John Kascht

I've always had some difficulty with the term, "master class", as it is often a little too liberally applied to instructors who might not be quite so masterful. Well, for once, I can use the appellation with utter conviction when I talk about John Kascht and his film,"Funny Bones". It's a short, incredibly incisive deconstruction on the art of caricature. In it, Kascht diligently analyzes every peak and valley of the topography that makes up the face of comedian, Conan O'Brien. And while it has plenty of delightful time lapse sequences of John sketching, painting and even sculpting, the piece is not about technique per se. It's really a rumination on the art of capturing a likeness and more importantly, the essence of a subject. He reminds us that caricature is not distortion for distortion's sake, but rather an amplification of those features that reveal what is unique about that particular person. There is plenty to marvel at in Funny Bones and if you are trying to learn something about capturing a personality on paper, go here.

Old Photos

As I thumb through books of old photos, I can hardly resist a quick drawing of some of the long-gone faces I see in them. This time I didn't resist at all. The sketch is based on a fragment of a larger scene depicting Londoners enjoying an afternoon on a merry-go-round, sometime during the 1920's. She's having the time of her life.
I wonder how the rest of it went.

Ms. Havisham and other studies.

Scrooge

Here's another peek at the Dickens series. It's not much, but it does mean I don't have to post anything for another week, and that's good enough for me!

SKETCHTRAVEL!

Two smart guys, Gerald Guerlais and Dice Tsutsumi are chatting one day and think: Hey, let's have a beautiful blank sketchbook made and then send it out, artist to artist, country to country until the whole damned thing is filled with beautiful drawings! We'll call it Sketchtravel and go to a top flight publisher and have them publish a limited facsimile of the book! Oh, Oh! Then let's auction the original sketchbook at some high dollar auction house in Brussels and GIVE ALL THE MONEY AWAY TO CHARITY!!!
They're very excitable guys, but when they have an idea, they get it done.
Check out their website here and take a look at the fabulous roster of artists they wrangled to appear in the book. Here's a sampling off the top of my head:
Carlos Nine
Carter Goodrich
Ronnie Del Carmen
Rebecca Dautremer
Hayao Miyazaki
Follow this link to a snappy little video about the adventures of the book itself!

Not so Hard Times

Here's one of eight pieces I am working on, showcasing the main characters from some of Charles Dicken's most famous works. They will appear on new paperback editions being published by Random House sometime next year. It wouldn't be quite truthful to call this work, given how much I am enjoying doing them. And although the drawings will be used rather small in the context of the cover design, I think the whole package will make a handsome series.
Above is Josiah Bounderby from Hard Times.

Filler

So sue me. I was on vacation!