I went the hypnosis route and it is now much less of a concern than it used to be. I think people should face their fears. It's very liberating.

Following are some step-by-step screenshots. Click on the image to see it larger. It should be noted that I while I did sketch a few studies before painting this image, I didn't scan the sketches and work directly from them. The painting was starting and finished completely in Photoshop.

I really think I'll enjoy working on this series.

From The Bookshelf

2009-11-15T06:45:00.007-07:00

Regular readers will know that I'm constantly looking for new sources of inspiration and education. You don't need to have a formal art education in order to be successful, but you do need to be educated. I've learned more from the books, magazines, and DVD's I've bought than I ever would have in art school, primarily because this curriculum has been tailored to my specific interests and passions.

In keeping with that, here are some recommendations for books I've bought recently.

Selling Art 101: The art of creative selling by Robert Regis Dvorak.
While it's not a large book, the information within is real world advice on how to use your time and energy wisely when selling your art. What I found most interesting about this book is how much it focuses on the importance of customer service. Simple sales advice like being a good listener, keeping your client happy, and how to close a sale.

Many artists I've met seem to think that the art will speak for itself, when in reality, customers are customers, whether you're selling them nuts and bolts at the hardware store or a house. Just as you want to feel your own business is valued when you spend your hard earned money, so does an art buyer. It doesn't matter if it's a package of 10 printed greeting cards or an original mural that took you six months to paint. Your attitude and how you treat your client is directly related to your income.

Be Great: The Five Foundations of an Extraordinary Life in Business and Beyond by Peter H. Thomas.
Long title not withstanding, this is a very inspirational book, regardless of your profession. Written by the man who founded Century 21 Real Estate in Canada, this book talks about the importance of values, ethics and integrity and realizing one's potential. Mr. Thomas has lived through some amazing ups and downs, and it's his approach to dealing with these situations that I found the most inspiring. This book is written with passion and enthusiasm and I would recommend it for anyone looking to be a success in business without selling your soul.

2010 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market: Where & How to Sell Your Illustrations, Fine Art & Cartoons.
This is the 35th annual edition from the Editors of Writers Digest Books. I received this in the mail on Friday from Amazon.ca and will now be spending the next few weeks going through it, in preparation for my next series of postcard mailings. I first bought this book three or four years ago, but to be honest, I didn't really use it until last year.

In addition to some excellent articles and interviews regarding current marketing advice and practices for successful artists, the primary reason for this book is the extensive directory of Galleries, Magazines, Book Publishers, Greeting Card Companies and more. Complete with contact info for the right people and tips on how best to present your samples, this guide will help you better your chances of getting your artwork sold.

While your first run of submissions may not bear fruit, it's consistency that many publications are looking for. If they see your work arrive in the mail on a regular basis, it lends credibility to your staying power. My submissions last year actually did result in two queries from magazines. Unfortunately their deadlines both conflicted with work I'd already agreed to and I could not accommodate them at the time. But, they DID call, and it was a direct result of what I learned from last year's edition of this book.

Continuing to educate yourself is what will give you the edge you need in order to become (and remain) successful, regardless of what profession you're in.