At a time when the current illustration market seems to be moving toward digital imagery, one traditional illustrator remains at the top of the market. Chris Payne, or C.F. Payne, uses a unique mixture of media to create one of-a-kind illustrations that work in multiple markets, from editorial to children’s. To all who encounter it, Payne’s work is memorable. He is often compared to legendary illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894-1978). Upon reviewing his series of pictures for Reader’s Digest Magazine entitled Our America, one can see why the comparison is legitimate.
The Our America series ran on the back cover of Reader’s Digest monthly from 2003 to 2006. These covers by Payne were the reason many subscribed the magazine. Subscribers anticipated the newest cover every month. Payne’s pictures made the magazine a collector’s item. Many were appalled when the magazine (myself included), in a cost cutting decision, decided run advertisements on the cover in 2008. I believe that short sighted decision will mean the end of Reader’s Digest magazine in the near future.
In Our America, Chris Payne documents the current day in a way few others are doing. He has an ability to depict the details of modern day society in ways which nearly everyone can relate. Payne is extremely sensitive to the trends, fads, and technology of present day. The latest electronic gadgets are often featured prominently in his pictures. This may in fact, “date” his pictures in later years. The fact that Payne’s work does show stories of people using present day devices may also make his work meaningful in years to come. At some point, cell phones will be a relic from the past. But people in the future will laugh about how they were used or perhaps misused when they see Payne’s humorous picture of the couple in the restaurant both talking on their phones. Some of the emotions shown in his pictures are sweet, but his work is never smarmy or overly sentimental.
Payne works traditionally, painting on watercolor board. His approach is unusual in the fact that he applies layers of acrylic paint on top of an oil-based wash. He is able to do this by sealing the painting with a photographer’s varnish. The varnish allows Payne to apply an oil-based purple wash to his image. This wash settles into the watercolor board and gives the picture a uniform tone. While the wash is still wet, Payne removes areas of the wash with a rag, sculpting out the figures. He works in this way to build up the values of the image. After the wash dries, Payne finishes the picture using washes of acrylic and Prismacolor pencil. His pictures are true mixed media masterpieces.
Chris Payne is often called the current day Norman Rockwell. In many ways that is true. Both artists paint scenes of everyday American life, the common experience. Both artists’ work depicts subtleties and emotions that speak to the masses. Much of the work of Payne and Rockwell are humorous. In my opinion, the best artwork by both is their narrative paintings.
Rockwell’s influence can be seen in Payne’s compositions. In Finish Line, Payne shows a graduate having her photograph taken in her cap and gown. He positions the graduate with her back to us. We see the faces of a crowd of well-wishers taking her picture. The emotions in the group range from pride and elation to awe. One woman seems confused by the operation of her camera.
The way Payne composed and illustrated this picture reminds me of some of Rockwell’s homecoming paintings. He too chose to focus on the various reactions of the crowd rather than on the subject itself. The emotions in Rockwell’s crowd range from all-out excitement to restrained elation to pride and even puppy love. Often, both Rockwell and Payne place themselves in the somewhere in the scene.
Another device that both Payne and Rockwell put to use is the idea of looking through one setting and into another where the action is taking place. In Wireless Connection, Payne places the viewer at eye level in a cold snowy parking lot. He is looking through the coffee shop window, perhaps voyeuristically, at a young couple kissing behind their Apple lap top computer. Another customer looks visibly annoyed at this display of public affection.
Although painted in a much more realistic style, Rockwell’s barbershop scene uses the same device to draw the viewer through the window of a closed barbershop and into a lively scene in the backroom. Both Rockwell and Payne employ value and temperature to establish the setting and focal points in the back of their scene.
Much of Payne’s work depicts the subject as part of a larger community. Many of his pictures show people relating to each other, sharing a common experience, one that the viewer can also understand. Rockwell did this too, as shown in Homecoming Marine. The subject matter is very different, much more serious than in Payne’s Big Shot, but they are similar in the posing and expressions of the figures. Both pictures show their subjects relating something; either an intense account of a battle or the pride of owning a really cool golf club. They accomplish this with the portrayal of gesture and facial expressions. This summer, Alice Carter told me something I had never given much thought to before. She said that it is easy to paint an action picture, such as a knight slaying a dragon. What is more difficult is conveying a subtle thought or emotion. Payne and Rockwell both have the ability to do that well. Payne has an innate ability to get to heart and emotion of a picture without drawing conclusion or casting judgment upon the subject.
In Mother’s Day, he depicts a woman soldier taking a break from fighting in an unpopular war to read her mail. She has received a mother’s day card, reminding the viewer that this combatant is also a parent. She is in front of a bullet-ridden wall with an automatic weapon on her lap. Her expression is tender and reflective. Payne makes no statement here about whether or not the war is wrong. He simply shows a soldier in a personal, emotional moment.
Rockwell was good at showing the human side of military personnel as well. During the Second World War, at the height of his popularity, Rockwell painted a series of Saturday Evening Post covers featuring a fictional character, Willie Gillis. The covers depicted Gillis’ military service with humor and patriotism. These were themes that struck a chord with both Rockwell’s audience and Payne’s sixty years later. Payne and Rockwell illustrations often depict scenes from a typical day in America. Both have portrayed Presidents and important
moments in history. Sometimes the scenes that are most compelling are those one wouldn’t expect to see depicted. One example of this idea is Payne’s Garage Sale. Set in the driveway of a typical middle-class home in Any town, USA, a middle-aged woman peruses an assortment of junk looking for a bargain. Skillfully placed in the foreground, background and in between is the same crap that most of us have in our basements.
Though the subject matter is quite different, in many ways Rockwell’s Marriage License is similar. Rockwell sets his subjects in a county clerk’s office. The décor may have been a bit dated for its time. Around the picture is an assortment of clutter, typical for any bureaucratic office past and present. Both pictures feature the main subjects deep in contemplation. Both artists keenly depict the subtle gestures required, the future bride up on her toes, the gentleness with which the groom has his arm around her waist, or in Payne’s illustration, the placement of the garage sale shopper’s hands on the item and the skeptical posture of her head. Both illustrations feature an older, maybe wiser, gentleman off to one side, looking a bit chagrined. This is a device Payne and Rockwell use to “keep it real.”
The artwork of C.F.Payne is still prevalent in publishing today, despite the loss of the Reader’s Digest covers. His work appears regularly in Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic Monthly, and U.S. News and World Report. This year his portrait of Barrack Obama appeared on the cover of Time Magazine’s inauguration issue. Payne is also a busy children’s book illustrator. To date he’s illustrated ten picture books, including The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Micawber, written by John Lithgow.
Payne’s work has garnered gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators, the National Cartoonist Society Magazine Illustration award and Book Illustration award. Payne lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife and children. Currently, he is chair of the Illustration Department at the Columbus College of Art and Design. Hopefully the success and accolades will inspire Payne to continue building a career as prolific and imaginative as Rockwell’s.
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