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20+ Questions with Drew Friedman (view source)
Revision as of 02:43, 7 August 2020
, 02:43, 7 August 2020no edit summary
plugging my latest books on his show.
As far as Robin...
'''What type of deadlines do you usually work with?'''<br>
It depends (not the kind old Jewish comedians
wear). If it’s a weekly magazine or
publication, the deadline is usually pretty
tight, sometimes needed the following day,
although I try to avoid those these days.
I’ve done close to 200 covers for the New
York Observer over the last few years
and for the most part, the assignment
comes in Friday and the finish due by
early Tuesday, and published on Wednesday
morning. If it’s a monthly magazine,
there’s usually a bit more time. If it’s a
commissioned piece, or a piece I’m doing
for one of my books, then I can relax and
spend a bit more time refining it.
'''We are all so tired of hearing the term “starving artist,” but most of the time it takes someone with a true business sense to make even a great artist be one who can survive financially. Who handles the business side of things for you?'''<br>
I’ve become pretty adept over the years
in handling the business end, negotiating
the fee and assignment in general. There
was a time early on when I was starting
out that I was grateful for every little
crumb thrown my way and the pay was
secondary. I was indeed a “starving artist”
throughout the eighties when I was just
out of art school, but my wife was finally
very helpful in turning that all around.
'''Do you consider yourself a caricature artist?'''<br>
Not really a traditional caricaturist, but
I’m referred to as one by many, which
is OK by me. Like some of my fellow
humorous artists, including Chris Payne
and Robert Parada, I tend to not so
much exaggerate facial features, but
distort, sometimes subtly. I’m more of
a “situational artist,” meaning I’m more
focused on the entire image, the poses
putting over the idea, the background,
the central “joke.” Rather than exaggerate
a face, sometimes a raised eyebrow
or how the head is tilted conveys what
I’m trying to put across. Now there are
examples of my work that do clearly fit
into the category of “caricature.” I was
hired by Howard Stern a few years back
to do drawings of a younger version of
him for a proposed animated TV show he
was trying to put together for FX about
his teenage years. I went full throttle with
the drawings, exaggerating especially his
big nose. He had asked me to make him
as “ugly and disgusting” as possible. The
show didn’t happen, but I’m including
some of my Howard drawings with my
visual presentation at the convention.
We are all familiar with your studio
work.
'''Have you ever drawn people live in hopes of retaining a likeness?'''<br>
Early on, I kept a sketchbook and would
draw people I’d see on the street in New
York, but I haven’t for a few years now.
These days, I try to keep a mental image
in my head of various types I encounter,
I have a good memory for faces, or even
snap photos of various interesting faces
with the iPhone to use later. Walmart is
great for that!
'''A lot of your work is extreme closeups– how do you do that?'''<br>
I think you’re probably referring to the
Old Jewish Comedian faces. I wanted
to depict them close-up, because that
conveys the way they actually are, bigger
than life, in your face, looking for
attention, never giving up, always looking
for a laugh! I’ve met a bunch of them and
that’s the way they are!
'''What color do you use for “liver spots?”'''<br>
Oh that’s simple! Dr Martin # 37-B
“LIVER.” Actually, the good doctor’s
“Reddish-Brown” achieves the perfect
liver spot essence for me.
'''I have seen your caricatures in lots of books and magazines. Is it on any interesting products, besides “Impetuous Man” that you would like to tell us about?'''<br>
I’ve drawn images for various products
over the years. Recently I created the
logo for McSorley’s beer, which is one of
the oldest bars in New York, on east 7th
St., big with NYU students. Their beer is
sold nationally, so it’s fun to see slobs all
over the country buying and drinking it!
The “Impetuous man” product was actually
a case of being totally ripped off,
although with a funny outcome. I had
drawn the comic-magician Penn Jillette
making love to a screaming woman for
Men’s Health magazine, to accompany
a short piece Penn wrote about how to
satisfy a woman in bed. A decade later,
the image was used on the box, and to
advertise a Chinese herb supplement
called “Impetuous Man.” I contacted
Penn and we both agreed it would be
fruitless and next to impossible to sue
this company in China, and besides, he
was quite flattered to be singled out as
the American ideal for sexual stamina.
'''With the internet, it has become much easier for anyone to steal an illustration and use it as they wish. How do you handle this?'''<br>
There’s not much you can do once it’s
online. I just accept it if I see someone
using one of my images on Facebook
or elsewhere online, as long as they are
not profiting. My work is fairly distinctive,
so it’s rare when anyone attempts
to use something without permission. If
it’s a case of someone actually taking
the image and putting out a t-shirt with it,
or putting it in a book, they’ll hear from
me...or my wife. But mostly it’s just sharing
on FB or on people’s blogs which
doesn’t bother me, although I occasionally
ask them to at least give me a credit.
The world we live in today...
'''Have you ever taken on an illustration assignment where you personally disagreed with the product or point of view being commissioned? Have you turned down assignments along those lines?'''<br>
I’ve turned down many assignments
for different reasons, for the most part,
that I was either booked up or on a tight
deadline. It’s rare that I’ve turned down
assignments based on my principles, not
that I don’t have any, but despite the job,
I can usually steer a particular assignment
in my direction. A good case in
point was doing work for Field & Stream,
which we discussed before. The outcome
was they stopped calling, but that was
ultimately fine by me. As far as doing
political illustration, a good example is The
Weekly Standard who I used to do a lot of
work for. They’re a right-leaning publication
and if pressed, my politics tend to lean
towards the left. But they never once told
