Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sports and Art?

Since I hate football, pretty much every American would discredit anything I have to say about sports so I usually just don't talk sports. However, I do talk art as often as possible. I want to share with you the closing of an article in the April 2008 issue of Juxtapoz (yes I am an avid reader and subscriber) written about Mark Chiarello (Art Director for DC Comics) doing water color portraits for the book, "Heroes". This book is about the Legendary players of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Before this book was written, Chiarello did a set of trading cards back in the 80's. Remember that time, when the true effort to educate on discrimination began? Before that most people didn't really know anything about segregation unless they experienced it. So Chiarello is talking about taking his trading set to a convention commemorating the Negro League,

"and I saw one of the great players of the the League, the late Leon Day, and I showed him the set of cards. I remember him not saying a word, just shuffling through the pile, obviously looking for his card. When he got to his he stopped for a minute with his head down. Finally, he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, 'I've never been on a baseball card before.' "

Is that not beautiful? In this article Chiarello also talks about the misfortune that illustrators aren't the superstars they once were since photography has become so readily available and reliable. However, I think Illustration is making a come back. Graphic Design is in high demand and illustration is a huge part of that. Everyone wants custom work for everything. I am not an illustrator, but I hope whatever area I fall into will give me moments of fulfillment like Chiarello's with Leon Day.

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