Getting Recognized

Ducks Unlimited’s International Artist of the Year

Anthony Padgett’s rendition of his own yellow Lab watching mallards settle in at sunset has earned him the DU International Artist of the Year title

By Will Brantley

Some folks can look back on one pivotal moment in life that ultimately shaped the rest to come. It could have been an epiphany of sorts, a moment of pure mental clarity and understanding when everything “clicked” and came together. For Illinois native Anthony Padgett, the moment responsible for sculpting his professional success as an artist occurred while admiring an exhibit of Ducks Unlimited artwork in 1992. Eyeing the various wildlife prints depicting ducks, geese, retrievers, old hunters, young hunters, big game, upland game, and a host of other subjects, Padgett reasoned he could produce similar work on canvas. Shortly thereafter, he quit his day job at a St. Louis advertising firm and began painting.

With a crisp new graphic design degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Padgett supplemented income from his passion with design jobs on the side before settling into wildlife painting full time a few years ago. Though his college courses had prepared him well for such endeavors as ad and billboard design, Padgett has never taken a formal painting class.

“For 15 years, at least up until the last five or six years, I’ve had to do other work on the side,” Padgett says, “but my passion has always been to be a wildlife artist. I grew up hunting and fishing, and to this day, I love to be outside. Any chance I get to go hunting or fishing, I’m going. I started duck hunting when I was in the fifth grade; maybe even a little younger than that.”
 Padgett’s hunting roots come through in Diligence – Yellow Lab, the painting that earned him recognition as Ducks Unlimited’s 2008 International Artist of the Year. Every hunter who has spent time in a duck blind can recognize a well-disciplined retriever’s anticipation, perhaps accompanied by a subtle whine, as it eyes the approach of committed ducks. Padgett conveyed that moment with an image of his own yellow Lab, Toby, gazing across a duck marsh at sunset as a small flock of mallards scans the water below.

“Everybody kept telling me that he’s a great-looking dog and that I should use him as a subject for painting,” Padgett says. “But I didn’t want to do just a portrait of him, so I incorporated him into my Sunset Series.”
 
Padgett’s re-creation of such settings doesn’t always begin and end with shotgun in hand. He supplements his hunting by spending a great deal of time in the field with a camera, researching his subjects. His research has taken him everywhere from the local duck marsh over a decoy spread set specifically for photo purposes to the Arctic Circle, where he’s observed and studied polar bears. And fans of his work frequently invite him along for hunting and fishing trips. Day in and day out, however, he enjoys field research in the duck blind as much as anywhere.

“I love painting landscapes with ducks or deer in the background,” Padgett says, “but my favorite place to do research is [in the marsh] for waterfowl. I just love being around the water.” 
 Padgett points out that “getting known” is the paramount step in a budding artist’s career. In his own studio, Padgett has a board indicating a few lofty artistic goals. Winning the DU International Artist of the Year Award is among them. Now that he has a check mark by that accomplishment, he wants one of his paintings to grace a state duck stamp and, ultimately, the federal duck stamp.

Among other honors to Padgett’s credit are commissioned paintings for the National Wildlife Federation, the Indiana Conservation Officers Organization, Boy Scouts of America, the National Wildlife Refuge Officers Association, National Hunter Education, the Conservation Foundation, and Southern Illinois University. In addition, Hunt Club Digest recently commissioned Padgett to paint a portrait of George H.W. Bush that will grace the president’s library.

“Some of those things just take a while,” Padgett says. “I’ve had quite a few awards from other places in the past, but nothing quite like this. If I could give advice to other artists trying to make it in the field, getting known is most of the battle. I’ve tried submitting for the International for years, and I guess I finally got a piece that stuck out there.”

For the second year, the title was chosen not by a DU committee but instead by a public vote on the DU website. “To be picked by the public like that, you know you’ve done something people are going to like,” Padgett says. “I thought doing the contest in that format was a great idea.” 

Dogs are always popular subjects among duck hunters. Waterfowlers who hunt with dogs tend to be extremely passionate about their retrievers. And most avid waterfowlers who do not own a retriever have at least hunted with a good dog at one time or another and understand the work that goes into training and, if only to a small degree, the satisfaction a dog’s owner feels after a well-executed retrieve. Diligence no doubt struck a chord with all who appreciate the enthusiasm, determination, and loyalty of a working retriever.

Ducks Unlimited's National Art Package

 An assortment of stellar wildlife prints has become a staple at DU events. For more than 30 years, the best wildlife artists in the nation have been creating prints that often end up adorning the homes and offices of hunters and other conservation enthusiasts across the country. Collectively, funds garnered from the prints sold at DU events pump millions of dollars into habitat conservation.

But prints aren’t the only collectibles available at DU events. From custom decoys, fine chef-grade kitchenware, furniture, jewelry, hunting gear, and a host of other items, most people can find something to suit their tastes at a DU event. Best of all, money spent on these items will be used to enhance and conserve waterfowl habitat across North America.

Those who regularly attend DU events know these gatherings are a great opportunity to catch up with old friends as well as make new ones. This year, make it a point to bring someone new to an event. They’ll have a great time. A special thanks goes out to Bass Pro Shops for underwriting the DU International Artist of the Year Program, as the company has for several years.