The Path of the Artist: My Teachers

I think there has always been something romanticized about the path of an artist. We create worlds, we delight imaginations and bring to light concepts that seem infinitely difficult to conceptualize. It all seems so glorious as long as you ignore the difficulties and dangers along the path.

In school growing up I was always "doodling during class." I always had difficulties concentrating and had an immense amount of energy. This activity was something the staff silently conceded to, as drawing quietly was the best concession they made for me. I stayed out of trouble, and they hoped that I was absorbing something. The public forum I was creating in meant that everyone knew that I was an artist. So I had, from as early as middle school, my identity reduced to an occupation, an occupation that I would often fight tooth and nail for many years after.

An extremely old drawing done on graph paper.

It didn't start like that however; my parents thought my talent should be kindled and had me train at an early age with a local fine artist Mrs. Shepherd. A lot of what I learned from her wasn't how to "draw better" rather it was a way of looking at things. Two lessons of hers stand out: The first was about trees, she asked me one day, "What color do you think trees are?" I thought I knew the answer and replied "Brown." She went on to tell me that it wasn't that simple, that they may seem "brown" but that trees were made up of a variety of colors, and that I had to look closely. She then had my draw a tree and color with just the primaries with water color pencils-I drew but saw a colorful mess, that is til' I swathed over it with some water, and the image came alive. With her guidance I was able to make grey green trees, brown trees, and the variety of colors mixed brought the image more alive because of the texture of the colors intermingling. Imagining the world made up of small bits and colors was mystical as a child.

Her second lesson was more concise: we were at an art exhibit together and she asked which painting I enjoyed the most, I told her, and she questioned, "Why?" Her next words won me a certain admiration and respect, "realism is not what makes art great." Those words reminded me at the time of Yoda's words to Luke, "War does not make one great," and reflecting back it is amazing what we think qualifies something for greatness, and how important that seems to be.

I stopped attending classes with her after getting abducted by aliens, and become a cold introverted child. It was only years later that I came out of my shell a bit. I began attending art lessons with a friend and my second teacher, Joe Tomasini, wasn't as philosophical as my last. He believed that it was only through practice and discipline that a person would improve. However, trying to have two 13 year old boys concentrate and practice and do art homework as well as their regular curriculum was as difficult as trying to rub a cats belly, all we were interested in was talking about girls.

The lesson I learned from him was more cynical and grounding. Tomasini was the original creator of Gargoyles! The show came out a year after he presented artwork and storylines to Disney, work I was privileged to see and was astonished in the similarities, Goliath especially seemed ripped directly from his concepts-it was appalling that even
without tweaking any details they could blatantly steal his concept and still win. Win they did however, as after three years and being drained dry by attorneys the judge ruled in favor of Disney. Ideas are valuable and it is sometimes it is in poor judgement to trust someone with them.

During the time I attended lessons a mothers friend of a friend happened to know Dan Jurgans, who has worked with various comic book companies throughout the years. It was the mid-nineties and he was a rising star in the industry. They were able to get me a chance to talk to him on the phone I was hopeful excited and naively idealistic that I would soon be a true comic book artist. He told me that to succeed in the industry I had to be able to draw everything at every angle and be able to do it well--He also mentioned that even if I was able to do that there are hundreds if not thousands of capable artists and getting a job would be even more difficult. He mentioned how even if I was able to get a job succeeding in it was a whole other story, as the 90s were rife with companies struggling, floundering, and going bankrupt, finally he left me with a "Well, goodbye, and good luck."

I realized that this path was not going to be an easy one, and I wish I could say I pushed ahead in spite of overwhelming odds, but I think that's just a phrase used in films and stories. I think that people who push forward no matter the odds are those who have either no literal or psychological other way they can go. They push on in spite of the corpses of those who have tried before, not because they feel they are brave or better able, but because in their core they feel they have no other choice.

SirGryphon is just a guy who doodles. Doodle a lot and it may get you somewhere, as for him he doodles for Gryphon Knights Comics a collective rife with artists and outcasts trying to push forward because they don't see another way to go. You can help them along the way by becoming a patron!