Illustrator, Wildlife Artist Visits Lincoln Elementary
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
As part of the Honeywell Center Educational Outreach, wildlife artist and book illustrator Bruce Langton visited with Lincoln Elementary School third-graders Monday afternoon. At the end of his talk, he did a pencil drawing of a cartoon ladybug with the students. Each student also followed his instructions and drew their own ladybug. Langton then donated his drawing to the school. The Honeywell Center Educational Outreach Program provides curriculum-based arts-in-education experiences for students in the Honeywell Center’s 12-county footprint. It serves 81 schools, reaching over 40,000 students. Last year, it presented Kosciusko County with over 3,100 opportunities, according to information provided by Honeywell. Its goal is to collaborate with educators to produce 21st century learners who are better prepared for the world ahead, the information states. Currently, the program offers students art opportunities in four categories: visual arts events, in-school workshops and assemblies, technical theater internships and student matinee series. Langton, 63, of Granger, told the students he always wanted to be an artist. In third grade he did his first wildlife painting of a flying duck. His high school art teacher told him that if he wanted to be a great artist he needed to make a lot of mistakes, so he should get to work. “That always stuck with me,” he said. He entered a number of duck stamp art competitions for seven years but never won. He was going to quit, but his wife told him to never give up on his dream. Right after she told him that, Langton said he won first place in the Delaware Duck Stamp competition. He then won Indiana’s contest twice. He was paid $3,000 for each of six duck paintings for the Bradford Exchange, and got to keep the original pieces. Besides birds, he’s also painted wolves, big cats, elephants and bison. He often puts people in his work, usually his own two sons. He uses photographs to give him ideas for his paintings, but always does the paintings differently than the photos. Sometimes he’ll use different photographs to create one painting. “I like to paint anything, so I do a lot of different things,” he said, including landscapes, sporting events, children’s and dog portraits and underwater scenes. “I always, always start by painting the background first,” he said. Before he starts any painting, he always starts with a drawing. He works in oils, watercolors and acrylics. He’s illustrated a number of books, including “H is for Hoosier” and “Win One for the Gipper.” When he is doing a book, he said he keeps his illustrations simple. He leaves room for the copy and doesn’t put anything in the middle as to leave room for the book’s gutter.
