TAKEAWAY: Caricaturist John Kascht, whose career started in newspapers, has a new video showing what it takes to draw the likeness of famous people. Fun to watch, instructive and detailed. ALSO: The pop up of the day: Bild lets you take a tour of a red Lamborghini.
Conan O’Brien’s drawing by John Kascht
John Kascht has drawn caricatures with the likeness of such as Conan O’Brien, Eminem, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Murray, Jack Nicholson, Barbra Streisand, Mick Jagger, and Donald Trump among others. Now, Kastch who started his career in newspapers and who often came to The Poynter Institute in the heydays of newspaper design training workshops, has made a video recently for the National Portrait Gallery’s Gallery360 series.
In the video, Funny Bones: Anatomy of a Celebrity Caricature, Kascht tells us what it is like to draw as a caricature the face of someone famous.
Here is how Wendy Wick Reaves, Curator of Prints and Drawings, National Portrait Gallery, describes the Funny Bones video:
Throughout Funny Bones, we have the illusion of peering over the artist’s shoulder as he draws. The videostarts with the seductive sound of charcoal scratching on paper. Using a broad vocabulary of graphic marks in various media, Kascht experiments with lines, squiggles, blotches, tracings, and washes, moving ever closer to his final concept.
See the video here:
In the 30-minute Smithsonian film Funny Bones: Anatomy of a Celebrity Caricature,
John Kascht draws Conan O’Brien from photos and from life, rendering him in pencil, ink, clay, and watercolor. Also in cheesecurls, vegetables and breastpocket hankies.
Kascht, who has been an illustrator for almost 20 years, working with print primarily, also does theater marquees, poster design and book work. He began as a summer intern in the art department of the Milwaukee Journal during his college years. Following graduation, he worked as an illustrator at the now defunct Rocky Mountain News in Denver, then at the Washington Times. While at the Times, his illustration and design work won over 50 awards from the Society for News Design, including two Best of Show awards, 8 Gold and 15 Silver awards.
“Like everyone, I’m reinventing these days. I’m branching out into film, which incorporates my love of writing and teaching (and performing!) I’ve made several short films for the Washington Post, The New York Times and a few magazines. Publications are finally starting to pay for web content!,” he writes me enthusiastically.
I took this opportunity of reengaging with John to ask a question many in the industry may have:
Is caricature is alive and well these days?:
Self portrait by the artist
John Kascht points at one of his caricatures
As an art form, caricature has always been practiced and is always popular—or at least populist, in the sense of being universally accessible. We are all drawn to faces, especially famous ones, and there is something inherently magical about seeing a person’s features distorted in a way that makes them more recognizable, not less.
Despite its enduring popularity, the visibility and influence of caricature ebbs and flows with the times.
Beginning in the mid 1980’s, there was a tremendous revival of the art form, owing in part to a publication boom. With countless newspapers and magazines devoted to politics and celebrity culture, there were unlimited outlets for satirical content. I’m fortunate to have been able to ride that wave. These days, with newspapers disappearing and magazines as thin as supermodels, the prevalence of caricature in print has declined sharply.
Predictably, caricature has exploded on the web. There is a huge international community online—drawing (primarily digital) caricatures, posting their work, and discussing it amongst themselves. The volume of stuff is truly staggering, and the quality of some of it is exceptional. But I wonder: How many caricaturists can earn a living selling their work online to other enthusiasts? What outlets will become available to this new generation of caricaturists? No clear answers right now, just questions.
I am hoping to have a conversation with John soon , especially about an intriguing line in his mail: “I’d love to chat with you some time about an idea I’ve had for resurrecting the venerable old position of “cultural caricaturist” in a way that takes full advantage of technology. “
To see more of John’s work, visit his website:
www.johnkascht.com
Come back for updates here.
For more information:
Smithsonian permalink: http://www.npg.si.edu/kascht.html
Today’s pop ups
Get into this Lamborghini, open the doors, turn on the headlights and hear the sound of the engine. A definitive , fun pop up for Bild Zeitung today.
WoodWing Xperience seminar May 24-25 in Amsterdam
I am honored to be one of three keynote speakers at the upcoming WoodWing Xperience seminar in Amsterdam May 24-25
I did a previous keynote for a WoodWing Tour function in London in 2010.
For those interested in attending, here is more information:
May 24-25, 2011, Amsterdam, Netherlands
http://xperience.woodwing.com