plus 1, Artist lives out fantasy with career creating mythical creatures - Syracuse Post-Standard

Artist lives out fantasy with career creating mythical creatures - Syracuse Post-Standard

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Published: Sunday, February 13, 2011, 9:59 AM Updated: Sunday, February 13, 2011, 10:07 AM

Locke, NY -- James Wolf Strehle embodied the life of a struggling artist shortly after graduating from the Art Institute of Boston in May 2006.

Unsuccessful at selling his fantasy art, Strehle had to find a full-time day job to support his artistic pursuit and pay his bills.

A couple of months out of college, Strehle collared a minimum-wage job taking care of a couple dozen dogs at a Boston chain pet store. He did freelance art at night.

"That was probably my low point," Strehle recalled last week from his home in Locke. "I pretty much had 25 dogs barking in my ears all day."

Almost as quickly as his world seemed to be drifting to the dogs, Strehle earned a hearty paycheck a few months later to write an article for a fantasy magazine called Imagine FX on how to draw dragons. He specializes in drawing mythological and fantasy world creatures like dragons, elves and trolls.

Landing the magazine job breathed new fire into his hopes of making a living as an artist, and it attracted new fans and more business.

"It really boosted my confidence. ... That's the job that made me realize I could make a living at this," Strehle said.

He hasn't looked back.

Now 26, Strehle has had his intricate illustrations published in many magazines and featured in board, card and video games. The March issue of Heavy Metal magazine includes a four-page gallery of his pinup model art and a new video game for PlayStation and Xbox that spotlights his work. It's due to be released soon.

His newfound success doesn't surprise his college and high school art teachers.

"I could see he had tremendous talent in illustration back then. ... He's all-around technically very good," said Jim Hoston, who taught several courses to Strehle at the Boston art institute.

Patty Brown, who was Strehle's art teacher at Lansing High School, said her former student drew all the time, took artistic risks and was dedicated, focused and passionate about his art.

"Art was like his primary way to communicate. It's like his first language was drawing. ... He's talented — there's no question about it," Brown said.

Strehle, who is shy and the oldest of three brothers, moved back to his parents' rural home about 15 months after graduating from college. He said he wanted more time to improve his art and attract more business.

He plans to move this summer to Seattle, where he hopes to work for a fantasy art studio and do freelance on the side.

Strehle is bucking the odds of making a career in the art world, Hoston said. Only about 5 percent of this country's art school graduates make it into the field and that number diminishes with time, Hoston said.

Although Strehle excels at traditional genres like painting on a canvas, he works as a digital artist drawing his illustrations on an electronic tablet. On his computer, he can create any brush he wants, mix colors in a flash and not get dirty. All that allows him to illustrate his ideas much faster than if were to put paintbrush to canvas, Strehle said.

"I have so much going on in my head that I need a computer to keep up," he said.

He said he was distracted easily as a child and took to doodling figures. He drew lots of characters and found himself drawn to drawing mythological beasts, especially dragons. On a shelf behind his computer monitor are nine small bronze dragon figures in various poses. Many of them were gifts.

"I've always been into fantasy stuff," Strehle said.

Now he's living out his fantasy, making a living at doing what he loves.

-- Contact Scott Rapp at srapp@syracuse.com or 289-4839.

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