From Oil City
to a rock 'n' roll stalwart like Tom Petty, then to the sacred vistas of
Walt Disney characters and back to Oil City again.
That's only
scraping the surface of Pittsburgh-based artist and illustrator Phil
Wilson's impressively trod career.
He graduated
from Oil City High School in 1966. During the weekend, he returned to the
turf that gave birth to his artistic roots to size up hundreds of pieces
of art created by amateurs and professionals who also hail from the Oil
Region.
Wilson is
July's featured artist at the Transit Fine Arts Gallery in downtown Oil
City, and he judged the Oil Heritage Art Show and accompanying children's
art show Saturday. Those events take place at the National Transit
Building and at Trinity United Methodist Church on the North Side through
Sunday's close of the Oil Heritage Festival.
"This is a
nice outlet for anybody who sort of has a creative leaning like that,"
Wilson said. "This is a small town and your options are sort of limited on
a professional level. The shows are a nice way to see work that could lead
to commercial jobs or just to getting exposure."
He put some
of the work featured in Oil City's show smack next to the caliber one
would expect to find in larger cities - including Pittsburgh.
"The quality
is relatively high, and it's comparable to any other town. There's some
really, really good and some middle of the road stuff. I've been impressed
by some of the things I've seen up there and I'm looking forward to
judging the show," Wilson said last week from his Pittsburgh studio.
As co-owner
of an animation studio, Wilson created award-winning animation for two
30-minute television specials, a hit music video for Tom Petty,
commercials and feature films.
On the
illustration end, Wilson has done 56 children's books as well as video and
DVD box art, more than 80 collector plates, magazine article
illustrations, posters, book covers and even a dinosaur monopoly game.
His major
clients include the Walt Disney Co., Time-Warner, the Bradford Exchange,
Golden Books, Intervisual Books, Goodtime Home Video, National Geographic,
Travelodge Inns, Wild Outdoor World Magazine, Harper-Collins Books,
VH1/Viacom, Heinz and Publications International.
He's worked
in virtually all media, but his media of choice is generally watercolor or
acrylic, applying traditional techniques as well as airbrush.
His working
style ranges from photo-realism to cartoon including various styles in
between. He has garnered numerous awards for his work in both film and
illustration, and has been inducted into two halls of fame. Wilson
specializes in classic Disney character art and scientifically accurate
dinosaur illustration.
This year
marks the first time the Oil City Arts Council and the Oil Heritage
Festival have hosted a children's art show. Drawing from his successes and
the support he received years ago as a young artist, Wilson believes the
show is part of a hearty esteem recipe that budding artists need.
"I think a
lot of people have the wrong concept about art in general," Wilson said.
"Lots of times, people are discouraged by their family, by their friends
and even by their teachers. They're told they can't possibly make a living
in art."
Wilson's
you-can-get-there-from-here career would prove otherwise. He's been making
a living "doing art" going on 40 years.
"I think that
having an art show like this gives kids a little bit of encouragement, and
it gives them a pat on the back if they do well. I think it goes a long
way toward giving kids that extra push they need," he said.
It's a
similar encouragement that drove Wilson from a basic pen-and-ink doodler
to the exquisitely refined artist he is today. For that, he credits his
late high school art teacher, Bill Applequist.
"There
weren't as many outlets then like there are now," the 58-year-old Wilson
said. "There were no art shows or an art gallery in town. When I was
growing up, there didn't seem to be much of anything. He got me a job
doing murals in the children's ward at the old hospital in the Heights."
Generations
saw Wilson's artistic handiwork in the hospital's old sun room or activity
room where he painted fairy tale pictures. In high school, he lent
caricature drawings of teachers to his high school yearbook and then did
backdrops for school plays.
"I know when
I was in high school, he encouraged me to try different kinds of media,"
Wilson continued. "I started out doing basic pen and ink, then I started
playing with water colors and he showed me some ways to do things. I
always told him he taught me everything I know. He said, 'No, I taught you
everything I know.' "
"I still have
to give him credit for being the biggest support and influence on me," he
said.
"I've been
very, very fortunate," he added, speaking of his long run as a working
artist. "It involves a lot of luck and being at the right place at the
right time. I've been very fortunate at being there when the time was
right."
Wilson's work
is on view in the Transit Fine Arts Galley, 206 Seneca St., through the
end of the month. A sampling of some of his work also is available on the
Internet at http://www.pittsburghillustrators.org/portfolios/wilson/index.htm#.