Hey all, Swain here. I met George Pratt many moon ago at a Dragon Con here in Atlanta. Probably '94 or '95.
I was a huge fan of the guy and he was in attendance at the show with several other awesome painters. It was him, Jeff Jones, Mike Kaluta, Kent Williams and I think, Jon J. Muth (I know, I know).
George was doing these cool b&w commissions with this marker pen back in those days (lots of Batman, as I recall). After he'd finish the basic idea, he would dab his finger on his tongue and smear the drawing in places to get that terrific effect he gets. It was all that!
I walked up to his table, babbled on for a minute or two about Impressionism and Expressionism (they're the same thing, right?), and he just politely smiled and listened. He was very kind to me.
(Oh, and it's not like it would go any better if I saw him at a convention today—I'm just 13 years older.)
As a younger man, seeing George's brilliant work on Enemy Ace: War Idyll and Wolverine Netsuke, made me wanna pick up a brush and paint . And I did. I never got very good at it, mind you, but he inspired me.
And I guess he's still inspiring others today. He's been teaching art, off and on, for the last 15 years at schools like The Pratt Institute (where he studied), The Kubert School, The School of Visual Arts, and now at Ringling in Sarasota (lucky kids those Floridians).
To have him come on SiDEBAR with Dwight and I is pretty special stuff. His art has always spoken to me beyond just my interest in comics. It provokes me. It illuminates me. It makes me think. That, to me, is art's purpose.
To be honest, his killer covers for Marvel Comics Presents and Detective Comics from years ago—all made me wanna find out more about fine art. From his work, I probably bumped into Gustav Klimt and Munch. Go figger.
This is only Part I with George, but it's full of goodness. The man is a storyteller. He tells us about his background growing up in Texas, about meeting and hanging out with one of his idols, Mike Kaluta, working on his first big graphic novel, Enemy Ace, and a bunch of other cool stuff.
He's a friend of a friend (thank you, Francis), and I have to say it brought me full circle to babble on with him again for this here podcast. I guess not much has changed in 13 years, huh?
Click here to download the show.
Great show...can't wait for part II.
I've always wondered how things would have been different if I had attended Pratt or SVC. Man...just the influences at the time were overwhelming.
=s=
Posted by: =shane white= | July 13, 2009 at 02:07 PM
Terrific interview!!!
Jeff
Posted by: Jeff Lafferty | July 14, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Excellent show! George is a good guy, an amazing artist, and has such great stories! Looking forward to the second part. - Mr. Phil
(Swain re: Thanks, Mr. Phil! ISR love goes a long way with us!)
Posted by: Mr. Phil | July 17, 2009 at 05:50 PM
Hello George Pratt long time my friend. contact info below. BH
Posted by: Bobby Hicks | August 13, 2009 at 03:28 PM