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

Joseph Woll grew up drawing his own mask designs, but now that he’s in the NHL the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie relies on Swedish artist Dave Gunnarsson to bring his ideas to life.

Gunnarsson, in turn, relies on his iPad and Apple Pencil to help make it possible.

“Dave uses an iPad to create a lot of his sketches,” Woll said. “I was more of a doodler in school, so there were a lot of masks in my notebooks, and art in general is just a cool part of my life. My grandma was an artist, and one of my best friends is pursuing becoming an artist, so I've been naturally surrounded by art a lot of my life. I always loved to draw and the creation of my helmet over the years was always something I've been drawn to with the position: being able to show a bit of your personality and having a bit of uniqueness.”

The ability to show off that personality with custom-painted masks has been a big part of goaltending since the late 1960s, when Boston Bruins trainer John Forristall started drawing stitches on Gerry Cheevers all-white mask to indicate the damage that would have been done without it each time he got hit in the face. Masks have since become an open canvas for creativity for goalies and artists alike, with intricate designs worthy of an art gallery.

The creative process has come a long way too, with artists turning to their iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro to improve and streamline the design.

Apple is celebrating that artistic partnership by inviting fans to see how iPad Pro was used to create the designs for seven NHL goalies, including Woll’s “very authentic and personal” new mask. Over the coming weeks, in a campaign called Made On iPad, Apple will share seven short-form videos that show how each mask was designed on iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro.

“From day one iPad has been a game-changer for me,” said artist Travis Michael, whose NHL client list includes Vancouver Canucks goalies Thatcher Demko and Arturs Silovs. “Being able to draw up a design, send it to a goalie, get their feedback and make edits. It’s sped up the process so much.”

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.

“This summer, I had the idea to change it up and try to do something very authentic and personal,” Woll said. “I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted on the helmet.”

The result is a “mountain themed mask” that incorporates Mont Blanc, which left Woll “jaw dropped” and “mesmerized” by its size after first seeing it while hiking in the European Alps last summer. On the other side is the Troll’s Tongue rock formation in Norway, and atop that sits a piano, which is a reference to Woll’s love for music and that instrument, as well as a nod to his favorite musician, Kygo, a Norwegian DJ who had singers and a grand piano flown atop that same famed ledge to record his latest album.

“I sent Dave a very long email and it was probably a lot for him to take in because I had a lot of photos and I wanted it to look similar,” Woll said. “The cool thing is I have these ideas of what I want the base of the mask to be and then he, as an artist, breathes life into it.”

With help from his iPad, of course.