Jeff Smith and Jeffrey Smith are both great illustrators.

Poster by Jeffrey Smith, 2011

There are at least 2 great illustrators named Jeff Smith. One is a Pennsylvania-born cartoonist who moved to Ohio and started cartooning for the Ohio State Lantern. In 1991, Smith self-published a small black and white comic book called Bone. Bone went platinum, with such a fanatic following that it was picked up by major publishers, and has since sold millions of copies. I know the other Jeff Smith.

Bone cover, artwork © 2011 Jeff Smith

By the way, Columbus, Ohio is fertile ground for cartoonists. The brick Victorian home of James Thurber, the New Yorker cartoonist best known for his short stories, is worth a visit. Milt Caniff, who drew the aviation adventure strip Steve Canyon lived in Columbus. Caniff’s original artwork, along with that of many others, is housed at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum on Ohio State’s campus.

Cover for a Smokey Stover comic, courtesy of Wikpedia

Years ago, I visited the Cartoon Library and Museum. I was told there was no public exhibition at that time and the collection was only open to comics scholars. I said I was scholar with a specialization in screwball comics. (If you are ever challenged about your comic scholarship, this response works wonders. I was a college dropout at the time.) The librarian gave me a pair of white gloves and opened up a flat file. I was permitted to hold original art from Bill Holman’s Smokey Stover. It was just india ink on bristol board, but Wowie-Zowie, the ink was in all the right places. I was in screwball scholarship heaven.

Clang! Dang! Clang! I digress. The other Jeffrey Smith is a friend of mine. Here is an invitation from the Society of Illustrators to see his work. Go ahead. Click on it. You are invited, too. January 5, 2012. I know, it costs $20, but this is your chance to get into the exclusive Members’ Hall of Fame and the Society of Illustrators lays out a nice spread. Smith is illustrator of Shadow Nights: The Secret War Against Hitler. He will discuss the project including his research trip to Paris to visit the places where Churchill’s Special Ops Unit fought their secret war against the Nazis.

Shadow Nights is part of a new series called Pulp History from Simon and Schuster, which looks to be a fascinating mix of  history and edgy graphics. There is another volume, Devil Dog, illustrated by legendary underground cartoonist Spain Rodriguez.

Shadow Nights Illustration © 2011 Jeffrey Smith

This other Jeff (as I call him) Smith and I were classmates at the School of Visual Arts. He teaches at Art Center of Design in Pasadena. He studied with illustrators Phil Hayes and James McMullan, both outstanding watercolorists. The work he has done for Pulp History shows their influences. Stylistically, this new work also reminds me of my old thesis advisor, Julian Allen. Jeff’s illustrations have appeared in Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and G.Q. He deserves his success. I hope to make it into the big city next week to celebrate his Shadow Knights exhibition.

19th century British illustrations from the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge

I picked up a copy The Penny Magazine of  the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. I got it at  Renninger’s, the Kutztown Farmer’s Market. This magazine was published in 1834. It cost me one dollar. Consulting an online Historical UK Price Convertor reveals one British 1834 penny is today worth nearly .97 pound sterling, or about $1.51 U.S.. Wow! I saved 50% I’m not an antique collector. I actually started to reading the cover story about mangoes and found it fascinating.

“The Mango-tree is a native of India and the southwestern countries of Asia, and also grows abundantly in Brazil and the West Indies. …It is a large tree, attaining a height of thirty or forty feet…” The author tries to describe the taste that “melts in the mouth with a cooling sweetness that can hardly be imagined by those who have not tasted the choicest of nature’s delicacies.”

Photography was in its infancy, so this illustration is an engraving, probably on steel. The tree is drawn with confidence. One curious detail is the tiny figure, who looks to be smoking a bong. The text goes on to inform us the “Hindoos” use mango wood on their funeral pyres. The diffusion of useful knowledge continues. There is a note about mango chutney, and directions for eating the fruit. We are advised if we ever transport mangoes by sailing ship “they should be covered to defend them from the water and the spray of the sea.”

The little magazine is just eight pages. There is a review of a concert at an inn in Sussex, that concedes “England is now not a musical country.” Next comes the magazine’s longest article on the history of the East India Tea Company. It is illustrated with an engraving of the company’s London headquarters, so large that one has to turn the magazine sideways to see it.

There is a fascinating story about “The Cat Painter,” Gottfried Mind, born in Switzerland in 1768. The critic tells us Mind’s “drawings of cats were so admirable as to entitle him to the honourable, but rather awkward title, of The Raphael of Cats.” Unfortunately, this one story is not illustrated. I never heard of him, did you?  I found an illustration of Herr Mind’s art at Wikipedia. One of the scholarly references cited is an 1887 article by Franz Wiedemann: Der Katzenraphael.

Art by Gottfried Mind, "the Raphael of Cats," courtesy Wikemedia.

There is one more illustration on the last page of the Penny Magazine that I must share, below. This sort of image reminds us that England not only gave us the Encylopedia Brittanica, but she also gave birth to Monty Python’s Flying Circus!
Speaking of WIKIPEDIA: I would be lost without Wikipedia. Not only did Wikipedia help me investigate the Raphael of Cats, but it came in handy many times when I was putting together Powerpoint lectures for my History of Graphic Design class. I just made a tiny painless Paypal donation to Wikipedia. Happy Holidays, Wikipedia! You make me happy! The Diffusion of Useful Knowledge goes digital!

Jennifer Nye Holiday Card

illustration © 2011 Jen Nye (detail)

We didn’t get a lot of real holiday cards this year. The loveliest illustrated card came from Jennifer Nye. I tore the top edge off my card as I opened it. (I get impatient near Christmas.) I asked Jen to send me the digital file and give me permission to share her charming image. WordPress provides a plug-in for this blog that adds the snow effect. It makes Jen’s drawing look like a frame from an animated film.

Holiday Card ©2011 Jennifer Nye

Jennifer Nye is a 2005 Kutztown University graduate. She did her internship at Crayola. Today she is a freelance graphic designer, illustrator and fine artist in Lancaster, PA. Jennifer started her own freelancing business three years ago and works for a wide range of clientele. I think her web site looks great at nyedesignstudio.com. She feels it is time for a website update and has changes planned for early 2012.  I promise to let you know about when that update happens.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Wishing all illustrators a very Merry Christmas,or Hannakuh, or Diwali, or any sacred day you may celebrate. Happy New Year! If any of you, not just Jen, has an updated website or any illustration success to share, please drop us a line.

Another Year, Another Calendar


Black is back. Twenty years ago at a party in Hoboken I overheard a young punk mother complaining because she couldn’t find black baby clothes for her toddler. Today black is back. I got two presents wrapped in black. One was a brilliant new calendar from CD alum Ross Moody’s greeting collective, 55his.com. It couldn’t have come at a better time. Spoiler Alert: 2011 is ending in a less than 3 weeks.

Sketches lifted from 55hi's blog about illustrating the 2012 calendar.

The Monster Calendar includes illustrations by Sock Monkee, Chris Sandlin. I got an artist’s proof, but the calendars available at 55his.com are part of a limited silkscreened edition. Illustrators will want to check out the 55hi’s blog to see the entire process of putting this work of art together.

If you want to help save the U.S.Post Office, get over to 55hi’s for all your greeting card and gift needs.

Or maybe save some money to spend at  Sean Starwar’s site. The 2012 calendar picks up exactly where my Sean Starwar’s 2011 calendar leaves off. (see below.) Sean Starwars is one my favorite printmakers. Kutztown grad Jason Urban recently featured Starwars year-long printmaking project on the Printeresting site. Starwars grew up in Eastern Pennsylvania, but now lives in rural Mississippi. I’ve met him a few times, and he is the nicest hyper-guy you would like to meet.      Sean has a voracious appetite for Mountain Dew. Somewhere on the internet there is a Youtube video where he demonstrates how to add your own caffeine and sugar in an emergency when your local Piggly-Wiggly has nothing left on the shelf but the diet caffeine-free version!


Sean Starwars did a woodblock print every week of 2011. That’s over 50! Let that be an inspiration to you (and me.) Sean is having a holiday special sale at his Etsy page. Sean Starwar’s Etsy store page may be the only one that includes all three of these descriptive tags, “Mountain Dew” and “Christmas Sale” and “Rebel Scum.”

Remember. If you buy a calendar, always, always, check the date!

Hannah and her Comic Book

Hannah Stephey holding her comic

Hannah Stephey is a sophomore. She just published a remarkable comic book through Lulu.com. Lulu is a print on demand publisher. In other words, when someone orders a book, Lulu prints and ships a bookstore quality book or, for ebooks, sends a pdf file. Hannah’s comic book is called “I (Heart) Captain; A Paper Space Opera!” I asked her to write a little bit about herself and how the project came together.

Cover of I (Heart Captain) : A Paper Space Opera ©2011 Hannah Stephey

“I was born in a town almost as small as Kutztown called Chambersburg, PA, but I always felt like I belonged somewhere else. When you’re an only child in a stale environment like that, your imagination is your best friend! I was always weird, and from age 6, I had a whole cast of characters based on my stuffed animals that I would draw in “books” (xerox paper stapled together).

My whole life I’ve been drawing characters in books. Finally when I was 10, I made the leap to comic books, and at first they weren’t too attractive, but I pursued the craft and have been pursuing it for 10 years. Over the summer, I put together the fruits of two years of character design and story development and called it “I (Heart) Captain; A Paper Space Opera!”, a title awkward enough for the bizarreness within.

Right now I’m working on sequels in between school projects. Someday I want to write and design for my own TV show on Adult Swim. If they put “Squidbillies” on the air, surely I’ve got a chance!”

“I (Heart) Captain; A Paper Space Opera!” is available at Lulu.com. For more info or to order Hannah’s project in ebook or full color comic book form, click here.  Here is a partial plot synopsis: Lieutenant Zish Biscuit is a scrawny, sleep-deprived young soldier for the planet Emperia. His quality of life is about to go from bad to worse once his dream job is plucked out of his hands by a nightmarish girl, Mala, who can’t even dress herself. The planet Emperia is in deep…

AIDS day ART

HIV/AIDS Poster by Sadbi Aziri of Macedonia

WORLD AIDS DAY

December 1 is World AIDS Day. I knew AIDS before it had a name. In the 1980’s I lived in San Francisco in a household that included gay men. It was a time of palpable fear. Years later, when the scourge had a name, I lost a dear friend, a gifted photographer, Daniel Cohen, to AIDS. Today it seems the fear of AIDS has abated, but we must not become complacent.

Woodcut illustration poster by Matt Fink, KU CD

Kutztown Communication Design students have turned their talent and attention to this difficult subject. Four Kutztown CD students are honored as finalists in the 2011 Skopje International poster competition. Skopje, Macedonia is in Eastern Europe. Macedonia is an ancient country, but for much of the 20th century it was part of communist Yugoslavia. It reformed as an independent republic in 1991.

One of 3 Skopje HIV entries by Casey Glidden © 2011 Casey Glidden, KU CD

The Skopje exhibition organizers hope to “inspire and provoke students to create and communicate a more truthful, inclusive perception of HIV/AIDS.” They also want to “promote prevention and compassion and as well to recognize and renounce stereotypes.”

Poster illustrated in scratchboard ©2011 Wyatt Glennon, KU CD

Over 2000 posters were submitted from 38 countries. There are 50 finalists worldwide. Only 4 are from the U.S.A. and all 4 of the U.S. finalists are from Kutztown University. They are Casey Glidden, Matt Fink, Daniel Gaingiulio, and Wyatt Glennon. The winners and honorees will be announced on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1st, in Skopje and posted on the exhibition website. 12/2/11 Update on Award-Winners: Anna Klamczynska and Jan Bajtlik of Poland won First Prize. Morteza Farahnak of Iran won Second Prize. Christoph Buettner of Germany won Third Prize. Congrats to the winners. The Kutztown University students are to be commended for reaching the finals.

A second Skopje selection by Matt Fink

One-Day Kutztown Exhibition: 12/1/11

KU Allies is sponsoring AIDS Day events in the SUB Multipurpose Room from 3  to 10 p.m.  CD student Arren Dawinan has organized an exhibition of  many of the posters entered in the Skopje HIV/AIDS competition. The Graphic Design 1 teachers who worked with these students include Profs Elaine Cunfer, Kate Clair, and Vicki Meloney.

Poster © 2011 Daniel Giangiulio, KU CD

The Skopje HIV/AIDS Poster Exhibition will also travel in 2012 to Warsaw, Poland and Istanbul, Turkey. These Kutztown University students are getting a lot of of international exposure. They deserve it.

Another strong design by Casey Glidden chosen for the Skopje Exhibition.

Kutztown’s Unofficial Thursday Night Dress Code.


I live on Main St. in Kutztown. The proximity to the college is a mixed blessing. I love walking to work, but sometimes it does get a bit crazy. Once I awoke to hear a young lady shrieking, “Somebody, Call the Police!” So I called 911. Minutes later, the cops arrived and that same drunken voice screamed, “What (cusswords deleted) called the police?”

On Main Street one can’t help but notice a big change in fashion for this year’s students. Female freshman are wearing extremely short black dresses. Very, very short. Even my wife noticed. At first, I attributed this fashion statement to global warming, but the bare legs are still evident even on cold November nights. The girls sometimes wear huge boots called Uggs, or more often, black high heels of the sort made famous by Jessica Rabbit. These young ladies seem to be shopping at Fredericks of Hollywood, or the Berkshire Mall.

Meanwhile, guys apparently scavenge their wardrobes from the lost and found box at a public pool. They wear plastic sandals over socks. There is some variety of trousers, including nylon clam diggers that resemble 1950’s basketball shorts. Other guys wear distressed sweat pants. Still others go out in flannel cartoon-print pajama pants.  Guys generally wear hooded sweatshirts plus ball caps. The hoodies are marked Hollister or A.F. I admit some sense of relief that they are not wearing the Kutztown University logo.

This really doesn’t have much to do with illustration, so I did the cartoon sketch above as an excuse to blog about clothes. Watch for our Spring Kutztown fashion update.

Jonathan Bean, local children’s book illustrator makes good

photo courtesy Jonathan Bean

Once upon a time, a young man named Jonathan Bean  stopped by KU’s beloved old Communication Design House. This must have been nearly a decade ago. He was a recent grad from Messiah College in central PA with a small portfolio and large ambitions. He was wondering about topping off his bachelor’s degree from Messiah with a BFA in illustration from Kutztown. Of course, we might want to steer a talented young artist toward Kutztown University, but I find a second bachelor’s degree redundant. Like adding a side of cheese fries to your cheese steak. At KU a second degree, especially now with our new gen ed requirements takes three more years of schooling.

In my opinion, a recent grad who wants more illustration classes is better off earning a two-year MFA in illustration. That’s the advice I gave Jonathan. They have a limited residency MFA at Marywood in Scranton called Get your Master with the Masters,  for example. Jonathan decided to apply to SVA, The School of Visual Arts, my alma mater, in NYC. Flash forward to 2011: He has recently moved back to nearby Fleetwood, PA and he stopped on campus earlier this semester to tell me how it went. It worked out OK.

New book by Lauren Thompson, Artwork by Jonathan Bean

He has no regrets about going to SVA. It was expensive, for sure, but he found living and working in New York City exhilarating. He also said he was very lucky to be part of a really talented and supportive MFA class. On his website he has links to his SVA classmates’ work, including Paul Hoppe and Taeeun Yoo among others.

Jonathan has had great success as a children’s book illustrator. He is already working on his twelfth children’s book. His most recently published book is One Starry Night, a retelling of the Christmas Story (the original one with the birth of Jesus, not the one where Flick’s tongue gets stuck to light pole.) One Starry Night is written by NY Times bestselling author Lauren Thompson. The text is nicely complimented by Jonathan’s deceptively simple art. To my eye his work harkens back to the classic style of Wanda Gag. Kirkus Reviews calls it “an artistic tour de force. ” The Society of Illustrators has honored Jonathan by including artwork from One Starry Night in their current exhibition, on view through Dec.29, 2011.

At Night, words and watercolor paintings © 2007 Jonathan Bean

He wrote and illustrated At Night, a Boston Globe Horn Book Award Winner. Here is what the NY Times said about At Night, “Bean’s debut as an author is sweet and resonant, as calming as a mug of warm milk…he captures the solitary sense of being the last one awake…the peacefulness that comes with discovering a restful space of one’s own.”

Sketchbook page from jonathanbean.com ©2011 Jonathan Bean

Take a look at his website. He has had many more accomplishments than the few described above. It is wonderful to see the well-deserved success of this talented young man. Hopefully, we can get him to visit our illustration classes this year at Kutztown.

Bruce Waldman: Fine Illustrator & Fine Artist

The Great Apes, etching © by Bruce Waldman

The Fine Arts Department is bringing Bruce Waldman to Kutztown. The Communication Design faculty and students are supporting this visiting artist event with a poster and pizza.

Waldman is primarily a printmaker and a friend of our notably friendly Fine Arts Professor Evan Summer. He teaches at SVA, the School of Visual Arts, NYC. His prints are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The New York Historical Society, The Bronx Zoo and The Library of Congress. The Queen of England also owns one of his artworks.

The Silent Conversation © Bruce Waldman

The Printed Image: Bruce Waldman presents his work in words and images. 7:00 pm Monday, Nov. 14, 120 Sharadin. Pizza for students at 6:15 pm in the Lobby outside SH120. Free and open to the public.

Monoprints and Etchings: Lecture/Demonstration, primarily for printmaking students. Mon. 11/14, 3:00 P.M. Printmaking Studio, Sharadin. See Prof. Summer for details.

"Vampires, Werewolves, and Zombies" illustrated by Bruce Waldman

An Illustrator’s Insight: Bruce Waldman is also a Society of Illustrators medal winner. His work has appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, People, and The New Yorker. He will focus a bit more on this part of his career when he meets illustration students. Tuesday Nov.15, 9:30 A.M. 209 Sharadin (Illustration Studio)

For more information on Bruce Waldman see www.brucewaldman.com

from Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies, illustration © Bruce Waldman

Poster, above, by Frank Marsters

Illustration Concentration Site News: We reached a milestone: over 40,000 distinct visitors to this blog! This is the total for just over a year. WordPress has a special page of links for Illustration blogs. It features “the best in Illustration-related posts from around the WordPress.com community, updated daily.” Yesterday WordPress featured this Illustration Concentration blog again and we’ve been getting lots of new visitors. You are welcome to subscribe by putting your email in the box on the lower left corner. No salesman will call.

Reminder: You may see advertisements on the blog. We have no editorial control of those ads, and receive no compensation for ads. That money goes to WordPress for doing all they do. I don’t even get to see the ads when I log in on my computer, but sometimes see ads over other people’s shoulders for luxury cars, hammocks and vacations in Mexico. We must have a very upscale readership!

NY ComicCon guest blog by Ben Clifford

Image courtesy NewYorkComicCon.com

Ben Clifford, Communication Design student, was good enough write this report of his experience at New York ComiCon 2011.

There are only three things you need to know about NYCC if you want to become a comic artist: go to the Industry panels, visit Artist Alley, and take a few copies of your portfolio with you. DC and Marvel Comics have booths set up at every convention where you can drop off your art for it to be reviewed (although I couldn’t find it). But you never know who you’ll meet, and I got an unexpected portfolio review from professional inker Rick J. Bryant (Superman Action Comics, DC). The highlight of the advice I got from him was to “fill 4 reams of printer paper with realism studies”, and “if your art doesn’t work in the pencils first, you’ve failed”. Artist Alley is full of pros in the comic book industry, and all of them are there to meet fans. It’s a fool-proof way to get your work looked at and if your lucky enough, get your foot in the industry door. Editors Note: Rick Bryant has a full gallery of his inking work here.

Captain America, photo courtesy NYComicCon website

I also attended a series of panels run by Buddy Scalera(Comic Book School) on writing and penciling for comics. Writing advice included “know what your characters want and what they fear” and “each page needs a contained story arc”. Penciling advice will come as no surprise to any artist, which was simply “do thumbnails. Then do thumbnails of your thumbnails”.

X-Men look-a-likes, photo courtesy NY ComicCon image gallery.

But Buddy’s last panel was the most useful thing I did the entire convention: the Creator Connections Panel. All the artists and writers in the room where split down the middle, and them were rotated around in a form of “comic creator speed dating”. I got in touch with at least 15 different writers, and I am already doing some freelance test pages for one writer. Look for this panel next year if you go, it could be the start of your career!

Two interesting new releases from Image Comics.

On Saturday, I got into the Image Comics Show, where I met the artist for the new series “The Strange Talent of Luthor Strode”, a what-if idea based comic where a scrawny high school kid sends away for a muscle man kit booklet and develops a strange talent for violence. Other comics to look for from Image Comics are “The Danger Club”, where all the superheroes leave earth and the teenage sidekicks are left to fend for themselves Lord of the Flies style, and “The Last of The Greats”, there the last of a group of aliens superheros agrees to save earth even after they have killed all his companions, but for a price…

Image Comics is always looking for new talent, and with their creator-owned system, you can submit your comic pitch to them at any time through their website.