Jack Potter's philosophy on teaching: “You simply have to give.”

By guest author Daniel Zalkus

Jack always approached an illustration job by drawing from a model. He’d hire models, draw them, and then find the appropriate reference to use for the background.



Jack's personal reference file was minimal so he would frequently spend entire days at the public library, hunting for the perfect piece of picture reference.



During that era in New York, there were many architectural firms who were capable of producing 'photostats'. Personal computers, Photoshop and even Kinko’s were still decades in the future. Jack would take his drawings to the architectural firms to get copied onto acetate and later paint underneath. Occasionally he’d skip that process all together and paint right on top of them, whatever he felt was right for the specific assignment.



Over time the business started to wear on him. His campaign for Coca-Cola demanded a lot out of him, requiring constant modification. Being so passionate and diligent about his work, Jack was exhausted by it. At the height of his career, he decided to quit and leave it all behind. He sold all his originals and moved to France.



A bit extreme, perhaps, but that was Jack being Jack. In his work and life he was never moderate.



After a year he moved back to NY where he continued teaching at SVA. He no longer pursued illustration work; he would often tell his students, “All I have to worry about is YOU.” He focused all of his energy on teaching.



A friend told me about a conversation she once had with Jack. They were on the phone, talking about a new teaching gig she had just started. It was difficult and the students demanded a lot out of her. Jack replied, “You simply have to give.”

Continued tomorrow...

* Daniel Zalkus is a freelance illustrator, graduate of the School of Visual Arts and loves to wear plaid. To see samples of his artwork please go to www.zalkus.com

* My Jack Potter Flickr set

Jack Potter: “Create art because you love it!”

By guest author Daniel Zalkus

Jack Potter studied at The California Art Center of Design and graduated in 1949. At the time there were many students who had just returned from military duty and going to school under the G.I. bill. He told me that he benefited from being around students who had such a strong work ethic. In addition to a commercial art education Jack secured a scholarship to the Jepsen School where he studied under the fine artist Rico Lebrun.



Shortly after graduation he went to New York to make the rounds. The first agent that reviewed his portfolio wanted to represent him and the rest is history. His career took off! He started getting work from all of the major Women’s magazines and later for big advertising campaigns such as Coca-Cola and Fuller Fabrics.



He never liked talking about his illustration career while I knew him. I could see that it bothered him when students asked about it. Looking back, I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that he had quit the business so long ago (in the 1960’s) and was asked about it all the time.



I was curious to know more about his work and illustration career. The first piece I found was a Coca-Cola Paris ad in an old Society of Illustrators Annual in the SVA library.



I knew I needed to keep digging and see more. I generally tried to respect his desire to not discuss his illustration career but occasionally he would volunteer things.



One night at his apartment, with a grin on his face, he took a blue portfolio from a box and handed it to me. Smile stretching ear to ear he said, “I was a star!” To my surprise it was tear sheets of his illustration work.



We talked for a bit about the business back then and at one point I could tell he was a bit down. He said, “I know how difficult it is today for artists like yourself.” He knew that the business had changed and that he had worked in a golden era of illustration.



And I understood what he meant. Jack cared about all his students and knew that today illustration work was hard to come by. He told the class many times, “Create art because you love it!”

Continued tomorrow...

* Daniel Zalkus is a freelance illustrator, graduate of the School of Visual Arts and loves to wear plaid. To see samples of his artwork please go to www.zalkus.com

* My Jack Potter Flickr set

Remembering Jack Potter: Illustrator, Teacher, Mentor

By guest author Daniel Zalkus

“Straight, Curved, Fluid”

“Oppositions”

“Shape”

“Diagonals”

“No Gray or Middle of the Road”

“Supreme Caring”

If any of those quotes sound familiar to you then chances are you’ve passed through room 501, Jack Potter’s class at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). His class, “Drawing and Thinking,” was a staple of the Illustration department where he taught for over 45 years.



The class description from the undergraduate/graduate registration booklet:

“A class governed by a variety of premises, a wide range of thinking and seeking to build a new and stronger visual vocabulary. Thought of as a gym, to stay in shape with exercise involving highly creative interpretations. Models and props will be used extensively.”



I met Jack in 1997, taking his class based on the recommendation of another teacher at SVA, John Ruggeri. Jack was a legend at the school and a well-known illustrator during his day.



I had no idea what to expect but what I got was an experience I cherish and reflect on daily.



This week I’ll talk about various experiences I had in his class along with stories and anecdotes Jack told about his illustration career. If anyone else out there knew Jack or took his class, I’d love to hear any stories you might have too.

Continued tomorrow...

* Daniel Zalkus is a freelance illustrator, graduate of the School of Visual Arts and loves to wear plaid. To see samples of his artwork please go to www.zalkus.com

* My Jack Potter Flickr set

Carl G. Evers: able to portray "an ocean of almost infinite moods."

By guest author Charlie Allen

From Leif's files, here are early magazine clips of the great 1950s series Evers illustrated for Philadelphia Electric.







The following scans are some of my favorites from the review of Evers paintings and illustrations in the book “The Marine Paintings of Carl G. Evers”.



Again, I won't comment on each selection…



... but together they show the wide range of Carl Evers abilities at portraying ships of all kinds...



... and of an ocean of almost infinite moods.



A final note: Evers contributed many paintings to the US Navy. Several fine examples are included on this blog. The Navy even has a 'Carl G Evers' room on board the 'U.S.S. Alabama', a battleship museum permanently docked in Mobile, Alabama.

* Many thanks to Charlie Allen for this fantastic look at the work of Carl G. Evers!

* My CG Evers Flickr set

Spotlight On: A New Weekly NCS Feature!

I'm a proud member of the National Cartoonists Society - its a great organization that works hard to bring a sense of community and cameraderie to a huge body of talented individuals who, let's face it, often tend to operate pretty much in isolation.



I've been anxious to do whatever I can to promote the NCS and help celebrate the many great talents who have been members over the years - some famous, some less so. To that end, I've been working behind the scenes with our President, Jeff Keane and 2nd VP, Tom Richmond to bring a little 'added value' to the NCS blog. Tapping the archives of Today's Inspiration (and eventually writing new posts) I'll be contributing a weekly feature on some of the luminaries of the NCS. Our first post focuses on Milton Caniff.



Beginning this week - and appearing each Thursday from now on - look for "NCS Spotlight On..." at Reuben.org.news. I hope you'll check it out!

Carl G. Evers: " amazing scope and talent"

By guest author, Charlie Allen

In 1979, I received a commission to do three marine paintings for Matson Navigation Company for an expensive centennial brochure. In the brochure four illustrators had been commissioned to do two illustrations each. Carl Evers was the first selected, and he was to do the lead off paintings. His first, shown here, was a modern container ship, the ‘Kauai’, entering Hawaiian waters.



It contained on board dozens of containers each with a small Matson logo that had to be included. Evers was 82 at the time and complained that his hand cramped up badly, and he requested someone else to do the second illustration. I was the illustrator selected, and the subject turned out to be the “Emma Claudina”, Matson’s first sailing ship in 1882. It was a challenging and historic first assignment.



Carl Evers was born in 1898 in Germany, his British father a marine engineer, and his mother an artist. He had early training at Slade School of Fine Arts in London, then later spent several years studying in Sweden before coming to the US in 1947 following the war. His accurate and beautiful work caught on immediately in New York, with advertisers and with commissions from other clients.



These scans, from a soft cover book, “The Marine Paintings of Carl G. Evers”, a Peacock Press/Bantam book* published in 1975, demonstrate his amazing skills at portraying the sea. The reproductions of the paintings and illustrations are beautiful and are too outstanding to not be shared with young digital viewers that haven’t had the opportunity to see some of Evers work.

First, one of my favorite paintings displaying Evers’ skills at dramatizing and rendering the ocean is this painting of a Navy oiler in WWII, the 'U.S.S. Kennedec' in rough seas.



Then as a contrast the next example is titled “Caribean Surf”. I will run out of superlatives early trying to describe these paintings, but this example is a “tour de force” gouache painting of a rough surf.



Compare these to this early clip from my Evers file. It's beautiful work…



... but not revealing at the time (to me) the amazing scope and talents of Carl Evers.

* My many thanks and credits are offered to the Peacock Press publishers for the opportunity to show some examples of this amazing body of work. - Chas. Allen

Continued later today...

Carl G. Evers

By Charlie Allen

A long overdue project that I had promised to Leif has been a review of the illustrations and paintings of Carl G. Evers.



He was another mid-century artist and illustrator who deserves far more recognition and respect than he has received….especially in this digital culture where gadgets have replaced so much  artistic creativity.


 
As a young illustrator I constantly clipped ads and illustrations in spare time. One of the clip files was labeled "Carl Evers” and the ad subjects were boats and ships, often in industrial settings.



Evers illustrated a fine series for the Philadelphia Electric Company…



... complicated scenes, very technical, but beautifully composed and rendered.



Carl Evers was a masterful sea painter in gouache.



Continued tomorrow...

* My Carl G. Evers Flickr set