Illustration West 47

Addiction

Voyeurism

January 1, 2009.

I'm doing whatever I do on a New Year's day -- watching football, watching news, watching snow not fall, or perhaps other equally interesting activities -- when my left front Levis pocket begins to vibrate, sometime around noonish. No troubles...just my Palm Treo letting me know of an incoming email.

It's New Year's, for Pete's sake, let the email be, one could argue.

One may be right, but, as we all know, deadlines don't wait for the holidays.

But, this particular email was not job-related. It was a notification that two of my works had been accepted to the Illustration West 47 juried annual and exhibition.

Illustration West is a product of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, and one of the 4 shows to which I submit work every year in hopes of acceptance. American Illustration, Communication Arts, and the New York Society of Illustrators are the other 3 shows. Of course, there are many other annuals out there, but I try to limit the bleeding to these four.

There are varied arguments to the merits of entering such annuals.

Some don't do it because it's not a good investment of their time and energy, and their industry reputation is well-established.

Others do, because, if accepted, it can be a valuable means of advertisement -- being nestled amongst some of the highest quality work of the year, as judged by a panel of industry peers.

Being accepted to the (major) shows can also be viewed as a means of validation -- that one's art is relevant in 2009 and that a body of respected figures in our field deems one's work worthy to pass a certain standard of excellence.

Some of my earliest experiences in discovering illustrators came from perusing the annuals in the cozy little reading room in the Design building on the campus of Iowa State University. Gary Kelly, Brad Holland, Mark English, and Guy Billout lit up the pages and captivated my attention to their problem-solving skills and technical wizardry.

So, for me, the annuals hold particular value, and their entry fees remain part of my yearly budget.

Knock on wood, I've had some nice luck with the IW shows, and I'm very appreciative for having these two pieces selected for this year's annual.

All work will be displayed on-line at www.si-la.org, and exhibited at Gallery Nucleus in March.

If you'd like to read about them, you may check out my addiction monkey here, and Voyeurism here.

Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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Voyeurism

Yet another of my San Francisco images. While I was people watching, a couple caught my eye. Particularly this woman. They looked to be not from the U.S., probably in their 40s. They were both dressed smartly and summery. She had a camera and they were both scanning the Union Square, looking at the people. Once and a while, she'd take a shot. They would talk to each other in lower tones periodically, perhaps conferring about the person she was about to photograph. It was a fairly high-end camera, and she looked to have had experience with photography. I wondered what she was looking for.

Her shock of red hair captured my attention, which drew me into her story, and looking at the clues to try and deduce her story. I thought an image of the attractive, seductive woman holding the camera, perhaps herself the voyeur, might be a unique take on the concept. Particularly when composed in such a way to ask who exactly is the voyeur -- the viewer or the woman. Maybe both.

The lines of the plaza become design elements to reflect the angles in the figure. One of my favorite parts is the foot terminating precisely in the lower left corner. The red throughout becomes a strong presence, stemming from the hair and accentuating a mood.

Maybe she has a photograph of me on her blog.