Eric Reynolds has a short interview with Old Jewish Comedian author Drew Friedman about his newest book More Old Jewish Comedians:
Reynolds: I would agree that you are not a caricaturist in the classic sense, but you’re not quite a portrait artist, either. “Satirist”? Or simply “cartoonist”? Does it matter? In the Old Jewish Comedians books, there’s clearly an affection for your subjects that would seem to be at odds with with the goals of satire or caricature, but it also transcends traditional, photo-realistic portraiture. Even Crumb is a bit more rooted in naturalism in his portraits of blues musicians, I would say. Would you agree?
Friedman: I don’t think it really does matter too much. I’ve tried not to be “labeled’ as a cartoonist or illustrator. Probably something in between, but I’m not sure how to define it. With the portraits for OJC, I want them to work as humor but also get to people react (hopefully) emotionally, as I really have a lot of respect and even love for most of the subjects. I hope that comes through, even with the liver spots. My “style” or at least the portraits in the OJC books I suppose evolved over the last 2 decades, beginning with that intense “stipple” work, and gradually “mellowing” into the current work, if that makes sense. One thing for sure, my next project won’t involve Jews or comedians. Time to move on.
Related: Photos of Friedman’s studio.
