We were lucky to catch up with Mike Reynolds recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I believe that some folks are born with natural talent, I also believe that I am not one of those folks, however I can distinctly remember most of my notebooks in school were riddled with doodles, drawings, and sketches. Although always driven in creative arts, I didn’t start taking a serious approach to my journey as an artist until COVID-19 lockdowns came into full swing in early 2020. I saw a FaceBook post that said something to the effect of “If you don’t come out of this lockdown with a new skill, you’ve wasted a valuable opportunity”. I was introduced to a Marine – now friend – who was a Combat Artist for the Marine Corps and it piqued my interest and drove me to bust the rust off a sketch book. I’ve since studied several different methods for the creation of derivative artwork and have enjoyed learning new techniques.

Looking back, I would have taken a much deeper dive into observational art – specifically drawing from life – sooner. I don’t know that it would have sped up the process of learning, but I absolutely believe it would have complimented the skills I was learning at the time.

As with any new skill, balancing time has been the most challenging aspect. My priorities have been to put family first – and as an active duty Marine, finding balance between the two is already challenging. Adding ‘aspiring artist’ to the resume compounds the challenges.

I think it’s also extremely important to understand that being an artist is a journey, and even the masters improved with every piece they created.

Mike, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a husband, father, Marine, and aspiring artist. I attended Temple University in Philadelphia after graduating high school in 2001 with aspirations to become a pharmacist. I was a terrible college student with a lackluster attendance rate, but one course I was drawn to (no pun intended) was Observational Art, I attended every class. When the attacks of 9/11 occurred, my attention was directed to answer the clarion call and enlist in the United States Marine Corps. Throughout the last 20 years of service, I’ve been the ‘Art Guy” who designed unit shirts and swag – but never took art serious beyond these medial tasks.

Throughout my career as a Marine, I’ve focused on multiple hobbies and activities – I built a motorcycle then I got into competing in triathlons then I started running marathons, then I ran an ultra-marathon, then I discovered a love for surfing (although I’m not very good!), then I found a knack for creating art to help tell the Marine Corps’ story. I’ve built a small following on social media – and have met such an incredible community in doing so.

After posting a few drawings on my FaceBook page, I had a family member reach out and ask if I could draw her friend who had passed away. I was honored to do the drawing and was taken back by the story she told me about when she presented that to her friends’ parents – it was then I realized that I had the capability to help tell a story – visually. It was significant to me.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Perhaps elementary, but ‘unlearning’ how to draw begins first with learning how to see. ‘The hand draws what the eye sees’ is a mantra I have to repeat to myself sometimes. When drawing a person, I can’t focus on drawing an arm, or a leg, or a torso, rather i have to draw big shapes and shadows, and take into consideration the preservation of negative space. It is the matter of drawing what your eye sees opposed to what your brain interprets what your eye sees – removing that interpretation is something I’ve had to unlearn.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Regardless if your ‘following’ is 100 people or 100k, you’ve got to remain patient and humble. I didn’t initially intend to sell art when I began posting on social media, In fact, i just wanted a place to serve as a historical repository of my work. The more I posted, the more feedback I received from friends. I had uncovered incredible artists – some with HUGE followings – and some with extreme talent with almost no following. I felt obligated to share the smaller artists’ artwork and credit them – they’re extremely talented!

For the fun of it, I created a TikTok account and made a few videos with no expectations. I used that platform to tell the stories of a few Marines that I had drawn – the feed back i recieved was astonishing, and I began telling the stories of the heroism expressed by our Marines. I had a few videos go ‘viral’, and almost overnight gained nearly 100k followers.

Moreover I learned that the only person I can compare myself to is who I was yesterday. There is no competition, and whatever you decide to advertise yourself as on social media should be authentic.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fortymikemikeart.com
• Instagram: Forty_Mike_Mike_Art
• Other: TikTok: Forty_Mike_Mike

Image Credits
DiveHelmet – WatermansWarehouse

Suggest a Story: CanvasRebel is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.