This was the opening of the show of Politics at the Society of Illustrators here in NYC (128 E. 63rd). It mainly featured some of the best caricaturists around, including Philip Burke, Steve Brodner, John Kacsht, and Peter DeSeve, amongst others.
Pictured here on top is one of me and my caricaturist friend, Glenn Hilario with the infamous Philip Burke- someone I've wanted to meet since around 1988. He was a nice guy- easy to talk to, and forthcoming about sharing his process. Here are some of his painting featured that night as well as a brilliant Sarah Palin by my old teacher, Steve Brodner. Steve also had his sketchbook on a pedestal so everyone could flip through it. There were also videos that he had made with the New Yorker called "The Naked Campaign" which were great to see again. Downstairs featured John Kacsht's work and also a video of him explaining his process. I met him as well and he was also a nice, down to earth fellow. I'll include one of the photos I took of his above...
4 comments:
great paintings. Is Philip Burke in the middle? He looks pretty young!
Yeah, that's Philip in the middle. He's 51, but he's very youthful looking/ acting.
Burkes stuff is stunning up close and personal. The pictures come no where near the visual impact you get by seeing them live. This is truly a visual feast for caricature artists, and did i say AGAIN how I envy that you studied under Brodner? what was it like being in his classes? what is his method like?
Yeah, that's for sure- you have to see the stuff in person- especially for the color. Btw, I got your message- glad you were able to go to the Society today.
I took Steve's class about 15 years ago, and it was only his second year teaching then. His main focus was on illustration in general, rather than caricature specifically. I wanted more of the caricature stuff, but I might've been the only one. The one thing he kept focusing on was to do an illustration which brings your eye around the page and to do many rough sketches. At the time, I was more of the Philip Burke school of working directly- meaning I would do the final right away, so that it wouldn't lose any spontaneity and feeling by trying to reproduce it. Sometimes it would hit, and sometimes not, but when it hit, it would really hit. I remember we argued a bit over that point, but he understood and let me explore that way for a while. I eventually changed I think when I noticed I wasn't getting a lot of illustration work...
So whatever I learned about caricature from Steve was mainly from watching him draw. I also started drawing caricatures in Central Park after learning that he did it for 15 years, and also learning what good training it can be. I also have to say that he was very encouraging and still is to this day. You couldn't ask for a better mentor.
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