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Photo Reference

In a blog entry from November, I wrote about the need for photo reference when it comes to my Totem paintings.  In the interest of keeping this blog entry from becoming lengthy, you can follow this link and read it, if you’d like more information on that.

While I usually get photo reference from photographer friends and colleagues, I’ve recently realized that I need to start developing some photography skills so that I can start gathering my own.  I have a decent digital SLR camera, a Nikon D60, and while it is by no means a professional rig, it’s enough for what I need it for.  The only lens I have is the one it came with, and I’m beginning to see that I’m going to eventually need a zoom lens in order to get the close detail shots, if the photos are going to be of any use to me.  Even in a zoo, the subject of the shot is going to need to be pretty close.

I happened to look out my office window this morning and saw this handsome fellow sitting on the fence making those wonderfully articulate sounds that ravens make.  Even though I’ve already painted a raven, there’s nothing to say I won’t paint another in the future, and you can never have enough reference.  I was able to get a LOT closer than I thought I would.  I would estimate that of the 20 or so shots that I took, the last one was from only about three feet away before he took flight.  He really didn’t seem all that concerned.

Photography is an elusive art form for me, and while I like taking photos, I’ve got enough talented and skilled photographer friends that I know the very large difference between real photography and the point-and-shoot method.  I’ve gotten to a point that I need to do more of the former and less of the latter. Fortunately, I belong to a vast community of talented creatives through the NAPP organization that I can go to for advice and resources.  I also believe that I’ll be taking some more photography classes at Photoshop World this year.

My true love is painting and illustration, so I have no desire to become a professional photographer, and I know that I will still rely on purchasing photo reference from professional wildlife photographers to get the detailed photo reference I need to bring my paintings to life.  I would, however, like to bring my photography up to ‘skilled amateur’ level, in order to make my paintings even better.  I’ve often spoken about the need for artists to continue to grow, and I think this is something that will help me do that.

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And the winners are…

Ground Squirrel TotemOver the past month, I’ve been offering up a weekly prize on my Facebook page, a contest with the rather unimaginative name, Monty’s Month of May Giveaway. While there are almost 300 people who currently ‘Like’ that page, there were about 40-60 that entered the contest each week, including a number of friends and even a few family members.  This is why I had to have an impartial person make the draw each week.  I have to tell you, it was a lot of fun for me and I really want to thank those who participated.  I’ll definitely be doing this again.

The winners and their prize choices for each week were as follows…

Week 1: JAKE KODAK, small Grizzly print

Week 2: DANA McKAY, small Wolf print

Week 3: TONY DRUMM, large wolf print

Week 4: PAT WENDT, large ground squirrel print

BONUS: KEVIN LEBLANC, training dvd

Some of the comments over the month made me laugh out loud, as did the very feeble tongue-in-cheek attempts to bribe or coerce me.  My totem paintings are the most enjoyable work I’ve done to date and it’s flattering that so many of you wanted a print. In a perfect world, I would have given a print to everyone who entered, but I’m just not that wealthy…yet.

The questions I asked over the four weeks gave me food for thought.  Week 1 gave me a little insight into what you do to be creative, and as I said on the Facebook page, I agree that cooking is definitely a creative pursuit.  I’ve watched my wife experiment in the kitchen and she’s come up with some wonderful dishes with her own personal flair.  Cooking and baking is definitely NOT a skill or talent I possess, so I have a lot of respect for those who do.  I would encourage everyone to make time to be creative.  Try those artistic pursuits you might have been afraid to and just do it for the fun of it.  Nobody has to know but you.

In week 2, I wanted to know what your favorite cartoon character was, and I was surprised to see a few I’d never heard of, so I looked them up, and received a little education.  As for the rest of those listed, it was like a taking a walk through my Saturday morning childhood and I really enjoyed that.  Incidentally, Wile E. Coyote has always been my favorite.  You have to respect somebody who never gives up, no matter what life (or a Warner Brothers writer) throws at him.  I’m a big fan of Looney Tunes.

Week 3 asked you for your favorite movie character, and I love that so many of you seem to like movies as much as I do.  I must confess, however, to being shocked that nobody listed Carl Spackler from Caddyshack as their favorite movie character.  “Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort?”

And finally, in Week 4, I asked which wild animal you’d like to me to paint.  Some of the animals you mentioned are already on my list, such as a beaver, sea otter, fox and cougar.  Others were welcome additions to my current list, especially the bison.  I even went as far as looking at some reference photos for that one after it was suggested, as I think that fur would be an interesting challenge.

One thing is clear, many of you want to see an African series, and I assure you, I’ll eventually get to it.  Lion, giraffe, cheetah, lemur, gorilla,…it’s a big list.  I agree with my friend Gudrun who suggested the hippo.  That leathery skin would be a challenge, and I’d like to give that a go.   Looks like I’ll be going on safari in the future, or spending more time at the Calgary Zoo.

Finally, I was able to give a DVD away to another cartoonist, and I hope that perhaps some of the things I’ve learned will contribute to his development,  just as other artists continue to contribute to my own.

Once again, thanks to all who participated.  I quite enjoyed giving these items away.  For those who didn’t win this month, thanks for being such good sports about it.  Hopefully you still had a little fun, and there’s always next time.

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Monty’s Month of May Giveaway – FINAL WEEK!

For the final week of my giveaway, I am giving away a copy of my training DVD, Cartoon Illustration Techniques in Photoshop! This is the first DVD that I’ve done for PhotoshopCAFE, and a $49.99 value!

Now, I realize that not everybody who follows my work uses Photoshop or has any interest in being an artist, so while this is a prize some people will want, it’s not one that everybody will want.  With that in mind, I’m offering a choice!

If you have no need of the DVD, I am repeating LAST week’s prize as the alternate, a 16″X20″ matted paper print of your choice from the ones I have available in my online store. That’s the BIG print!  You can choose the Moose, Wolf, Ground Squirrel or Grizzly Totem.

All you have to do is go to my Cartoon Ink Facebook page, click on Like (if you aren’t already following that page), find the FINAL WEEK post (look for the image of my DVD)  that asks you to comment, follow the instructions, and you are entered!

You have until Thursday, May 26th at midnight MST (that’s MOUNTAIN time), and I will announce a winner on Friday!  I’ll find an impartial person to pick a random number that will correspond to the list of entries.  GOOD LUCK!

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About Canada Gallery and Gifts

For just over a year now, my limited edition giclée canvas prints in my Totem series have been available at Editions Gallery in Banff.  I’ve recently realized that the relationship wasn’t a good fit, so we’ve gone our separate ways.  Fortunately, I found another venue in Banff that I feel will better represent my work.  About Canada Gallery and Gifts is located on the 100 block of Banff Avenue, a prime location for tourist traffic.  The owners were very receptive and I appreciate their taking a chance on my paintings and prints.  I’m optimistic that this could be a great summer for my work.  As in everything in the world of art (and tourism), time will tell.

I’m very pleased that my prints continue to be available in Canmore through Two Wolves Trading Company.  That’s a great venue and location, and hopefully I’ll have a long relationship with the owners and staff.  While it may not seem important to some, I place a high value on the people I work with.  If I like them and trust them, everything else can be worked out, and I’m happy to say that the folks at Two Wolves fit both of those criteria.  I just enjoy walking in there, because I’m always greeted with a smile and it’s a fun place.  I like that these people are representing my work, and am grateful they felt it worthy of taking up valuable retail space on their walls.

That trust goes both ways as well.  If somebody in Canmore wants to buy my prints, they have to go through Two Wolves.  The same goes for Banff and About Canada Gallery and Gifts.  I will often get people that try to get a deal by contacting me directly, figuring it will be cheaper.  If you’re an artist selling prints through a gallery or retail outlet, you will do a lot of damage to your reputation and your overall career by ‘back of the truck’ sales.  What goes around will definitely come back around.  Put your reputation first, and the rest of your career will be built on that foundation.

So if you happen to be in Banff and would like to see my work up close and personal, please stop into About Canada Gallery and Gifts! And if you’re in Canmore, please visit the good folks at Two Wolves Trading Company.  There’s always a chance you might even run into me there.

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Monty’s Month of May Giveaway – WEEK THREE

This week, I am giving away a 16″X20″ matted paper print of your choice from the ones I have available in my online store. That’s the BIG print!  You can choose the Moose, Wolf, Ground Squirrel or Grizzly Totem.

This print is an $80.00 value, and yes, shipping is included, no matter where you live!  All you have to do is go to my Cartoon Ink Facebook page, click on Like (if you aren’t already following that page), find the WEEK THREE post (look for the Wolf)  that asks you to comment, follow the instructions, and you are entered!

You have until Thursday, May 19th at midnight MST (that’s MOUNTAIN time), and I will announce a winner on Friday!  I’ll find an impartial person to pick a random number that will correspond to the list of entries.  GOOD LUCK!

This week, I am giving away an 11″X14″ matted paper print of either the Moose Totem or Wolf Totem.   If you are the winner, it is your choice.  Both of these paintings won Guru Awards at Photoshop World 2010 in Las Vegas.  The Moose won for the Illustration Category and the Wolf won for Best in Show.This print is a $44.00 value, and yes, shipping is included, no matter where you live!  All you have to do is go to my Cartoon Ink Facebook page, click on Like (if you aren’t already following that page), find the WEEK TWO post (look for the Moose)  that asks you to comment, follow the instructions, and you are entered!

You have until Thursday, May 12th at midnight MST (that’s MOUNTAIN time), and I will announce a winner on Friday!  I’ll find an impartial person to pick a random number that will correspond to the list of entries.  GOOD LUCK!

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Monty’s Month of May Giveaway – WEEK TWO

This week, I am giving away an 11″X14″ matted paper print of either the Moose Totem or Wolf Totem.   If you are the winner, it is your choice.  Both of these paintings won Guru Awards at Photoshop World 2010 in Las Vegas.  The Moose won for the Illustration Category and the Wolf won for Best in Show.

This print is a $44.00 value, and yes, shipping is included, no matter where you live!  All you have to do is go to my Cartoon Ink Facebook page, click on Like (if you aren’t already following that page), find the WEEK TWO post (look for the Moose)  that asks you to comment, follow the instructions, and you are entered!

You have until Thursday, May 12th at midnight MST (that’s MOUNTAIN time), and I will announce a winner on Friday!  I’ll find an impartial person to pick a random number that will correspond to the list of entries.  GOOD LUCK!

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Tangled

My wife and I watched the Disney film ‘Tangled’ again last night.  I bought this DVD before I’d even seen it which was rare for me, but there was something in the trailers that told me that even if the story was weak, the artwork would be worth it.  I wasn’t disappointed in either.  I posted on Facebook that ‘this artwork makes me high,’ and I wasn’t kidding.  There’s something about cartoons with a lot of life in them that just gets me excited.  While Disney may not do it for everybody, and I’m not a huge fan of every one of their movies, this style makes me want to be a better artist.  It makes me hungry to sit down and draw.

No matter what creative avenue you’re strolling down, if the scenery isn’t doing it for you anymore, and you’re bored, find something that will reignite that old passion and put a spring in your step.  I have a few go-to books and movies that do it for me.  Tangled is now added to that library.

I’ll often get people asking me if I want to animate, and the answer is a flat out ‘No.’  A number of years ago, when the general consensus seemed to be that Flash animation was the next step in editorial cartooning, I did create a weekly animated editorial cartoon called ‘Beaver Fever.’  Sort of a Rick Mercer/Jon Stewart wanna-be cartoon beaver with guests and commentary, that sort of thing.  A lot of people liked it, including some big media outlets in Canada, but nobody wanted to pay what it would take to keep me doing it, so I scuttled that ship.  I didn’t enjoy the work.  It felt tedious and mechanical.

Knowing what you want to do is essential in any career, but equally important is knowing what you do not want to to do.  I do NOT want to be an animator.

But I love movies.  I mean, I REALLY love movies.  I’m not obsessed with them, by any means, but I can watch some movies over and over again.  Tangled will be one of those.  I would love to work designing characters for movies one of these days.  Not full-time or anything, just a commission once in awhile.  It would be great to see some animal I created brought to life on the big screen.  That’s one of those things I regularly throw out there into the ether, because it seems to have worked well for a lot of other dreams that have become reality in my career.

Never underestimate the power of passion.  Glen Keane has worked on some of the best animated movies out there, often as Supervising Animator.  I’m talking about Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and of course, Tangled.  There are many others of course.  Those who followed the comic strip, Family Circus, as I did growing up, will be interested to know that Glen is the son of cartoonist Bil Keane, and was the model for the character Billy in that strip.

While I have known and admired Glen’s work for years,  I am most in awe of an artist who has been working in the field for as long as he has, a man who has done and seen it all in the world of animation, and yet still has that passion in his voice for his craft.  You can tell he is still excited to be doing what he’s doing.  Watch this video and you can see it.  Listen to how he talks about this character.  To Glen, she is real, she has life, and most importantly, she has passion.

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And your little dog, too!

I’m working on my next DVD for PhotoshopCAFE! This time, I’ll be teaching the brush and composition techniques I use for painting animals.  Even though MY paintings of animals have a whimsical and caricature quality to them, I realize that not everybody is into that style.  So for this DVD, in order to appeal to a wider audience, I’ll be painting a more traditional looking animal portrait.  The painting techniques are exactly the same, but without the cartoon and exaggerated features evident in the animals in my Totem wildlife series.

Meet Don Diego, a wonderful little fella who belongs to Scott and Pat Wendt, the owners of Bluestem Books in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Pat is a good friend of mine and she is a very talented photographer.   Anybody who knows Pat and Scott knows Don Diego, and from the first time I saw him, I wanted to paint him.  Fortunately, Pat has graciously allowed me to use Don Diego’s likeness for this DVD, and I’m thrilled about it.

Now, this photo you see here, taken by Pat Wendt,  is not the one I’ll be using for the DVD.  Pat provided me with a great reference photo to use, and I’ll reveal that in the DVD itself.  Unlike many other Photoshop painting DVD’s on the market, this is not going to teach you to ‘photo-paint,’ which involves manipulating or painting over a photo.  Everything I paint begins with a blank canvas in Photoshop and no photo is ever part of the finished painting.  I’ve been accused of photo manipulation in the past, and while that’s sort of a compliment (even though the accusation is never meant as one), I’m looking forward to showing a complete painting from start to finish, to finally put that to rest.  But you still need a good reference photo to work from (or a VERY patient pup), and that’s where Pat’s skills as a photographer come in, not to mention a handsome little subject like Don Diego.

Because of the length of time it takes to complete these paintings, much of the DVD playback will be at an increased speed, with my narration.  Trust me, you’d get bored of watching 15-20 hours of painting.  But the crucial steps will all be in real time.  I’m pleased with the DVD I recorded on cartooning, but I’m REALLY looking forward to this one on painting.  This is the work that excites me as an artist, and I’m hoping it comes through on the DVD.

 

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A DVD in the hand

My DVD’s arrived in the mail this week, some of my promotional copies from PhotoshopCAFE.

While it seems like quite awhile ago that I finished the challenging task of recording my first training DVD, it really hasn’t been that long at all.  At the time I was working on this project, it felt like a monstrous undertaking.  In retrospect, I wouldn’t change the experience, because I can now look back on it with a great sense of accomplishment.  Holding the finished product in my hand is made all that much sweeter because of the difficulty and stress I went through recording it.  Many times during the process, I thought to myself, “there is no way I’m going to finish this, and if I do, it’s going to be an incoherent mess.”

I’m now working on my second DVD for PhotoshopCAFE, and while it will still be a challenge,  I find myself without any of the anxiety I felt while working on the first one.  Without challenges forcing you to step out of your routine, there is no growth.  Even though I already knew that, it would appear that I need to be reminded of it once in awhile.  This DVD did just that, and I’m grateful for the lesson.

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Monty’s Month of May Giveaway – WEEK ONE

Ground Squirrel TotemThis week, I am giving away an 11″X14″ matted paper print of either the Ground Squirrel Totem OR the Grizzly Bear Totem.   If you are the winner, it is your choice.  This is a $44.00 value, and yes, shipping is included, no matter where you live on the planet!   Sorry, offworlders!  All you have to do is go to my Cartoon Ink Facebook page, click on Like (if you aren’t already following that page), find the recent post that asks you to comment, follow the instructions, and you are entered!

You have until Thursday, May 5th at midnight MST (that’s MOUNTAIN time), and I will announce a winner on Friday!  As mentioned in a previous post, I know a number of people on that page personally, so I’ll find an impartial person to pick a random number that will correspond to the list of entries.  They will only be allowed to see the list after they’ve picked a number.

GOOD LUCK!