High Society

Did you know there is an International Society of Caricature Artists?

Click here: Caricature Artists | ISCA - International Society of Caricature Artists

According to the Introduction on their web site:

The International Society of Caricaturist Artists is an international non-profit trade association. Its purpose is to promote the art of caricature, educate the public and the media about the art of caricature and to provide its members with helpful information about caricature as an as art form as well as a profession. 

ISCA currently has over 650 members from around the world, and is growing every month. Members receive our quarterly magazine, Exaggerated Features, which has articles about caricaturing, featured artists tips and stories as well as other useful information about caricature illustration. ISCA annual convention is held each year in a different location. The convention features a guest speaker, lectures, seminars, competitions, awards and the camaraderie of your peers in the art of caricature drawing.

Welcome to the March edition of Not Your Usual Caricature Artist.

Sounds pretty cool and that's why I've applied for membership.

Fine artists -- amateur and otherwise -- are often inspired when they visit an art museum or gallery, to rush back to their studio and either pull out a new canvas or return to an already-started one. 

I'm amazed by the works of the Masters, too. But my inspiration comes every time I see a reference to Mad Magazine's own gallery of contemporary luminaries...or similar work occasionally found accompanying a magazine article or gracing a book cover by one of the current greats in this often under-appreciated corner of the art world.

In the meantime, here's some representative stuff of mine I hope is deemed worthy of membership in the ISCA.

 Pete Rose (right)

 

 

Hope you'll associate with me again the first Tuesday of next month for more musings from Not Your Usual Caricature Artist.

Norman Rockwell, Caricaturist?

As Wikipedia notes, "Norman Rockwell (1894 – 1978) was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for more than four decades." 

But Norman Rockwell, Caricature Artist?

Welcome to 2015's Opus One of our monthly Not Your Usual Caricature Artist from Caricatures by Joel.

I went recently to an exhibit of his work that showed how he used photography to first establish his concepts (using real friends and neighbors as models, not professionals), from which he then painted his many published and commissioned pieces over a period of 60-plus years.

The thing that struck me was how often -- notwithstanding his penchant for representational realism -- he "embellished" a face or slightly exaggerated a body to lend whimsy and character to his tableaux. 

So, if we are to define "caricature" as "a picture, description or imitation of a person or thing in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect," then America's greatest artistic chronicler of our social mores and pastimes could certainly wear the mantle of one...if only occasionally.

As these other, typically brilliant illustrations might indicate:

  

 

Along with the great illustrator/caricaturists of Mad Magazine -- Mort Drucker, Jack Davis, Tom Richmond, Jack Rickard, Drew Friedman and others -- Norman Rockwell stands tall as one of my heroes. 

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Here are a few commissioned works from yours truly that I can only hope would have at least elicited a nod of the head from Mr. Rockwell.

TV executive moving from Charlotte to Houston.

 Family expecting their second child; gift from Mom to Dad.

Executive, upon retirement.

Pete Rose on the right (guest speaker), with the founder of the Myers Park Networking Group, Bill Albaugh.

Client...of a client...enjoying his recreational spoils.

And since Rockwell was fond of occasionally inserting himself into his work...here's the latest self-indulgence from yours truly.

The Norman Rockwell exhibit is on display at the Columbia (SC) Museum of Art through January 18.

 Click here: Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera

See you again the first Tuesday of next month for another broad brushstroke of Not Your Usual Caricature Artist from Caricatures by Joel.



All I Want for Christmas is...

So, now that the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons are upon us, what do you plan to give as a gift?

Perhaps these ideas might help.

How about a nice bottle of wine for your favorite oenophile?

Or maybe tickets to Mr. Jordan's team, the Hornets?

 

A practical gift, of course, might be a snow blower.

 

For the adventuresome in you or someone you know, perhaps a flight to a far-off land.

Feeling good about that new promotion?  How about a brand new car?

  

 For your kids who have been less naughty and more nice, how about a pet?

Whatever you decide to purchase, have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!

And I'll look for you again on the other side of the New Year, with more ornamental bric-a-brac from Not Your Usual Caricature Artist.

Giving Thanks

Welcome to November, pretty much known for one pretty epic celebration -- Thanksgiving.

It's probably my favorite holiday, what with families gathered and turkeys, et al. consumed by the tonnage. Or at least it seems that way when I have to open another one, or two, notches on my belt upon finally pushing away the plate.

Thanksgiving, of course, means just that: giving thanks for our "bounty" -- as Americans who have, whether by the providential dint of being born here...or the self-achieved privilege of choosing to live here... enjoyed a quality of life virtually unmatched anywhere else on the planet.

Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of Not Your Usual Caricature Artist from Caricatures by Joel.

According to Wikipedia, "Thanksgiving, currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November by federal legislation in 1941, has been an annual tradition in the United States by presidential proclamation since 1863 and by state legislation since the founding fathers of the United States. Historically, Thanksgiving has traditionally been a celebration of the blessings of the (agricultural) year, including the harvest."

I try not to take that for granted.  I also try not to take for granted the "gift" I come by genetically -- that of being able to draw, and to draw caricatures in particular.

My father Sam was a professional illustrator, comic book artist and commercial art director; my mother Corinne was a skilled painter and sculptress. My two siblings were blessed as well -- my late sister Barbara was a gifted artist and art teacher, and my surviving sister Jean is very talented in her own right and likes to dabble on occasion.

Here, to pay homage to each, are samples of their work:

"Irv Wesley" was a pen name (literally), my father used on occasion when illustrating a series of comic book titles for Stan Lee and Marvel. Here, he was responsible for doing the initial pencil illustration...after which it would be inked and colored by two other individuals.

Here, my mother sculpted the literary figure "Don Quixote." She taught both sculpture and painting to adult students from her studio.

 

 Barbara's stylized painting of my mother.

 

Jeannie's rendering from an old photo of our Dad as a child riding a pony.

 

 I've joined the gallery here with a commissioned work of an engaged couple who enjoy tailgating (with images pertinent only to them).

This month of "Turkey Day" -- and every day of every month -- I give thanks to each member of my family for their support and the measure of their talents that have inspired me.

Happy Thanksgiving...and see you again the first Tuesday of next month for another tryptophan-free helping of Not Your Usual Caricature Artist.

Drawn to Halloween

This month marks Halloween time. So I thought I'd weave in some related Hollywood...and caricature...trivia.

Welcome to the October edition of Not Your Usual Caricature Artist from Caricatures by Joel.

William Henry Pratt logged a number of years as an extra and bit-part player in the silent and early "talkie" years of film. His family claim to fame was as the great nephew of Anna Leonowens, whose true-life biography was the inspiration for the book, dramatic movie and finally, Broadway musical "The King and I." Finally, at the advanced age of 44, his own moment of glory arrived when he was selected to play a character that he helped turn into a seminal fixture of horror films. 

It was a character that, through the years, has since been lovingly lampooned, along with other creepy icons, by some great caricaturists.

Apropos, here are some by Mad magazine stalwart Jack Davis, and a UK-based caricaturist with whom I was unfamiliar, Paul Garner.

I'll be doing my thing once again at the Halloween festival thrown by Trump National Golf Club in Mooresville (formerly known as The Point), mainly drawing little kids in their costumes and makeup...always cute and fun.

Of course, October is also a great time in general for outdoor events, private and corporate. Here are some happy campers from similar occasions at which I put pencil to paper:

 

 

 

Oh, and as for William Henry Pratt? He wisely decided to change his name to something more exotic, more sinister, more memorable:

Boris Karloff.

See you again the first Tuesday of next month for another bone-chilling entry from Not Your Usual Caricature Artist.