John Cuneo (illustrator)

John Cuneo (born January 4, 1957) is an American illustrator, whose work has appeared in many major publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, Sports Illustrated and The Atlantic Monthly. His ink and watercolor drawings have been described as skewering everything from politics to sex.[1]

John Cuneo
Born (1957-01-04) January 4, 1957
Westfield, New Jersey, United States
NationalityAmerican
Known forIllustration
Awards

Early life and education

Cuneo grew up in Westfield, New Jersey. His father worked as a manager at a plant nursery and his mother as a house wife.[2] He was the oldest of three boys.[3] He and his two brothers would work at the nursery with his father and take home produce to sell at a stand on their front lawn.[2] At the age of 14 he would be dropped off at a neighbors house, Adelaide Johnson once a week where he would spend several hours drawing and receiving advice and encouragement for his animal sketches and imitations of Mad Magazine cartoons by artists who worked for the magazine at the time, such as Jack Davis and Mort Drucker.[3]

Cuneo attended Roosevelt Jr. High, followed by Westfield High School until his junior year, when his family moved to Florida. Once in Florida, the artist would graduate from Lely High School in Naples, Florida in 1975 and go on to attend Florida State University for one year, followed by attending Colorado Institute of Art for an additional year.[4]

At Colorado Institute for Art, Cuneo would learn skills needed in the graphic design business of the time, such as paste-ups with wax, making storyboards and rendering typefaces. Bill Kastan, a local illustrator as well as an instructor at the school, took a liking to Cuneo and provided him with a drawing table in his studio and helped him put together a portfolio.[2] Cuneo and Kastan would remain close friends until Kasten passed away in 2019.[4]

In 1977, while in Denver, Cuneo would join a group of freelance illustrators headed by Joe Malone going under the name of No Coast Graphics, where he did freelance illustrations for the Denver Post as well as Westword.[5] It was also in Denver where Cuneo would meet his wife Jan Larson, an instructor of public speaking and communications.[2]

Illustration career

Cuneo would move from Denver to San Francisco in 1986 and it was there that the artist decided to devote himself entirely to work in editorial illustration. His first published work for a major magazine would appear in Sierra Magazine, under the art direction of Martha Geering. In 1993, the artist would return to Denver and remain there for eight years. It was after his return to Denver that Cuneo would receive his first of many assignments from Entertainment Weekly.

In 2001, Cuneo and his wife would move to Woodstock, New York.[4] After his arrival on the East coast, John Korpics design director at Esquire magazine, would bring in Cuneo in 2002 to publish a series of comics called Damned Good Advice which would run until 2003.[6] and to illustrate the magazine's Sex Advice Column [3] which ran until 2014.[7] Work on the sex column for Esquire would earn the artist two silver awards from the Society of Illustrators.[4]

Cuneo's first New Yorker cover Flu Season would appear on the October 26, 2009 issue. The artists second cover for The New Yorker, Dog Meets Dog which ran on the June 27, 2011 issue and art directed by Francoise Mouly would win him the Hamilton King Award in 2012[8] which is widely thought of as one of the most prestigious awards in illustration.[9] Cuneo's August 5, 2013 New Yorker cover featured Anthony Weiner straddling the top of the Empire State Building and the cover received so much coverage on social media that The New York Times published a story on the topic, interviewing the artist.[10] The cover depicting Weiner would also earn Cuneo a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators. The artist has created ten covers for the New Yorker.[11]

In 2010, Cuneo joined a long list of illustrators invited to join Golf Digest at the Masters Golf Tournament to draw on location and record his impressions of the event.[12] He has been a regular contributor to Golf Digest for many years.[13]

Books

nEuROTIC
In 2004, Steven Guarnaccia who was head of the illustration department at Parsons recommended Cuneo's sketchbooks to his friends at Fantagraphics. Editor Eric Reynolds got in touch to discuss compiling some of the sketchbook work into a book. A few years passed with no indication that a book might be forthcoming. Cuneo's friend Robert Festino, who he'd worked with for years at Entertainment Weekly took it upon himself to put together a dummy of a book during his off-hours at the Entertainment Weekly offices. The mockup was sent to Fantagraphics and co-publisher Kim Thompson got back right away with a plan to publish. The cover illustration chosen for the book had previously won a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators, and the book was released in 2007, designed and art directed by Robert Festino.[14] nEuROTIC is currently out of print.

Not Waving Just Drawing
Ten years after the publication of nEuROTIC, Gary Groth publisher at Fantagraphics wrote the artist and suggested a sequel. Cuneo, who had kept up his sketchbook practice had plenty of drawings to choose from. While nEuRoTIC had been drawn almost entirely using a Rapidograph, the new collection for Not Waving Just Drawing were created using a Uni-ball roller pen or a Micron pen and because of this the collection is slightly looser in style.[15] The book would be released in 2017[16]

In 2017, Cuneo illustrated the book Who's Rich?, authored by Michael Schaub, published By Random House[17]

Group Exhibitions

Awards

Society of Illustrators
  • Silver Medal for uncommissioned work FU, Society of Illustrators, 2016[19]
  • Silver Medal for New Yorker cover, Winter Delight, art directed by Francois Mouly, 2016[4]
  • Gold Medal for uncommissioned category titled Killed Sex Sketches, 2015[4]
  • Silver Medal for New Yorker cover, 'Carlos Danger', art directed by Franciose Mouly, 2014[4]
  • Silver Medal for Town and Country magazine article, Erotic Art,art directed by Edward Leida, 2013[4]
  • Silver Medal for a drawing titled Julip in the Good Dog column in Garden & Gun magazine, art directed by Marshall McKinney, 2012
  • Hamilton King Award,for New Yorker cover, Dog Meets Dog. art directed by Francoise Mouly, 2012[8]
  • Silver Medal, Society of Illustrators, 2010 [4]
  • Silver Medal for Frog Calendar (Poster), Dellas Graphics, art directed by Jim Burke, 2006[4]
  • Silver Medal for Esquire magazine's sex advice column, Is Al Green Good for your Sex Life?, art directed by John Korpics, 2006
  • Gold Medal for an uncommissioned piece which subsequently became the cover for nEuROTIC, designer Robert Festino, 2004
  • Silver Medal for Esquire magazine's sex advice column, art directed by John Korpics, 2004

Society of Illustrators, San Francisco
  • Gold Medal, 1995
  • Judge's Appreciation, 1995
  • Best of Show, 1995
  • Silver Medal for Golf Illustrated Magazine, art directed by Bobbi Laberge, 1993
  • Judge's Choice for Motorland Magazine, art director by Al Davidson, 1993
  • Honorable Mention Humor Award, 1992
  • Silver Humor Award, 1991
  • Gold Humor Award, 1990[4]

Others
  • Award of Excellence, for The New York Times Book Review, Intoxicating Prose, art directed by Nicholas Blechman, Communication Arts Illustration Annual, 2014[4]

Working Process

Cuneo uses a Uni-ball roller pen or a pen with archival or water resistant ink, such as a Micron pen, or Rapidograph. Drawings are executed on watercolor paper, usually on a light box directly over a rough sketch. The final work is scanned and delivered to the client as a high resolution digital file.[20] The drawing style is realistic enough to work in the picture while employing a lot of freedom with scale, gravity and asymmetry.[14]

Personal life

The artist lives in Woodstock, New York with his wife Jan. The couple have one son, Jack Cuneo. The home they live in was originally owned by Robert Grossman, the manager of Bob Dylan and The Band, as well as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and many other recording artists. When owned by Grossman, the residence would house bands while recording in the Bearsville Studio which was located nearby.[2]

References
  1. "Our Artists". Fantagraphics. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  2. Shapiro, Ellen. "John Cuneo". Communication Arts. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
  3. Newman, Robert (2016-06-25). "Illustrator Profile - John Cuneo". American Illustration.
  4. "Interview with John Cuneo". Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  5. Husted, Bill (2000-07-27). "Denver Entertainment". Denver Post.
  6. "Esquire Archives". Esquire. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  7. "Esquire". 2014-03-17.
  8. "John Cuneo Hamilton King Winner 2012". Society of Illustrators. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  9. Gallo, Irene (2010-01-10). "Hamilton King Award".
  10. Kaplan, Thomas (2013-07-26). "The New Yorker Gets In on the Act". The New York Times.
  11. Mouly, Françoise (2019-04-29). "John Cuneo's "To Fetch or Not to Fetch"". The New Yorker.
  12. Tarde, Jerry (2018-04-03). "Editor's Letter: Masters Cartooning and the Last Laugh". Golf Digest.
  13. "Contributors". Golf Digest. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  14. Spurgeon, Tom (2007-03-17). "A Short Interview With John Cuneo".
  15. Gil Roth (2017-03-27). "John Cuneo" (Podcast) (211 ed.). Event occurs at 16:05.
  16. "Not Waving But Drawing". Fantagraphics. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  17. "A Comic Novel of Infidelity Grapples With Sex and Money". The New York Times. 2017-07-13.
  18. "State of the Art:Illustration 100 Years After Howard Pyle". Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  19. "Illustrators 58". Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  20. Mattimoe, Jane (2017-01-03). "A Case for Pencils".
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