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Getting Out of My Own Way

Each year, I usually take May to catch up on work that got pushed aside while I was preparing for Calgary Expo. This year has been a little busier because I realized I needed to make a few changes to my priorities.

The best opportunities for taking reference pics are in the spring, especially when I’m hoping to photograph babies and young animals, so I’ve been making time for a few road trips. So far they’ve all been day trips, but I work every day, and taking a day away from the office means I still have to get that day’s work done. A typical ten-hour day quickly becomes twelve or fourteen.

Because I draw five or six editorial cartoons each week, any time away means getting those deadlines finished early.

I’ve also had bear book deadlines to meet over the past week. I’m excited that it’s finally happening, but it’s one more commitment that needs time and attention.
For example, later this week I’m heading out on a three-day road trip to gather more reference. To make that happen, I spent Saturday morning working on a commission, drew a cartoon that afternoon, drew three more cartoons Sunday, I have to finish my month-end invoicing early because I’ll be away Friday, wrote this post, sorted and edited last week’s photos, and prepared my camera and video equipment for the road.

I’m not complaining, just explaining. For anyone who thinks making art for a living is a lazy draw-and-colour lifestyle, it isn’t.

One of the best parts of the Calgary Expo and the Banff Christmas Market is talking to people about my work because I always come away with ideas and information that help me. This year, I spoke to several people about my plan to paint a domestic animal series. It’s a perfect blend of animals I want to paint and subjects subscribers and collectors have been asking for.
I want to paint a rooster, donkey, pig, sheep, goat, turkey, and other barnyard standards. When I mentioned needing reference photos, people volunteered places they knew about in the area.

I avoid gathering reference during the height of summer because animals aren’t as energetic in the heat, the light is often too bright and harsh for the reference I need, and there are usually a lot more people around. It’s also why I avoid weekends whenever possible. Spring and fall are my preferred windows.

Too often, I hear about a great place to visit or plan to go somewhere I already know about, then I get sidetracked with deadlines and other work, convince myself I don’t have time, and before I know it another season has passed and I’ve missed the opportunity.

This year, I vowed to break that bad habit, and I’m pleased to report that I have succeeded in getting out of my own way. Taking reference photos is an investment in future paintings, and I need to treat these excursions as a priority.

A longtime supporter of my work told me at Expo that she works at Heritage Park in customer service and mentioned they have many of the animals I’m looking for. I hadn’t been there in more than thirty years, and while I remembered enjoying it back in the early nineties, I’d never felt the need to return.

I was pleasantly surprised by this beautiful place I’ve been missing in my own backyard. I only had a couple of hours to spend there, so I focused mainly on the animals, but I’d like to go back with Shonna so we can explore the historical exhibits as well.
I came away with excellent reference for a Highland calf, a stunning rooster, and a very large turkey. That last one will be a challenge to make appealing because, frankly, turkeys aren’t attractive animals. I also got some photos of a couple of spring lambs.

Big thanks to Diane for the suggestion and for adding me to the admission guest list. I’ll have more to share about that Heritage Park visit in another post.
The following day, the weather was still good, and since I was on a roll, I decided to visit another nearby venue that a couple of people at Expo had recommended. Butterfield Acres is a farm animal petting zoo on the northwestern edge of Calgary, only about an hour away.
They’re only open for four hours on weekdays right now, but that proved to be more than enough time to get the photos I needed.

Despite having plenty of food available, the animals were incredibly curious and friendly. Since visitors can go right inside many of the pens, I took most of my photos with my phone because my usual zoom lens was complete overkill. The biggest challenge was keeping lambs and baby goats far enough away for the camera to focus.
I came home with so many good reference shots. Most often, it’s the photos I wasn’t specifically looking for that later reveal themselves as worthwhile painting subjects. I got plenty of pictures of pigs, goats (and kids), sheep (and lambs), alpacas, llamas, a donkey, and another Highland cow.
Even though it feels like I’m having a hard time keeping my head above water with deadlines right now, I’m glad I made these reference trips a priority this year. Between the bear cubs at Discovery Wildlife Park a couple of weeks ago, Heritage Park and Butterfield Acres last week, and another road trip coming up this week, I’m going to have all the reference I need for this new series, along with the extensive archive of photos I already have.
Add whatever I bring home from this week’s trip, and I should be set for quite a while. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop looking for critters when I get the chance, but when it’s time to start a new painting, I won’t be short on subjects. Of course, I already have several paintings in progress and a commission to finish first, so these new ideas will have to wait their turn.

Fingers crossed I’ll have more photos (and video!) to share with you next week.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Back Among the Bears

Last week, I went up to Innisfail to deliver the first print and sticker order of the season to Discovery Wildlife Park.

I first visited the park in 2016 and after ten years, I now have a personal relationship with the place. Regular readers will know of my experiences with Berkley, a brown bear that holds a very special place in my heart. I’ve painted her more than any other animal and there’s no chance I won’t keep doing so.

The head keeper Serena is now one of Shonna’s and my close friends and she has given us a lot of behind the scenes access to visit with, photograph and learn about the challenges of caring for rescued and orphaned animals that can’t be returned to the wild.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about animals in captivity, and I still do. But over a decade of visiting this place and getting to know the people behind it, I also know the reality is more complicated than a slogan or social media argument.
Many of these animals were orphaned, injured or unable to survive in the wild and would likely have been euthanized if the park hadn’t taken them in. I’ve also seen firsthand how much Serena and her staff care about them, not as attractions, but as animals they’ve invested years of their lives into caring for.

One of my favourite things to do there is attend the bear program. Along with talking about the bears themselves and why each is at the park, Serena and her staff educate visitors on how to behave around wildlife.They talk about making noise on trails, travelling in groups, carrying bear spray and knowing how to use it. They explain proper food storage while camping, why people should stay in their vehicles if they see a bear on the highway, and why a fed bear is a dead bear.

Having lived more than thirty years in bear country, I can tell you it’s a message that still needs repeating. Too many tourists feel entitled to get that selfie or closeup with a grizzly or black bear without thinking about the consequences. Usually, it’s the bear that pays for it long after the tourists go home.

On this recent visit, Serena took me behind the scenes to visit Berkley so I could hopefully get some new reference for the cover of my upcoming bear book. She still recognizes me from my several visits with her when she was a cub.

Though these days there’s always a fence between us, she still comes right over to say hello. It’s a pleasant surprise, every time.
Because she was so close, I only needed my phone camera and I think I got the shots I needed for the painting I have in mind. Honestly, there’s no other bear I want on the cover of that book. There’s something profoundly special about Berkley that I still can’t quite explain, so I keep trying to find and show it when I paint her.

There are also some very recent and exciting developments with the book that I’ll share soon. It’s no longer a someday project. It’s finally happening.
I also got to photograph the new cubs at the park, and some of the reference I captured last week is among the best I’ve ever shot. Watching them climb and tumble around, I already see several possible paintings in those photos.

As always, my biggest challenge is making time for all of it among deadlines, commissions, editorial cartoons and everything else. I could honestly spend the next year just painting bears.One aside to this whole experience. I’ve wanted to record more of these trips for YouTube videos, but I’m still trying to find the right balance. I know for a fact that if I’d been worrying about camera settings, microphones and video all day, I would have missed some of my best reference shots, catching up with Serena, and simply being present with these animals.

I do want to incorporate more video into sharing the stories behind my work, but my first priority is still the work itself. I’m an artist who uses video to augment what I do, not a YouTuber chasing likes and shares at the expense of the art and the experiences that inspire it.I’ve got a few more trips planned over the next couple of weeks to gather reference for upcoming paintings. It would be easy to forego these excursions in favour of more time working at my desk, as catching up is still proving frustrating and impossible. But spring is one of the best times for taking pictures. The animals are active, the light is softer, and there are babies everywhere.

If I fail to make time for that, investing time now for the art I want to make later, I’ve nobody to blame but myself.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Expo ’26 – Back Home and Back to Work

Another Calgary Expo is in the books. If you’ve been around for a while, you know how this goes, so I won’t bore you with a play by play.

Sales ended up almost identical to last year, within about twenty bucks, which is oddly precise. Not a record year, but still well worth my time. As always, it’s not just about the money.

The best part, and the reason I keep coming back, is getting to see so many of you in person. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth, said hello, and added to your collections. I never take that for granted. When I first started painting these funny looking animals, I had no idea if anyone would connect with them. Every year, you show me that you do, and that keeps me going. Talking with all of you refills my creative tank and makes me want to paint more.

I tried something new at the Banff Christmas Market last year, but this was the first time I brought it to Expo. A small display screen with sped-up painting footage, along with a couple of signs that said “NOT AI. NOT PHOTOS.” Both got a lot of positive reaction. People are paying attention, and they care how the work is made. That matters more than ever right now.

On the first morning of the show, sitting in my hotel room, I recorded a quick, unscripted video for YouTube. Nothing polished, just me talking into my phone. A few hours later, a young woman came by the booth with her family because she had seen that video that morning. She had never heard of my work before.

That was a nice moment. Also a bit of a kick in the ass. I spend too much time overthinking this stuff. I just have to put the work out there and let it do its job.

One of the most useful parts of Expo is seeing what people actually respond to. I have my own favourites, but the real feedback happens at the booth.This year, Peekaboo Panda and the Porcupine did very well, and the Highland Cow continues to be one of my strongest pieces.
But the biggest surprise was the Raven on White painting. It’s a couple of years old now and has always been popular, but for whatever reason, it hit hard this weekend. I sold more of that print than I ever have of any single print at Expo, and I could have sold more if I hadn’t run out.

Not to worry, I’ve got more on the way.

With another raven in progress right now, I’m curious to see if it will resonate as well. It’s one of my favourite subjects to paint.

Saturday threw me a bit. It’s usually the strongest day, but this year Friday was better, and that got in my head more than I’d like to admit. I was back in the hotel that night wondering if my time at this show might be coming to an end.

But I rebooked Sunday morning, and by the end of the day, with very good sales, I’m glad I did. I relearned a lesson I already know. Don’t make big decisions when you’re run down.

I also had a couple of important conversations. I connected with another artist I admire who shared some valuable insight that might lead to something new. I also reconnected with Alex from Renegade Arts about the bear book we’ve talked about for years. I’ve been dragging my feet on it, mostly because I don’t trust my own design skills. That’s on me. Time to deal with it.

Now it’s back to work. The week after Expo is as busy as the week before.

I’ve got cartoons to draw, commissions to finish, works-in-progress and new paintings to start based on everything I saw and heard this weekend. And I need to finally make real progress on the bear book.

Sometime soon, I should probably take a couple of days off. Funny how that’s always my last priority.

I’m working on it.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Calgary Expo Prep – 11 Years In

Tomorrow is setup day at the Calgary Expo, which means today I’m packing the car and getting ready to head into Calgary until Sunday. Looks like snow and rain on the way (AGAIN!) for both Canmore and Calgary, so not a bad weekend to be indoors at Expo.

Here’s a quick video I recorded about some of the prep.

I hope to see you there!

 

If you’re coming to the show, here’s where to find me this year. Snap a quick photo on your phone so you’ve got it handy.

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This Was Never About the Bear

You can watch and listen above, or read the piece below.

As I write this, I’ve just turned 55.

I’ve got a strange relationship with birthdays, especially in recent years. I’ve never been that big on them. They’ve often felt more like an obligation than a celebration, something I’m expected to enjoy for other people.

Twice a year, I experience a certain flavour of melancholy. New Year’s is one, my birthday is another. It starts a few weeks out, taking stock of where I’m at and feeling like I haven’t done what I meant to in the year that’s passed.

Which is a bit ridiculous, because if I try to name what I actually wanted to do, it’s a mix of specific things, like finishing my bear book or getting out for more wildlife experiences, and vague ones, like doing less doomscrolling, painting more, and yes, making more money.

I’ve never claimed to be above that.

Money may not buy happiness, but it does offer security.

In the months between New Year’s and my birthday this year, I’ve been taking more stock than usual. Not because I want to slow down. I don’t. Time off isn’t good for me. An overactive creative mind left idle tends to wander into places I’d rather it didn’t.

But I’ve become acutely aware that 40 doesn’t feel that long ago. And yet, it’s the same distance between then and now as it is between now and 70.

That lands differently.

I still have a lot of work I want to do. I don’t think I’ve done my best work yet. I’m still improving. I’ve spent most of my art career agreeing with those grade school teachers who wrote the same thing in my report cards. Patrick isn’t living up to his potential.

Those demons are always around. I don’t mind calling them what they are, my own particular brand of batshit crazy, but I’ve come to accept they’re tied to the same place the work comes from.

That’s the trade.

Physically, I’m in decent shape. A few more aches, worse sleep, more bad dreams, a little less tolerance for things I used to shrug off. Nothing alarming. But I’m not naive about where I am on the timeline.

I’m seeing more obituaries for people my age. Some younger. People I’ve known, or at least known of, for years. Heart attacks. Cancer. Strokes. Plans that didn’t get finished.

Didn’t they all think they had more time?

I don’t fear death itself. But I do think about the stretch between now and then more than I used to. I have an acute awareness that the runway isn’t endless.

So what does that have to do with art and funny looking animals?

My start in this career wasn’t early. I didn’t even consider doing this for a living until my late 20s. I’ve been full-time for twenty years now, and for most of that time, I’ve felt like I’ve been trying to catch up.

To who, I couldn’t tell you.

A lot has gone right, some of it by design, some by accident. I never got an editorial cartoonist contract with a daily newspaper, something I really wanted in the early 2000s. In hindsight, I’m grateful for that. Staying self-syndicated meant I still have that part of my business, long after most of those staff jobs disappeared.

Nobody is more surprised than I am that I’m still drawing editorial cartoons every day.

In those early years, I threw a lot at the wall. Some of it stuck, most of it didn’t. Or at least that’s how it felt at the time.

I spent years drawing caricatures of celebrities and regular folks, taking commissions for birthdays and weddings. I did contract illustration work for board games, everything from game cards to box art. I even went down the animation rabbit hole for a while, learning software, recording voiceovers, trying to figure out if that was a direction worth pursuing.

Even though it wasn’t, none of that time was wasted. Every one of those detours built skills I still use.

And one of those experiments became the work I enjoy most, my whimsical wildlife portraits. I painted the first one in 2009 with no real plan. It was just fun, so I did another. Now there are well over a hundred, plus all the sketches and half-finished ideas sitting in folders.

That part worked out.

But something has shifted this year. Maybe it’s the number. Maybe it’s just time doing what time does. Either way, the question feels louder now.

How many more years do I get to do this?

I’m not being dramatic, I’m being practical.

I don’t need a big deal made about my birthday. It matters to me for reflection, but I don’t want it to be a social thing anymore.

A couple of years ago, I rented a cabin for my birthday and went there by myself, just to think.

And it didn’t work.

Because there were the birthday texts. Emails. Phone calls. All well-intentioned. People reaching out because they care. And I answered.

Which pulled me out of it.

That’s when it hit me that it’s not just about wanting the time. It’s about protecting it.

For most of my career, I’ve spent more time running the business than doing the work. Marketing, promotion, logistics, all necessary parts of the job, but they come at a cost.

Time.

And I’ve given too much of it away.

To projects I didn’t really want to take on. To requests I said yes to just to be polite. To things that had nothing to do with the work I actually care about.

I’ve let other people’s agendas, criticisms, and priorities dictate my direction, even when I knew better. I went along to get along. And I regret that.

I can’t afford that anymore.

These days, it’s a polite no.

Because they’re not minting more time.

Even writing this, I caught myself wondering if it sounds too dark. If I should lighten it up, because people just want happy animals and not my voice in their ear going on about this stuff.

But honestly, who am I to decide what people want?

Before I painted my first whimsical grizzly bear, nobody was asking for it. It connected with some people who were already following my work, and then more people came along who liked my brand of wildlife painting, too.

With less time ahead than behind, I don’t have the luxury of trying to be everything to everyone.

The people who like the work, the funny looking faces and the writing that goes with it, will stick around.

Those who don’t will find what they’re after somewhere else. No hard feelings.

We’re all living on borrowed time.

I’d like to spend more of mine on the things that make it bearable.

Gentle Grizzly


 

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Peekaboo Panda

SORRY FOLKS! Put the wrong link in the New Prints email. You can see the video here.

 

 

Here’s a brand new painting I’m calling Peekaboo Panda.

At first glance, this one looks like a pretty simple idea. A red panda popping out of the bamboo with a curious expression. But paintings like this often come with a bit more planning than people might expect.

The inspiration for this one was a photo I took at the Calgary Zoo one day. I don’t always share my reference photos, but in this case I thought it might be interesting to show the pose that sparked the idea. For the colour, lighting, and texture, I used several other photos I’ve taken over the years.

A recurring theme in some of my posts is the difference between art for fun and art for a living.

In an ideal situation, I would just choose an animal I want to paint, find or take some reference, put a whimsical spin on it, and enjoy the process. And to be fair, that still happens often enough to keep me interested while painting my funny-looking animals.

But this work is also how I pay my bills, so I have to think about what comes after the painting is finished.

When I start a painting, I usually work at the same dimensions because I know the final print will most often be 11×14, either vertical or horizontal. From time to time I will create a square painting, depending on what I see in my mind’s eye when I imagine the character in the critter.
I keep these dimensions because it makes it easier for my customers to find a frame, and that is a selling feature.

But because I have done my best to diversify my revenue streams, which is marketing speak for not putting all my eggs in one basket, I also have to think about my licensing clients.

In simple terms, art licensing means that companies pay to use my artwork on their products in exchange for royalties. If you have ever bought a backpack with cartoon characters on it, that artwork is licensed.

The challenge is that very few products come in neat little 11×14 rectangles.

That means when I paint something like this red panda, I have to allow extra space. More background and sometimes more of the animal so the artwork can be adapted to different formats later.

Pacific Music & Art, for example, might use one of my paintings on several different products, from magnets and mugs to calendars. While my vision for this piece was the vertical print you see at the top of this post, I had to paint quite a bit more of the panda, the background, and the bamboo leaves so the image could be adjusted to fit those other uses.

Last week I finalized the images for the 2027 calendar for Pacific Music & Art. Just like other licensing contracts, there is a lot of lead time for design and printing. My vertical red panda print would not work for a calendar page, so I had to create this different horizontal version, and that meant thinking about that layout when I started the painting.

The downside is that it means more work. Even though I paint digitally and can use layers for much of the process, the final cropping still requires extra time to make sure everything blends properly and does not look like pieces pasted together.

Because my goal is to continue diversifying my work to help ensure the longevity and security of my business, I will have to make these considerations more often than ever.

But the upside is that my licensing clients get the images they need to best fit their products, while my customers get the print of the painting that I originally envisioned when the idea for this critter first popped into my head.

Art for a living. Some assembly required.

Cheers,
Patrick

 

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A New License and a New Lane

Over the past year, running a small independent art business has required more flexibility than usual.

Between labour disruptions at Canada Post and the removal of de minimis exemptions in the U.S., not to mention the tariffs, shipping anything across the border has become unpredictable and, in many cases, unsustainable for a one-person operation like mine. I heard from many of my American subscribers last fall who were frustrated they couldn’t order the 2026 calendar. Believe me, that frustration went both ways.

Self-employment teaches you one thing very quickly: you can’t control external conditions. The only thing you can do is build a strong enough foundation that when something shifts, you’re not left stranded.

Over the years, I’ve worked to build multiple income streams so no single lane determines whether the lights stay on. Licensing, especially, is a long game. An agreement can be signed, files delivered, and then… nothing. Months pass. Larger companies move slowly. And when something finally launches, you don’t know whether the first royalty payment will feel significant or symbolic.

Which brings me to this week.

I’m very pleased to share that Elephant Stock has just launched 40 of my paintings as canvas wall art in the United States.

Every time a company chooses to license my work, I don’t take that lightly. Forty pieces is no small thing. They first approached me in June of last year, and like most licensing agreements, it took time before the launch finally happened.

At the time, it was simply another license I was pleased to have. Given the shipping issues mentioned above, it’s now especially useful for my American collectors. This means those works are printed and shipped from within the U.S., with no cross-border fees or customs complications.

If you’re in the United States, you now have several ways to collect my work locally:

Elephant Stock – Canvas wall art (newly launched, 40 pieces live)

The Mountain – This is a long-standing partnership, and I’ve had two different licenses with this company under two different owners.

Diamond Art Club – Exclusive diamond art kits. Several of my subscribers have sent photos of their completed pieces. This has been a strong and enjoyable partnership.
Still, if you prefer ordering directly from me, I can now have custom giclée, metal and canvas prints produced and shipped from within the U.S. through my printer.

Canadian customers, nothing changes on your end. You can continue ordering prints, stickers and tote bags directly from the store, and custom orders through me. And I’m always happy to answer questions.

I’ve learned not to assume smooth roads ahead. The best I can do is build something sturdy enough to handle a few detours, and change lanes when required.

Check out the galleries of my available designs with any of these U.S. licensing partners at
Elephant Stock
The Mountain
Diamond Art Club

Cheers,
Patrick
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A Gentle Giraffe


In June of 2023, I finished a painting of three giraffes called Long Neck Buds. It was a real challenge. I had never painted acacia leaves and thorns before, and I still remember how satisfying it was to figure them out.

Each giraffe started as if it were its own painting, fully rendered and detailed. I moved them around in the scene, added the foliage and background, and worked in the shadows and highlights to make them look like they actually belonged together.
If you’d like to see more about how that came together, that original post is here.

When I finished it, I remember thinking that any one of those giraffes could have stood on its own.

Sometimes I paint something just because I feel like it. Maybe I enjoyed getting the reference photos. Maybe it’s a subject I’ve never tried before and want to see if I can pull it off.

Other times, I choose an animal because I think it might appeal to my wholesale customers and licensing clients.

My Sasquatch was one of those. Mike at Pacific Music & Art had asked for it. When I talk about that painting at shows, I often joke that the hardest part was the weeks I spent in the woods of northern BC trying to get reference photos.

Truth be told, it’s not one of my favourite paintings.

And the actual hardest part was making sure my version didn’t look like somebody else’s. I referenced Harry and the Hendersons and the Jack Link’s Sasquatch specifically so I could steer clear of them.

And still, lots of people call mine Harry when they see it. Not because it looks the same, but because that’s the only friendly Bigfoot they know. It’s the same reason people used to call my shark Bruce from Finding Nemo, even though the only thing they share is that they’re great white sharks.

At the Christmas Market, a few people said my Spa Day painting looked like Baloo from The Jungle Book. Others say some of my bears remind them of Brother Bear. My style is completely different, but what people are reacting to is the feeling.

The Sasquatch did well, but mostly in places where that folklore resonates. Zoos and Discovery Wildlife Park didn’t want it, which makes sense. Pacific Music & Art has done well with it, and Harlequin Nature Graphics licenses it on a T-shirt.

As a print, it never really found its footing, so I retired it in that format. But it still sells as a sticker at markets and here in Canmore at Stonewaters. The only way to know what will resonate is to put it out there.

The sweet spot is when I paint something for commercial reasons and end up genuinely loving the result. The porcupine I finished last week fits that category. I had never painted one, but several wholesale clients told me they’d carry it if I did. After sharing it, I received a lot of kind emails from subscribers who really liked it. I never know ahead of time which paintings will connect.

Long Neck Buds still does well, but single-animal pieces often perform better at zoos and markets. Giraffes are reliably popular, so creating this print felt like an opportunity worth exploring.
I chose the middle giraffe and spent a few hours Saturday morning refining it. More detail. A slight softening and tweak to the expression to bring out more personality.

I’m pleased with how it turned out and looking forward to seeing how it’s received.

It also gave me a new print to include in the first PDF catalogues I sent to my wholesale clients earlier this week, and another image available for licensing.

On Monday, I sent Gentle Giraffe, Bear Boop, and the Porcupine to my printer in Victoria for their first proofs. I’m restocking the online store and gearing up for the Calgary Expo in April.

I’ve got several other paintings in progress, but my priority right now is to make some headway on three dogs I’m painting for a very patient commission client.

Cheers,
Patrick

 

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Painting a Pudgy Porcupine

This porcupine turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected, and that was exactly what I needed right now.

I’m in a busy stretch, finishing a few new paintings so I can send updated print and sticker catalogs to the zoos and start lining up licensing for the first half of the year. There’s a lot on the go, and most days it feels like I’m working with one eye on the calendar.
But this piece reminded me why I sit down to paint in the first place.

After finishing the recent Bear Boop painting, I moved straight into this porcupine and felt that familiar shift. Less pressure. More play. The kind of focus that quiets the noise for a while. When everything else feels heavy, as it often does right now, this is my happy place.

I really do love this work.

Cheers,
Patrick