I don't know what I was thinking when I was starting out. I was hoping I'd get paid to draw realistic pictures of hockey players. I still hold that hope alive.
Barry BlittThe magazine business is dying. It's a hard time for publishing. It does seem that everyone is much more opinionated now. I think there's probably more room for making opinionated illustrations. There was a time when Time magazine and Newsweek would have a realistic painted cover. A friend of mine used to do a lot of those paintings and he was told by the art director at one point, we are switching to photography. It seems that if someone saw a painting on a cover, it took a while to do, it must be old news. Photography became more immediate.
Barry BlittAll my drawings always sort of looked funny even if I was trying to do serious stuff and express myself about grim situations. It was always cartoony.
Barry BlittI felt it was more fun to knock people down than to build them up. I seemed to get a better reaction from my peers and from my friends when I was mocking stuff - which isn't necessarily anything to be too proud of.
Barry BlittI'm, like, not overly into labels. I've been referred to that way, but I tend to think of political cartoonists as constantly at it, producing more work than I do. I do, what, six or eight covers a year, maybe, and a bunch of illustrations as well, but how many do you create a year? I'm in awe of that, and I think the term implies being at it every day or at least weekly.
Barry Blitt