Kaleb Schad

Essay On Man

By Kaleb Schad

Mystery

By Kaleb Schad

Tell us about your artwork.

My artwork does what I try to do with a lot of my life - mash together two seemingly separate ideas. In this case, I love taking my natural media illustration skills (drawing, charcoal, watercolor) and bringing that into the computer and enhancing it with traditional graphic design and visual communications philosophies. I'm an art director by profession, so the use of typography and design has always been with me. And I'm an illustrator by genetics, I guess, as I've always been drawing and probably always will. So bringing those two parts of my life into harmony is a constant goal of mine. I'm not there yet - I see a lot of flaws in my work - but I'm working at it.

Where do you get your inspirations and ideas from?

To be honest - a lot of my inspiration comes from the figures themselves. I'll find a surprisingly powerful image or an idea of the shape of a woman will strike me and I'll illustrate that. Then, as I'm working, music going and really lost in the trance of it all, I'll obviously have feelings about what I'm creating. Those feelings inform my decision on text or quotes, then. For example, there was something about that illustration of the woman's mouth in "Sorrow" that seemed really sad. It isn't the cliché frown or pout, but while I was drawing it I felt really sad. The quote from John Keats, one of my all time favorite poets, seemed just right for it.
The pieces always start with the drawing, though, never the quote or the texture.

How is art apart of your life?




As I said, I'm an art director for an advertising agency, so art literally is my life. I know there is a lot of poo-poo out there about commercial art, but I couldn't disagree with those people more. Art is a tool for communicating. End of story. If that means communicating the latest benefit of a local college or communicating the beauty of sunset painted in oils, it is still communicating.

That said, the rewards, emotionally, of creating a fine art piece that I then offer as prints on Etsy compared to my daily work are dramatically different. Some of that, I'm sure, is the fact that in my fine art, I am the final say on when it's "done." I get to create the art I want to see, not what some committee wants to approve. So my fine art is definitely a release for me. And a bigger challenge. I find it hard to consistently hit the mark with my fine art. That's why I have so few pieces for display. Most of my crap ends up where it belongs - the garbage.

Where can we find your artwork to view and purchase?

If you want to buy prints, I use www.kalebschad.etsy.com as my online presence. If you want to view my commercial work alongside my fine art illustration, I do have a personal portfolio site at www.kalebschad.com.

Are you working on any pieces or projects currently?

I've found a lot of weaknesses in my illustrations that I want to hone in on. Obviously, Michaelangelo is one of the all time masters of drawing and painting, so I've begun copying his work, to be honest. I'm slowly working through his sketches and reproducing them to see where he placed his marks and why. You realize just what a master of proportion and natural posing, he was and why people have been impressed by him for centuries - not weeks.

Would you like to share any thoughts or wisdom for your fellow artists?

Boy, if I had any I would. I guess I just enjoy checking out as much art as I can. Every style has something that can illuminate a problem you see within yourself. I read in the journal Science that it takes 10 years of dedicated, challenging practice to become a master at anything. The key is in the dedication (practice, practice, practice) and challenge. Hard practice leads to better results than just doing over something you can already do. This is so after-school-special to say, but, "if you're not failing, you're not learning."

-Nostalgic Studio is now presenting artists to advocate the adored and talented.

Please take a look at Kaleb Schad, a tremendously talented artist who immediately caught my eye!