Cover Artist Michael Zontos

Cover Artist

2021 Cover Artist Michael Zontos

By Meg Wall-Wild

You use your phone camera without a moment’s hesitation. A quick click and you catch that bronco in mid-buck, Instagram likes guaranteed. Or that fi sh on the grandkid’s rod and reel, snapped and posted so Auntie Mary in Shelter Cove can respond with fi ve heart eye emojis. This easy power to save a moment is at your disposal, yet some like Michael Zontos have a superpower. He can capture that second of pure movement using only colored and graphite pencils (charge cord not required).

Drawing as an art form demands complete attention to detail. A fi sheries biologist by trade, Zontos uses an eye trained by fi eld experience to capture wildlife at its best. He fell in love with it in his native Santa Cruz, fi shing clear mountain streams and diving o the coast, drawing wildlife for enjoyment. His passions led to a fi sheries management degree from Humboldt State University and his current work with Northern California’s salmon and trout. Along the way, his love of drawing began to reassert itself. Michael found himself picking up the pencils whenever possible. The result is an artist reclaiming his talent. His subtle use of colors is a delight, the blending delicate. You almost reach out to fi let that California king laid out on a grained board.

Any artist is happy to have a commission to avoid the starving part of their endeavors. Zontos said he is not only happy, but highly honored to provide the bespoke poster for the Centennial Fortuna Rodeo. He was eager to take the bull by the horns.

Zontos said the Fortuna Rodeo commission o ered him a challenge. His usual aquatic models are easily handled, providing time to study the teeniest details. (Ornery fi sh will not stomp on an artist.) The piece was inspired where the science of biology intersects with art. He said the biologist in him loved the research and the artist in him loved the study (artsy term meaning draft drawings) of di erent bulls. Zontos wanted to catch the essence of wild animal still lurking within. He nailed it.

“The Centennial Bull” stares out at you, ready for the fi ght. The challenge hangs in the air. Messing with him will lead to regret.

You can take the bull up on his challenge. Zontos’s original poster art will be auctioned o between 7 and 8 p.m. during the Saturday, July 17 Bulls, Broncs, Bands & Brews. Admit it. You already see that bull hanging on your wall. ✪

Michael Zontos.

Courtesy of the artist

Robert & Mary Johnson

1058 Main Street, Fortuna, CA 725-4431

www.greensfortuna.com

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1387 9th St Fortuna, Ca 95540

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