arts________ __________
Commercial Art
“Having the ability to create an idea.”
By Kristi Blackman
Of The Print
“I saw the empty wall dur­
ing a tour of the College and I
said that wall was made for a
mural,” said Jack Adams, Col­
lege art instructor, who created
the design of the soldier on the
lower level of Barlow Hall.
Adams who teaches com­
mercial art Friday mornings
said “Commercial art is having
the ability to create an idea for
money.” He said, “It’s limited
as far cis creativity goes. The
commercial artist is more skill­
ed than a ‘fine artist.’ He add-
ed, “an artist should be a ‘fine
artist’ before entering the com­
mercial art field.
“I stress quality before
quantity,” he said, “t try to
work individually with people.
Some people in the class have
specific interests. The students
are to find something that is in­
teresting enough that they can
do a good job.”
He said, “The class is not
business-like. I want them to
think of me as an art editor, so
when they present a piece I
have to accept it,” v
Adams, a self-claimed
graduate from the “school of
hard knocks,” was always in­
terested in art. “When I was in
the first grade, I was always
drawing. I guess it was an
’escape from the real world.
People tell me I was shy, and I
was afraid of teachers, and of
things,” Adams said.
He is'basically a self-taught
artist. In high school he.studied
under Jack Richard. Richard
studied under the late Robert
Brackman, a famous painter.
When Adams left school, he.
got involved in the printing
trade and spent 30 years there
developing and exercising his
talents.
“Working in the commer­
cial end can be an education,”
he said. “It involves a lot of
research to complete the finish­
ed product.”
He also explained the pro­
fessional level of commercial
art in an advertising firm. “If a
company wants an ad showing
. travel on a cruise to be in a
magazine, the artist will get a
copy of the magazine. He will
study what types of > adver­
tisements that are used and
begin from there,” he said.
“After it is done, it is
presented to the company and
they decide from there and
make more changes. They
might not want so much of the
ship here, or there is too much
fruit and not enough of the
water or beach,” Adams ex­
plained.
“If you’re working for an
advertising firm, you have a
good job. Commercial art is the
only way to make money,” he
said.
“I never graduated from a
college,” Adams said. “If there
was something I wanted to
learn, I went to college and got
it. When I went to Long Beach
State College, I discovered An­
drew Wyeth.”
“Wyeth is kind of an odd
ball,” commented Adams.
“While I was in college, I
studied why he does the things
he does. I tried to emulate
him.” Adams will be lecturing
on Wyeth, May 20, 7:30 p.m.,
in the Community Center. “It
will be sort of an artist’s reaction
to an artist,” Adams said.
Recently Adams met an
artist, Don Gray from Union,
Oregon, who travelled back to
Pennsylvania and found in the
phone book Wyeth’s number
and rang him up to see if he
could talk with him. Adams
says of this encounter, “I would
give anything to just talk with
Andrew, fifteen minutes! Gray
spent Jour hours talking to
him.”
Adams’ presentation will
include slides of Wyeth’s work.
“When Wyeth’s work was on
display in New York modern
museum, the general public
flocked to see it,” Adams said.
“The art critics who overlooked
him tried to judge his work by
saying ‘look at who’s going in.’
His art is what the average per­
son would like.”
AN ADAMS’ CREATION is a mural displayed in Barlow Hall.
Staff Photo by Duffy Coffman
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page 5
Staff Photo by Duffy Coffman
NAVY. ITS NOT JUSTA JOB,
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Wednesday, May 12, 1982