These portrait drawings, known in the parlance of the Wall Street Journal as hedcuts, were produced while I was heading up the in-house illustration team at the paper during the 1980′s. Normally, we generated single portraits; however, there were those instances when we needed to depict more than one person within our space on the page. For this application, we were granted a full column, rather than the usual half-column window.

Jim Wright and Tip O’Neill are shown here. Can you identify the rest??

Next, name the astronauts (bonus points!)

…from a human interest piece. It was always a challenge to “put together” these multiple portraits. We had to jam folks as closely together as was feasible, squeezing them into the two-and-a-half inch column width. My approach was usually to blend them together with a tonal fade. Can you find my signature?

These guys are described merely as “detectives”. Check out the fade technique.

… a business couple with great hair.

Eighties icon the Thompson Twins. More great Hair! My kids loved this band when they were tots.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this brief tour through my portrait collection— more to come…

Finally, here is the fourth in a series which will complete this group of postings. This is the puzzle-piece that contains a most gracious testimony from my colleagues at the Wall Street Journal. The printing plate was presented to me as I took leave of my staff position there, bound for the freelance life!

Ok, I will try to get these right: Among these images, experimental musician Skip LePlant, Paul Volker, and Michael Barishnikoff, among others. As aforementioned, this plate was assembled by Rosemary Webber, one of the early staff illustrators at the Journal.

I went on in an advisory role for several months after my withdrawal from this day job. After a while it was determined that the Art Department, as it was, could go on without me. One nice perk was receiving a free subscription to the WSJ for a year.   …But, this was all before the introduction to the paper of that cold, hard thing —Photography!

p.s.: You may receive a hi-resolution complete image of this plate by emailing your request to KS at kevin@sprouls.com

The Third Quadrant in this series, of my trophy plate marking the occasion of my taking leave of the Journal…

To receive a hi-rez file of the entire plate, please get in touch by email.

Here is the second installment you’ve been waiting for… all images, Kevin Sprouls.

You may request the complete image of the printing plate presented to Kevin Sprouls from The Wall Street Journal by emailing Kevin.

My connections to the Journal sometimes get eclipsed. Quite understandable, as I quit my “day job” as head of the Illustration Dept. in 1987! As you’ve no doubt read in previous blog posts here, I developed the current WSJ “hedcut” style in 1979 and 1980, and trained a bunch of people in the art of producing them in the ensuing years. Below, an articled excerpt from Advertising Age, ca. 1985. The hedcuts were making a splash. Read the text, it’s amusing…

There were many, many artists that came to work and became long-term contributors in the constant churning-out of stipple portraits! Too many to list here. But I will make a quick rundown of some of the characters I was fortunate enough to collaborate with:

Posy Webber (pictured above)– my favorite hedcut artist. She really had a talent for creating consistently top-notch work. A lot of fun to be with “off hours”, too.

Harry Bates– a top talent. Harry hailed from L.A. and had a graphically-tinged way of doing the wall street journal stipple portraits.

Richard Baratz– Richard came to us between stints at the American Banknote Company. One of the last true steel engravers, he was a natural. Richard is the Caricaturist for Sardi’s, NYC. A superstar.

Van Howell– Some people think I’m a bit left-of-center because I wear my hair long, but Van was a true, red-blooded Liberal! He was also a genius with the pen, and a loose cannon stylistically. He could easily replicate the stipple portraits we were doing, but often chose to put his own spin on things.

Barbara Kelley– A truly creative soul with an oversized penchant for fun. Aside from a gifted portrait artist, she was responsible for making all necessary funny hats, usually for Birthday occasions. In our art department (under the editorial guidance of the indefatigable, Best Boss Ever, thank you very much, Stephen MacDonald), Birthdays were solemnly and uproariously observed.

Laura levy– Effortlessly fell into the hedcut thing, and her pastel work in the fine art realm is truly extraordinary! Laura is also blessed with a fine voice. I’ve heard it, and I’m here to tell you…

There are other hedcut artists that came through our department, not mentioned here. More signifcantly, we illustrators worked cheek-to-jowl with some superlative graphic artists and chartmakers. More about these in subsequent postings.

For now, Dear Reader, here is a free offer (oh, Boy!): Below you will see one quarter of a testimonial printing plate that I was presented with upon the occasion of my farewell to the Journal. The three subsequent installments of this blog will contain the other quadrants of this plate. You can acquire a digital image of the entire plate simply by subscribing to this blog or sending me an email request (no salesman will call).

A note on the plate: My colleague, Posy Webber, was tasked to assemble this montage of my illustrations, produced at the Journal during the ’80′s.

‘Til next time,  –Kevin

all Images, Kevin Sprouls

Geeeez, This economy is discouraging! Not that one couldn’t see it coming, with the wild gyrations of markets, “irrational exuberance”, and the cavernous, expanding maw of the national debt over 8 long years. Needless to mention that paying for our two current war efforts is off the books, @ $1 mil per annum per troop. Its certainly more than my mind can wrap itself around.

That’s why we call in “the Experts”.

Hank Paulson, Treasury Secretary under George W. This illustration was produced for Fortune Magazine, December ’06. Mr. Paulson presided over some pretty good times, for Wall Street, at least. Still, I miss Paul Volker…

Image above produced at the Wall Street Journal, mid-80′s… concept: global banking.

I go back to the times before atm machines. You wanted cash, you got your fanny into the local bank building! But, back to the story:

An image of Ben Bernanke in better times, produced for Forbes Magazine, November ’06.

Things soon became somewhat messy for this Fed Chairman. One might say the timing could not be worse for Mr. Bernanke. Congressmen wanted to know (perhaps in order to point fingers), so there were hearings.

In the midst of tremulous economic times, a magazine called simply “Radar” commissioned me to do a few portraits in my accustomed wall steet journal style, with a twist. The A/D wanted to reflect the situation some of the big wigs were in, on the hot seat, as it were.

Caricatures of Messrs. Bernanke, Fuld, and Geithner. Mr. Fuld was head of the collapsing Lehman Brothers Bank, an unenviable position to be in. Geithner is now Treasury Secretary, but he had his grilling, too.

I’m happy to say I did receive full payment for this assignment, but sad to report that Radar Magazine was shuttered before these were published.

Like I said, it’s a tough economy!

all images, Kevin Sprouls

Lately, I’ve had the good fun of working with a very talented Art Director from Denmark named Sune Ehlers. Sune puts it all together for a beautiful magazine called “Euroman”. I love this magazine… I only wish I could read it! It’s one of the most visually tasteful periodicals I’ve seen.

Portrait of Jorgen Leth, author

So, my first assignment was do create a wall street journal hedcut style image for an article on a featured literary light. It was enjoyable, as the image was strong.

A couple of weeks went by, and I contacted Sune to say he might consider trying me again. He did.

Sune engaged my services for a full-page illustration featuring the Vancouver team’s favorite Dane, Jannik Hansen. Very Exciting for me. It printed up really well in the magazine, too, I am relieved to tell!

Over the years, I’ve been experimenting with digital files of my art and trying to arrive at the peak outcome in print (and on the web, of course). I think I’m getting there…

Another Hansen, this one a Handball player practicing his craft in Barcelona. I haven’t seen this in print yet. I believe it’s “on the newstands” now. Again in full-page format.

An additional kick that came with this gig is I got profiled at the front of the magazine.

If you get a chance to view this ‘zine, I think you’ll agree it will be worth your while, even if you’re Danish-impaired, as I am!

I’m looking very smug here, but, really, I am not much of a wine expert!

While at home, I confess that I enjoy sipping a gin martini. In Italy, one drinks wine, England, beer, etc.; however, very recently I had the sublime pleasure of imbibing Shiraz at mid-afternoon.

The occasion resulted from my Wife’s being engaged as the Wedding Harpist at the Alba Vineyard, a well-respected winery in an idyllic corner of Western New Jersey. The Nuptials took place up on a hillock in the middle of the vineyard… a spectacular stage for the august event.

The weather was incredible, with sunlight streaming down brazenly in the high mountain altitude. I puttered around down below, and did some yoga deep-breathing to while away time and revivify my aging frame, on a boulder across from the marital action.

When the ceremony wrapped up, I brought the car around, picked up the harpist and harp, and beat a trail down to the winery. We entered the visitors reception and received the lay of the land from our hosts. Soon, we were making our purchases, and took a bottle out to the quaint, sun-lit terrace to share a couple of glasses in the brilliant, crackling October air. That Shiraz was sweet and syrupy… an unexpected pleasure so early in the day! And, for its bold precociousness, the experience was of singular memory.

The Alba Winery

But, of mundane things…

Another Red of the Season, “Priorat” from the abovementioned (previous blog) Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board ad campaign. The books hanging over on the left were drawn on the same art board as the main illustration, the campaign requiring a main, and a spot image in the adverts.

Salute!

The image above is from a series I created for the Reynolds Vineyard in Australia. I have yet to sample this selection, but look forward to it. Some mid-afternoon, perhaps!

Sante, Mes Amis… til next we meet.

‘Tis Autumn, and that means that, in the old country, trucks are rolling into the towns, burgs and cities carrying great barrels of Vino Rosso to the trade. I remember well my student days in Rome attending Temple Abroad (the University), in the Fall of ’76!

The school is much the same today as it was then, as I can attest to from my visit in 2007. October is a wonderful time of year to visit Rome, I can tell you.

Now, the Romans enjoy cool, white wines in Spring/Summer, and red wine in Fall and Winter, generally speaking.

When I was a student, one could go down to almost any restaurant with an empty litro bottle and get it filled for little more than a dollar! The “house” wine would be dispensed from a large barrel, one of those that were trucked in, as afore-mentioned. I’m told this traditional means of buying vino is gradually receding into a storied past –more’s the pity!

So, here’s to a celebration of Reds. Images are from a campaign I was commissioned for last summer by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board: a curious name for an agency tasked with promoting wine! These were used in newspaper ads and in the PLCB shops. Cabernet Sauvignon is captured above. Below, the Merlot…

Finally, a seductive Shiraz accompanied by a rather creepy-looking shady character. Like your uncle having an illicit affair. Wow, scary!

After all, though, it is coming up on Halloween…

I know, Dear Reader, that I have been sorely remiss in being a faithful, steady blogger.

C’est-la Guerre! This season past has, I confess, been a bit of a bear! Nothing to fret over, just the usual struggle that I’m confident will give way to easier times.

While saying a fond farewell to my favorite season, I received a gift to welcome my 2nd-favorite, in my mailbox: A shiny mylar envelope containing a newly-released CD.

Let me explain:

Many moons ago, I was retained for illustration services by one Richard McGraw, whose 1st CD release, “Song and Void, Vol. 1″, I had previously illustrated. This time, Richard wanted an illustration of a Risen Christ to be drawn from an image I was well-familiar with, a Detail of the Isenhein Altarpiece by Grunewald, ca. 1515. I had always been an admirer of this image– it strikes me as so forward-thinking for the time. Seems like that was ancient history— doing that job for Richard, I mean!

Here is the illo, as inked by me…

And here is the CD cover, as produced by Richard…

Note the metallic ink printing.

A nice touch as well is the enlarged detail on the liner insert which holds the disk…

It’s always rewarding to see one’s work in published format (providing the job’s not BOTCHED in the process!). Aside from the strong song writing/performing on this disk, Richard is also in charge of the Graphic Design duties for the album, which I think he’s handled quite well here.

I hope you’ll check Richard out— he’s got a distinctive voice as an artist that’s worthy of your attention!

Meantime, it’s Ciao to Summer. I will, it is hoped, be somewhat more regular with this communication in future…  Adieu!