Illustrator C.F. Payne exhibits at IU South Bend
A new exhibition at IU South Bend will allow students and the larger community the rare opportunity to view a substantial body of work by one of the country's top illustrators.
"Henry Kissinger," C.F. Payne
Nationally renowned illustrator C.F. Payne's work is on exhibit through Friday, March 5, at the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts Gallery. "C.F. Payne: An American Illustrator" features a collection of up to 30 works by Payne, including finished illustrations and preliminary drawings.
Payne presented a slide lecture about his working methods on Feb. 11. While on campus, Payne presented a workshop with the visual arts students. As an educator, he believes in the importance of students developing their drawing skills and he planned to share his unique mixed media approach in the workshop. While the workshop focused on drawing and painting skills, all visual arts students interested in discovering new techniques benefitted. Students saw how the development of time honored skills in drawing and painting can be applied toward working in the field of illustration.
While some may not know the name C.F. Payne, most have seen his work at one time or another. Payne's artwork has been featured on the covers of the Readers Digest, Time Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Sports Illustrated, U.S. News and World Report, Boys Life, MAD Magazine and der Spiegel.
This exhibition has been arranged by Ron Monsma, IU South Bend assistant professor of visual arts, painting and drawing. He received funding through the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts Endowment Fund to support the show.
Payne is an artist/illustrator based in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a 1976 Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate of Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. He further studied with Alan Cober, Mark English, Bernie Fuchs, Fred Otnes and Bob Heindel at the Illustrators Workshop in Tarrytown, N.Y. After brief studio stints in Akron, Ohio, and Chicago in 1980, he began his freelance career in Dallas.
Over the years he has received national recognition from Communication Arts, Step-by-Step, the Society of Publication Designers, the Society of Illustrators of New York and Los Angeles, Print Magazine, How Magazine and Illustration Magazine. His work has received both Gold and Silver awards from both the Society of Illustrators of New York and Los Angeles and has received the Hamilton King Award for the Society of Illustrators of New York.
He has exhibited work in numerous college and art school galleries, at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., The National Academy Museum, New York, the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. and in a one-man show at the Cincinnati Art Museum in Cincinnati, Chicago Historical Society, The Gallery for the Cultural Forum for Photography, Berlin, the Museum fuer Angewandte Kunst, Hamburg, as well as museums in Austria, Switzerland and Argentina.
"Babe Ruth," C.F. Payne
Payne has juried numerous shows locally and nationally and has lectured extensively. For more than 20 years he has taught at the college level, and for the last 12 years he has taught at Columbus College of Art and Design where he also serves as chair of the Illustration Department. Payne has taught in the graduate program at Syracuse University and currently teaches at the Illustration Academy Summer Program in Sarasota, Fla., and the University of Hartford Graduate Program.
In 1996, he served as chairman of the 38th Society of Illustrators Annual Competition. He has also served as chairman of the Museum Committee of the Society of Illustrators of New York.
Payne has illustrated numerous children's books including True Heart, Brave Harriet and Mighty Jackie written by Marissa Moss, The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Micawber written by actor John Lithgow and two baseball themed children's books written by Phil Bildner, Shoeless Joe and Black Betsy and The Shot Heard 'round the World. He also illustrated Earnest Thayer's baseball classic "Casey at the Bat" in 2003.
Admission to the Gallery is free, and it is open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. For more information contact the Arts Box Office at 574-520-4203.
