http://www.drawger.com/victorjuhasz/ Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:54:29 EDT FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://drawger.com/_images/drawger_leo_logo.gif http://www.drawger.com/victorjuhasz http://www.drawger.com/victorjuhasz/index.php?section=articles&article_id=14084 Goddamit.  We lost a good one today. No, a great one. Derek McConnell was one of the toughest characters I have had the privilege of drawing for the Joe Bonham Project.  In relative terms of time, we spent very little with each other, yet the impact of that first meeting remains fresh in my memory.  The hospital room was chaotic- his younger brother back in Jersey was being admitted to the emergency room and Derek's mother was, understandably very upset as she talked on the cell phone trying to get answers and clarification.  Derek, for all his injuries, which were many, remained the calm in the storm, reminding his mom, in an assertive voice, that everything was okay as his brother was being attended to.  We sat around his bed drawing.  In a brief moment of calm I offered to Derek that maybe this wasn't a good time for sketching and we could do this later.  He looked at us and commanded that we continue drawing.  "Keep drawing.  What's gonna happen is gonna happen."  The tough North Jersey Irish kid couldn't have said it more succinctly.  He was utterly unselfconscious about his wounds and the scars of the septic shock he experienced which he exposed for us to document.  Later that year we were again at Walter Reed, part of an Arts and the Military week of events.  I was one of the artists drawing the wounded vets who agreed to be subjects.  Suddenly I was aware of someone saying hello.  It was Derek with Krystina.  Nothing had changed other than he was looking substantially stronger.  The resolute, unflinching look in the eyes and the sweetest, gentlest, all embracing smile hadn't changed.  We talked for a short while and he seemed in such great spirits.  This January when I was receiving my gold medal (not knowing about the Hamilton King award) from the Society of Illustrators, I had invited Derek and Krystina to attend the event as they were in Jersey.  Unfortunately, a mere half day separated us from their returning to Walter Reed and the night's ceremony.  It seemed so right to have him there as he was hanging on the walls at the time. We were down at Walter Reed last Thursday and unable to see him as he had been admitted, unexpectedly, to the hospital. He had been residing at the outpatient Bldg. 62 and planning on returning to Jersey with his fiancee, Krystina. All systems seemed to be on go and he was progressing well walking on his prosthetic legs. His attitude was great and his thoughts were on the future. Derek's support system was strong. I was so looking forward to drawing him in his progress. And then the phone call from Mike Fay this evening asking me if I had seen the Facebook posting.  I know what I am feeling right now.  I cannot imagine what those who spent their lives with him are feeling.  It was an unforgettable honor to have spent time with him.





]]> Tue, 19 Mar 2013 04:56:24 EDT http://www.drawger.com/victorjuhasz/index.php?section=articles&article_id=13955 The months have flown by and I have been unable to post recent work done for ROLLING STONE.  The assignments continue to challenge me, in a good way, to create new ideas on topics frequently re-visited.  The economy, the environment, the GOP, Obama, marijuana. Fortunately, the writing is always first rate- and if it's a piece by Matt Taibbi, very funny to boot- and somewhere during the reading of the copy connections are made and images pop to mind.  Sometimes the sketches turn out close to perfect and are done with great ease; other times there is real head scratching effort in distilling all the complicated elements of a maze-like story ( the economy pieces often fall into this category, reading like detective novels) into one understanable image.  Ultimately what winds up on the pages is very satisfactory to the editors, art director Joe Hutchinson, and me.







































]]> Sat, 26 Jan 2013 06:55:29 EDT http://www.drawger.com/victorjuhasz/index.php?section=articles&article_id=13911 This was my original posting from a couple days back: "My first thought when Anelle Miller first informed me that I had won a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators for the combat art done during my embed in Afghanistan in 2011 that appeared, with an app, in GQ online along  in July of 2012, was "Shit.  Now I'm really going to have to do something to justify this recognition."  I would have been very satisfied just to have the work included in the show.  The gold took me by surprise.   I've already described much of the process of getting there, drawing and writing, and getting the work published in an earlier DRAWGER posting last July titled "The Embed in the Stan". I cannot emphasize enough that while I did do the drawings and journals, I did not build this by myself.  I never could have gotten the clearance to go over there had not my friend and editor, Peter Kaplan, signed off on the waivers and journalist accredidations necessary to get a media pass, even though we weren't entirely sure where the work would eventually run, though Peter had a good idea.  Peter also acted as coach and editor after I returned as I collected all my journals and worked on putting a cohesive story together.  That said, the work still would have never seen the light of day had not Fred Woodward of GQ gone to bat for me in a big way to get the work published.  The app itself would never have happened had not Fred assigned Jeffrey Kurtz to put it together into such an impressive presentation.  The editors and fact checkers at GQ impressed me with their thoroughness and high standards for accuracy and integrity.  There was also all the incredibly helpful advice and connections offered by people like fellow combat artists, Michael Fay, Steve Mumford and Roman Genn that helped to keep the stress levels down during the preparation stage.  There were the incredible men and women of the Dustoff and Public Affairs teams who were so generous with their time and assistance while I was there in Kandahar and even after I returned, proof reading and providing further clarity and elaborations on parts of my journals that needed such.  And of course there was the support of my wife, Terri, and my sons who had the sense of humor to suppress their concerns for a non Alpha dog type of guy to head over by himself to a war zone doing something he had never done before.  I still hope to return at the very least once more before things wind down completely there.  It was an experience that fueled new inspiration for what I'd like to do over the next 20 years or so.    I am happy to say that a selection of my drawings of seriously wounded vets returning from the front lines of Afghanistan and Iraq,  as well as a painting done for Broadway producer Jeffrey Richards, are also part of the Society exhibit that will run through January. Thank you."     Well, that's what I wrote and, other than the closing sentence, that's pretty much what I had committed to memory for my acceptance speech.  It was going to be a great night despite the head cold that I woke up with Friday morning.  Chicken soup, vitamin C, lots of medicinal teas were keeping it in check.  Two of our three sons, Alex, and Ben with his wife, Maggie, had come from California and Chicago to attend the event as well and it was a pleasure introducing them to Society and Drawger members during the refreshment hour.  Even my younger brother, Dan, came into town for the event and he hates NYC.  Terri, of course, looked great and holding court on her own.   Standing toward the front of the impressive crowd in the gallery, so that I wouldn't have to work my way through the sea of bodies when my name got called, I stood with family while Society president, Dennis Dittrich and our director, Anelle Miller, made the opening comments. Half listening while going over my speech, making last minute mental edits, I kept my eyes on the front stage.  Anelle then made an announcement that the awards event would begin with the Hamilton King presentation.  She described the history of the award, who Hamilton King was, the fact that it was a one time only presentation to an illustrator.  The list was flashed on the screen of all the past recipients- an unmistakeable assembly of heavy hitters.  I returned to the mental editing of my comments.  Didn't want to make them too long but didn't want to forget anyone or anything that needed mention.  Besides the extra time on the Hamilton King presentation would allow me to keep adjusting the sentences.   It really does happen.  The same way everything goes into slow motion in a head on collision.  I was probably half listening, at the very least, for 30 seconds to Anelles's introduction before my attention returned to some focus on the situation around me.  Looking at the screen it occured to me that the name on the screen was mine.  The flashing images were mine. Anelle was talking about me.  It seemed that, in a break with protocol, it was decided not to inform me of the honor.  Terri, my sons, Anelle, the Society staff, the voting members, had demonstrated incredible restraint in not letting me in on the decision.    "Oh Lord I am not worthy..."   Recovering Cathiolic that I may be the ingrained indoctrination (it never really goes away) resurfaced and I felt a sense of embarrassment at being included in such esteemed company.  As I said before, it's an honor just to make it into the SI Annual. The gold medal was beyond what I had expected but I had made peace with receiving it.  But the Hamilton King? Something was wrong.  There was a mistake- this was such an overreach on the part of the HK voting members.  This was not really happening.  But it was.  By the time Anelle read a congratulatory note from my friend and mentor, Bernie D'Andrea, which had Terri in tears, whatever I had prepared to say for the gold acceptance was erased and I was drawing a huge blank for words as I made my way to the stage to deal with the present situation.  In the movies when someone gets surprised like this, they somehow recover and go on to deliver a remarkable, coherent, and moving speech with music slowly soaring in the background. That didn't happen here.  I grasped in the mental void for words to describe my gratitude, and, yes, embarrassment, for the honor.  I don't remember a thing I said.  I don't recall much of what I said when retuning for the gold medal acceptance either, other than remembering to give credit to Peter, Fred, and Jeffrey.  I'm sure much was left out.  I'm still digesting this remarkable night and it will be a while before this recognition really sinks in.    What I do remember is being in the company of treasured family, good friends, and fellow illustrators and Society members whom I hold in the highest regard and affection.  Not enough thanks and praise can be given to Anelle, house manager John Capobianco, Chef Q, and the Society staff for their outstanding service in making this such a great night for everyone.      Saturday.  Ben had left with Maggie at midnight to return to Chicago.  Terri had to work with clients for most of the day.  Alex and I took a ride out to Jersey for a reality check, attending services for an old friend, an accomplished artist, who passed away on New Year's eve.  We returned to New York with enough time to see the George Bellows exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum.  Another kind of reality check.  We walked through the various rooms in awe of the tour de force brilliance and bravura of this master painter and graphic artist.  Yes, he was also an illustrator in the best sense of the word; a fantastic reportorial artist capturing the energy and characters of the times he lived in.  To stand in front of his paintings was to be humbled in a good way and reminded how much more I needed to explore and learn hoping at some point to successfully bring a distillation of that energy into my own work.  I still have much to do to earn these distinctions bestowed last night.  But, that's what makes the creative process fun.







]]> Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:32:45 EDT http://www.drawger.com/victorjuhasz/index.php?section=articles&article_id=13880 My annual Christmas card never happened.  First time since I can remember.  These past few months have seen much transition, improvisation, adaption, and hopefully the beginnings of overcoming. Christmas was also feeling very off kilter, what with mid autumn weather here in New York, both upstate and down, and the news of the previous weeks.  However, a moment's inspiration yesterday resolved my dilemma about a solution for a rebound New Year's card.    Wishing you all an outstanding 2013.  Let's hope that human nature is trumped more by, to quote from Lincoln, "the better angels of our nature".



]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:36:25 EDT http://www.drawger.com/victorjuhasz/index.php?section=articles&article_id=13736 This weekend I managed to drive with Terri through the catastrophy that was left by Hurricane Sandy, stopping to drop off some desperately needed fuel with a friend in Nyack, and make it to Washington, DC, to help hang an exhibition that will have its opening this coming weekend at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery on November 10th.  We are scheduled for a press conference on the 9th at the gallery and there is a panel discussion on the Joe Bonham Project on the 11th. This is a huge space to hold an exhibition and the artists of the Joe Bonham Project have submitted a substantial documentation of their work drawing and painting the wounded warriors returning from the front line of both Iraq and Afghanistan.  From the catalogue:   Who is Joe Bonham? Joe Bonham is the main character in Dalton Trumbo's book Johnny Got His Gun. He is a severly wounded World War I soldier, who lost his limbs, his face, his ears, his tongue, but is miraculously still alive. His wish was to be put in a glass box and taken around the country to show the realities of war, but is ultimately denied and wisked away to live out his days, alone and forgotten, in an asylum.   What is the Joe Bonham Project? The Joe Bonham Project is a collaboration between the Society of Illustrators and the International Society of War Artists. Artists volunteer their time, at their own expense, to travel to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, as well as various VA hospitals, and spend time with our wounded Veterans, talking to them and drawing them.   Why is The Joe Bonham Project important? The mission of The Joe Bonham Project is to remind the American public, through art, of the sacrifices made by the men and women who serve in our nation's Armed Forces. This is a very important mission, and very important message, and like Joe Bonham's wish to be taken around the country, we want to take The Joe Bonham Project around the country as well.   It has been an honor to be a part of the JBP since nearly its inception and I look forward to remaining an active participant in this documentation.  Our exhibition is a strong one.  Politics are left at the door.  Our mission has been to tell the stories.   Hope to see you at the reception if you are in the DC area next weekend.































]]> Mon, 05 Nov 2012 03:50:27 EDT http://www.drawger.com/victorjuhasz/index.php?section=articles&article_id=13598 I was quite happy to receive an email from Mary Parsons at THE AMERICAN PROSPECT asking me if I had the time to do an illustration or two for a story on the education of Elizabeth Warren, currently running in Massachusetts against incumbent Scott Brown.  Elizabeth Warren.  Her observations from a good while back on the nature of many factors contributing to a company’s success became the basis for Obama’s now infamous and misinterpreted “You didn’t build that” speech.  No stranger to Washington she nonetheless has been an outsider to the world of running for office.  She’s up against a politically savvy opponent and she has committed her own share of mistakes in the process.  Mary’s suggestion was to play it like some schoolyard scene.  It was up to me to make it work.  Drawing on my own memories of the stresses of grade school life, I worked up a few approaches of some naïve kid’s encounter with school yard bullies.    Warren has an interesting face to caricature.  It’s wide open and almost painfully sincere often with a somber worriedness.  The next thing was to play her body language against the collective language of the toughs. Besides the schoolyard I tried a new kid in the classroom approach as well.  Both ways could have worked well in my estimation.  Mary went with the schoolyard.    The main image needed a follow-up.  I suggested one of the opener sketches that didn’t get selected, which focuses on the aftermath of the encounter.  As the outcome of the election hasn’t happened yet we couldn’t treat the spot with any sense of finality.  We could comfortably say that the experience has not been a breezy one for Warren so far.  

























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