Hello, bonjour, 你好

My name is Shane and I love to observe. I love every creature that inhabits this planet, although one creature makes it challenging to do so (I'm looking at you Humanity). Since I was a child I've been immersed in the world around me, an ant was enough to occupy my whole day. Ponds for me were a universe for exploration, if there was a fish in that pond -it was as if I had discovered a dinosaur. I could draw since I was very young, I wanted to be an artist since way back then. But like most youthful lads, I wanted to avoid the hard part, I thought photography would be a shortcut. I became an apprentice photographer in 1985. I ended up doing all the behind the scenes grunt work. I even retouched photos by hand, fixative, and pencil. This taught me, there are no shortcuts in the pursuance of art.

So.. I started drawing again and rediscovered the gift that had begun to elude me.
Better late than never.

My Approach to Art

I discovered my fuller potential as an artist by freeing my hand from reality. I will get to that in a moment. Let me rewind a little, I loved to observe and I excelled in elementary and high school art. I took it seriously and wished I was quicker to grasp the lessons being taught. I knew I had a touch of the gift in Grade 8, as I started surpassing the schools grading, with marks like A++ on my projects. Art history also intrigued me.

In school we were taught to observe and draw what we see. This is a wonderful method to teach but sometimes it constrains us. It was years that I persisted in trying to draw or paint exactly what I was seeing. I left my sketchbook and started oil painting without any courses in 1990. I struggled to accomplish my vision. At some point I bought a large sketchbook with the intent to complete every drawing I began. This was the first step into achieving my true style. The next step was a comment on my paintings from an obnoxious uncle, "It's good, but it's clichéd". I was ticked but that comment in 2004 set a fire under me.

I continued my attempts to paint, however, the work that fed us, takes up the lion's share of time. The problem with painting is: it is very time consuming by nature. Setting up takes an hour, painting takes the time it takes, cleaning up paint takes another hour. Whereas - drawing - requires you to gather a pencil, eraser, ink pen, and sketchbook - minutes. In order to continue doing art and eating, Illustrating became the solution. The last instrumental change came when I started what I call 'Pen to Paper' (some would call it 'spontaneous drawing'). I put my pen on the paper and just start drawing. Sometimes I get random beauties (Bog's Edge, Caterpillar Juice, Follow the Leader, Georgina and the Bee), other times I have a whisper of an idea that materializes into exactly what I envision (Girl and Goldfish, Cephalopod in a Glass, Elephant at Café).

When I begin a drawing I begin without visual references. For instance, The Elephant at the Café: I drew the form, his articulation and composition from memory. Then the technical details: does an elephant have a tail, and what does it look like? So I hunt for a reference. How many toenails does it have... reference. etc.

This method allows me freedom to explore more of what I envision in my mind. It frees me up from doing the work of a researcher or a camera. It brings me joy to explore the adventure of creativity, to explore the worlds and minds these characters inhabit. I want to share my adventure with all of you.

Contact

If you are interested in a commission or collaboration drop a line to our email address: info@theartegg.ca