In my last posting I mentioned how I developed a technique of drawing with felt-tip markers, creating "nubby" lines that have an antique look. As part of the same campaign, John Atkinson and I promoted the shopping center with a Santa Claus modeled after Thomas Nast's famous image. In my illustration, Santa is holding products that could be found at the shopping center.
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| click to enlarge | © Mark D. Ruffner, 1983 |
Here is my illustration, and below is the 1862 original. I didn't want to lose that distinctive 18th-century clay pipe!
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| billcasselman.com |
While Thomas Nast (1840-1902) defined the American perception of Santa Claus for decades, he is better remembered as the finest 19th-century American political cartoonist. He is the man who came up with the iconic elephant to represent the Republican party, and while he didn't create the donkey as a Democratic emblem, he popularized it.
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| click to enlarge | artintheage.com |
Nast began newspaper work while still a teenager, and worked for both
Frank Leslie's Illustrated and
Harper's Weekly. He used photographs as reference for his stinging caricatures, and was instrumental in bringing down the powerful New York politician, Boss Tweed. When Boss Tweed fled the country on corruption charges and was apprehended in Spain, it was a Thomas Nast cartoon that identified him. Nast's cartoons are also credited with helping Grover Cleveland become the first Democratic President (in 1884) since the 1856 election.
In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt rewarded the ailing Thomas Nast by appointing him as Consul General to Ecuador. There Nast contracted Yellow Fever while helping others to escape a similar fate, and died the same year.
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As beautiful as the Nast Santa is, I love your Santa, Mark. You've got to love a Santa with puppies and ice cream!
ReplyDeleteAnd champagne! Thanks, Steve, for liking my Santa — I had fun creating him!
DeleteDear Mark - You have created a great Santa Claus image in the spirit of the one by Thomas Nast - did you ever use it as a Christmas card?
ReplyDeletePoor Nast - his reward turned out to be his downfall. I wonder why Roosevelt would send him to Ecuador? Not a country I would have thought suitable, at that time, for someone who was ailing.
Dear Rosemary,
DeleteI never did think of using him as a Christmas card, probably because I designed this page too close to Christmas to have been able to that year, and by the next year it was ancient history.
Theodore Roosevelt knew that Thomas Nast wanted a diplomatic position, and he did want to reward him because they had both been important reformists. At the time, however, the preferable European positions were all taken, and the president simply did what he could for Nast.
Dear Mark,
ReplyDeleteAn interesting post. I think that the power of the political cartoonist should never be underestimated. Our Grade 8s study such power in one of their classes.
I see Mr. Nash is sporting a rather striking 'imperial' in his photograph.
Kirk
Dear Kirk,
ReplyDeleteYes, the pen can be mightier than the sword, and a good political cartoon gets the "point" across faster than even one biting paragraph.
I might have mentioned that Nast spent time in England and was very much influenced by John Tenniel. He probably also was in Paris in the days of Napoleon III.
Jolly and full of good cheer! Wonderful illustration, Mark. I especially love the little puppy looking over Santa's shoulder :)
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
Loi
Hi, Loi,
DeleteThe puppy is stuffed into Santa's bag along with the toys, but he seems happy nonetheless. Merry Christmas, and I hope you're staying warm up there in D. C.!
Hi Mark, I think the subject came up once before about how line drawings can often capture more of a subject's essence than can a detailed drawing, and your Santa is a great example.
ReplyDeleteIs absorbing to look for differences between Nast's Santa and yours--like playing 'hidden pictures'. I love how you have updated the gifts, but kept the churchwarden. Also, the fine drawing lines in the original are made up for with the blocks of bright color that control the drawing--the white of the smoke balancing the white of the beard, the red wall countering the red suit, etc.
--Jim
Hello, Jim,
DeleteYour good eye for noticing details is one of the greatest compliments an artist can receive, and it doesn't surprise me that you are a discerning collector.
Reducing a complex drawing to outlines and still keeping the character of the original is a fun challenge, and there are certain details that I think make the drawing more dynamic than it might have been otherwise. The single line that defines the shadow of the nose, the book held by a belt, and the bleeding of the smoke into the margin are three. That the bottle protrudes beyond the drawing's edge is another.
Thank you also for reminding me that those distinctive clay pipes are called "churchwardens." Years ago I read an article how excavators in Williamsburg, Virginia found dozens of pipe stem fragments on the grounds of a tavern. They deduced that the churchwardens were communal pipes and that each new smoker would break off where the last one had put his lips. The churchwardens would get shorter and shorter and eventually be replaced. Perhaps you knew that story . . .
This style reminds me a bit of Seymour Chwast - I think that's who - from long ago. At any rate, I love your interpretation of the Nast original. When I draw I too do a squiggly line and occasionally go thick as well. I enjoy it. One of these days I'll have scan some of my things and get them up on the blog. Don't own a scanner yet. But I think I'm going to have to buy one in the coming year. What type do you have, Mark?
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I want to wish you and your family a very Happy and Merry Christmas holiday, Mark. I also wish the snow would stop for a couple of days around here so I could finish my shopping. :)
Hi, Yvette,
DeleteThank you for saying that my illustration reminds you of the work of Seymour Chwast. I always liked his many styles, and I know I've been affected by his work consciously or unconsciously.
You'll find that a scanner is well worth the price — they range in the $100 area. When I upgraded my Mac, Apple threw in a free scanner as a bonus — my lucky day. It's an Epson Perfection V30, and I'm very pleased with it, and use it in a multitude of ways.
I wish you good shopping weather and a very merry and safe Christmas, Yvette!
I love the work! Hope you have a great holiday season, I always enjoy reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Theresa! I'm wishing you a happy holiday and all the best for 2014!
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