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Brian Stauffer
CA Feature Article!
posted: March 1, 2010
My first year in college was spent as a music major.  Something was wrong.  I didn't FEEL what I was doing. And even though I was a pretty good musician, hearing GREAT musicians confirmed that I not only wanted to be that good at something, but also to feel that connected to it.  After discussions with my parents, both artists, I decided to enroll in some design and illustration classes.  I arrived for my first class a bit early so I went over to a cabinet title "CA Library".  I don't have the slightest idea which issue it was, but I remember exactly the rush that came over me as I flipped through the pages. THIS is what I want to do. It's the vivid memory of that moment that leaves me humbled and a bit in awe that 23 years later this very same publication would run a 10 page feature profile on my work and process. 
 
Although this is not considered an award, I feel that it's a moment for which many are due thanks.  I want to thank my parents for surrounding me with art and the open space to explore.  I want to thanks my wife Alina who's presence and character and unflinching support gave me the courage and the focus to always continue forward. It's hard to overstate the power of partnering with such a wonderful woman.  I owe a tremendous thanks to two influential college professors, Ellen McMahon and Jackson Boelts. My time with them at University of Arizona in Tucson forged my faith in the power of ideas through design and illustration. And for my very first illustration assignment, thanks are due to both Fred Woodward and Gail Anderson, who while at Rolling Stone, spent precious hours with a young artist on his first trip to NYC.  
 
I would also like to take a moment to give special thanks to Rebecca Bedrossian (CA Managing Editor) and Matthew Porter (CA contributing writer).  Back in 2003 I began sending Rebecca the occasional postcard or email to share a few pieces of recent work and maybe the occasional bit of good news.  I never pushed or prodded her, believing that perhaps eventually my work might rise to the level worthy of mention in the book.  She always responded with kindness and encouragement.  Over the years I kept in touch, continuing to send along samples and updates on new ventures, always with no strings or expectations attached.  I mention this because I think it's important for folks to understand that this was not an overnight-2 years-out-of-school-they-just-discovered-my-work kinda deal.  From what I understand of the process, Rebecca continued time and again to champion my work at CA.  I'll never be able to thank you enough, Rebecca.
 
I drew a very lucky straw when it was decided that CA would fly a regular contributor and gifted writer, Matthew porter, out to Miami for a 4-day marathon interview.  Matthew has written CA profiles of artists including Sterling Hundley, and Gerard Dubois, just to name a few.  We spent more time out and about , watching folks roll cigars on 8th street, and out on the boat than we did in the studio.  Matt was warm and generous with my family.  We spent a great deal of time talking about our backgrounds, how we each arrived to this point in our lives and what we hoped for in the future.  It's an understatement to say that we forged a friendship that will remain far beyond the run of this feature.  If one is fortunate to get a feature in CA, then they are doubly so if Matthew gets the assignment. Thanks, my friend. 
 
And I wanted to also thank the community of Drawger and it's mastermind Robert Zimmerman who occasionally has to be dragged into the spotlight for his continuing contributions to promoting the craft of illustration.  Being involved and exposed to the minds of other artists has elevated my expectations of what I want out of this thing we do.  Being here is constant reminder that the work lives a larger life after it leaves the studio.  In particular I'd like to thank Drawgers' very own Marc Burckhardt, Edel Rodriguez and http://www.drawger.com/stevebrodner/,  who are mentioned in the article. Edel has been there from the beginning.  Marc has been like the brother I never had - always a bit wiser, more grounded, and setting the bar higher.  As an AD I benefitted from hours of time Steve spent on the phone encouraging me to break out into illustration.  And years later, his selection of my Peace Bomb image as the poster for his Artists Against The War exhibit turbo charged my desire to get engaged with the illustration community, creating so many new friendships with folks I once admired from afar.  Thanks gents.
 
The issue is in bookstores now and will be available online on March 10th. When it goes live I'll post a link here to view it online.  I hope all of you will pick up the issue and continue to support CA.  They are one of a handful of entities that cherish what we do.
 
New Yorker Cover No.2
posted: February 23, 2010
It's been over a year since my first cover of The New Yorker.  I was beginning to think that it might be my last.  Luckily, and yes I do think luck plays a major role in landing one of these babies, the stars aligned once again.

I got the idea for this image when the whole family was up in NYC for the SI 52 Editorial opening.  The kids were pumped because the weather folks were predicting a major snow storm for the city.  Of course the snow never came (until we were back in Miami), and the kids said it was my fault.  But all the talk of snow reminded me of when Alina and I were living in Westport, Connecticut and our dog Chip was just a pup.  I told the boys about a time that I took Chip for a walk in the middle of a blizzard.  The snow was so deep that he could barely keep his nose above it.  I still miss that little dude.  The female figure in the piece was inspired by my wife, Alina, who loves the city like no one else I know.  Whenever we come up, we always make time for long walk through Central Park.

When I got back to Miami, I sketched this idea up real quick, laying some flat and textured colors into the pencil drawing.  I sent it off, like dozens of others, expecting to get the always polite, "not right for this week".  A day went by and I'd not heard anything back so I decided to play the image out and send that along as well.  To my surprise, Francoise preferred the simplicity of the sketch and decided to run it as-is. 

I've done a few posts over the past year talking about getting more line work into my images, and I'm sure you'll notice the similarity in style to the recent Boston Globe cover.  I'm really enjoying the line work but will continue to find ways to bring it together with my first love - collage.

Thanks to Francoise Mouly and Emily Kan at The New Yorker!
 
ps-  You can buy a framed archival print of this cover and others at The New Yorker Store.  Do it! The kids need new shoes!
Detail of the published drawing
Detail of the fully rendered figure.
Soulpepper Theatre pt2
posted: February 2, 2010
Over the weekend Canada's National Post ran nice story on how the Soulpepper Theatre has defined itself and it's productions through illustration. (article here)

"Judging a book by its cover can be important," Lester says. "With a poster that's defining a classic play, people recognize the names, but in order to be evocative of what direction [the play] is going to take, I feel like the poster art or the visual identity is helping with that. It kind of creates another perspective. A contemporary layer." - Leslie Lester, Executive Director

"What Soulpepper does is pretty unique," says Edel Rodriguez, illustrator for the company in 2008. "It should be part of what everybody does in theatre. If you're going to support the arts, go for it all the way. It makes your theatre stand out, but some people don't get that."

"[Soulpepper] comes off as being atypical of the work experience with clients," says Brian Stauffer, this year's artist, on the phone from Miami. "They say, ‘Look, we're treating our audiences like morons by not expecting that they're going to want to see some brilliant, innovative, thoughtful stuff.' These guys are putting a lot of time and effort and blood and sweat into putting these productions together. To not represent it in an equally creative way, it just feels like a missed opportunity."
Above is another in the 2010 season series for the play entitled, "What The Butler Saw."  The play originally opened in London's Queen's Theater in 1969 to much controversy and acclaim.  Consisting of two acts, the scene is the office of a sexually perverse psychiatrist who basically tries to seduce almost anyone who walks into his office.  That's over simplifying it quite a bit but basically it's a farcical comedy about sexual encounters and acquaintances colliding to break down social conventions.

Thanks again to Anthony Swaneveld, the Art Director-Designer at Sandwich Creative who's collaborative spirit made this series possible.  Thanks also to MArk Medley at the National Post, and Leslie Lestor and the fine folks of Soulpepper Theatre.  Their desire to stand-out beyond the pack says so much about the value they place on the productions they bring to life.
The sketches: the good, the awful, and the so-so. The problem for me was that the sketch that we went with was actually my first idea. I fell in love with it and had a hard time opening my mind to other possibilities (not a good role model for the students out there).
A tighter sketch, just before going to a final drawing and collage.
Final image
Detail of final showing line drawing collaged with scans of various body part textures. Stocking is from an iPhone snapshot of a nearby chain link fence.
Burden of The Badge
posted: January 27, 2010
Selected cover image in context.
I'm not a huge fan of authority figures, but I admire anyone who takes-up the call to become a police officer.  They see a side to the world that we blissfully inoculate ourselves from.  It's no surprise then that many officers live and work with the added burden of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Some find help with police department therapists.  But for too many others, relief comes by taking their own life.  "Suicide kills more officers every year than homicides or accidents at work", writes Julia Dahl in this week's Boston Globe Magazine.  (article here)

I want to thank Josue Evilla  and the editors at the Boston Globle Magazine for entrusting me with visualizing such a sensitive subject.  It was impressive to see the level of concern they had for not exploiting this man's suffering by sensationalizing the imagery.  At every step they wanted to make sure to keep in mind the families of the officers profiled.  It was poignant to be reminded that they would be reading this article, and in the end they would either feel closer to the community of readers, or alienated by them.  When AD's and Ed's make the decision to illustrate a sensitive topic, they place a huge responsibility on the shoulders of the artist.  Will the art convey or undermine the text?

Stylistically I explored a couple variations on the cover image.  Below you will see two versions - one with the figure more fully rendered with my collage style and another where the figure is basically a tightened line drawing from the original sketch.  In the end, they went with the line version.  I hadn't planned on doing a version with line only, but the notion of doing so is a by product of my regular process.  I typically work in photoshop, collaging directly over a tight line drawing.  At some point during this assignment it just seemed that an empty line-only figure did a better job of conveying the subjects emptiness, as well as, the desolation he felt in the world around him.

Thanks again, Josue!


Detail of selected line drawing
Combined line drawing and collage from an old metallic soup can image were used to create the car.
Full-page opener for the interior spread. Gun is line drawing filled with textures. Badge was collaged from old Heinz label.
Interior spread layout.
Alternate cover image with figure as a fully rendered collage combined with line drawing.
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Stauffer is teaching at TutorMill, an online mentoring site for students of illustration!