Everett Paul Burris
everettpaulburris@gmail.com
I would love to hear from you. My resume is available upon request.
My artist journey began with a comic book and a typewriter when I was 8 years old. I was so inspired by an “Avengers” comic book that I picked up the story where the comic book ended and continued it myself. We had a really old mechanical typewriter that I loved to play with. I typed out much of the story and made images to go with it. Mom encouraged my artistic interest by giving me the book “How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way” by Stan Lee and John Buscema. I was off and running. I would intuitively set up my “Star Wars” toys to draw as still life models. A pattern emerged of exploring and responding to the world through art making.
College
In 1989 I entered the art program at Bethel College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. We focused intensely on crafting art that was about ideas. We were challenged to think deeply about the art we were making and what it means. All of this built toward the presentation of our artwork in a gallery setting. During my time at Bethel I learned about a world of art and ideas beyond what I knew as a child. I learned to think from the perspective of an independent observer. I also learned to adjust my artwork based on the criticism of others. In 1993 I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bethel College (it is a University now) with a major in drawing and a minor in philosophy.
Picture Framing
As a student at Bethel College, struggling to put together a gallery show, I encountered the need for picture framing so that the artwork could be presented well. The options were to do it yourself, find something premade, or have a frame shop take care of your art. As a student with little money I came away wanting to learn about picture framing.
I took a job as a picture framer at Baker’s Hobby & Framing in Saint Cloud, Minnesota where I was allowed to grow into the position. At first my duties were to help customers select mat and frame combinations to go with the artwork they brought in. I spent hours looking at mats and frames. Initially it was hard to find just the right combination to compliment the artwork. There was a lot of trial and error. Eventually I learned to see color better and was able to quickly find the right combination. Later my duties expanded to cutting mats, frames, and glass. Then I would fit them with the artwork. Mission accomplished.
Industrial Painting
I took another job in the paint department of New Flyer, a city bus manufacturer in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. My duties included reproducing designs according to blueprint specifications. This often involved 40 foot long stripes, waves, and lettering. I prepped surfaces for paint and installed decals. Occasionally I would get to sculpt new parts using fiberglass. The team that was working on a prototype bus would request modification of an existing part. They would make a rough drawing on a piece of paper and bring it over to me along with the original part to be modified. This was not ideal but they were scrambling. So I would get to work removing what shouldn’t be there and using fiberglass to add the new part that was needed. Those were fun days. While working at New Flyer I learned to read blueprints, produce work within specific tolerances, and to cooperate with quality assurance inspectors to deliver a product to customers.
Design
To a large degree the internet developed after I had completed college. It was new territory to explore so I ventured into learning website design. I learned to work in various scripting languages such as HTML, Javascript, PHP, JQuery, etc. I also learned about good design practices like responsive web design and Search Engine Optimization. There always seems to be more to learn.
Eventually I gained enough skill to confidently serve other people. Here are a few stories about how I helped my customers…
Steve Jansma approached me to develop a website for his dairy hoof trimming business. He already had a logo that was working for him so I developed a website around that. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was a standard part of the service I offered my clients. After his website had been up and running for a little while I checked in to see how he was doing. Steve told me that he was getting so much business through his website that he had to defer customers to other hoof trimmers.
The Mille Lacs County Agricultural Society was struggling to organize information for the county fair. They reached out to me for solutions. I was able to construct a website that coalesced the widely varying activities that would be part of a county fair. The job required collaboration with multiple stakeholders ranging from livestock showing to tractor pulls with many activities in between. I also organized space on their website to allow for the sale of advertising while maintaining a clear emphasis on the county fair itself.
Ettien Koffi is a professor of linguistics and a good friend of mine. He has labored for years to translate the bible into the Anyi language. Ettien grew up in The Ivory Coast where he spoke Anyi. After producing the translation he needed a website to help fundraise for the project. He also wanted to make his translations available as widely as possible. When I learned of his need I was happy to help. Employing the standard of responsive web design I constructed a website with special care to the needs of people on a global scale.
Artist Mentoring
For 18 years I have served my community through an artist mentoring program called Portable Vision. It was an invention of mine. The idea was simply to gather adult artists together with aspiring teenage artists. We would make art for 12 weeks in a shared studio space and then hold a public gallery exhibition. During this time we would become a closely knit group. We would tell our life stories and say what we appreciate about one another. Then we would share about God’s story. The program was embraced by Central Minnesota Youth For Christ and my friend Matt Hebert who works for them. They provided the studio space and much guidance for how to run a program with teenagers.
The program grew. At first it seemed like a fun adventure but I didn’t fully grasp the significance of what we were doing. One night, at a gallery exhibition, I asked a student if she had invited her friends to come see the show. Her response stunned me. She said, “You don’t get it. You are my friends. There is nobody else.”
Then I became aware of the loneliness that she lived with. By simply offering a small amount of our time we were providing a place to belong and people to call friends. Portable Vision started with 3 students and has expanded to regularly include 40 students. It has been beautiful.
Comic Books
While I have felt a strong desire to explore a wide range of art activities I keep coming back to where I began… comics. When I was in junior high I was the kid who was always drawing in math class and getting in trouble for it. Another student noticed this and asked if I would like to work on a comic book with him. His name was Scott Allan Snyder. We became fast friends. Our comic was called “Spiritman.” While we produced some art and stories our skills did not match our ambitions. After high school we went in different directions to pursue our education.
I eventually returned to making comics by partnering with a writer named Chester Johnson. We produced 2 books that were called “Lordamus” and “If You Can Read This You’re Dead.” They were fun stories that were a good proving ground to sharpen my comic book skills. Desiring to return to the unfinished “Spiritman” story of my youth I reached out to Scott Snyder. He was a little reluctant at first but I talked him into it, and “Spiritman” was reborn. This is the artwork that dominates my portfolio. It has been a pure joy to work on.
Comic books are a complex medium that requires me to pull from everything I have learned thus far in my artist journey. Here is an abbreviated description of those skills.
1. The translation of written words into visual images. A technical description of comic books is “sequential visual storytelling.” I work with a writer who generates the words and the plot. I take his script and turn it into a sequence of images that clearly communicates the story.
2. Establishing the composition. I use focal points and shapes to create 2 dimensional designs. I also keep in mind the bleed, trim and safe copy areas of the page.
3. Construction of 3 dimensional spaces. I use the tools of foreshortening and linear perspective to turn the 2D design into 3D spaces. Here is where a knowledge and practice in human anatomy really comes in handy.
4. Adding the words. The writer gets his due. Comics are not just images. They are also words. But the words are also images. I use Adobe Illustrator to create the panels and word elements of the comic.
5. Adding black lines and solid areas, also called “inking.” The pencils are great but they don’t have the same punch as inked artwork. I use Adobe Photoshop to add black outlines and solid shapes.
6. Adding color. Again I use Adobe Photoshop to add color. At this stage much is also done to prepare the project for printing. This is called prepress. I make sure that color values will not exceed the ink saturation that the paper can withstand. I also work to avoid using black in anything that is not ink because the black plate will be treated very differently than the other 3 color plates.
7. Ready for the print shop. I use Adobe In Design to pull together the various elements into a single place. Communication is a must. Print shops can vary in how they want things formatted. I check their graphic standards and request clarification for anything I don’t understand.
8. A website for the comic book. Here I get to use my past web design experience for my own personal benefit. I use Adobe Dreamweaver but I really like to write the code myself. If you’re curious, we have our comics available on line at www.spiritmancomics.com. I created a really nice comic book viewer that allows the reader to choose between a panel by panel view and a full page view. It even animates the panel transitions. Really nice, you should check it out… it’s free.
Making art has been a life long adventure. I love the seemingly endless opportunities for exploration. I am excited for where the journey will take me next.
