Cartoons, book illustration, animation just part of Sundridge native's art
by Keely Grasser
Jan 23, 2008
Keely Grasser
Keith Milne poses with some of his work. Milne, born and raised in Sundridge, is an illustrator whose work has been published in newspapers, magazines and books, among other media. He’s also worked in animation.
SUNDRIDGE – Keith Milne opens his portfolio.
The works, some colourful, some black and white, some cartoons, some life-like sketches, all represent a place in his three decade-long art career.
A knack for art can take you a lot of places, as the Sundridge native shows.
He pulls out a cartoon – a small beaver, dressed in hockey equipment and a Canada jersey, on ice beside a tower equipment-clad bear with a Russian jersey.
It’s one of his hockey works, a theme that runs through many of his portfolio pieces.
“I’m a hockey fanatic,” Milne, who now lives in Fergus, Ontario, said.
His fandom shows through his work. He did a regular cartoon, a situation comedy bit, for the Hockey News in the early 1980s.
Other of his cartoons related to Canada’s national sport have appeared in newspapers such as the Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun.
He pulls two sketches from his portfolio.
The theme is hockey again, but this time they are two lifelike, full-colour sketches of Pavel Bure and Joe Sakic.
He’s done work for various hockey-related publications.
Next comes out a comic book. Milne created the book for the Ottawa 67s.
He’s also done work for the Ottawa Senators, his favourite team, among other freelance hockey-related jobs.
Other than hockey, “a lot of the stuff I do is outdoorsy,” Milne said.
Next from his black portfolio comes a cartoon of a park ranger gawking at two men in a car, strapped to the car’s roof is a giant fish skeleton.
Milne’s done work for several outdoors magazines, including B.C. Outdoors and Ontario Out of Doors.
Could it be his Northern Ontario upbringing shows in his subject matter?
Milne, a graduate of Almaguin Highlands Secondary School, had some starts in his career in his hometown.
He spent a summer painting signs in Sundridge.
“I was really busy that summer,” he remembers, painting commercial signs and letters on boats and trucks. The seasonal gig led him to another sign-painting job at the University of Waterloo, and then to a contract in Ottawa with the Ministry of Transportation, where he worked on making the city’s signs bilingual.
Milne also had a gig as a cartoonist at the now-defunct North Bay Sun, where he drew the editorial cartoon and illustrated the children’s page.
In later years, his editorial cartoons would grace the pages of numerous newspapers. He’s been published in the Kitchener Record, the Waterloo Chronicle, the London Free Press, the Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Province.
And his work has been seen in even more of Canada’s community newspapers.
From the 1980s to the 1990s, Milne had two cartoons – “Blue Collar Bart” and “Bushwhackers” that he self-syndicated. They were carried by three dailies and over 20 weeklies through four provinces.
The Almaguin News carried Blue Collar Bart for six or seven years, Milne said. He also illustrated the inside cover for a book released in celebration of Sundridge’s centennial celebrations.
Milne’s art has also led him to other book illustrations.
Out of his portfolio comes a sketch of a young boy traveling down a railroad track. Milne illustrated a children’s annual in the 1980s, and also provides illustrations for educational books a Napanee-based company produces.
Milne was back in Sundridge in December for a book-signing for one of his latest book-related achievements. He illustrated a children’s story called My Sister is an Angeline. The subtle but striking drawings follow the story of a young girl who has lost her infant sister. Milne signed the book at Cedar Lane in Sundridge.
He’s also illustrated a book on boxing written by an ex-boxer. He remembers, laughing, that he’d provide a drawing for each chapter – the boxer got more beat up in every illustration.
On the bottom corner of the boxing book, Milne said that he drew a small sketch on each page, and if the reader flipped through it, it would create a mini-animation.
“That even before I thought about animation,” he said.
But illustration eventually brought him there, too.
In B.C. and Ottawa, Milne’s worked on numerous children’s cartoon shows, including Robo-Roach, The King, Watership Down, Anthony Ant, Freaky Stories and Anne of Green Gables.
He pulls a long sheet from his portfolio. It’s a sketch for a scene, one that would be used for a portion of a cartoon show. Maybe even just for a few seconds of the show.
“It’s pretty complicated work, the old animation field,” Milne said.
It got more complicated, he explained, with the ever-increasing use of computer animation.
Milne’s back to his illustrating roots, having cartoons appear in some Muskoka publications, among others.
He said he looks forward to continuing doing work on his favourite subject, hockey, but also hopes to get more into the illustration of children’s books. “I’d love to do more of those,” he said.
Perhaps that will be the next addition to his thick portfolio.
Editorial
