Cast No Shadow

There is no theme here.

Subjects can be important and real or utter nonsense. Mostly I'll be the one spouting off, but look for occasional guest editorials and visuals from comic writers, artists, novelists, friends and acquaintances. At least that's the idea. This space is for thought. Or not.

Illustrating Truth

06.13.2000

I feel a burn coming on.

The world of illustration is beautiful and I believe in its value as true art. The artist closest to my heart is Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945), who illustrated a vast number of children's classics from 1910 until his death. He lived well, provided for and raised a loving family in the beautiful Brandywine River Valley in Pennsylvania and was renowned in his profession.

He was also tortured.

He suffered from depression generally fueled by his inability to earn the respect of the "fine art" world. No matter his achievements with the murals and experimental paintings of his later years, the art world at large would never accept him as anything more than an "illustrator." He was PAID for his work, therefore it wasn't of any true artistic merit. Success was his downfall. Ironic in a way. If you feed your family, you're a "sellout."

I once had a professional "fine artist" explain to me that Toulouse Lautrec (1864-1901) was the only true artist who was able to be BOTH a commercial artist AND a fine artist. She then paused a moment and backtracked saying, "Well actually, no. Not true. Although he was paid for illustration jobs, he didn't actually NEED the money. So he wasn't truly a 'commercial artist....'"

OH MY GOD.

Apparently payment for work is not the issue. It's the timing and necessity of that payment. Michelangelo "illustrated" the bible. Is he not considered an artist in the purest sense? He WAS commissioned and paid by the church, after all. The only thing that angers me more than this thought is the notion that someone would dare tell ANYONE that what they consider art is NOT.

I understand that's simply the nature of criticism and that opinions vary widely, but those who profess to be "art lovers" believe themselves open-minded. My point is that most are not and appear to simply follow the crippling traditional belief that art is objective, but only to a point. Unfortunately for his sanity, N.C. Wyeth wanted the respect of such individual s.

Wyeth is responsible for an enormous body of glorious paintings. Rich colors bursting out with an energy and drama unmatched in his day. Sharp shadows looming in genius places. Surreal valleys inhabited by legendary characters of fiction and tall tales. Poetic roadside stops looking upon true farmers of the Brandywine Valley.

My favorite is "The Giant," a 1928 mural painted inside the Westtown School in Westtown, PA. It depicts a giant figure, club in hand, walking across the ocean horizon, blending into a deep sky full of opulent clouds. In the foreground are six children watching in awe from the shore. The children belong to Wyeth, except for one, who was one of their friends, which I believe, had died prior. The children see the giant, but does it actually exist? It doesn't matter. The point is that it's true to them. This speaks in volumes. Imagination is about what we believed possible as children.

It's that same imagination that will keep me youthful even when I'm barely able to hold a brush. And that's my definition of a gift. I can't tell you the joy I experience in not only producing comics, but creating works that are not asked for by any employer and are not for sale. Existing for their own personal sake, they serve no monetary purpose. As in Wyeth's time, some can define the two as different, "commercial" or "fine" art.

And you're foolish for the thought.

- John