Today we’d like to introduce you to Robyn Finchum.
Robyn, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was a project manager of a well known audio-video company here in San Diego when I was injured on the job. I broke the cartilage in my knee. After two knee surgeries and many treatments, it was determined that I would never use my knee the same again. I got my contractor’s license and started my own home theater company while I was waiting for the first knee surgery but sadly the surgery didn’t go well and I ended up having to retire from that industry. I had to walk with a cane for almost four years.
I have always been an artist and now saw the need to use my talent to make a living. I was once a caricature artist at the San Diego Zoo where I learned how to draw animals. I loved it but how could I turn that into a real career? I was doing a large charcoal picture for my wife years ago and I found myself filling the entire piece in black to leave the white paper behind for the design. It was a real pain and I thought there must be a better way. I remembered back to my childhood when I first came across scratchboard and thought this would lend itself to what I wanted to do because the picture starts off in solid black ink and I scratch it off to expose the white clay underneath.
I had never seen anyone try to do what I was hoping for but that didn’t stop me. I first did a white tiger from imagination and liked the result enough to do a full detailed realistic scratchboard of a panda. In January 2019 I decided to learn photography and take scratchboard to the next level and Finchum Art Company was born. I did a piece called “Flamingo in the Shade” and entered it into the San Diego County Fair. When I dropped it off they liked it so much they asked me to come do a live demo. I set a plan in motion and offered the first five pet portraits at half price $500ea and have already sold them. It can take weeks to finish just one and I am now working to complete some of the wildlife pictures I’ve already taken so I can put on my first show!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I had to go back to school. With my home theater career over and my dream of being an artist not yet real, I needed a business plan. I needed the right setup and tools. I needed some refreshers in art and I had to learn animal photography. I took classes at Watts Atelier on pet portraits and on creating fantasy animals then finally a figure drawing class.
What I realized is that I had to create my own path and my own style, no one can teach me to be me. I thought back to the panda I had done years ago and just how much I still liked it. I knew that in order to do more portraits like this I needed to really learn photography. I got a new camera and took photo classes at UCSD Extension. I love to travel and do wildlife photography and I study animals all the time at the Zoo and Safari Park. The last piece of the puzzle was an art studio. My loving wife offered to give up the dining room for me to work in. In that space, I built a large drafting table and got all the pieces together to make my art.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
I make fine art hyperrealistic pictures of animals. I do wildlife as well as pet portraits. My medium of choice is scratchboard. What sets me apart is not just my attention to detail it is my eye for design. Although my finished product looks like a photo when you step back my goal is to make it more interesting than just a printed photo. When you get close up you can see thousands of scratches in the clay that make up a well-designed texture that looks like how it would feel. I work with contrast and negative space to make the image as interesting as I can.
Scratchboard is a style of direct engraving. It is white China clay on a board or thick paper covered with a layer of black India ink. The boards or panels can be bought already covered in ink or made for more custom sizes. Colored ink dies can be added to the white clay to add color to a picture but black and white is usually what you see. I always try and use my own photo reference unless it’s a pet portrait and the animal is no longer with us.
I make sure that the photo reference is also an interesting picture. I take the black scratchboard and tape the back down to a large clipboard so I can rotate it around as needed because touching the black ink surface will leave a smudge. I wear a glove that has the first two fingers removed like an artist who works on a digital drawing tablet so I don’t smear the ink or leave handprints.
The white clay is similar to what your dishes are made from except it is not hardened. I carve into it with sharp tools like an X-ACTO knife, scalpel or a tattoo needle. I always imagine that the image is hidden in the clay under the black ink and I am just removing the ink so you can see what I see.
Once I am ready to begin I first use a light blue colored pencil to do a lay-in so my sizing, placement and balancing are correct. I start off with a small blade on the X-ACTO knife and lightly scratch off the larger outline shapes. Once all the shapes are complete I work from the top left and render in all the details trying to complete it from left to right.
I always imagine what the texture would feel like in each section. I scratch the ink away to make it look like how I think it would feel if I could touch it. Since the ink sits on top of the clay and I am literally removing part of the clay with each scratch there ends up being a three-dimensional feel. For instance each hair on an animal or each feather on bird gets scratched in the corresponding direction of the original and as they overlay each other there ends up being a sense of depth.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I think that success is finding something you love to do and making it happen. All the people who told me that being an artist was too difficult and I wouldn’t make don’t even seem to remember saying that now that they see what I can do. I have always wanted to be a professional artist and don’t ever want to stop again. I am doing pet portraits to make this happen right now. I am trying to build up enough pieces to put on a show.
I want to travel and do wildlife portraits and help bring awareness to animals in need. I plan on doing art fairs like the Art Walk in Little Italy next year. I will know I’ve made it when I have my pieces in a gallery in Carmel By The Sea. Some day I would like to have my own studio here in San Diego. I entered my very first art contest this year and got a ribbon at the San Diego County Fair and found it interesting, I plan on winning next year.
Pricing:
- Single pet portrait black and white 11/14in with frame $1,000
Contact Info:
- Phone: (619) 866-8533
- Email: finchumartcompany@gmail.com
- Instagram: finchum_art
- Facebook: @finchumartcompany
Image Credit:
Robyn Finchum
Finchum Art Company
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