This particular project was on the prompt list from Gallery1988 for their upcoming shows, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure what or how I was going to address it. The Gallery’s premise was to hold a tribute to John Candy showcasing work based on his whimsically charming films. Apparently, Candy’s family is a huge supporter of the gallery, so this specific exhibit was to honor both them, and the actor’s memory.
I grew up watching so many of Candy’s films and was incredibly heartbroken when he passed. This made choosing just one of his projects to focus on was going to be incredibly difficult. I was unsure of what to make, but I also didn’t want to ruminate on it too much so, I went through my media devices, and watched a couple of his movies, most of which I had seen. I also wanted to see if there was anything within the films that resonated with me deeply enough to inspire a concept or idea. I had already done two (barely), artworks based on his portfolio already. I ‘cleverly’ inserted ‘The Great Outdoors’, into a background for a piece that was in a show called ‘Memes’. I don’t think it sold, and I also don’t think anyone got the reference. LOL.
The second piece I did was for Gallery1988’s ‘Quest for Fun’ show dedicated to National Lampoon’s ‘Vacation’ franchise. Albeit, Candy did not appear in either pieces, he was in both films…so….basically those were off the table for me.
After a few failed attempts at creating something for ‘Delirious’, and unable to find a copy of ‘Nothing But Trouble’ (which I felt was going to be heavily represented), I ended up settling on ‘Canadian Bacon’, Candy’s last film (to be released).
First off I can’t believe I had never seen this film, and second, I had no idea famous documentarian Michael Moore wrote/directed it. It was incredibly funny in some of the most clever ways possible, and the entire story is absolutely absurd. The cast is also top notch with frontrunner John Candy, accompanied by Alan Alda, Rhea Perlman, Kevin Pollak, Rip Torn, Kevin J. O’Connor, and Bill Nunn. I won’t spoil the story, but it basically involves America going to war with Canada, and it all starts with a minor altercation at a hockey game. Candy really delivers in this film especially when you take into context that he is Canadian himself.
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| My initial sketch for 'Delirious' which just didn't pan out. |
The concept I did come up with really only worked for this film, and I also wanted to try something different. In this piece I found one scene to be a discernable turning point, and the delivery (by Candy), made me laugh so hard that I had to watch it over again a few times. It was also the scene that spoke most to me from the film, I’m not sure why. In the scene, Niagra County Sheriff Bud Boomer (Candy), and his friends attend a hockey game across the border in Canada. It is here that they unintentionally insult the nation as a whole, and I’ll leave it at that, however once you see the piece it’s pretty self-explanatory.
Having settled on a rough concept I sought out my reference imagery, and rewatched the film a few times. I then began to sketch out my concept in Procreate on my iPad (Pro), using the Peppermint ‘Sketching’ brush. It took a while to capture the essence of the image, and even then, I wasn’t too sure how it was going to read in the end. Upon completing the initial drawing, I already knew I wanted to frame it inside the maple leaf symbol from Canada’s official flag. This worked out well, due to the very limited palette required for this image. Candy’s character was even wearing the patriotic colors needed to blend into the background making this a natural fit.
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| Final sketch of Candy with some typography for context. |
I then sketched out the leaf and imported the drawing into Adobe Illustrator to get the ‘clean’ edge and symmetrical shape I desired. I then took the shape back into Procreate as a PNG and dropped it into my original file. I then proceeded to digitally paint Candy, taking care not to go overboard with detail, and making some guesses on other parts that I just could not get proper reference for (like that damned ring).
Upon completing the color application, the piece looked…empty, or….unfinished?
I determined it needed context. While yes, I thought the image was hilarious, I got the reference immediately because well I made it, others might be a bit…perplexed.
I thought that maybe I could add some text, or quotes from this scene in the background, keeping them light to not detract too much from the main attraction, but also adding something interesting to look at.
I then went back to the film, and documented some quotes that made me laugh from this scene, which would give it the proper context needed. I chose a font (Cooper Black), rather quickly that I felt matched the image, and context. I then set about arrangiong the words from the quote in different ways, adjusting their various features to fill in the space. While my expertise in Illustrator is limited in some ways, I do know what the program is capable of. I originally was going to do a shape filled with text, however, I could not figure out how to do what I wanted, nor was I sure of how to articulate it. Basically I had created the leaf already, and was attempted to eliminate that shape from the interior of a larger square. While it worked, when I went to apply text inside the shape, the text would ignore the exclusion as if it didn’t exist.
It was very frustrating.
I then decided to simply arrange the words by hand, which took some time, but I feel it turned out nicely.
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| Final full color image with various quotes from the film 'Canadian Bacon'. |
With some empty spaces remaining, I took the text into Procreate, and added it to the existing image layers. I then created a new layer, in which I added some details to the text to make it more interesting to read. I had to edit the text a few times, but finally settled on the final layout you see now.
I started the piece directly after finishing my ‘Location Scout’ image on February 18th, 2024, and took a hiatus for a few weeks to work on other projects, finally finishing it on March 25th, 2024. I spent most of my time on this piece in Procreate spending approximately forty (40) hours, and forty-six (46) minutes, sketching, and painting the image. I spent an additional eight (8) hours, and eleven (11) minutes, in Adobe Illustrate designing various components (the maple leaf), and editing text. There was some work done in Adobe Photoshop as well, but it was more limited to adjusting the layout, and there were no edits made on the image itself (enhancements or color adjustments), which for me is very rare.
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| Final 10" X 10" image on 100lb Cover. |
The 10” x 10” image (printed on 100lb Cover, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s ‘Larger Than Life: A Tribute to John Candy’, a group show dedicated to the beloved comedian of film and television which opened May 17th, 2024. At this time the prints are exclusively available via the gallery and limited to a run of thrity (30), so please check their website for all remaining works related to the show including mine.
For more information, or to see a catalog of my other work, please visit my online store here.
You can also find me on various social media platforms below doing a multitude of other artistic things that include hand lettering, and the occasional sculpting, crafting or painting.
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