A drawing by Barry Blitt is recognizable from a distance simply for his line quality and hint of watercolor. Known for his scathing political cartoons, this longtime cover illustrator for the New Yorker has leaned his shoulder in to support the NWCT Arts Council and its Aug. 29 fundraiser at Buck’s Rock Camp in New Milford. Blitt created a design for limited-edition T-shirts that will be available for sale at the event and online at artsnwct.org.
David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker since 1998, called Blitt “One of the greatest political cartoonists of our time.” A native of Canada, Blitt won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning and has created more than 100 covers for the New Yorker since 1992. Perhaps most memorable is his 2008 iconic fist bump between Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, “The Politics of Fear.” A quarter century of his sketches and drawings are collected in “Blitt: In One Eye and Out the Other,” published by Penguin Putnam. He has created books for children, including “George Washington’s Birthday” and “Once Upon a Time, the End, (Asleep in 60 Seconds).”
When asked about his method, Blitt replied, “You’re trying to get a drawing that looks improvised and fresh, you know? Usually the first drawing I do, I’m not happy with it and I’ll go to a second one or I’ll redraw it several times … But the line becomes labored, so it always really is the first one. It’s probably some kind of Zen thing where you’re not worrying too much or you’re not overthinking it. There’s nothing like an improvised fresh line that’s there the first time you do it. First thought, best thought.”
Given two small prompts by the NWCT Arts Council, Blitt conjured up a fanciful tree in the landscape of the Litchfield Hills, with three artists painting at easels up in the branches. He hand-lettered the banner and reimagined the Arts Council’s logo as hand-painted, with a bit of sky and landscape peeking through. Blitt’s simple depiction of painters in the tree evokes the full spirit of the Council. For 23 years, the NWCT Arts Council has supported artists and creativity in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. It promotes arts events, maintains an arts calendar, guides individual artists toward grants and funding, housing and studios, and connects the vast network of creative people who live and work in Litchfield County.
Blitt once revealed: “If you’re asking me what I love, it’s that point where I’m just scribbling and trying to make myself laugh and trying to outrage myself.”
Blitt may be best known for skewering politicians and pundits, yet he can also create magic with a child’s eye.
