BUT FIRST, HOW I SPELL "VINDICATION"

Once every blue moon, I receive a letter in which I am showered with scathing reprimand about my deciding to airbrush some of the more "exposed" poses, or because the images in Virtual Pose ® 3 are lower resolution than it successors.

Never mind how many times I explain that we had to take certain measures to insure that Virtual Pose ® (VP) would find its way to the bookshelves of all the (real) bookstores, or that we were pushing the limits of what the cameras and computers of the day could do! Some artists still do not "get it."

So, if you just joined us, please know that the reason VP3 was (and still is) sold, out in the open, in "real bookstores," is because — back then — we followed certain conventions that were the norm for books that fit the category of "Visual Reference Books." Namely, things such as making sure the poses did not look very suggestive to the censors who would have banned it the minute they would have seen "too much exposed."

But really, do the VP3 images need to be larger than how they appear on the computer screen — or bigger than what a real life-drawing model seems to the naked eye?

From experience, and judging by how many copies of VP3 are still sold and what I personally witnessed when we projected even smaller poses during the pre-VP3 era during a MAC WORLD San Francisco week-long life drawing event (sponsored by The Art Institute and Corel Corporation ), the issue is a moot one. As you can see in this image, the participants had no trouble drawing from an image that was projected far away from them. In fact, it was as if they were in a real life drawing studio, with a real model.

And to quote our featured artist who is renowned for his landscapes, wildlife, western and figurative painting. :

"How much detail does one see in a life class?"

Just recently, I received a very nice letter from this 83 young (and counting!) Montana master who had recently discovered Virtual Pose 3 on his way to painting nude figures again, some "60 years later." Soon enough, my private collection of images would boast several of his VP3-inspired real, large-format paintings.

 

And before I tell you a little bit about this man whose idea of "circling the neighborhood" is viewing it from well over 6,000 feet in his ultra-light — a word of caution: he just might be the kind of successful artist you might love to hate!

So, how do I spell vindication?


"PAUL KRAPF"

At 17, Paul Krapf goes into the Navy — at the tail end of World War II— and serves for 13 months at an air base in Florida. Of course, had he gone into the Air Force, he might have served on a ship...

Anyway, being one to love painting in oils since the age of 10,  he attends the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. 

His aspiration?  Work as a commercial artist after graduation. 

And as "luck" would have it, that never happened. 

Now, to the casual observer, the all-too-familiar-scenario of not finding his first choice of vocations — which forced him to put his drawing board skills to work in a position as an electrical draftsman — might have spelt doom for his lofty dreams. 

But guess what? Soon enough, he would evolve into an electrical designer and eventually land a "good" job with NASA —  in Cleveland, Ohio — where, not only he was happy, but he would somehow manage to keep sharpening his skills as a fine artist in his "spare time."

Also, did I forget to mention he also managed to have a real family life with real wife Fonda and real six children?

Perhaps those rumors about NASA developing a time-machine were true... 

Anyway, fast-forward to 1980, the year "The Empire Strikes Back" is released, when everyone asked "who shot J.R.?," and my personal favorite — aside from the birth of "Pacman" — 7-11 introduced the "Big Gulp."   

Is it any wonder that with all excitement going on, and at the age of 53, Paul makes a huge leap of faith: He leaves his "cushy job" at NASA to strike out on his own as a full-time professional artist. I suppose, he figured, that by then, his parents would have definitely quit wondering what ever did he do for a living. 

By now, the children were nearly all grown up and Paul had been sculpting and selling bronzes for a couple of years and his pencil drawings, pen and inks, watercolors and oil paintings also were beginning to attract notice. 

And if all that was not enough, Paul's good fortune gave him enough confidence that he and his Fonda purchased a parcel of land in Montana where they built their dream house.

And so by the summer of 1981, they had the shell of their house in place. Paul painted every day while Fonda worked at a secretarial job "to keep bread on the table," as Paul tells the story.  

One thing lead to another and Jack Von Eschen — who owned Von Eschen Galleries in Boulder, Colorado — promotes his work.  Jack and Paul would do an ad in Wildlife Art News — a painting of two coyotes in the snow called "Trackers" — which caused Mill Pond to be interested in publishing prints from his Paul's originals. Later, Dominion China, a Canada producer of collectibles plates, commissions him to do a series of wildlife plates.

According to legend: "Good things were happening. But the dream was not yet complete."

In 1989, after having worked with Mill Pond for a number of years, Paul and Fonda bid the latter goodbye and create their own publishing entity. Fonda quits her job to run the business, and they would eventually publish 24 editions of his images. 

The rest is history. And what a history: Paul would go on to create no less than 500 paintings.

To view Paul's work up-close, I invite you to visit blurb.com as well as his official web site.

Process-wise, Paul shoots pictures then creates paintings. Hence, if you've never found yourself face to face with a wolf or a bear (typically a good thing), not to worry as Paul's paintings will put there. And if you have an eye that appreciates the interplay of lighting, his work is sure to be a feast. And if you have a penchant for the spiritual, even better, as there is some mystical quality to his work that words could never describe. He certainly doesn't think he deserves the credit. 

Paul says: "Artists are called 'creative,' but I don't really think the word quite fits. To me, God is the only true creator. We are interpreters, arrangers, expressers of impressions we've gotten from what we've observed. We can't take anything out of our brain that hasn't been put in."

That might just well be the case and I am personally very honored and touched to see such an "arranger, interpreter, expresser" finds inspiration in my labor of love, Virtual Pose. 

As for Fonda, sadly, she passed away February 2006. She and Paul had 53 "great years" together.

And in her loving memory Paul would tell me: "I would not be where I am had not God given me such a wonderful Lady."

Mario Henri Chakkour, AIA