ROB GUTHRIE
Website: www.ToonsTent.comEmail: rob@ToonsTent.com
Phone: (780) 481-1953
Mailing address:
Rob Guthrie
10916 165 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
I'm originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada where I graduated from CW Jefferys Vocational Arts Secondary School majoring in Design, Illustration and Theatrical Arts. After grade 12, I took a year of cartooning at Sheridan College of Applied Arts & Technology in Oakville, Ontario.
In the late 70s, I published (with help from a few fellow cartoonists) 2 issues of an international underground comic book called "Berford Seaman's Flabby Thighs & Butter". I occasionally will see it listed on rare comic book lists, I guess it is considered a collector's item these days. I still have a few issues kicking around ... maybe if I cash them in I could retire lol.
The way I got into caricatures is interesting ... when I was around 21 my friends and I would go to various bars every Friday night that featured metal and punk bands. On one of those occasions, an elderly artist sat at our table and drew some of my friends for $5 each. In my drunken stupor, I mumbled something like "y'know, I can do that too". The artist gave me a "yeah yeah sure sure" look.
Two weeks later, I took a couple of chairs & a hand drawn sign on the subway downtown and set up on Toronto's trendy Yorkville Avenue. Voila! I'm a Caricature Artist!! My first customer ever was a hairstylist who came out and had me draw her ... because she felt sorry for me. lol
Well I drew caricatures on and off over the years part time while working for various printers and graphics companies as a typesetter.
When my family and I finally ended up in Edmonton, I noticed that West Edmonton Mall allowed caricature artists to set up business in the mall. I struck up a deal with mall management and 5 years later I'm still there, finally doing caricatures full time. The future? Well, we just got our green cards, so we're thinking of Los Angeles. Life ... what an adventure!