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SMeptember ctober 2017 ay/June /O 2019
ForAll AllFine FineArt ArtCollectors Collector For Celebrating 32 Years
Morgan Weistling
The Joy of Storytelling By Vicki Stavig
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othing gets Morgan Weistling’s adrenalin going like telling a story. And, oh, the stories he tells. Focusing on pioneer life in the late 1800s, Weistling’s epic scenes depict the men, women, and children in everyday situations, as they settled the West. Much like a movie director, he carefully stages his characters in scenes that transport time. Through his skillful use of color and light, he leads viewers from one face to another, from one object to another, encouraging them to stop along the way and savor the story. “I’ve always loved storytellers; I liked art that told stories,” Weistling says, adding that it was storytelling art—from comics to illustrations of the golden age rather than contemporary abstract modernist paintings—that drew him to become an artist. “As I became more aware of art, I was drawn to the art of illustrators who told stories, like N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle. I learned, hey, you can communicate an idea, a story, through a painting. When I was trying to become an illustrator, I studied them to learn how to tell a story.” ART of the WEST • May/June 2019
Opposite - The Laundry Helpers, oil, 26˝ by 30˝
Above - Flower Crowns, oil, 24˝ by 30˝
“When I am asked why I paint this time period, it is paintings like this that can help illustrate my answer. Pioneers of the American West were not soft. Their kids were not staring at screens for hours on end. I get great satisfaction from seeing any child learn responsibility and doing their part to help their families, and this painting was inspired by that thought.”
“With flowers drying above and fresh flowers before her, this artisan adds the final touch of ribbons to the crown in her hands. Shafts of sunlight invade the space of this interior and illuminates this moment frozen in time.”
And learn he did. But, before he began to appreciate and study illustrators and their work, Weistling began to draw, doing so when he was just 12 months old, sitting on his father’s lap and copying the characters the elder Weistling drew. In fact, he can vividly—almost physically—recall the feel of his father’s whiskers brushing against the back of his neck as he did so. Weistling comes by his talent somewhat naturally; his mother and father met while in art school. Although neither went on to art as a career, his father put his drawing skills to work during World War II, while he was in a German prison camp and drew comic strips to help lift the morale of his fellow prisoners. Weistling’s mother also had an artistic impact on him, as he was growing up, setting him up to do his first oil painting and enrolling him in art classes. By the time he was 12, Weistling was completing all of the assignments in his father’s Famous Art School books, even though by that time the school no longer existed. At 15, when he was a high school sophomore, he began
a three-year study program with noted illustrator Fred Fixler at the Brandes Art Institute in Reseda, California. “Fred taught me how to teach myself,” he says. “He taught me to analyze paintings and to get more out of a painting I was studying.” Fixler also, he adds, taught him how to use light and tone to tell the story of the form, stressing that great draftsmanship is the foundation of all great art. At 19, Weistling began his career as an illustrator, a step that would serve him well later on, when he turned to fine art. “I spent 14 years as an illustrator,” he says. “When I look back on it, it was a continuation of my art school. I was recruited right out of school. The art directors were very kind and saw my potential. They patiently taught me picture making and design, which I had really not gotten in school. It was an ongoing process of learning. They taught me the process, and then I had to be self-motivated and do the work. I feel God put me in that place to continue to learn what I needed to know. “If I hadn’t worked as an illustrator, I probably would not be tackling these large paintings. Putting them May/June 2019 • ART of the WEST
Lupine Hill, oil, 30˝ by 26˝ “Spring brings all manner of riches with color that adorns the hills nearby. These sisters are making their way down the hill with their picks of violet treasures. I was struck by the swath of sunlight behind them as it backlit them as they descended into the shadows of the late afternoon. I wanted to capture this beauty of God’s creation that only graces us for a short time in the year so that it could be enjoyed always.”
ART of the WEST • May/June 2019
In Her World, oil, 22˝ by 32˝ “This painting was inspired by all the great authors I grew up reading. I remember that wondrous time of being transported to other worlds and exciting adventures wherever I happened to be, as long as I had a book with me. I now see my youngest daughter carry a book wherever we go, and it makes me so happy to know she is exercising her imagination daily with her books. So this is my ode to the reader in all of us.”
together is daunting. I had to learn to put a lot of elements together and design them. Art school is good for the basics, but in a normal art school you’ll never learn to paint what I’m doing. When I come up with an idea now, I’m not overwhelmed.” The challenges Weistling faced—and met—as an illustrator prepared him well for the paintings he is doing today. During that career, he worked with all the major movie studios on projects that included “Last Action Hero,” “True Lies,” and “Police Academy,” as well as many “amazing B movies that no one has ever heard of,” he says with a laugh. He also did illustrations for toys, video games, book covers, and collectables. The lessons Weistling learned were many, and he shares one of them, during our visit. When an art director gave him an assignment that included a motorcycle engulfed in flames, Weistling told him, “I don’t have a motorcycle that’s on fire,” he recalls. “He said, ‘Go out and get it.’ I went to a junkyard and found a crashed
motorcycle, bought it, brought it to my mom’s house, and set it on fire. That was what I had to do to get the realism.” Today, Weistling continues to go to great lengths in creating the scenes that have earned him several prestigious awards. In 2001, he became the youngest artist ever to win the Prix de West Award at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum—and went on to win it again in 2008. He also has earned several awards at the Masters of the American West show, including the Patrons’ Choice Award in 2011, the Patrons’ Choice and Artists’ Choice awards in 2013, and the Purchase Award in 2014. While staging one painting, he had 26 people dancing in his studio, while for another that space was filled with 14 children—and their parents. For the latter painting, he says he started out painting each child separately but, because he needed to see their interaction with each other in order to establish relationships between them, he brought them all in at once. Weistling clearly has a special fondness for the children he paints, fascinated by every aspect of their beings, but also takes great pleasure in sharing with us the weathered faces of early pioneers. No matter what he is depicting, however, his use of light is a priority, masterfully placed to illuminate the people and objects in each scene. May/June 2019 • ART of the WEST
The Law, oil, 16˝ by 12˝ “My respect and admiration for the peace officers of this country comes with this portrait of a frontier lawman. Face cast in shadow, he stands before us representing one of the men who have served and protected our society since its beginnings. When new towns were started in the West, one of the first things they needed was someone like this fellow to uphold the law.”
Just as he appreciates the advice he’s been given along the way, Weistling has advice—but only when asked— for young up-and-coming artists. “Don’t copy other artists; be unique,” he says. “Everyone is always looking for someone who has something new to say. It’s always refreshing to see new artists, to see through their eyes what is exciting for them. Be unique, and people will find you; it will happen.” Painting has become a family affair for the Weistlings, whose California home now includes three studios: one for him; one for his wife, JoAnn, who paints under the last name Peralta, in honor of her grandmother and who earlier this year became the first female artist to win the Masters of the American West Artists’ Choice Award; ART of the WEST • May/June 2019
and one for his 23-year-old daughter Brittany. “JoAnn’s studio is in a barn in the backyard area, mine is on the front of the house, attached to the garage, and Brittany has a room in the house dedicated as her studio,” he says. Younger daughter, Sienna, 12, also is a budding artist. The Weistling family often paints together, happily heading to nearby beaches to do so. “We’re almost like the Von Trapp family,” he says. “We pull up and, while everyone else is pulling out coolers, we’re pulling out easels.” Weisteling’s infectious laughter gives voice to his delightful sense of humor, which he often infuses into the characters and stories in his paintings. And he is so much
Eureka, oil, 16˝ by 22˝ “’Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! ‘Bright and yellow, hard and cold, ‘Molten, graven, hammered and rolled, ‘Heavy to get and light to hold . . . .’ —Tom Hood. I put real 24 carat gold on the nugget he is holding in the paint while still wet.”
more than an award-winning artist. He’s an archer, who at one time had dreams of participating in the Olympics in Beijing. “That was a passion that was really heavy back then,” he says, “and then life set it. I just wasn’t able to train enough, but I still do archery for fun.” He also has competed in rifle shooting competitions. And he has studied 14th Century German long-sword fencing. “I fight with guys with a big, broad, doubleedged sword,” he says. “I recently quit, because I felt it wasn’t in my best interest to have my hands hit by swords. But, if the Huns ever show up in my area, I know how to fight them off.” A highlight for Weistling last year was the publication of his book “A Brush With History,” which includes reproductions of almost 200 of his paintings. In the foreword to that book award-winning artist Howard Terpning describes Weistling’s work as “simple stories told in an elegant fashion.” They are indeed.
Photo by David Crane
Vicki Stavig is editor of Art of the West. May/June 2019 • ART of the WEST