{"id":15863,"date":"2023-02-14T08:55:51","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T13:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=15863"},"modified":"2023-02-14T08:55:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T13:55:54","slug":"episode-526-james-mcmullan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-526-james-mcmullan","title":{"rendered":"Episode 526 – James McMullan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories Show 526:
\nJames McMullan<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/virtualmemories\/Episode_526_-_James_McMullan.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“If I can teach people to pay attention to the human figure, they will start paying attention to life in general, in a more intense way.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Legendary artist and illustrator James McMullan<\/a> joins the show to celebrate his new book, HELLO WORLD: The Body Speaks in the Drawings of Men<\/a> (Pointed Leaf Press). We talk about James’ three-plus decades of posters for Lincoln Center Theater<\/a>, the importance of the human figure in his art, how drawing with color opened a more expressive channel for him, and why Hello World<\/em> is his most personal project (even more than his memoir<\/a>). We get into the intersection of illustration & fine art and whether he resented being overlooked by the museum set, the experience of making more than 90 (!) posters for Lincoln Center Theater<\/a> over the decades and helping define NYC theater (despite being neither “a New York guy” nor a hardcore theater-goer), how he makes his art in a perpetual state of risk and being willing to let that risk show, the ways his literary reading feeds his art and vice versa, and how he invested $11,000 in a supply of his favorite paper a dozen years ago and how it feels to reach the last of it. Plus, we discuss his High Focus Drawing<\/a> approach, the gestalt between model and artist, how it felt to be a ‘sissy kid’ who found power in art, why he shows feet when everyone else is focused on the intimacy of close-up faces, and a lot<\/em> more. Give it a listen!<\/a> And go get HELLO WORLD<\/a>!<\/p>\n

“As a good, successful illustrator you probably have more effect on the culture you’re working in than a lot of fine artists do.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n