Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Weck.
Hi Patrick, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been intensely interested in art and science since I was a little kid. My father is a biologist, and my mother is a ceramic artist, and they gave me a deep appreciation for nature. I grew up catching frogs and snakes, collecting fossils, and drawing dinosaurs, and I just never grew out of those interests. In 2012, not long after graduating college, I got a call from the manager of the Herpetarium at the Saint Louis Zoo. He had seen a watercolor painting I had made of a hellbender salamander and wanted to ask me to paint a mural for an Australian python exhibit at the zoo. I was an independent mural painter for the next eight years, mostly for the zoo, taking illustration commissions and working part-time jobs. Then in 2020, I was hired full-time by the Special Construction department at the zoo. I occasionally paint habitat murals, but now I also create and restore other exhibit features. My department makes rockwork and faux logs, and we made the fossil-themed playground equipment for the dinosaur exhibit. We’ve also been repairing and repainting the wooden animals on the carousel with fresh designs.
Please talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned. Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The zoo mural connection felt like a stroke of pure luck, but trying to run an independent mural painting business was a huge challenge for me. Being an independent artist is incredibly difficult and stressful. Finding clients, providing quotes and estimates on completion time, figuring out business taxes, forming an LLC, and keeping track of expenses took a while to learn. I am so thankful to have found a full-time position that allows me to use my creative skills and leaves me free on the weekends to work on my projects.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am very proud of my habitat murals for the zoo. I do a lot of research into an animal before I begin painting its habitat, both because I want the animal to feel at home and to educate the public about the environment in that part of the world. I love hiding little details in my paintings. Of the twenty habitat murals I painted for the zoo, I think I’ve included hidden details in almost all of them. In my home studio, I produce work very different from my realistic habitat murals. My paintings and drawings blend science and fantasy, inspired by natural history, surrealism, and science fiction, often with a touch of whimsy. Alternative ecologies, anthropomorphic creatures, and speculative evolution are my common themes.
Ink has long been my favorite medium and specialty, often combined with either watercolor or fluid acrylics. With ink, I connect to the old scientific illustrations that I often turn to for inspiration, as well as traditional comics and cartooning, which is another important influence. I also enjoy experimenting and working with various mediums, including sculpture, printmaking, and digital illustration.
A few years ago, I created a comic book called “Tales of Rodinia” with my friends Nathan Kenkel and Brandon Daniels that featured three stories about steampunk megafauna and vengeful bird-headed phantoms. It is still one of the projects I am most proud of. Since then, Nathan and I have collaborated on several other short visual narrative projects. He writes narratives inspired by my drawings, and I create illustrations inspired by his writings, resulting in a very dynamic creative back and forth.
So, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you before we go? How can they support you?
I am part of the Ink and Drink Comics collective, which meets once a month at Schlafly Bottleworks and every year publishes an anthology of comics created by St. Louis artists and writers. We always welcome new members, so look up the group on Facebook if interested. Though I can be reclusive, and I have more than enough projects in my head to keep me busy, I do love meeting and chatting with other artists, whether at an art opening or just sitting and sketching together at the bar. I expect to be doing a few art shows and expos this year, so keep an eye out for me at those sorts of events, and the next time you are at the zoo, you may spot me squeezed into an exhibit painting a mural.
Contact Info:
- Website: patrickweck.artstation.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/bluemaskart
- Facebook: facebook.com/bluemaskart
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/jpXjyHLIJII
Image Credits
Patrick Weck
