Diamonds are forever

"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn Baseball," Jacques Barzun, French-born American historian and philosopher famously observed.

Writers throughout our country's history have written about The National Pastime -- Ring Lardner, Ernest Hemingway, Damon Runyan, Philip Roth to name a few. 

But some pretty notable names with a paint brush have been just as lyrical about the game as those giants of letters.

 

Welcome to the April (opening of Baseball season) edition of Not Your Usual Caricature Artist, from Caricatures by Joel.

While these days Football has clearly eclipsed Baseball in the collective conscience of our country as the sport that best represents our times and sensibilities, Baseball is still a game that evokes nostalgia and a familiarity for many of us whose first treasured possessions as children were a bat, glove and a ball. And "catches" with our Dads.

Baseball -- with its bursts of power, speed and balletic grace -- has provided inspirational images for many artists to capture on canvas. Baseball art exhibits have even been staged at world-class museums throughout the country.

Here are some samples of what I'm talking about, including the painting above by contemporary African-American artist Kadir Nelson:

This study by Thomas Eakins, iconic Philadelphia-based realist, was rendered in 1875. (Baseball is popularly said to have been invented by Civil War Union General Abner Doubleday thirty-six years before.)

 

LeRoy Neiman, more famously known for his brilliantly splashy sports illustrations for Playboy magazine, did this study of activity around the batting cage, likely in the 1960's.

Norman Rockwell's cover for Saturday Evening Post ran in this 1939 issue; "America's Artist" illustrated a multitude of Baseball themes throughout his long and storied career.

Then there's this recent silliness from caricaturist Tom Richmond, acclaimed contributor to Mad Magazine and a myriad of publications and commercial sites.



















And since caricatures are why we're here, here are a few pieces by yours truly, touching on Baseball in some form or another:

Pete Rose, right, appearing at a Charlotte business networking gathering alongside his host.

Jordan Danks, formerly with the Charlotte Knights, a commissioned piece the Knights had me create honoring the team's all-time hits leader, with his wife and baby son.

One of the games leaders for the Powerade State Games of North Carolina, played in 2014 at venues throughout the Charlotte region.

And finally, "Matthew," Bar Mitzvah boy and lover of 
all sports.

See you the first Tuesday of next month -- the year's fifth inning -- as we take a few more swings with Not Your Usual Caricature Artist.

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.