Brampton Guardian
Brampton cartoonist is now following his dream
TINA DEPKO, Staff Writer
Colin McClean fell in love with drawing cartoons when he was three years old. He would sit for hours in front of the television, drawing the characters from ScoobyDoo and Fat Albert. McClean's passion for drawing continued through his teenage years, but being a cartoonist wasn't exactly the career McClean's parents had in mind for him. To please them, he went to college for international business and started working in the insurance industry in Toronto. "It was a good job, but part of me kept wanting to draw and be creative," said McLean, 36, a Brampton resident for the last decade. McClean was able to incorporate his drawing skills into his career, creating cartoons that helped simplify complex insurance issues for clients and coworkers. He also spent nearly every spare moment working on other cartoons and comic strips. McClean's big break came four years ago when his multicultural comic strip Life's Lighter Side was picked up by Share, a weekly newspaper in the GTA. Two years ago, the internationallycirculated Ambassador magazine also started running it. Life's Lighter Side looks at common situations in the corporate world and in family life. McClean got the idea for the strip while working in downtown Toronto. "I saw so many people going to work with sombre faces and I really thought that these people needed to look at the lighter side of life," he explained. When McClean lost his job after company restructuring a year and a half ago, his wife, Gillian, encouraged him to focus on what he loved. "She made me look deep inside and I found out that I really am an artist," he said. "She told me to follow my dreams and I really thank her for that." McClean's work was recently recognized while he sat drinking coffee at the Starbucks at 90 Great Lakes Dr. An employee said they were looking for local artists to display their work at the coffee shop, so he created a strip for them called Cup of Joe. It is on display at Starbucks until early May. Brampton residents can see strips from Cup of Joe and Life's Lighter Side at Visual Arts Brampton's exhibit Artway: Laughlines 2005, which runs at Shoppers World until April 29. McClean recently finished a line of greeting cards and is working with Visual Arts Brampton to produce a short animated film. He is also working with the City of Brampton and the beverage company Savannah to organize an art appreciation festival in July. As well, McClean is trying to get Life's Lighter Side in more publications. "I'd love to have it in the Toronto Star and newspapers in the GTA," he said. "My dream is to one day be syndicated in the big national and international publications." To see more of McClean's artwork, visit his Web site at www.llscartoons.com./
http://www.northpeel.com/br/entertainment/story/2714319p3144554c.html