Profile
Morgan studied art at an early age with his
father, a former art student. (His parents both met at art school.)
His father, Howard, a POW in Germany, entertained his fellow
American prisoners in Stalag 1 with a daily comic strip that he
created and drew to keep morale up. Drawn on scraps of paper found
on the prison grounds, he crafted a humorous world of characters
that managed to bring a smile to imprisoned soldiers. In the last
days of the war and feeling the Russians would be coming, his
talents with painting saved his life. Using some paints supplied by
the Geneva Convention, he painted an American Flag on the shoulder of
his prisoner uniform so that the Russians invading Germany would
identify him and not shoot him. It worked.
Weistling's father came back from the war with dreams of being an
artist. With the G.I. Bill, he took classes at Woodbury Art College
in Los Angeles where he met Morgan's mom. After marrying and
starting a family, Morgan's father had to abandon his artistic
dreams and support his new family by becoming a gardener. But, he
saved all of his art books.....
Morgan, much younger than his brother and sister, began his artistic
training as early as 19 months old. His father would sit with him on
his lap at night and teach him how to draw and use his imagination. "My dad and I bonded together with drawing and spoke to each other
with pictures." Weistling's father had a real talent for telling a
story in comic strip form and so it began in Morgan, a natural sense
of the narrative. "It was here that art became a language for me."
That led to his studying the art books his father
had acquired years earlier. Authors such as Andrew Loomis, Vanderpole, and Bridgeman
inspired him. The most important books, though, were
the volume set from the Famous Artist School.
At the age of 12, Weistling was determined to go through the entire
course on his own since the school was no longer in existence. By
the age of 15, his study of anatomy, drawing, and painting needed a
mentor's direction.
That direction came through a retired illustrator named Fred Fixler. Fred's school, then called the Brandes Art Institute, was dedicated
to one thing: learning how to draw from life. "The minute I saw his
life drawings I knew this was the guy to study with - there was no
doubt," says Morgan. Working part-time as a janitor for the school
to pay his tuition, Weistling studied there for 3 years.
While still a student and working at an art store, one day a
prominent illustrator came in for supplies. Weistling showed him his
student work. The next day he found himself employed at one of the
top movie poster agencies in Hollywood. "At that time, all I wanted
to be was an illustrator," Weistling says, "but that was amazingly
fast." For the next 14 years he illustrated for every movie studio
in Hollywood as well as many other fields of illustration.
After being art-directed for years, Morgan needed to paint something
for himself. He took time out to produce a painting of two children
and brought it to Scottsdale, Arizona on the advice of long time
friend, Julio Pro .
The first gallery he walked into, Trailside Galleries, signed him on
the spot. Co-owner Maryvonne Leshe was quick to spot new talent. She was soon proven right. "He would send his paintings to us
un-framed and before we could get them hung, they would be sold,"
quips Maryvonne. Soon a "draw" system for Weistling's paintings
became necessary. His first one-man show had 26 paintings and all
were sold opening night. Since then, Morgan has had five more
one-man shows and they sold out opening night as well.
Also interested in depicting his Christian faith, Morgan has
portrayed the life of Christ in many of his paintings. Those images
can be found in the best selling book, The Image of Christ, with
paintings and text by Morgan.
Morgan and his wife, JoAnn, have been married since 1990 and also
met in art school. JoAnn is represented by Trailside Galleries and
paints under the name "J. Peralta" in honor of her grandmother. They
have two daughters, Brittany and Sienna. Both girls model for
paintings frequently.
Galleries
Workshops
Although Morgan has no workshops scheduled at this time, his
DVD's are a great source of information. His first DVD covered
one painting from beginning to end. His latest DVD covers two
head paintings with two different approaches which can be used when
less time is available. It takes all the fundamentals taught
in "Advanced Fundamentals for the Beginning Expert" and applies them
to a situation much like you would find in a workshop setting. There
are two discs and the second disc includes footage of an actual
Morgan Weistling workshop. Look over his shoulder as he critiques
and repaints over student work. If you have ever wanted to
take a workshop with Morgan, this DVD is the closest you can get to
the real thing!
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