Get to Know Gary Hirsch: Artist, Illustrator, and Co-Founder of On Your Feet
by Larissa Pienkowski
If you’ve been paying attention to our newsletter and blog (which we hope you have!), you may have noticed a couple of little cartoon monsters running around lately. These monsters also happen to tell you all kinds of truths about business relationship management, which has probably made you wonder, What are these little cartoon monsters, and why do they know my life?
On the off chance that you haven’t been paying attention, you might want to keep an eye out for a little guy like this. Believe it or not, sometimes he looks even more frazzled.
The answer? We’re thrilled to introduce BRM Truths, our newest feature! Designed and illustrated by Gary Hirsch, co-founder of On Your Feet (an improv organization that bridges the gap between business and the arts), these doodles are meant to showcase the everyday trials, tribulations, and lessons learned in the life of a BRM. We hope you get a laugh out of them, because we sure do!
As you get better acquainted with these omniscient little monsters, we thought it would also be nice to catch up with the artist behind the masterpiece. Here’s what he had to share with us.
How did you get started drawing comics?
I started doodling at a very early age. When I was growing up, I had a lot of nightmares. You know, your basic run-of-the-mill nightmares—giant hands swooping down from the attic, grabbing you out of bed and swallowing you whole, where you would land in a stomach that was really a grave yard populated by zombies… those kinds of nightmares. On the nights when I couldn’t sleep, I would sit with my father in the kitchen and draw the monsters from my nightmares. We would stay up for hours and my dad would help me name these creatures. Once during a late night doodling session, my father leaned over and said, “ You know, if you can create them, then you can also erase them.” So I would draw and erase and after a while the nightmares would come a bit less frequently. I never stopped doodling since. (My parents saved all of these doodles, and I still think they are some of my best work. See below.)
Here at BRM Institute, we’d be terrified too.
Do you read a lot of comics, and if so, what are some of your favorites? If not, do you think your passion for making comics links to them in any way?
I was hooked on the Marvel world from day one. But my real inspiration comes from painters and artists that I encountered along the way. There is an army of artists that I am in awe of: Goya, Haring, Beckman, Dubuffet, Scharf, and Baseman. Last year, I attended Tim Burton’s visual art exhibition at the MOMA, and that was enough to keep my inspiration gas tank full easily for these past seven months.
The thing that all of these masters of their craft have in common is that their work is all about stories. I am addicted to stories. I dive deeply into the world of story and narrative, mostly through my experiences as an improv theater performer. What keeps me interested is the idea of an incomplete story—of starting something and inviting the audience to finish it, to co-create it with me. Sure, I have something in mind when I paint, but so do you when you look at the painting. I love that a single piece of stimulus can ignite a flood of ideas and stories.
Can you describe your drawing routine (how often you draw, the time of day you draw, do you write scripts before you draw or do you make it up as you go along, etc.)?
I am always doodling. Catch me in any meeting or conversation, I will have a pen in my hand and it will be moving. It’s how I listen. I make my living as a trainer and consultant, but I never gave up my art and drawing. The On Your Feet brand is inundated with my art.
Can you tell us more about On Your Feet as a company?
On Your Feet began by mistake. One wet November Saturday in 1996, an unsuspecting advertising planner bought a hand-painted t-shirt at the Crafts Market in Portland, Oregon. A meeting with the artist (and improviser) of said shirt led to an improve-based workshop with (the very open-minded) Leo Burnett. Nineteen years later, there are eight of us and we work with organizations like Nike, Intel, Disney, NBC and others. Today we use improv to help organizations with business issues that relate to collaboration, audience engagement, customer service, and creativity.
How do you think your comics tie into business relationship management?
Actually, there’s a surprisingly strong connection. Improv actors are real-time, market-driven innovators. A team of people works together to create something (a story) to satisfy a customer (the audience) under extreme time pressure (instantly, on the spot). They have to step into uncertainty, work in a state of constant flux and change, and create something coherent and successful together. Similarly, the methods improvisers use on stage help create the conditions for new ideas to emerge. Sometimes the most important lessons can be conveyed in a single line and single image. I love the challenge of this constraint. We are all busy people. If I can help someone with a quick hit of visual engagement that can help them think or behave differently, then that feels worthy.
What are you most excited about with regards to your new partnership with BRM Institute?
We had a great time presenting and teaching at your conference in Portland! It became obvious that BRMs need to be great collaborators to bring value to their role. They need to listen for what their clients care about, be open to change, build on the ideas of their clients, etc. All of these behaviors are also demonstrated by improvisers on stage. They have to serve a customer (the audience) by deeply collaborating with their fellow performers. Here at On Your Feet, we are excited to contribute to the BRM community and hopefully provide some insight, experience, learning, and a bit of humor to the world of BRM.
A Bot Mural Gary recently completed in Portland, OR, featuring his trademark Bots.