The great illustrator Drew Friedman drew a portrait of the great cartoonist Daniel Clowes. Amazing! 10 prints are available.
Drew Friedman rendered this portrait of cartoonist, illustrator, screenwriter and friend Daniel Clowes, at work in his studio.
Clowes launched his solo anthology comic book series Eightball in 1989. At first Clowes mainly presented humorous stories, but gradually began to introduce more reflective and literary themes. The comics were subsequently adapted into graphic novels. Such works as Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron redefined the graphic novel as an art form. The complete Eightball anthology is forthcoming from Fantagraphics.
His graphic novel Ghost World, about two girls and a nerdy record collector, was adapted into a film, which he co-scripted with director Terry Zwigoff (who directed Crumb). The film, which starred Thora Birch, Scarlett Johannson, and Steve Buscemi, earned Clowes an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Another Eightball story, Art School Confidential, was adapted to film in 2006 (with Zwigoff as director).
Daniel’s comic work has been anthologized and accorded countless honors, including a Pen Award for Outstanding Work in Graphic Literature, as well as over a dozen Harvey and Eisner Awards.
Drew Friedman has a personal connection to Clowes. When Drew served as comics editor for National Lampoon in 1990, he hired Clowes to produce a monthly comic. They remained friends and Clowes wrote the foreword to Friedman’s anthology The Fun Never Stops! Clowes, like Friedman, owns a beagle (Ella).
Here’s the pencil sketch:
