Biography

When I was only four years old, I would run to my room, pick a toy and ask my uncle to draw it. This was a very special treat because he only visited once or twice a year. I would sit and watch patiently while he reproduced the toy with precise detail on a scrap piece of paper. Even though he worked for a train company, he was able to sketch an exquisite drawing of the toy each time. He was my very first inspiration.

While growing up, I tried to accomplish this feat by drawing every toy from miniature car to Ghostbuster figurine. I would enter every drawing contest through grade school winning a fair amount. And, I drew home-made posters of my favorite video games guiding myself by the designs in the instruction manuals. I took visual arts classes at Algonquin College and eventually succeeded in attending the Animation – Television program. After graduating, I became an instructor at the Ottawa School of Art teaching the Basic Animation and Anatomy and Character Design classes in the Animation Certificate program. After a year I was offered an instructor’s position at the Glebe Montessori School in the Cartooning aftercare program. I am currently the specialist arts instructor for the Junior Elementary class at this school. Throughout all of this, I still was unable to achieve what my uncle had shown me so many years ago. But, for me, trying to attain this level of talent has more meaning than achieving it. I will never believe that I am as good as I remember him being.

More interested in the possibilities that lie on the side of artistry, in 2005 I wrote, illustrated and self-published a graphic novel of a very personal nature called Marie-Anne’s Transformation. It tells the story of my wife’s recovery after she was attacked by a stranger. Using the transformation into a frog instead of a full graphic retelling of events I created a serious story that children and adults can relate to. I continue to develop my skills through drawing events, such as Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, through contests and competitions, such as Spectrum: the Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art and Threadless design submissions, through contracts, such as portraiture, and through teaching visual arts to elementary school children at the Glebe Montessori School. 

Continuing to create and always trying to improve, I am constantly hoping to draw that toy.

Gilles Rainville