It was 15 years ago when upgrading to a brand-new G4 Mac. All of a sudden, the Shakopee resident found a whole new world opened to him.
Using Corel Painter software and a Wacom digital tablet, Haws, 52, creates works of art made fully in the digital world. His art tells stories about comic characters and vintage airplanes in a medium made famous through the likes of Disney and Pixar.
The digital illustrator is one of more than 60 artists to be featured at the Scott County Art Crawl Friday, Sept. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 1.
The free, self-guided tour allows visitors to meet artists in their studios and venues throughout the county. Haws will be at the Shakopee Public Library.
While Haws has been drawing since childhood, filling sketchbooks with cars and airplanes, he focused primarily on graphic design after graduating from the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul. Haws, who works at Thomson Reuters in Eagan, worked freelance design on the side and continued to sketch in black and white.
Then, in the late 1990s, Haws upgraded his equipment and found that the new software opened him up to a rainbow of color and faster turnaround.
Haws creates all of his works on the computer, drawing on a digital tablet on his lap and seeing the image projected on the screen. His office looks more like Andy Rooney’s than a traditional artist studio, Haws said. There are no easels or Rembrandt’s hanging on the wall.
Unlike traditional charcoal or color pencil, digital media brings across his vision more quickly.
“When you can undo your mistake, things get freer and fun,” he said. “I can go big. I can go tiny. I can try 20 different things without boxing myself in.”
In addition to bringing 17 art pieces and seven photographs to the show, Haws also hopes to have copies of his children’s book, “Horrible Horribles.” He self-published the poem, written by Tom Maggi, about a little boy whose nightmares include funny-looking creatures of the night.
For more on Franklin Haws, read the entire story in yesterday's print edition of the Shakopee Valley News.
If you go...
What: Scott County Art Crawl
When: 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1.
Where: Studios and businesses throughout Scott County.
Info: scottcountyartcrawl.org
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