An Okotoks high school student with an eye for what is interesting in everyday life is gaining momentum as an artist.
While many kids doodle here and there in the margins of their schoolwork, 17-year-old Kurtis Molvik is taking a much more serious approach to turning his knack for illustration into a career.
“I have been drawing all my life,” he said. “Since like five and six years old and as far back as I can remember. I’ve always been the best one at drawing in my class over the years, but I have gotten better by practicing up to where I am now.”
With a look reminiscent of some political cartoons, most of Molvik’s work features caricatures of human figures whose appearance is exaggerated in some way.
“I call it a kind of an abstract urban realism,” he said of his art style. “I make people look kind of real but at the same time a little distorted and urbanized.”
The Grade 12 student at the Alberta High School of Fine Arts (AHSFA) previously sold some pieces at a Market Square outdoor event in downtown Okotoks and is likely to do so again. He ’s also launched his own web site (www.kmoart.webs.com) to promote his pieces, which often start with simple observation.
“I get inspiration either from other artists or just the things around me,” he said. “There may be a person on the street I might see. I like the way they look so I kind of make a character out of them. I make up my own stuff. I never copy.”
Generally, the young artist’s subjects are his takes on everyday people but he’s starting to experiment with tackling celebrities as well. He recently completed an image of the late pop star Michael Jackson.
Molvik said he plans to keep expanding his portfolio as he readies himself for the next steps on his artistic voyage.
“I am applying to go to the art college in Calgary ACAD (Alberta College of Art and Design) after school,” he said. “Then after that I hope to get a career maybe with someone like Disney or with my own company.”
Janie Zwack, his AHSFA art teacher, is convinced Molvik already has the drive to excel wherever his talents take him.
“I was really taken aback this September when he brought a bunch of images in,” she explained. “He’d been busy over the summer. He’s a voracious and prolific artist. He’s really intrinsically motivated. He just has to make art.”
For a couple of years Zwack has enjoyed watching Molvik make the most of the creative opportunities.
“In terms of the maturity of his artwork he has really grown a lot,” the art instructor said. “I think a lot of that is due to the freedom he has within our fine arts school. Having less regimented and structured conditions and parameters for him as a student has allowed him to explore his own direction and discipline.”
Molvik has taken the time to study the works of other artists. While he greatly respects the highly detailed wildlife painting of Canada’s Robert Bateman, it is contemporary New York artist Justin Bua he most admires.
“He does similar sort of stuff to what I do,” Molvik said of Bua’s urbanized style. “Of course he’s a little more experienced with it. I take inspiration off of him. I like his stuff.”
Learning from the creative achievements of others is an important step for a burgeoning artist, but just as important is being ready to put an image down on paper when inspiration strikes.
It’s something Molvik is almost always prepared to do.
“I always carry a sketch book around with me at school and wherever and whenever I can,” he said.
