Artists, Apple team up with goalies for ‘authentic and personal’ mask designs

Apple is also featuring two masks painted by Calgary-based artist Jordon Bourgeault: one for new New Jersey Devils No. 1 Jacob Markstrom, and another for Montreal Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault.

For Bourgeault, who typically spends 15 to 20 hours “digitally painting the designs” and another “200-plus hours” painting each mask, being able to easily alter and share his work on the iPad Pro during that initial process is crucial.

“The iPad is great for saving time, especially in the design phase,” Bourgeault said. “I used to do some mock-ups in pencil. Now I’m using iPad to do an initial drawing, almost like it was in pencils, and show that to the goalie, make sure they like where I’m going before I spend all that time digitally painting, adding colors and stuff. … It helps so much, even just to look at ‘do I want a black or white background?’ You can easily paint bucket it in and be like, ‘Oh, that looks great’ or ‘No, I don’t like that.’

“I also use iPad as my reference when I’m actually painting. So instead of printing out a bunch of pictures like you used to do, I just tap the screen. You can zoom in way better for the detailed stuff.”

“Detailed stuff” is what Bourgeault is known best for, as evidenced in Markstrom’s mask visualizing the origin story of the Jersey Devil based on folklore dating back to the 1700s. It will be equally evident in Montembault’s new mask, which plays off the Mechanical Skull mask he painted for Canadiens goalie Carey Price in 2021, while also reflecting on legendary Canadiens goalies Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy.

Michael’s latest for Demko, which continues the theme of Johnny Canuck reimagined as a zombie, is also featured in the campaign.

Gunnarsson’s art is showcased on four masks: Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins with a tribute to the city, featuring statues of historical figures Paul Revere and William Prescott; Linus Ullmark of the Ottawa Senators with Viking-inspired initials of his family members; Stuart Skinner of the Edmonton Oilers combining a bear paw to represent his family and a moustache nod to his iconic facial hair; and a brand new theme that Woll put a lot of thought into after sticking with a brick wall and eagles theme for his first three seasons in Toronto.