If you don’t count Wes purring in my face at 4:30 in the morning, I’m the first one up. I feed all the pets and sit down to drink my coffee and read a little news on my ipad. Two minutes later, chaos ensues. It’s never the same chaos. But it’s chaos nonetheless.
Every night I complete “sloppy copy” gesture sketches for the orders that I have in my queue for the following day. That way, I can spend the next day drawing, instead of trying to figure out what I’m
going to draw.
My favorite colors are Blue and Orange. I began drawing dogs almost five years ago when I set up at an arts and crafts fes- tival. I was drawing caricatures of peo- ple, like I normally would, when a couple approached me and asked me to draw their three poodles. I had never been particularly good at draw- ing animals, but I agreed to do it. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the challenge; the anatomy, the fur, the sizes and expressions. As I was finishing up the sketch, I noticed a line forming of people with their dogs waiting to get a sketch. I haven’t looked back since. I didn’t realize there was a dog industry until I started drawing them. And then to find so many different ways for people to enjoy their pets - from agility, obedience and conforma- tion to dock-diving and rescue events, and bring-your-dog-to- the-park types of events. Then, as I started researching the canine world, I became obsessed with the differences
from
one dog to the next. I’m fascinated by the diversity of life on this planet to begin with. But
inside this one species,
the diversity from breed to breed. And then all of the variations within each breed. It’s mind boggling.
If I could meet one artist, dead or alive, the obvious answer would be Salvador Dali. But, Gary Larson (The Far Side cartoonist) would be more fun. His entire goal with each car- toon is to make himself laugh.
LaFreesim: The theory, practice, principle and belief that one can attain awesomeness simply by attempting awesomeness.
My wife Jessica is the only person who has ever inspired me. It’s an empathic relationship. I feel what she feels and nobody ever wants to feel down. The more I’m able to fill her up, the better I feel. She has encour- aged me to do what I
want to be doing. Because if I’m happy, she’s happy. She challenged me to fig- ure out what I would be doing if I could do anything. Turns out, the crazy answer was, “I want to draw dogs.” Never saw that coming.
What is the one thing about myself that even my closest friends probably don’t know? Every year, on the first day of the NFL Draft, I sit down with a glass of wine and stick my feet out onto the ottoman,
and let my daughter paint my toenails. It’s a tradition.
To view more of John’s work visit his website,
JohnLaFree.com. He has also created and sells a line of t-shirts from his Movie Poster series. If you’re lucky enough, you may also find him doing guest appearances at dog events across Florida. Email John at
JohnLeFree@gmail.com U
www.TheNewBarker.com Winter ~ 2014/15 THE NEW BARKER 61
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