I was classically trained as an illustrator at one of the finest art schools west of the Mississippi. Initially, I executed my art in a tight, realism oil painting style. I love the work of the early illustrators–Norman Rockwell, JC Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell–as well as some modern painters like Gregory Manchess. Tight realism proved to be an excellent way to tell stories, and eventually my wife and I founded Painting for Life, a company through which I can create these paintings and self license them on products and gifts, such as journals, aprons and greeting cards. Painting for Life is ultimately my passion and is what I hope to see myself doing full time in the near future. A man’s gotta eat, and so I went into graphic design as my day job. Learning design proved to be beneficial to my illustration as well, and I was able to incorporate both on several projects for clients like Embassy Suites and PCMS. Cherished Solutions is the design firm under which everything falls and is incorporated by my wife and myself. My wife is also a tremendous designer and between the both of us, we take care of any company’s design and marketing needs. As I continued working as a freelance illustrator, I realized that I have a knack for cartooning. I also had hoped to make newspaper cartooning my day job. At this time, I am still waiting syndication approval for an endearing strip revolving around the lives of two brothers and their quirky adventures. Cartooning led me to start changing my illustration style. I developed a very unique way of coloring my line art digitally that I do not see replicated right now in the industry. I also began to change the way I painted, stylizing my illustration to reflect the charm of my line art cartoons. I am now contracting illustration jobs based upon this new portfolio. Finally, anyone who has been to my politixcartoons.com webblog knows I can be pretty opinionated. I would like to believe my opinions are formed on fact and history, but I know every viewpoint believes the same. I created the webblog to post political cartoons I created to express my deep exasperation and sometimes outrage I felt over the decisions politicians were making on my behalf. I immediately attracted the attention of John Andrews, Mike Keefe and Jon Caldara to name a few, so I regularly update the site for the fans who have made it a habit to check it regularly. That’s Benjamin Hummel in a nutty shell. I am a storyteller. I am an artist. I would love to supply your fine art and illustration needs. |
