MARTIN FREGEAU

In the Studio

Time-lapse of the painting process

Excerpt from the Studio Journal

Reflections and notes from the creative process

« I first became interested in painting as a teenager. My art teacher, perhaps sensing some hidden potential (or simply a student in need of direction), suggested to my mother that she enroll me in painting classes. She enthusiastically recommended Sister Rachel Bonin of the Dominican Missionary Adorers.

And so began my training in drawing. I was not allowed to pick up a paintbrush until I had endured eighteen months of painstaking drawing exercises under the watchful—and fearsomely critical—eye of the good sister. Needless to say, I was not yet free to choose my own subjects: they were assigned, scrutinized, and corrected with almost monastic rigor.

In short, my early experience of painting was somewhat frustrating, and I eventually gave it up.

Many years later, quite unexpectedly, painting found its way back into my life. At the insistence of my younger son, I started drawing manga characters for him to color. My young patron’s commissions soon became increasingly demanding, both technically and narratively. He was particularly impressed by a sketch of Tanjiro drawn according to his very precise instructions: “Tanjiro jumping into the flames, sword held aloft.” The verdict was enthusiastic approval—and an immediate commission for a “big, full-color” version.

Strangely enough, after all these years, whenever I paint today, I can still hear Sister Rachel’s voice echoing in my head, sometimes in a tone that brings the Inquisition to mind: “Are your vanishing lines correct? Is your perspective right? Do your values match what you see? Does anything look wrong to your eye?”

Apparently, some lessons never fade… and perhaps that is not such a bad thing.