Pascal Campion

 
I've been wanting to do a post on one of my favorite artists, Pascal Campion, since I started this blog. (My list of 'Favorite Artists' is by no means complete, since I've really only been exploring the art world in earnest since March or so - but still he's one of my favorite that I've come across.) I thought today would be a good day to do it since I listened to his interview on the Sidebar podcast during my run this morning.

Here's the video that first introduced me to his work.


Inspirational Artists: Pascal Campion from Onyx Cinema, Inc. on Vimeo.

This video really inspired me the first time I saw it, and I have since signed up for his sketch-a-day emails. It's extremely pleasant to wake up and open your email and see a colorful, delightful slice-of-life drawing among all the spam and work messages.

His drawings aren't epic, nor are they technically masterful, but I love them for that reason. They're little moments that make you remember that life is composed of these little day-to-day experiences that slip by you if you're not careful.

 

[I wish I knew how to format these so they were side-by-side... gotta pick up some tips from Kelly soon!!]

I love that he stresses storytelling in drawing. "It's not about how well you draw, it's what you say with your art." My CDA teacher (professor?) Peter Han said something similar about the redesign projects that we have to do this week - almost that it didn't even matter what you came up with as long as you had a good reason for drawing it. This is something I've been learning over time too, and it applies to every creative medium. When I was younger, I was determined to be an artist. That sort of evolved over time into writing, which turned into screenwriting in college, which then turned into editing. But the common thread that all of these art forms share is that storytelling is key. You want your story or your script or your TV show or your movie to intrigue the viewer - to open a window on a world, invite them to explore. To make them feel something. And it's exactly the same with art.

You can find more of Pascal's work and buy sketches of his prints on his website. And, as noted, his Sketch-a-Day Blog is amazing; definitely worth checking out.