"The Signs Says, Long, Haired Freaky People Need Not Apply!"

At the corner of Johnson and University Avenue circa 1971.

"Signs, sign, everywhere a sign,
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind,
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?"

Signs like these, who needs art directors, ha!

A few weeks ago, someone posted on Google+ a bevy of humorous signs that had slogans to advertise a company's services. They are just chocked full of word play and double entendres, like: At a Towing company: "We don't charge an arm and a leg. We want tows." or, On an Electrician's truck: "Let us remove your shorts." And, one can imagine the companies with employee names like: Uramus B. Dragon, or Al E. Gater, or, Haywood U. Buzzov!

It's kinda fun…

The posted article got me thinking about that song by the Five Man Electric Band entitled,"Signs!" In the song, the singer is rebuffed and ridiculed, right and left, for being different which, in the sixties, meant having long hair. They slyly ended with a religious last verse, which I always thought was interesting. The first "hippie" fallout song that touted religion as a way to solve or cope with all the horrible and divisive things happening in the sixties, drug culture included, was, to me, "Get Together" by the Youngbloods. I believe that was in 1968. It seemed strangely different from what was then known as "the devil's music."

Norman Greenbaum's, "Spirit In The Sky"came in a bit later mentioning Jesus and being saved… Nice riff, but Norman Greenbaum!

Okay, enough rock'n roll history! What does this have to do with a billboard for a bank?

The song by the "Five Man Electrical Band" will forever be embedded in my head because my first professional job, was, as ad design student at USL in Lafayette, LA, an overnight job illustrating a gold pocket watch for a billboard. The billboard was newly constructed atop a fashion boutique and adjacent to a "head shop"and was directly across the street from the campus.

I was so proud that an agency thought enough of my talent to hire me for the job and to get paid to do it. That first job paid me $180.00, which was pretty good bread back then. But, more importantly, it proved to me that I could make a living as an artist and that I did have something of value… my talent. This billboard was done before I graduated from USL, before I split to Dallas and turned down a junior A.D. job at Tracey/ Locke and it was before I got accepted to attend the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. It probably was one of the portfolio pieces that helped me get accepted.

Thanks Richard Heubner!

Besides being confident in my athletic prowess, back then, this board helped me feel like I was a valid member of the design community. To me, back then, it was everything more than just a check. So, I told everyone I knew…

Of course, this was in 1971, and all my "long haired hippy people" friends showed their disgust with me for polluting the air, blocking the view of oak trees, the blue skies, and the flowers in everyone's Scott McKenzie head. It was almost like I was someone who had just returned from the Vietnam War!

Ah yes, it is so true, the sign says…

Copyright 2014/ Ben Bensen III

Jack Leynnwood's "Pearl Diver"...

Just another Jack specialty!

Through my long time association with the Society of Illustrators/ Los Angeles ( SILA for the abbreviated version ), I occasionally receive inquiries about past members. I have been pretty successful tracking down illustrators no one can find, corroborate stories of members no one believes and follow up on paintings that need an owner. Maybe, it is the Sherlock Holmes in me that takes on such silly tasks. A couple of months ago, an Art Center grad had a piece of art that he felt needed a permanent home and went to SILA to find someone who would be a taker. He wasn't asking for any compensation. He just wanted to do what was right to the artwork.

I received an email from our intrepid administrator at SILA, Alyce Heath, that this artist had an illustration for many years and was looking for a good home for it. She apparently sent emails to all members old enough to remember the creator's name, Jack Leynnwood.

I don't know who else responded, but I did... almost immediately. Twenty-four hours later, I receive an email from an illustrator, Ken Croff, currently living in Idaho and, attached to his informative letter, was a marker comp of one of Jack Leynnwood's "Pearl Divers".

 I was blown away.

In the email, Ken wrote to me, "This piece was given to me by Jack after I had asked him for some sort of scrap to be able to study.  That's Jack for you.  I really hate to part with it but it is time to share.  Since it was a gift from him I can't make myself sell it.  I will keep you informed and again thank you for your response."

In my earlier email, I responded by sending Ken some articles in my blogs about the relationship I had at Art Center with Jack along with some of the photos I had of Jack's work at Northrup. Through a couple more of emails, I suggested he call Jack's wife, JoAnne and see if the family was interested in the comp. I suspect he had already spoken to other Art Center grads in his search to find the best home for the marker comp. He probably got in touch with aviation artist, Mike Machat. Mike was close friends with Jack up to his death in 1999 and has an excellent article about Jack at: http://theboxartden.com/Artists.html. Mike probably suggested contacting Jack's daughter, Laura Lee.


A few weeks into the holidays, Ken informed me that he was sending the comp back to the family. "I have received an email from Jack's daughter, Laura Lee, and she has told me she would like the comp.  Thanks for your help and I'm sorry I got your attention on this and then had to disappoint you, but didn't know I could contact the family.  Thanks again."

I replied,"I have no problem with Laura Lee's request. The comp is where it should be... with the family!"

Seeing this in-class marker comp up close, it is incredible to notice that it actually was rendered in marker and probably demoed it in class.  I've made my living rendering, at times quite realistically, with Ad and Design Markers, but my technique was totally different than what Jack was teaching at school. When you work in those markers on opaque paper, you have to have command of all of your values because there is no erasing once a wrong stroke is made. In a closer look, the skin textures tell me Jack was probably using the back side of a Bienfang Admaster pad, but it could just as easily have been demonstrated on loose leaf paper. It would make little difference to him, I suspect.

I mentioned to Ken that the real beauty of this comp, besides the clean use of graphic shapes within the layout, was the nonchalance of the paper and the medium. It defines Jack so well. That is, to him, it was no big deal. ( He's probably snickering his ass off at my attempt to describe the simplistic beauty of this comp! Notice the very distinctive way he renders seagulls. It always was a giveaway to Jack's illustrations... that is if you needed one! )

He always tried to keep it simple. It was like he was saying it's not the tools you use as much as it is the person using them. No art pencil is gonna make you a better artist than a good, old yellow No.2 . Jack certainly knew what to do with that No. 2! His disdain for art pencils in favor of a simple Ticonderoga No. 2 was a classic and reminded me of my father's disdain for ball players blaming the errors made during a game on your glove. Jack and my father both came from the same stock and had much in common.

Maybe, for me, Jack was my California replacement for a father. Maybe it was that way for many of his students!