For Gary Corcoran, the road to becoming a well-respected Canadian artist in
adulthood began with a childhood fascination for the natural world. The
effervescent youth spent his days trekking through the forests, fields and
rivers near his family home in the Thousands Islands region in Ontario, only
taking a break to try his hand at replicating the beautiful natural scenery
that surrounded him with pencil and paper sketches.
Over the years Gary's chosen medium has evolved, from paper to canvas to coin and computer screens. He has the enviable timing of learning his craft when the tools of the trade were merely pencil and paint to gradually embracing emerging technologies of digital rendering.
Gary began sketching at age 12, and by the young age of 16 renowned English artist David Holmes recognized his innate talent and took him under his wing offering the budding artist two intense months of sage guidance.
Since then he has learned the creative disciplines of fine art, graphic design (while studying at Algonquin College) and technical illustration (line drawings).
From age 19 Gary has done extensive artwork for Canadian Wildlife Federation, won the national artprint 2002 portfolio competition organized by Ducks Unlimited as well as the organization’s 2001 and 2002 poster contests; and he has also undertaken the monumental task of illustrating a national wetlands map for Natural Resources Canada. One of his great portfolio pieces is a portrait of hockey great Guy Lafleur.
Gary's imprint has also been indelibly left at the Royal Canadian Mint for whom he created two designs: the ground-breaking 2003 launches of the Niagara Falls and Aurora Borealis $20 holographic silver coins.
The Ottawa resident was also employed as a digital illustrator for the Corel
Corporation. He currently works as a freelance illustrator for several mainstream
magazines, and high tech companies tackling each assignment from brochures
to business cards, with intense focus, creative ingenuity and infectious
zeal.
This was a presentation of one of my Ducks Unlimited's winning prints to Lt. Romeo Dallaire 2003.
Commissioned for the launch of Guy Lafleur's Flower Power.
This was taken at the 2000 National Capital fine art festival, Landsdowne park. I was demonstrating digital art, how to draw on the computer, at the 3 day festival. This meeting gave birth to the Corel booth being there as the first digital art demonstration in the history of National Capital fine art festival.