A Man Called Nicholas

When Roger Foster first approached me, asking if I would be interested in illustrating his project, I was totally shocked. In a good way, but shocked nonetheless. Allow me to explain.

First a bit about me:- I have been naturally artistic from a very young age. Drawing characters from story books and comics long before pre-school. I continued to develop my talent throughout my schooling years, but once I left college and commenced my corporate career, I put it further down my personal priority list, and all but neglected it.

Then something wonderful happened to me, fatherhood. And my rigid goal setting practice changed to include ‘illustrate a story’ that I can read to my children. That goal stayed on the list for around 15 years, while I continued the career focus.

About 2 years prior to Roger’s email, I had begun to draw and paint again, largely thanks to my supportive wife. I built a personal gallery website www.alleycatsgarden.com and set about filling it with interesting images. I was trying my hand at many different things. My site contains a variety of topics including Landscapes, Sporting personalities, Popular Rock musicians, Celebrity portraits and some Children’s book illustration ideas.

The image that caught Roger’s attention was a tribute portrait I did of a great man; Sir Edmund Hillary, the conqueror of Mt. Everest. This is where I add the fact that I am a New Zealander, which is on the other side of the globe from Vermont USA. The image was a montage of Mt. Everest looking bitterly cold and foreboding and a lean, hardy man facing the harsh conditions. In hindsight, I can see why that image inspired Roger to make the initial contact. I’m so pleased he did.

It took Roger and I many months of rebounding ideas and concepts across the equator to accurately capture the essence of his tale. The merger of two creative minds, trying to see through one pair of eyes was a challenge, but once we reached that point of mutual understanding, the floodgates opened.

Roger’s ability to paint a picture and generate emotion with his words was astounding and I needed more than one box of tissues to get through the project. I felt not only challenged, but I was ‘batting out of my league’ when I read the entire work. This story lifted my artistic ability to another level and I have grown as a person from the experience.

My family all read the story as I worked on it and watched with interest and delight as the characters left my mind and emerged on my sketch pad. It was not uncommon during that period for me to tell one of the children or my wife, sitting by the fire to “Hold that pose”, “sit still and lift that mug” as I rushed off to get my pencil and pad.

Funny how the message comes out in life too, since being part of this, I’ve caught it. I even see it in my children, the desire to do good, help people and spread joy (balanced with some Play Station time of course).

Hence, returning to my opening statement, I was shocked to receive that message from Roger – offering to help me achieve a long term personal goal. Totally shocked, and very grateful.

Allan Youl