The youngest original member of the Group of Seven, Frank Carmichael was born in Orillia, Ontario, where he first worked in his father's auto shop. His interest in art brought him to Toronto in 1911, where he studied at the Central Technical School and the Ontario College of Art. He was employed by commercial art companies Grip Ltd. and Rous and Mann, where his colleagues included MacDonald, Tom Thomson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer and FH Varley. The war interrupted his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, after only one year. Returning to Toronto, he found space in the new Studio Building on Severn Street, sharing the workroom with Tom Thomson and mingling with other artists. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay While working with the men who would form the Group of Seven, Carmichael participated in weekend sketching trips and showed great progress. However, after his marriage in 1915, family and work responsibilities prevented Carmichael from participating in the drawing trips to Algonquin Park and Algoma undertaken by others in the latter years of the decade. It was only during the major excursions of 1923-1924 that Carmichael traveled north again. In the meantime, his paintings are drawn from weekend trips to sketch in areas not far from Toronto or his family home in Orillia. October Gold of 1922 was based on a sketch made in Lansing in North York near Toronto, but it reveals the typical interests and interpretation of the Group of Seven: it could depict a northern wilderness scene, as there is no there is no trace of urbanization nearby and the autumn colors play on the hills. For Franklin Carmichael, the La Cloche region, north of Georgian Bay, has proven a constant source of inspiration. The artist first visited the area in 1926 and built a summer cottage there in 1936. La Cloche is the area depicted in the artist's mature works, such as Light and Shadow - vistas strongly designed and delineated with hills, lakes and expansive skies. He left his job as a commercial artist in 1932 to teach at the Ontario College of Art and eventually became head of the department of commercial and graphic arts. His reputation as a teacher was enhanced by his work as a highly acclaimed designer and illustrator. He was also a founding member of the Canadian Society of Watercolorists, of which he served as president from 1932 to 1934. Carmichael was always on the fringes of the Group, probably because of the age difference and perhaps because he worked on time full as a watercolorist. commercial artist. Most members of the Group seemed to consider teaching the arts to be an honorable calling, but they attached a stigma to working in the commercial field. This seems rather ironic given that almost all of the members started out in this field. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Personalized Essay He was a brilliant craftsman who took pride in his technique, but he was also a painter of rhythm and music. His earlier works almost resemble tapestries with their flat juxtapositions of color. As he developed as an artist, he began to emphasize deep, three-dimensional space. Although Carmichael's contributions as a commercial artist, graphic designer and illustrator were considerable, perhaps Carmichael's greatest contribution to the Group was to revive the neglected art of watercolor..