julyaugpreview2009 by Commarts

CHIP FORELLI DESIGN ARMY EXHIBIT INFORMATION GRAPHICS 50 YEARS OF ILLUSTRATION R/GA ILLUSTRATION ANNUAL 50 5 0

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A N N I V E R S A R Y

July/August 2009 Twenty-Four Dollars www.commarts.com

FORELLI CHIP by Ellen Shapiro

Master of Light and Form

pider webs dancing between strands of barbed wire. A surreal off-season pool. Barns lit by the light of the moon; these are the things I like to come across—abandoned, overlooked places that take on a certain magic when no one’s around,” explains Chip Forelli. “I’m an opportunistic photographer. What I shoot can’t be categorized. My mission is to reveal the unexpected in a compelling way.” Forelli has been revealing the unexpected for most of his life: from still lifes of cosmetics to industrial shots of oil rigs, from close-ups of mosses and ferns to panoramic landscapes. He has shot for ad agencies, marketing firms and corporate art buyers, but mostly for himself. Forelli grew up on Long Island, New York, and always loved art and science. Believing that architecture would be the right career to combine the creative and the technical, he got his architecture degree from New York Institute of Technology in 1974, but was quickly disenchanted by the positions available to new graduates. “We all wanted to design private homes but found ourselves detailing concrete slabs,” he explains. He spent weekends playing bass in a local rock band and taking pictures with his Nikon. When a band member gave him a copy of The Creative Black Book, he realized that photography was the career he’d been yearning for. After producing a portfolio of still lifes of everyday objects he landed an entry-level job assisting George Nakano, a New York City still-life photographer who specialized in food and cosmetics. That meant loading cameras, syncing strobes, brushing dust specks off lipstick tubes, taking film to the lab and running out for sandwiches for clients. “I got to work early and left late,” he recalls. “It was tough, but I learned great lessons. Most importantly that there are no shortcuts.” Five years later, in 1984, he was on his own, freelancing out of a 400-square-foot apartment on West 46th Street, doing still lifes for Westva-co, Revlon and Estée Lauder. “Still life is the best training in photography,” he asserts. “Everything is within your control.” His portfolio still includes images of ordinary things seen in extraordinary ways: postage stamps, pencil shavings, rubber bands. They’re defined by “raking light,” a technique he developed. “Light comes from a low angle, bounces off surfaces and back onto the surface the objects are sitting on. Things start glowing and all kinds of amazing things happen.” In 1988 on vacation in Australia and New Zealand, he began to work outdoors in a serious way. “I found my next passion, the natural world,” he says. He began photographing his signature subjects: rushing water, forests, trees, rocks, clouds, plants, often in environments marked by human intervention, a distant bridge, a winding road, a rustic fence. In 1994 he submitted a study of an agave plant to the ca Photography Annual. It made it to the cover, and that brought a big response by ad agency art directors. Forelli’s work has been in the Annual many times since, in the unpublished and institutional categories, as well as in major ad campaigns, such as the memorable 1996 bmw motorcycles series for Fallon McElligott Berlin. “It was the perfect assignment because they wanted the power and movement of the bikes as well as the majesty of the old oaks lining the road,” he says. The art director, Marc Klein, explains: “bmw had just come out with a series of new models in beautiful new colors, so black-and-white was an interesting sell. In the end, the client understood that they needed to communicate what it’s like to ride a bmw motorcycle, and artful black-and-white captures the feeling exactly. On the shoot Chip was remarkably adaptable and equipped to do anything we wanted to try, which included having laser triggers that allowed him to get the bike in exactly the right spot in midair.” Right: Personal work. “I had my eye on this nearby farm scene for two years before the right conditions occurred early one spring morning—delicate snowfall and fog. The window of opportunity was small: The snow melted during the balmy day and when I drove by the next morning, the farmer had done his spring cleaning and trimmed the tall grasses around the shed to the ground.”

Illustration Annual 2009

Communication Arts

50 Years of ILLUSTRATION Over the last 50 years, we’ve profiled 369 illustrators in the pages of Communication Arts and featured thousands more in our

“I am opposed to all those who manage to survive in illustration without having an idea of their own—the imitators. Almost every month we have a comment from someone on a trend. A trend is almost always a stream of imitation.” —Austin Briggs, 1961

Illustration Annuals. On the following pages is a small sampling of work and commentary from just a few of these talented individuals. While styles and techniques

Franklin McMahon Detail of title painting for the film The World of Vatican II (Jan/Feb 1968).

have evolved, many of the illustrators’ comments are still relevant today.

Jerry Pinkney S.D. Warren paper promotion (May/Jun 1975).

Richard Hess AIGA Survival exhibition (Mar/Apr 1975).

Al Parker Cover for The Journal of Commercial Art (Nov 1959). Arnold Varga Ad for Joseph Horne Co. (May/Jun 1966).

“Drawing, I found, was an equalizer. With it I could not only entertain myself, but also fascinate others. The nonsportsman could compete with the sports. So I drew and drew and drew.” —Bill Tara, 1962

“To me, illustration is only a sometime part of visual communication. Illustration can be fine art, and fine art can be illustration. Illustration can be typography. Illustration can be photography. Illustration can be almost anything.” —Charles Schorre, 1967 84

Illustration Annual 2009

“All kids are interested in drawing. You go into any kindergarten, first or second grade and the level of creativity is astounding, but it gets killed somewhere in the process of growing up.” —Robert Heindel, 1977

1959– 1978 Mark English Brochure cover for Decision Dynamics (Jul/Aug 1977). Margaret Cusack Portfolio piece (May/Jun 1977).

Paul Davis Poster for New York Shakespeare Festival (Mar/Apr 1978). James McMullan Poster for the Imperial Theatre (Jul/Aug 1977).

Jack Unruh Brochure for Zoecon Corporation (Jul/Aug 1978).

“The thing is to find something surprising and different in every assignment. There are some people who always surprise you, and that’s why you continue to look at their work.” —Robert Weaver, 1978

“Can the marvel of the hand-wrought and artist-generated really be replaced by science or pseudo-science, working alone or in concert with the camera? Look around. It’s already happening.” —Daniel Schwartz, 1968 Communication Arts

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Illustration Annual 2009

Editorial 1 Scott Laumann, illustrator Hannu Laakso, art director Reader’s Digest, client “Portrait of John Updike for a Q&A in Reader’s Digest magazine, titled ‘The Scribe of Suburbia.’ Shortly before his death, Updike spoke to Jesse Kornbluth about his sequel to The Witches of Eastwick, his humble beginnings and writing in later life.” 9 × 12, mixed media. 2 Wesley Bedrosian, illustrator Joel Cadman, art director The Wall Street Journal, client “The Keys to Swing Keys.” Why the thoughts that help guide shots can be so maddeningly fleeting. 8 × 10, digital. 3 Jon Krause, illustrator Joel Cadman, art director The Wall Street Journal, client Book review of Sum by David Eagleman. The book uses 40 scenarios to explore what the afterlife might be like. 17 × 101⁄ 2 acrylic on wood.

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For Sale 1 Chris Buzelli, illustrator “This painting was shown in the Gen Art Vanguard Fair at Art Basel in Miami, curated by Mark Murphy.” 10 × 10, oil on panel. 2 Alexander Gross, illustrator Jonathan Levine Gallery, client Hierophant, for gallery exhibition. 53 oil on canvas.

× 62,

3 Stuart Walker, illustrator Stonehenge Fine Art, publisher The Keeper, limited-edition Giclée print (signed and numbered) sold through galleries or Stonehenge Fine Art Publishers. 29 × 36, oil, mixed media. 4 Michael Glenwood, illustrator Give Peace a Chance. “A limited-edition print for sale on my Web site, captioned ‘Damned are the warmakers, for they shall be called the children of the Wicked one.’” 16 × 20, digital. 5 David Ho, illustrator LucasArts, client The Sacrifice. “I was one of the select artists invited by LucasFilm to create an interpretive Star Wars piece. I chose the Tusken Raiders as a subject matter because I remember being fascinated by their attire. Instead of depicting them as a cold and indifferent race, I took a more contemplative route.” 34 × 19, digital.

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Illustration Annual 2009

Communication Arts

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