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Lessons, Light, and Joe McNally

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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A Portrait of Madeline Kahn

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

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

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

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

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Going back to Photoshop World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Portrait of Russell Brown

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

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

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

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

I knew right away that I wanted to paint him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Penguin Prints at the Calgary Zoo

Just got back from a quick trip to Calgary.  Stopped in at my printer to collect the first prints of the Rockhopper Penguin Totem.  Rather than make two trips, I signed them all at the print shop, put biography inserts  into each of the matted prints, then drove them directly to the Calgary Zoo.  Any other day, I would have brought my camera and taken the opportunity to get some more reference shots for future paintings, but I’m glad I hadn’t planned on that, today.  Quite a few yellow school buses and personal vehicles in the parking lot and very busy once I got in there.  I mean, that place was a zoo! (thank you, tip your waitress, I’m here all week).

While the zoo already has one of my Wolf Totem canvases and a couple of Wolf Totem and Moose Totem matted prints, this is the first large batch of prints they’ve ordered, and in a variety of sizes, too.  With the opening of the Penguin Plunge habitat in Calgary this year, and their retail store located right beside it, this is definitely the best place for that particular painting to be sold.  Here’s hoping it does well, and that pretty soon they’ll be ordering prints of some of my other Totem animals.

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No Strings Attached

The Wacom Intuos5 tablet is a welcome evolution to the line, and while I never felt that the Intuos4 was lacking in any way, it has quickly become apparent that I didn’t know what I was missing.  The new design, heads-up display for the Express Keys and the Touch Ring, along with the improved pen response are reasons enough for me to love this tablet.  The Touch features just ended up being a bonus.

One of the best new features of the Intuos5, however, is the add-on Wireless Accessory Kit.  Even though one or two of the previous tablets had wireless capability, this is the best solution I’ve seen for the feature and it’s impressive how well it works.

The instructions for using the kit couldn’t be simpler, and after charging the battery while I worked, I was anxious to try it out.  My whimsical wildlife paintings hang in galleries in Banff, Canmore, and Calgary, Alberta.  From time to time, I’ll do painting demonstrations, to coincide with a long weekend or the launch of new paintings, both of which happened in May.

The basic setup of the demo is that of me sitting behind a table with the laptop and tablet, and a large secondary display facing outward so that viewers can talk to me, but also see what I’m doing.  With the Wireless Accessory Kit installed, I was able to come out from behind the table, stand beside some of the viewers, and even let them try the tablet right out in front of the secondary display.  It was a very interactive experience for the viewers.

While that would have been enough of a successful test, I recently found myself with another opportunity when I was asked to give presentations to a couple of 7th grade classes at the local school.  This is something I do from time to time, and it usually consists of my running a PowerPoint slideshow presentation from the classroom computer, while the students watch on the peripheral smart-board.   A smart-board is an interactive blackboard sized display screen that many schools are using now.

At the end of the slideshow and talk about editorial cartooning and painting, the students always want me to draw, and I usually end up showing them some rudimentary cartoons on a dry erase board.  While it works well, there’s really no ‘wow’ factor, and I can’t show them how I paint.

For the recent presentation, I hooked up my laptop directly to the smart-board, connected the Intuos5 tablet and was able to wirelessly control the slideshow from anywhere in the room.  The range of the Wireless Accessory Kit far exceeded my expectations.  With the laptop in one corner, I could stand by the door at the opposite corner of the room and there was no performance loss whatsoever.  It was easily 25-30 feet between connections, and I could paint as if I was sitting directly in front of the laptop.

While I was well aware that I would be able to control Photoshop with the tablet, I knew that controlling PowerPoint with it was going to free me up even more.   In the Wacom Settings, I customized the Functions specifically for PowerPoint.  I programmed four of the Express Keys for the operations I would need.   In order from the top, I chose Next Slide, Previous Slide, Start Slideshow, and End Show.  While you can see a screen shot of the ‘Express View’ here, I disabled it during the show, so that it wouldn’t pop up over my slides, and I could just keep my finger on the ‘Next Slide’ button.  Under the Touch Options, I had the touch features disabled for the length of the presentation.

I use the Keynote app on my iPad for a duplicate of the slideshow with my presentation notes, and I saw no reason why I couldn’t be free of my laptop for the entire session.  Since I only needed the Express Keys for the slideshow, I put my iPad on the tablet and carried it around (with both hands, of course) activating the slide buttons with my left thumb.So I had my notes, my slideshow, a controller for the presentation and freedom to move around the room.  It is true that the iPad has apps that can control presentations like this wirelessly, but in my experience, they’re pretty twitchy, especially when connecting to unfamiliar WiFi.

As I was using the tablet for multiple applications during the presentation already, this was a great plug-and-play solution, with no problems.  When the slideshow was finished, I removed the iPad, sat down at a desk in the center of the room in front of the Smart-board, launched Photoshop and proceeded to show the students a little on how I draw and paint digitally.

The two presentations took about three hours of my time, and with the Intuos5 tablet and wireless control of the smart board, I never once needed to go back to my laptop.  The integration was flawless, and this is how I’ll do presentations and demos from now on.

If you’d like to know more about how I setup the Express Keys, Touch Ring and Radial Menu for Photoshop, check out these videos.

 Wacom Intuos5 – Express Keys and Touch Ring

 

 Wacom Intuos5 – The Radial Menu

 

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Rockhopper Penguin Totem

This ornery looking fellow is a Rockhopper Penguin, the latest Totem in the series and one of my more challenging paintings to date.  While I usually have a lot of fun with these, this one was a roller coaster of frustration.

The main reason I added this animal to the series at this point is because the Calgary Zoo had expressed interest.  With their recent addition of The Penguin Plunge habitat to their facility, penguins are a pretty big deal in Calgary this year.  While they have already taken a chance on my Wolf and Moose paintings, I’d like to have more of my Totems for sale at the zoo, so the decision to  paint a penguin right now was a commercial one.  I sent the finished image to my contact at the zoo this morning within a short time of finishing it, and it was well received.  They’ve already ordered a significant number of prints in a variety of sizes, so they should be available at their retail outlet soon.  Right outside The Penguin Plunge.

So why was this so frustrating?  Honestly, with the exception of the Ostrich Totem, I find birds incredibly difficult to paint.  Perhaps it’s because their body structure is so different from mammals, a beak instead of a mouth, usually only one eye visible instead of two, also that they’re very stiff looking…honestly I don’t know what it is.  It wasn’t the detail, because the feathers were a lot of work, but not difficult to paint, just time consuming.  When I’m working on a painting, I start at low-resolution, then as more and more detail gets painted in, I’ll bump up the resolution until it’s around 18″X24″ at 300ppi.  When it gets to this point, the painting is really close to being finished, it’s just a matter of painting in a lot of tiny details.  With this penguin, however, I was trying to fix structural issues at full size, something I would rarely do.  But I’d painted so much detail in a lot of places that didn’t need to be fixed, so I couldn’t go backwards without losing that.

My wife Shonna is not an artist, but she has this uncanny knack of looking at a painting I’m working on and instantly seeing what’s wrong with it.  It’s very annoying, but also very helpful.  When I ask her opinion, I brace myself for what I know is coming, because there is always something.   With this penguin, she saw more than a few problems.  The eye wasn’t in the right place, the yellow feathers didn’t look right, the beak was shaped wrong.  It was brutal.

All of these issues were addressed and repainted, adding at least another five or six hours to a piece I’d already been working on for many more than that.  The personality didn’t even seem to show up until the last few hours, which is very unusual.  So while there’s nothing more I could do to this painting to improve it, I had a hard time ‘feeling’ it while I was doing the work.  There were still times when I was really enjoying myself, but not as much as I normally do.  The Bighorn Sheep Totem was like this as well, and while I love that painting now, I didn’t immediately after I’d finished it.

So what did I learn?  Well, sometimes you just have to plow through and git ‘er done, even when you’re not feeling it.  The finished painting may feel a little different to me at the moment, but anyone buying it doesn’t know the frustrating back story (unless they read it here), so it now stands on its own merit.  It’ll either be popular or it won’t, and time will tell.  Also, I took most of the reference photos myself, and they were average.  For the pose and general features, however, they were good enough.  For the fine details,  I decided to go and buy some stock photos.  After reading their licensing agreement that permits this usage for work like mine, I’ll be doing that more often.  Some great closeup detail reference on stock photo sites, and reasonably priced, too.  This is going to make future paintings a little easier for me.

While I’ve been working on commissions the last little while, turns out this is the first Totem I’ve added to the series since the Cougar in January.  I’ve got a couple of other painting projects up next, but I’m hoping to have another Totem done before the end of the summer.  And no, it’s not a bird.

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How much is that doggie in the painting?

Every time I post a new commission piece, as I did last week, people ask me what I charge for custom work.  For some reason, there used to be this grey area among artists about whether or not to post your prices.  I’ve read some compelling opinions on both sides of the argument, but one thing I’ve learned lately is that eventually you have to pick a side and stick to it.  That, and everybody has an opinion.

When it comes to editorial cartoons, illustration work and commercial painting gigs, each one is negotiated individually, because every client, usage, and situation is different.  Commissions for the animal paintings, however, are pretty straightforward, as long as the client is looking for the same style of image that can be seen in my portfolio.  An animal portrait painting, whimsical Totem style or not, is a lot of work, but it’s straightforward and there are usually no surprises.   In the interest of pulling back the curtain, I thought I’d just post the standard commission information.  This will also enable me to link to this post in the future whenever the inquiries come in.  There are always little differences in each inquiry, but consider this the foundation on which all of my painting commissions are built.  These are the current prices and details.  While they’re unlikely to change in the very near future, prices will go up over time, and with demand.

Whether it’s the Totem or realistic style, the price is the same.  For 1 (one) animal, commissions start at $600.00 (CDN), which includes a 16″X20″ signed matted print, with free shipping anywhere in Canada or the Continental U.S.  There are additional costs for other printing options as there is a significant difference between an 8″X10″ paper print and an 18″X24″ framed canvas print, both in production and shipping fees.  The time to complete a commission will vary, depending on my workload, but usually it’s around 4-6 weeks from the time I receive the reference photos.  If you live in Canada, there is GST or HST added to that price, depending on the region.  You can blame the government for that.  I require a 50 percent non-refundable deposit on all commissions once an agreement has been reached, the remainder due upon completion.

One request I’m getting more and more of these days is for the full-resolution digital file.  While I used to be on the fence about this, as many artists and photographers are when it comes to their images,  I now give the digital file to every client.  I still retain the copyright, but these days, clients want to be able to post something like this on a website and social media and maybe print a few extra copies for themselves. As long as they aren’t trying to pass it off as their own work, or sell copies of the images, I feel that’s fair.  They paid for the work, just as if a company might have paid me for an ad illustration.  That way, if they want to put the painting of Fido on their Christmas card that year, they’re free to do so.

While no photos are ever part of the paintings, I can’t very well paint those little freckles you love so much on your cat’s nose if I don’t know what they look like, so I need good photos to work from  Some of my clients have been photographers.  As a result, many of the reference photos I’ve had to work with have been great.  Since not everybody can be a photographer, it’s often a challenge to find the right photos.  The better the photos I have, the better the painting will be.  In a perfect world, the photos should be sharp, good lighting, fairly close up of the face of the animal, a straight on or 3/4 pose, at eye level, and looking at the camera.  The more photos to choose from, the better.  Problems that occur with some animal photos is that their eyes are highly reflective, and a flash can completely wash out the detail.  If your dog or cat looks sad in all of the photos provided, it can be tough to make him or her look happy, without the risk of losing the likeness.

Let’s use fictitious Fido as an example.  Fido is a shaggy dog that is dirty and in desperate need of a haircut.  Can’t see his eyes, he’s looking elsewhere, it’s dusk, the photo was taken from far away, and the only copy available  is a 4″X6″ low resolution image on Facebook.  The client’s instructions are, “his hair is usually a lot shorter than that, he has big brown eyes.  When we go to our cottage in the woods, he always likes to put his paws up on the window and look out, so I’d like to see him like that.”

Based on this, I’m going to ask for more photos and negotiate that pose.  If this were all I had to go on, I would decline the opportunity, because the client wouldn’t be happy with the finished work, anyway.  Having done a number of these commissions of people and animals over the years, I can usually tell quite quickly if it’s going to work out or not.

Suppose, however, that the client has given me fantastic photos of Fido to work from, great lighting, sharp detail and is flexible on the pose, but then adds, “I’d like him to be wearing his collar with his name tag on it.  He also likes to sit with his favorite fifteen stuffed animals and toys.”

The collar would be no problem and would not affect the cost.  The same would apply to maybe sticking a bow-tie on Fido, or even a comical pair of glasses if that’s what the client wanted.  Some of that I can make up, and  I would consider that part of the foundation.  All of those toys, however, very specific toys, well, that’s going to definitely be an added cost, as would any other additional specific details that the client would like to include.  Any additional animals would also affect the cost.  While a few have asked, I decline the opportunity to paint a person and an animal in the same portrait.  My styles for both are very different, and they just don’t go together.

Painting these animals is a joy most of the time and I find that I like hearing the ‘back story’, too.  We sure do love our animals, and hearing folks talk about the personality of their furry, hairy, or feathered friend is something I enjoy very much.  I’ve no doubt that it helps me paint a better likeness and hopefully capture some of that personality in the painting.  One of my favorites was Chase, the happy German Shepherd with his titanium tooth.

Chase

I’ve been hired to paint a couple of memorial portraits of furry loved ones, too,  and the importance of that isn’t lost on me.  Titus the cat, who lived to the very ripe old age of 24, sitting in the scrap paper bin he apparently enjoyed so much at their printing business.  I’m told the painting now hangs above the bin.  Then there’s Gilly the Pomeranian who passed away last year.  The client told me his wife cried when they got the painting home, but they were tears for happy memories.  I guess I like the stories after the paintings are done, too.

I enjoy these commissions, and will continue to do them as long as folks keep asking me to.  If you’ve been thinking about a commission, or just have any questions that weren’t addressed here, please do drop me a line, either on Facebook or by email, and I’ll be happy to answer.

 

 

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How To Succeed with Social Media!

Hi, My name is Patrick LaMontagne.  I draw pictures and colour them.  But more importantly, I’m on social media.

Anybody who is self-employed these days, especially if you’re a freelance creative type, knows about the importance of social media.  How do you know?  Because everybody is telling you that you MUST be active on social media.  Not just on social media, no, you have to be on every conceivable platform of social media.

You need to have a Facebook page, and not just one, but a business page, too, and you have to be on Twitter.  Heaven forbid you’re not on Twitter.  Then there’s LinkedIN.  Doesn’t matter if you haven’t found a use for it, you still have to be on it.  And of course, the latest thing is Google+.  If you’re not on Google+ already, you might as well go get a job working for somebody else, because you’re probably too late.

Did I mention Pinterest?  That’s where you post a bunch of pictures of other people’s stuff to tell people what you’re interested in, but don’t post pictures of your own stuff because that’s not being genuine, it’s just trying to sell people stuff, and people aren’t stupid, so they’ll see right through that.  Posting pictures of your own stuff just tells people you’re interested in making money, and that just makes you a bad person.

See, it’s not enough to be on social media, but you have to know HOW to be on social media.  There’s etiquette you see, or as the kids say today, netiquette.  Get it?  Net, internet, moving on.

It’s important to be yourself, but don’t really be yourself, because sometimes you might be grumpy and complain about something, and if you complain about something, then people will think you’re a whiner and nobody wants to work with a whiner, so don’t really be yourself.  People want to work with positive people, so you always have to be positive.  Big smiles, happy all the time, fist bumps, high fives, and thumbs up.  You have to be Tony Robbins, 24/7, 365 days a year.  And you can do it, because YOU are a winner!

Most importantly, be supportive.  If you’re not supportive of your fellow creatives and people in general, then you’re just selfish and nobody will want to be around you, which means they won’t want to work with you.  The whole reason you have to do all of this stuff is so people know who you are, and that they like you, and you can have a successful business, but nobody wants to be sold anything, so you have to be clever.  Share links, advice, motivational quotes, funny pictures, don’t be critical, don’t bully anyone, play nice, don’t brag or talk too much about your life, work, or successes, and once in awhile, if you’re really careful, you can post a link asking people to buy your stuff.  But when you do, make sure you apologize for it.

But how much social media is too much, or worse yet, how much is not enough?  You have to learn how to do it right.  You have to read a lot of books, buy DVDs, watch videos, attend conferences, host hangouts, take classes, and watch webinars all about social media to learn how to use social media effectively.  Experts will tell you to only post at certain times of the day because that’s when most people are online, others will say you have to be monitoring it all day because you could miss the opportunity of a lifetime if you’re not watching at just the right moment.  But, all you need is 10 minutes a day, or is it 10 minutes every hour?  10 minutes every 10 minutes?  Are you writing this down?

Social media is also about being social.  You have to hang out, chat with people, give an LOL for today’s viral YouTube cat video, give sympathy for their troubles, kudos for their successes, and encouragement for anything and everything they are currently trying to accomplish.  Even if you don’t care, you have to pretend to care, because that’s what positive people do.  And YOU.  ARE.  POSITIVE!

It’s all about networking.  That’s so important and networking means getting to know people without trying to sell them stuff.  Well at least not now.  You can try selling them stuff later after you know them.  Of course, then they’ll want a discount.  Anyway, successful business people know how to network.  And even if you’re not successful, you have to convince people that you are, because that’s how you become successful.  Chicken, egg, you understand.

So get out there!  Share, Post, Link, Like, +1, Comment, Tweet, Retweet, Message, Direct Message, Watch, Read, Hangout, and LOL as much as you possibly can.  Your business, nay, your life depends on your being able to master social media.

At some point, you’re probably going to have to get out and actually do the work that you’re in business for in the first place, but that’s not really very important, because if social media has taught us anything,  having something to sell is not nearly as important as having people to sell it to.

Why are you still here?

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Sorry, what was the question?

Hardly a week goes by that I don’t get an email, Facebook message, or Direct Message on Twitter asking me a question about cartooning, painting, art in general, the business of it all, and other miscellaneous queries.  I find it amusing a lot of the time, not because I think the questions are funny, but because when I was starting out, I did the same thing to more experienced artists.  Fortunately, many were generous with their time and answered me, so I try to do the same.  True, there is the odd person who tries the, ‘got a second, tell me everything you know’ approach and for that, I usually refer them to my DVDs.  Most of the time, however, it’s just a ‘help, please’ request.

I’ve also been inspired by Tom Richmond’s ‘Sunday Mailbag,’ and enjoy reading his Question/Answer entries each week.  With that in mind, I posted this question on my Facebook page, “Occasionally I’ll get emails from people asking questions about everything from commissions to art tips. Figured it might be a good idea to do a Q&A blog entry. So, if you have any questions about anything, ask away. Keep in mind, I may not answer all of them.”

Mike Wilkerson, a talk show host and web/graphic designer at 2GuysTalking Podcast Network hit me with a bunch of them, so all of these are from him, since most of the questions were good ones.  The others didn’t really apply to me.  For example, he asked about my own kids’ artwork and my opinion on which cartoon is overrated in today’s papers.  My wife and I chose not to have children, and when it comes to the artwork of others, I tend to keep any negative opinions to myself.  Publicly, at least.

So here are some of the questions, and thanks for asking them, Mike.

What do you think about the price of a Wacom 20+” Cintiq unit?

Anybody who follows my work knows that I’m a big fan of Wacom.  I even work for them once in awhile.  While it might seem like that would prohibit me from giving an honest opinion, it doesn’t.  My review of the Wacom Inkling wasn’t glowing and I usually try to be honest.  The price of the large Cintiq units comes up a lot online and it can be a heated discussion.  Personally, I want one and am working on budgeting for it.  I think it’s a fantastic product, and it’s the gold standard of digital drawing devices.  The Cintiq 24″HD is somewhere around $2600.00 and you get what you pay for.  So while I’d personally like it to be dirt cheap, I can’t fault them for their price.  A lot went into the development of the device and I’ve yet to read a bad review.

What has been your best method of keeping track of mileage to help claim at the end of the year (though I think you said you were in Canada, and I don’t know if that works differently etc)?

I used to be an accounting clerk and office admin, so I’m pretty good with admin software.  I keep an Excel spreadsheet of all of my mileage throughout the year, and include a summary of all of the expenses when I take my books to my accountant.  I don’t have to use my vehicle often, a perk of working at home, and I usually walk if I’m running errands around town.  But when I go to Calgary to pick up prints or supplies, Banff to drop off prints, and any other business trips, I claim the mileage.  It works out to a significant write-off at the end of the year.  To make sure I don’t forget to make note of the trip, I’ll record a voice note in my phone, and then enter a bunch of them all at the same time into the computer.  That’s also my method of remembering cartoon ideas.

When working, do you like listening to music, working with the TV on behind you, etc?

When I’m working on cartoons in the early morning (I get up at 5:00AM almost every day), I’ll be listening to the radio with the headphones or music on my computer.  About 9:00, I turn on the news on a little TV in my office and watch/listen to that while working.  Unless a big news story is breaking, I’ll turn it off after an hour, because it just ends up repeating.  Sometimes in the afternoon, I’ll flip on a channel that has sitcom reruns.  It’s nice background noise.

When I’m painting, I’m almost always listening to music in the headphones and I really enjoy that.  Lately, I’ve started listening to audio books more often.  Painting doesn’t require a lot of concentration, so it’s easy to do both.  Right now, I’m listening to 11/22/63 by Stephen King.

Standard or mechanical pencil when sketching?  Do you ever use traditional methods of inking, or has it all become sketch, scan, in-computerness at this point?  If you were on a deserted island, with forever-paper, and forever-one medium, which medium would you be using on the paper?  Do you find that having a special kind of “paper” allows more free-flow/beneficial sketching to go on? If so, what kind?

I combined these, because I can answer them all at once.  My usual method is sketching with a mechanical pencil and kneadable eraser in a sketchbook, and pencil sketching is my favorite traditional medium.  I use Robert Bateman, Cover Series sketchbooks, 8.5X11, 110 lb. Acid Free White Paper (100% Recycled), because it’s the texture, weight and size I like most and works best for how I draw.  I’ve been using them for years and have a couple of bankers boxes containing full sketchbooks.  I don’t like sketching on the computer, so I’ll sketch in the book, refine the sketch so I have a pretty decent drawing, then I scan it into the computer.  From there, it’s all done in Photoshop.  Digital ink, colour, and shading.

Are you inspired by animated (a bit different now that there’s so much CGI going on – Tarzan is what “trips my drawing trigger, still) feature films? If so, which ones give you the inkling to get a pencil and paper?

Disney’s ‘Tangled‘ made my jaw drop for the beauty of the artwork as did Dreamworks’ “How to Train Your Dragon.”  Movies and artwork like that, the really clean-line style of drawing and painting pushes all the right buttons for me creatively.

Of the creatures you’ve drawn to date, which is the one you most revere?

I love all of my animal paintings, especially the Totems.  I honestly feel that everything I’ve done and learned about drawing and painting has been leading up to this work, as if these paintings are my reward for putting in the years doing everything else.   I am at my happiest when painting animals in what has now become ‘my style’ and am grateful that I get to experience it.  There is a long history regarding these Totems, personal experience that I rarely share with anyone, but they’ve been hanging around for a very long time.  I just wasn’t good enough to paint them until a couple of years ago.

Grizzly Totem

It is very difficult to pick a favorite.  Each has their own significance for me.  The Grizzly Totem was my first, so that one means a lot to me.  The Wolf Totem got a lot of publicity and won a big award that opened a lot of doors for me.   The Humpback Whale Totem was significant because I had to stretch my skills to paint an animal that has no fur, it was underwater, and I have a special place in my heart for those wonderful creatures.  That wonderful dog, Don Diego, because he belongs to a generous good friend who is supportive of my work, and because I painted the entire image on my DVD.  That was frightening, recording a painting from start to finish, but the sense of accomplishment from doing so was immeasurable.

I could go on and say something about each one of the Totems and commissions I’ve done and picking a favorite is impossible.  My usual answer is that my favorite painting is the one I’ve just finished, because it often represents my best work to date.  So today, my favorite is Mocha, the horse commission I completed this week.  Next week, it’ll likely be the Penguin Totem.

Thanks again for the questions, Mike.  For anybody else that has any, please feel free to ask, preferably on my Facebook page, so I can do another entry like this, or so the answer can be shared with somebody who might be wondering the same thing.

Cheers,

Patrick