Podcast Episode 22 – Bob Staake
February 17, 2010
Episode 22 of the Escape From Illustration Island Podcast features an audio interview with Bob Staake. Together we discuss his years of experience creating artwork for everything from the New Yorker to Mad Magazine. We also talk about the challenges involved in making a dramatic shift in style and the concept of submitting your work to Illustration annuals.
Here are links to some of the things mentioned on the show:
Bob Staake’s website
Thomas James Illustration
Illustration Friday Challenge
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That was a very enjoyable podcast! Thanks.
Ugh. He has some valid points, but unfortunately he came across (to me anyway) as a grumpy, inflexible curmudgeon who has nothing but a dour outlook on 99% of artistic content produced today. Not all artists are so successful that they don’t need to promote themselves, enter into illustration annuals, or otherwise sell themselves (artistically) and their artwork. You can place yourself on an artistic pedestal as high as you’d like, but the end of the day it’s still a job and you still have to earn a living doing it. Additionally, based on his suggested logic that art should transcend being “simply decorative or simply something to fill up gray space”, is he thereby suggesting that amazing talented artists like N.C. Wyeth and Waterhouse are pure fluff and serve no real purpose? There is nothing wrong with art simply being beautiful and decorative as that is enough justification for their existence in and of itself. Is he going to start complaining about sunsets next because they don’t server any real purpose, or am I misunderstanding the thrust of his complaints?
Thanks for your comment, Shane. Bob definitely offers some alternative views. Some might even see them as controversial. I agree with you that it can be valuable to enter Illustration annuals. For example, I remember hearing Jon Foster say that after he got his work in an annual, he no longer had to search for work. Instead, people sought HIM out. Whether or not there are politics involved in the annuals, I would venture to say that there are politics in every aspect of life, and I believe that everyone, including Bob Staake, both benefits and suffers as a result. It’s just a part of life.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this interview. I hope it helped you to consider another side of the business.
Oh, and this probably isn’t necessary, but I feel I should clarify that I have nothing against Bob Staake or his art. I happen to enjoy his artwork. It’s just a few of his comments that I disagree with. Nonetheless I enjoyed the interview and am happy he took the time to give it. Thanks Thomas!
I like what Bob has to say to illustrators about staying true to your vision as an illustrator and not selling out and that understanding metaphor is more important than what kind of brush to use. Good advice.
Great interview. Thank you so much for giving us more insight into Bob’s world and his view points on illustration. I feel like his approach of focusing on the concept instead of just the drawing is what illustration is truly all about. I want to bring this thinking to my own work! Very inspiring!
I loved this!! I`ve heard it twice today….thank you!
I have to say this is one of my favorites interviews. I´ve heard it 3 times now and I love it, more every time.
The idea of working on your own projects (a book as the example he gave) instead of working seeking the approval of others (illustration annuals) is a wonderful concept. It might not work, but I really like that idea.
And I agree with Shane Rebenschied: he does sound like a ” grumpy, inflexible curmudgeon “, but I really, really like how, after all these years, he´s still so passionate about illustration.
I love someone with a strong opinion. It gives me a chance to get their honest viewpoint on the world and my work. Too often we soften how we see things. Bob’s a direct guy, you know where he stands and he has some good ideas. That’s likely why he is successful. I think we can all benefit from his passion and tenacity. I transcribed his answer to Thomas’ query about advice to new illustrators… for me, this was the heart and the power of the interview.
Bob Staake on visual thinking and advice to new illustrators
Excerpt from an interview with Thomas James
http://www.escapefromillustrationisland.com
Spend more time reading, spend more time conceptualizing, understand metaphor, understand allusion, think of your illustration as merely a vehicle, a vehicle for expressing yourself. Express something bigger than illustration, no differently than a trombone or a tuba is a vehicle for expressing your musical sensibilities. The tuba is going to exist but it is going to be lifeless, sitting there unless you apply your lips to it and actually blow through it. It’s what’s going on in your head that is coming out the other end. View your art as a conduit for ideas. Anyone can draw, anyone can create a pretty picture. There are a lot of pretty things in the world. All you need to do is walk into a book store and look at the children’s books and there are a lot of awful things, there are lot of good things too. What are you going to do to make your work stand out. So, my feeling is always, be able to think as a visual person… you won’t be able to develop the visual skills to think like a visual problem solver by belaboring over whether or not you are using a 2-ply bristol or a 3-ply bristol or a 2h pencil versus a 4h pencil. These are ridiculous concerns. If you pick up a stick and dip it into ink and you are able to create a line and then draw that way [you are communicating]. These are just ridiculous concerns of artists. Materials and what program to work in, these [concerns] are inconsequential, they have nothing to do with communicating visually with the public, nothing whatsoever. If you start treating your art as an extension of a visual thought process and a language, you will see your work absolutely improve dramatically. You will start to see your work living in a completely different dimension so that it isn’t simply decorative and some sort of aesthetic accoutrement to fill up grey space.
[In addition], the best advice I can give in terms of editorial work, which is where most young illustrators start… see yourself as a carnival barker of sorts. Your role whenever I open up that newspaper and see that blast of grey there, you are creating an illustration that is going to grab my eyeballs and I am going to look at it and say, ‘what the heck is going on here’! Do not tell the entire story in that illustration. Pique my interest, get me to then go ahead and read the headline and the lead of the story, bring me into it. Hopefully at that point I’ve been engaged and will go further into the story. But in your roll as an illustrator, you have done a noble act by getting the reader to integrate with that grey copy. At that point, once you’ve got them, your role is done and you can be happy. At the end of the day, it’s a tough thing to do with the glut of information out there, to be able to make people stop and go “Wow!” or “What on earth is going on here. I want to find out more about this.”