July 19, 1917 ~ March 19, 2001

Mentor

BY

Mentor Huebner dedicated his life to art when he was 8. He began as a ‘good boy', sitting in the corner of a porch, drawing impressions of his grandmother's chicken ranch. By 18 he was participating in prestigious Jury judged mixed exhibitions, winning many purchase awards in city, state and national shows. At 23 he began having 'One Man Shows', and receiving glowing write-ups from respected art critics in many publications, the Los Angeles Times included. At 25 he began teaching a Life Drawing class at Chouinard's Art Institute in Los Angeles, and continued to teach for over 26 years, for fun. By 35 his art work became popular and began hanging in private collections World-Wide. In his forties, his work his work was featured in Museum National Touring Exhibits. Earlier, as a very young man he began work as a Designer for motion pictures. A career that lasted over 50 years.

Mentor always had a clear view of what he wanted to create. He was decisive and expert. He exhibited a remarkable speed and was prolific. This combination resulted in his success within his two primary fields of artistic endeavor: Fine Art and Film Production. He thought of himself ~ first, as a painter in Fine Arts ~ and secondly, as a motion picture artist.

Mentor was restless with insatiable and potent urges to paint and if thwarted became unbearable. He was always either thinking about art, or doing art, every waking moment of his life. If while looking pensive, during an especially romantic moment, he was asked, "What are you thinking?" His answer was usually, "I'm thinking about where I'm going to paint next."

A Plein Aire Post Impressionist Oil Painter, it's estimated he created about 2000 paintings; Landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes and portraits.

As a Motion Picture Designer for 250 Feature Films, an educated guess is that he must have accomplished at least 40,000 to 50,000 charcoal Conceptual Drawings and Story Boards.

In his spare time he designed 10 Theme Parks, several Restaurant Chains., Cinema Complexes and a couple of Resort Communities, around the world.

He never said "No" to any job offer.

I would ask, "Mentor are you sure you want to do this job on top of everything else? Isn't it a bit much? "

Mentor would always answer, "I can do it. It's nothing. Really Honey," And then he would laugh and tell me, "I can do it with my eyes shut."

When he began in films, a total of only 38 artists around the world qualified as motion picture sketch artists and illustrators. Now, in Hollywood, that number has grown to over 300. Mentor’s first job in the film industry was with MGM, where he worked for 12 years in a sketch artist pool, cranking out movie after movie until he quit to earn quadruple the money freelancing. Many times he didn't know the name of the movie he was working on. It was all so fast paced.

He could produce high quality work at either end of the day: 6 AM or Midnight. He never was without a creative solution to any problem. He never went dry.

Mentor had an over abundance of talent and could accomplish every technical art required at top speed. Just at the very moment he entered the film industry a union was formed and he automatically fell into the category of Sketch Artist. But due to the obvious quality of his work he was placed in Master level. He surpassed everyone's expectations and was soon given the tittle and credits and additional money as a film's Primary Production Illustrator.

He was sought after and every major motion picture studio in the world contracted him. He was their Golden Boy. Mentor was often hired by top producers to be the Ghost Director on a film. If a director was inexperienced, Mentor worked behind the scenes and ‘called the shots’, for the director, at the producer's request. There were times when a producer might even demand the film's writers rewrite a scene in order to accommodate Mentor’s visualization. Mentor's foresight saved the productions many several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It’s very rare if not practically nonexistent for a Conceptual Artist, Designer and Story Board Artist to be one and the same person. And for the artist to visually 'direct' by drawing, is even rarer. To this day, at least in Hollywood, there is still no other full-time studio artist who also functions as a full-time artist in Fine Arts. Mentor’s traditional art training enhanced his movie work, and he became an Icon in the Film Industry. He is known World-Wide as, “The King of the Illustrators”

Mentor was an inspired art enthusiast. He collected a phenomenal art library, never stopped studying, visited multiple art museums at home and overseas, attended many gallery art exhibits, and enjoyed viewing the art work of fellow artists, finding excitement and value in the art produced by novices as well as well as art produced by the Old Masters.

As a student, Mentor won medals and awards and scholarships not only for art but also for boxing and track. He always had a quick wit, and was known for his entertaining stories. He shot off rapid fire puns. He listened to opera while he calculated scenes and created conceptual designs for films. He never ate while painting. He had to be dragged away from the drawing board to eat or sleep. It was always, "One more minute."

And although he was quite emotional with a turbulent style, and an indiscriminate explosive temper, he also had magnetism and charm. He was liked. A lot!

Mentor, a Native Californian, born in East Los Angeles, traveled through much of the world, both personally and for movie locations and painted at every opportunity. He was convinced that light in Southern California was superior to all other and absolutely the ‘best light’ for Plein Aire painting.

And because of that belief, he painted several hundreds of landscapes in the Los Angeles area alone. In 2001 his biography ~ personal and professional combined, was entered into the Los Angeles City and California State Archives Each declared him; a Master equal to the Fine Arts Masters of old, and the stated he was a ‘real’ artist and the last major Post Impressionist Painter of the 20th Century.

This Exhibit is a special tribute to Mentor as a gift for his Birthday. He shares July 19 with Edgar Degas and the Cancer Sun Sign with Rembrandt Van Rijn.

This Internet Exhibit consists of some 12 images of paintings Mentor created during one particular decade. The image of his Self Portrait, painted when he was 43, was included to show his 'look' during that same decade he had created these 12 paintings.

Mentor painted with oils mostly on canvas, many times on masonite and several times on European Painter's Board. It is mere coincidence that the paintings chosen for this exhibit happen to have been painted on masonite and European Painter's Board exclusively. .

---

NEXT >>>