Monday Inspiration: Pascal Campion

I've been very busy working on sketches for several projects. Although I love what I do, the mundane existance of sitting at my computer day after day grows tiring. To keep myself from going totally bananas, I like to listen to interviews with other artists. A great source is Schoolism. Although most of the artist that are interviewed are animators, rather than picturebook artists, their interviews are so inspiring and translate to any field of creativity. One of the common themes that runs through all the interviews is the dedication and hard work that successful artists put into their careers. It does not happen overnight. It is hours and hours, day after day of hard work that makes an artist who he is.

Today I stumbled on Pascal Campion on the Facebook newsfeed. I'm sort of embarrassed that I don't know anything about  him as he has a huge international following and lives right here in San Francisco. He is all about drawing everyday and pulling from your emotions to tell a story. Here is a link to a beautiful film about him on Vimeo.

Campion is a French-american illustrator and animator, working for Dreamworks, Disney TV, PBS, to name a few. He believes that art and talent is not something that you are magically given at birth. The art of drawing is purely mechanical. The more you practice the better you get. (There is that theme again..) There is no secret involved, no formulas, no crutch. If you want to become an artist...DRAW!

You can find more about Pascal on his website. Especially his store....there are at least 100 prints for sale!