3-Panel Artist's Lecture

Anita, Steve and Luva are all illustrators of different sorts, Steve works more with satire while Luva works more with posters and Anita with editorial illustrations or just her own personal work. Anita splits her time between teaching, illustrating, and creating fine art. Steve has been an illustrator for over 30 years. He makes mostly political cartoons and believes that the artist should have complete reign over their work, so most of his work is self-generated from his own ideas. Luva states that even though she does commissioned work, her work always comes from herself and that restrictions actually help, even deadlines. she also believes that drawing is very important to an artist if for nothing else than to get one's visual ideas out.

The first question had to do with authorship of their work. Steve responded by stating that authorship was like a narrative, and that it is the nature of human beings to want to create narratives because it helps us to understand. He advised that one should arrange elements to speak most clearly, because narratives are so important. Anita commented that the narrative voice should always be unique and it is very valuable to one's work. Luva stated that it was the humanism in narratives that was most important. The imagery is created even moreso through an element of surprise or through something provocative. To her, the most important thing is to always be honest and tell the truth. Steve sort of disagreed, stating that artists aren't always nice people, but what they make is the most important. What they leave behind has meaning and their truth is in what they made. I thought this comment was interesting but true. I still believe that it is the artist's responsibility to do the world some good, but I do agree that they can be a little crazy or just down-right insane as long as they are adding something to the world in some way. Steve also continued by saying that images are more intense than language because there is a deeper connection. He stressed that artists should never take the easy way out.

The next question was about responsibility. Luva began by saying that being clever isn't important, but being human is. Anita agreed that images can hit sore spots so there is a responsibility in one's work, but everyone seemed to agree that controversy is never a bad thing, an artist should take it and be proud of what they made regardless, or even proud of the fact that it caused controversy. Steve gave a pretty funny example of how he was berated for his art, but he claimed that he only depicted how people seem to be in public, not necessarily in reality, so in one sense it was true.

Regarding newer forms of media, such as Facebook, Luva was excited for it's potential and encouraged young artists to use these sources for their art. Anita agreed and claimed that change is exponential. Artists are not just artists but citizens of the world, so they should be informed and be better able to contribute to the worked by making one into an articulate artist.

The next question had to do with ideas and how they are formed. Luva responded by saying that ideas come from observations and that getting older has helped her come up with ideas faster because of her experience. Steve defined an idea as two or more things put together that surprise someone else. He also agreed that ideas come from awareness of one's surroundings. Anita believes that an idea is one's own personal story and what a person has to contribute.

I enjoyed this presentation and learned more than I thought from it. If nothing else, it encouraged me to keep sketching and to keep my eyes and mind open to everything around me. Also, it taught me to be happy with my own work and not focus on those who find it controversial.