Phil Leith-Tetrault: Uncharted Territory
Based in Brooklyn, NY, artist Phil Leith-Tetrault finds inspiration for his digital landscapes outside of city walls. His past experiences in Northern Quebec and the rugged Newfoundland Coastline have profoundly impacted the awe-inspiring work he creates today. Using Adobe Illustrator as his primary medium, Phil combines his graphic design background with a love for traditional landscape painting to bring his ideas to life.
Tell me about your background and where your creative journey began.
Ever since childhood, I’ve been interested in making art. It was wasn’t until last year however, that I began my career as an artist.
In 2007, I graduated Rochester Institute of Technology with a BFA Degree in New Media Design. Thereafter, I worked as a Digital Designer in NYC for 10 years before deciding to try something new. I was frustrated with the design profession because it had too many rules. I wanted to create art outside a corporate environment and on my own terms.
Around the beginning of the pandemic, I went on leave from my job to quarantine. I had lot of free time at home and didn’t know how to spend it. One afternoon, I explained this to a good friend over Zoom, who encouraged me to start making art. She convinced me that it was worth a shot, and believed in my ability.
That’s when I began making these landscapes using Adobe Illustrator, a tool I used in my design career. I based them on memories of trips I took to Greenland, Newfoundland, and Northern Quebec.
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
I find inspiration in remote, northern environments. When I visited the lakes in Northern Quebec and the rugged Newfoundland Coastline, they were picturesque, but also very lonely. These places inspire me because they are so beautiful and at the same time, desolate.
Sometimes I look at people’s travel photos or blogs on Pinterest to re-invoke memories of these places. Finding these images is important because they remind me of the vivid details of each region. I want to make people feel the location I’m depicting – its light, the freshness of its air, and its isolation from the modern world.
Lately, I'm looking at folk landscape art because It's colorful, endearing, and evocative of simpler times. Their artists intentionally make objects look un-proportional and exaggerated. The houses, trees and flowers in these works feel expressive and some pieces look like fairy tale scenes. Mary Sumner and Kathy Horvath Buchanan are folk landscape artists who inspire me.
I'm also enthusiastic about landscape quilts. They look similar to some of my work because of the artist’s use of shape, color, and texture. Like my landscapes, the quilts are composed of organic shapes filled with color and pattern. Of course, the process of making quilts is entirely different from the digital process, and I respect the amount of time that must go into it. Quilt artists that inspire me right now are Tonna Zeske (@norskquilter on Instagram) and Linda Beach.
What led you to focus on creating digital landscapes?
I knew that once I started pursuing art, it would be making landscapes. Landscapes have always been my favorite kind of art to look at, and they speak to me as someone who loves nature. Creating landscapes digitally seemed like the right approach because I understood how to use Adobe Illustrator. It was just a matter of drawing the hills, rocks, and sky, applying color, and seeing the result.
I love the digital medium because there’s no limit to the mistakes you can make, and retracing your steps is easy. For example, to color a scene’s sky, I try many colors in Illustrator’s digital palette before choosing one. If I were painting with oil on a canvas, this process wouldn’t be so forgiving!
I also appreciate the speed and ease at which I can finish these prints because they’re digital. Sometimes it only takes a day. I don’t have to purchase supplies like paints or collage materials, and I print the landscapes in my studio.
How has your work shifted and evolved over time?
It started as flat organic shapes filled with colors. I wanted the landscapes to look vivid and eye catching with color, but also afraid of adding too much detail to scenes. “Simple” was the name of the game. Perhaps this was the graphic designer in me siding with minimalism.
Several months later, I started adding photographed textures to fill some of the scene’s shapes. They gave the landscapes depth, making them feel more real and also collage-like.
Lately, I’m using bright, almost obnoxious colors like neon to suggest bright sunlight. I also started using gradients to give the scenes more depth. In the recent piece, “Alone,” I applied subtle gradients over the hills in the foreground, and in the water beyond them to make the shorelines landscape feel more tactile and vivid.
What does a typical day in the studio look like for you, and how has your art practice grown or changed?
At first, I would just work with my laptop on my stoop in Brooklyn, NY, diving into projects. I didn’t structure my day, because it was quarantine and my goal was to build a portfolio, and I made lots of prints during that time. At a certain point though, it felt necessary to have a studio space, a home base to work from.
I set up my studio in the corner of my apartment and bought a printer. I start working there on the art early, usually around 7am, then sporadically until 5pm. In between creating, I tackle administrative tasks, like applying to art shows, contests and promoting my work on Instagram. The studio helps me stay organized, productive, and provides a sense of purpose.
Which experiences have impacted your work as an artist?
Talking to my friend and taking her advice to make art was my most important artist experience. I don’t know when I would have started otherwise. Once I did, positive feedback on my work from friends and family made me believe in it.
I was doubtful at first about the commercial appeal of of these prints, and needed reassurance that they had an audience. Being in a few small shows this year has given me that reassurance, and collectors are showing interest.
The COVID-19 quarantine, though unpleasant in some ways, really helped me focus and make these landscapes. It was the best catalyst, and still is, for my productivity. I don’t know when I would have found the time to make so much art, otherwise.
How has Instagram impacted your art career?
Instagram let me share my work with the larger artist community and build a following. It’s also given me opportunities like this one to share my journey with artists, educators, and collectors.
It’s has also helped me see what other people are making. Looking at other collagists’ work on Instagram has helped me feel less isolated as an artist. I can find inspiration and connect with their styles and it gives me something to aspire to.
I’m still trying to get the most out of Instagram. Getting results from it is challenging and I could probably use a course on it! It’s been almost a year since I started posting my art regularly, and building a large audience is a slow process for me.
What are your future goals and aspirations?
I want my art practice to become a sustainable business, because I love making it. I don’t expect it to one day cover all my living expenses, but at least some of them.
I’m trying to get my work in front of more gallerists and collectors because so far, they’re my best audience. This means applying for more juried shows and open call opportunities, even if they’re on the other side of the country or seem really competitive. To do this, I aim to consistently develop my style and make new landscapes that are eye catching and meaningful to people.
I’d also like to land a job as a gallery assistant and learn more about the art business. I think a job like this would complement my artistic career nicely and also help pay the bills.
Instagram: @69north.prints
Website: www.69north.store