2009 Golden Nosey Interview
Editor and Art Director Debbie “debbo” Burmeister gets a little “Nosey” with our latest (2009) Caricaturist of the Year, Golden Nosey Winner, Glenn Ferguson.
 Intro page to the article | |
| Author | Debbie "debbo" Burmeister |
|---|---|
| Subject | Glenn Ferguson, Golden Nosey Award, ISCAcon18 |
| Published | EF Issue 2010.1 |
Publication date | Winter 2010 |
| Website |
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Article Transcript
Hi Glenn, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me. Hopefully you have recuperated from the convention in Sandusky, OH.
Yes, although it’s been a whirlwind since I’ve been back, from park life to doing freelance projects, the whole thing is still sinking in.
So how do you keep busy during the week?
Well, as most of you know, I work out in Universal Studios in Orlando, and I spend a great deal of my life there. I draw live every day along with handling the unglamourous stuff like fixing air compressors and scrubbing off tables covered in paint. I still find it very fulfilling even after all these years...every drawing is brand new and like an audition....Unlike a gig, every new customer I get has never seen me before, never seen my work before and even today I got asked, “You any good?” It hasn’t
happened yet, but I am still waiting for my first reject after being
named Caricaturist of the Year. I still have to draw some cutesy
drawings, still have to please the general public, and still have
to work with lots of other artists, so real life is very humbling after the high of drawing to my heart’s content at the convention.
I also do lots of freelance work...usually small jobs like gift
caricatures, logo designs, concept drawings, and gigs as well.
However, I do now feel slightly more confident charging a little
more now since the convention. Thankfully, most of these clientele are reaching me through my website, not strolling through
the park and stumbling upon me and my drawing table, so they
know what they can expect from me.
I still draw and sketch for myself every day, and I really cherish
the times I can draw and paint simply for myself or my portfolio,
even though sometimes that is few and far between. But I also
feel it’s more than necessary for anyone who wants to grow and
get better, including myself.
Sounds like you keep yourself quite occupied. I know you spend a lot of time airbrushing, especially at the park. Though it seems that it is your medium of choice, have you started experimenting with any new media?
Wow, I’m really glad you asked that. Yes, it’s no secret that airbrushing is my strength. I use it every day. I still feel like I have
lots to learn about airbrushing, but I’m slowly putting it down to
work with other media. I’ve done a few Photoshop pieces and
I’m really embracing digital media more and more. I’m working
more with markers and I’ve just gotten a nice watercolor setup
that I’m driven to embrace. I also plan on getting messy with
oils and acrylics throughout this year as well as doing lots of
solid pencil work. I see working with lots of other media as a
kind of cross-training for the artist, and only improving your abilities across the board the more you understand. Even though
I’ve always been an airbrush guy, especially when the convention is concerned, I didn’t ever want to put down my strength
(airbrush) and experiment with an unfamiliar or not as confident
medium and risk not putting on the best show I could. Ironically,
I also never want to be pigeon-holed as a one-trick pony unable
to work with any other medium. That being said, don’t be at all
surprised if I make my debut master wall presentation without
any airbrushed pieces.
It’s good to see that you are constantly stretching out of your comfort zone and learning new things. Tell us a little about your art/caricature background. You know the old question “Did you go to school for this?”
I would love to say that I have a master’s degree from some
esteemed art school, but my art training comes from humble
beginnings. I had a couple year’s of college art classes, but
I felt that what I took away from there makes up 2% of what
I’ve learned and developed until now. I’ve worked for Fasen
Arts for 17 years now, and in the early years the critiques
and lessons came hard and sometimes borderline crushing. But they made me a better artist and forced me to learn.
I constantly kept thinking in my head, “If I’m as bad as I
feel like they are telling me, they’ll eventually fire me, but
until then I’ll keep trying and getting back on that horse”. It
worked, but I was bad...really. My first year doing caricatures
was just embarrassing. I might have fired myself if the roles
were reversed back then. I am not one of those artists that
just seemed to be talented their whole lives. I’ve managed
to do what I have simply by refusing to give up. With every
drawing I learn something, making me eager to draw the
next one. The people I draw are sometimes brutally honest...
if they don’t like it, they’ll tell you. It forces you to learn from
your mistakes. It also forces you to be real good at reading
and understanding people, not just drawing well. I love when
people laugh and howl with happiness when they see their
drawing. That’s something they don’t teach in art school.
It’s always great to hear that hard work and determination do pay off. What do you do to improve your skills? Are there any websites or publications you would recommend?
I learn any way that I can...the world is a classroom. There is so much stuff available online that you can learn from that wasn’t there 10 years ago. I feel anyone driven enough or determined enough can make giant strides in their artistic growth. This organization has such an incredible wealth of artists willing to share their techniques and abilities that it’s almost hard not to pick up something just by visiting the forum or even better, attending a convention. I still however, seek out workshops or classes or groups that get together in the name of achieving a higher level. I plan on attending another Dru Blair airbrush workshop this year and who knows what else. For me personally though, I learn so much from studying other artist’s work. I love analyzing them and trying to discover how they engineered that work of art. When inspired enough I take that energy back to the drawing table and trial and error it until I get it right. Patience and work ethic are two qualities that come naturally to me, so those mixed together with determination to learn something usually yields success, even in small doses.
Now back to the reason of this interview: Your winning The Golden Nosey. That is quite an impressive display of Noseys that you have there. I believe you may be the record-holder for most noseys won by a single person! Can you give us a brief run down of your NCN/ISCA awards (Noseys) from past years?
Haha! Yes, I have managed to grow quite a collection. I have been so graciously blessed with 33 awards in the past 7 years. I’ve received 3 Guest of Honor awards which I cherish as much as my Noseys which I have 3 bronzes, 2 silver, and a gold. My awards table and wall have become a bit ridiculous, but I have them arranged in a nice bowling pin formation.
When did you win your first Nosey? Do you remember how it felt?
2004...The year Steve Brodner, of whom I am a giant fan, came to the convention. By this time I felt confident in my abilities to possibly be a top 10 artist, but not necessarily a Nosey winner. After the 4th place was called and I was still sitting down, my heart started pounding as I realized I could possibly be taking home one of the precious metals. Still on the high of just being awarded the Guest of Honor award from Steve Brodner, I thought this is just too good to be true. Then I thought...unless I was 11th, or 12th...and then Dion called my name. Thinking back now, it felt similar to the way Gold felt now. I was elated. Full of more pride than a new father. Roger hugged me and said “Your Mom (who passed away two months before) would be proud”.
It must have been frustrating to be so close to the gold
for so long. Did you start to develop a strategy to win the
gold? If so when? How? Did it have something to do with
using more hair products (haha)?
Frustrated is a bit of a strong word. I’ve never forgotten that it’s
the sincerity and generosity of the members voting for me that
put me where I am today. Yes, I created the artwork, but it’s
the members that voted for me. I have a pretty healthy attitude
about it, I get to come to the conventions, do what I absolutely
love to do, watch friends and admired colleagues do the same,
and they recognize you and reward you for it. To me it’s almost
like being rewarded for eating pizza; who doesn’t love eating
pizza? These members and friends challenged me and inspired
me to become a better artist....I have been winning the Gold Nosey for not just one year, but for six years. The years that
previous masters won before me? They deserved it 100%. Jason Seiler, Kage Nakanishi, Chris Rommell, Court Jones, Roger
Hurtado...they are all brilliant and deserved to win ahead of me
when they did. It would have felt uncomfortable if they hadn’t.
This amazing group has been watching my growth and voting
for me each year. I had a feeling someday my time would come;
I knew to enjoy the ride.
As far as a strategy? Work as hard and as good as you want
to be. I always knew this, the rewards will come, but not only
at the convention, but in life, work as hard as you want to be
good. I drew and painted as long as I could tolerate, then a tiny
bit more. I thought about planning out what and who I wanted
to draw, but it never worked out. Last year’s “creation of Adam”
painting idea came to me while I was sleeping during the convention, and I hoped and prayed for such an enlightenment this
year, instead Fred Harper looked like a lion to me. I know I just
wanted to do clean, solid, funny drawings that my likenesses
were dead on and that my wall “popped” from any point in the
room. I felt these were strong key elements to focus on. I know
my work wasn’t the funniest, or most exaggerated, or most
uniquely colored, but together all my pieces work well to create
a strong wall that would be a contender, like Voltron.
Also, how was it being on the board and competing at the
same time? How many years have you been on the board?
At one time, I felt it would be an impossibility. Especially since it
was going on for so long (being both on the board and coming so close to the gold). I’ve been on the board for 5 years. I
have worked with some amazing people, but none so gracious,
understanding, hard working, and patient as Robert. I really owe
him a huge Thanks. The whole Board really, but knowing my
situation with competing for the Nosey, Robert worked with me
so that together we could run a successful convention and still
give me room and time to compete. It was not only challenging, but somewhat stressful. I had to be two Glenns...the artist,
and the VP. No one has ever won while being on the board and
I thought I was going to have to give up one to make the other
one work. It makes my win even sweeter.
And now that you have won your last Nosey, what was that like? Were you prepared? Did you expect it? This has been a storybook for me. An absolute dream and fantasy. I couldn’t have written it better if I had tried. To win 3, 2, and finally 1, and being the first year of ISCA couldn’t be any more perfect. Only 17 other people know what this feels like, and for me, I couldn’t be happier. It’s nice when you can pinpoint your life and say, “This is one of the happiest moments in my life”. Three or four years ago I imagined it might possibly be a reality, but I never really “prepared” or even expected it. I did know that I wanted my artwork to keep growing and getting better and I wanted to be proud of my work. No matter what I won. I never wanted to think I didn’t give 100%. I did know that if and when my time would come, I’d be pretty emotional, and well, I was, but you can imagine after 6 years most anyone would feel the same. As Robert described it, “It’s like you’ve been pregnant for six years and you finally birthed that thing!”
Where can we get a transcript of your acceptance speech?
(just kidding :))
Hehe! Yes, my speech. [my girlfriend] JoAnn has played it in my house dozens of times. I didn’t want to sound so cheesy as preparing a speech, and I especially didn’t want to pull out a piece of paper. I just wanted to speak from my heart, be sincere, thank the hundreds of people I feel have played a part in this, and most importantly thank JoAnn. I have to live with her, you know. I didn’t mean to get all choked up and squishy, but hey, win a Gold Nosey and you earn that right.
Many of us go for the learning experience, with the awards being an added bonus of the convention, more than the goal. But for those in hopes of taking home a win, do you offer any advice?
I go for the learning experience along the way too, But I go also to prove to myself what I can create and accomplish. I’m not a fan of having the goal of winning awards, because its a democratic vote which is out of your control. You’ll just disappoint yourself. Members can vote for whomever they choose, it isn’t like a footrace or a strength competition, but if you are interested in winning, I would say have a winning attitude.
1. Find out what your good at or are more inclined to be your best at.
2. Work your hiney off at that and learn as much as you can along the way about doing that thing better. 3. Make your wall stand out by either being colorful, or full of contrast, or having a great design, or whatever you choose. But also think of it as marketing...you have a product you want to sell to the members, how will you not only make your product stand out from everyone else’s product, but convince members to buy your product (vote for you)? This way of thinking worked for me.
There was a lot of strict competition out there. Are there any artists/ works that really stand out in your mind from this past convention? If so, why?
Where do I begin? I watched Yuta slowly put his work up piece by piece and I began to think, he’s gonna come ahead of me. Then I looked at Taka’s work, whose work I love, then Tomo’s work whose always funny and well done...actually, most of the Japanese artists just blow me away and I felt from the beginning it was going to be a struggle to beat them. Jeremy Townsend’s work also captures true caricature to me as well...caricature was originally meant to ridicule in a funny or entertaining way and Jeremy has never disappointed in that aspect. He’s a force to be reckoned with.
So now that you have achieved the top award, what next? Not just at the convention, but in your career as an artist: What are your plans for the future?
Well first and foremost is constant improvement and non-stop learning. I thankfully have some role models and examples of people to look up to and follow in their footsteps, but I do plan on doing more publication illustration, expanding my freelance and furthering my marketing abilities into doing more gig, gift and custom caricature work. However, in the more immediate future I’m writing, drawing, and putting together a caricature textbook, something that is useful for everyone, but more on that later...
Born in Texas in 1973, Glenn fell in love with drawing at a very early age. He couldn’t play sports, couldn’t talk to girls, didn’t even socialize that well, but he loved to draw. He knew very early on he wanted to be an artist not only for a living, but for the rest of his life. He attended some college, learned very little, but then joined Fasen Arts in 1993. Through persistence, dedication, practice, and a healthy work ethic, he became a better and better artist. He now manages the caricature operations in Universal Studios in Orlando, FL still under Fasen Arts, does freelance gigs, gift caricatures, illustrations, logo designs, and lots of other artistic endeavors. He still can’t play sports or talk to girls, but he lives with his girlfriend, JoAnn in Orlando and works out in the park and in his home studio. You can see lots of his work and what he’s up to at www.glennfergusonarts.com
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