I’m John Lane, currently living a few miles from downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. I feel completely right sitting at my drawing table with pencils, pens and brushes. Early in my career I did exactly that for magazines and advertising agencies in Florida. As technology and consolidating businesses transformed media – I adapted. I moved back to my home town of Nashville, TN and produced graphics for a network news affiliate. I was recruited by video production houses to work with ad and music video clients. Then, I designed and animated show packages for cable networks including CMT, which was bought multiple times ending with Viacom, during my tenure.
After working for a couple of decades, with more all-nighters than I could ever count, I decided to take a real vacation. I went trekking through mountains on three continents. The higher the altitude, the higher the likelihood of politeness and civility, so it seemed. A well known quote from Samuel Clemens starts with ‘Travel is fatal to prejudice’. I don’t know if that works for everybody, but I came home with plenty to contemplate.
After I put my passport away freelance assignments started up, a mix of illustration and animation. Meanwhile, the evolution of technology began increasing in speed. What has not fluctuated is the impact and satisfaction of a good story. This is a pin in a map where the contours are fixed, who’s travelers are the lot I’m throwing in with, those people who want to tell a good tale.