Patrick Welch, one of the few people I would like to call mentor, friend as well as one of the greatest instructors I’ve ever had the honor of knowing, has passed away last week.

Normally, I would give a blurb about who he was and how he has impacted the lives and art of everyone he had come in contact with, but my sadness is a sign of how he has impacted mine, so I shall continue on the topic as it’s going with not as many tangents as I usually go off into.

When I first heard the news, I just arrived at work. My boss told me that he “is no longer with us.” I admit I originally thought that he was simply not working for the school.

“Cool, I’ll just drop him a line when I get the chance to see what’s going on, right?”

These were my thoughts going through my head as I was checking in equipment for an employee. Then he [my boss] looked at me in the eye and asked me if I knew what he meant by saying that.

All of a sudden, my world just stopped.

This was the same man that helped define who I am as an artist and an animator. The same man who showed me how I can give all of my characters depth to a point in which I can only refer to them as “My Children” The same man who, when I was feeling unsure about myself and abilities, had enough confidence in me to be that voice that would tell me to “Keep on truckin’”. The same voice who told the department head when I felt embattled during my 2nd stint at portfolio class that I was going on the right track. The same man who told both me and my wife to never give up when times were tough….even when things weren’t going all to well for himself as well.

…and like that, he’s gone.

For the past few days, I felt somber, to say the very least, but I know he wouldn’t want me to continue feeling that way, though he would understand, I guess. There were times which I wanted to cry, but cant and other times where I unexpectedly cried. Emotions are weird like that.

There are a lot of things that I wish I would have done, but it’s not the time to regret. It’s time to move with it as opposed to moving on from it, as a friend once said in his blog entry. It makes all of the sense in the world, because moving on is a lesson in futility….and I never want to move on, anyway. I’m happy moving along with it. We all should do it.

In remembrance of him, I will do three things…maybe more…I don’t know.

1.) Being that he’s well known for his facial hair, I have decided to grow out my sideburns as he had it when I first met him. It may be the most petty of the three, but it’s of sentimental value. I also know that I may slip up while shaving, therefore messing it up, but if I can keep it up as long as possible, it’s cool by my standards.

2.) I’m going to draw a remembrance drawing for him…not sure what I’m going to do with it, if anything at all. It’s just something that I feel that I need to do.

3.) And this is something that I encourage everyone to do, by the way:

You see, Patrick loved drawing pictures for his twin sons, Ben and Alex to color. Right now, this is what they miss most, aside from the obvious. No one else in the family can draw like him, so they’re forced to make do. So as a way for his students and those who wish to give their condolences, there is a drive for drawings. This will help them out a lot.

The Pages should be simply drawn, so they can color them in and add images in the blank spaces. They particularly like trains, cars, planes, and other modes of transport; rainforest scenes; the ocean; insects; and animals of all types, especially kittens and mice. (Alex thinks he’s a kitten. Ben thinks he’s a mouse.)

Of course they can be combined, like a frog flying a plane. (Something Patrick has recently drawn for Ben, who loves tree frogs.) Having their names in the image (like having a mouse labeled Ben or a kitten labeled Alex) is also something he would do for them.

For those of you that knew him, you may draw a likeness of him so they can remember him. Just make sure that whatever you draw is absolutely for kids. Nothing grim or ironic whatsoever.

If you want to participate, as I will…being that it’s the least I can do for him, let me know and I can have it sent over to them on your behalf.

…Thanks, Patrick. I’m forever grateful and will miss you.

As for you the reader, till next time.




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