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Ed Stitt

Paintings & Drawings

My First 40 Years

My First 40 Years: Anecdotes

1. Hand and Mirror 1974-5 graphite on paper 11x16” $300
I was born in 1957, a true baby boomer. When I was about 9, my cousin Mark got rid of all his comic books by giving them to me. Why were they so fascinating to me? While most boys liked to just LOOK at the pictures, I liked COPYing and DRAWing superheroes and their MUSCLES. When most kids stopped drawing, I was still trying to perfect Daredevil. I subscribed to my favorite comics, mainly because of the artists who were drawing them (Gene Colan, Neal Adams, and Jim Steranko). Comic book art influenced my artwork and aesthetic for years; in fact, it probably still does. Also, at Greenville High School in western Pennsylvania where I grew up, wrestling was held in high esteem. I chose to wrestle – probably because I was better at it than basketball, but also because of the glory and notoriety. Our uniforms, and the muscles we developed, were similar to those of the superheroes I liked to draw. I eventually found other sources of artistic interest besides comic books. I developed an interest in fantastical work, like the work on Yes album covers and that of the Dutch printmaker M. C. Escher. After honing his printmaking skills to a very fine degree, Escher dedicated his life to making images using mathematics and geometry, making artwork out of repeating patterns and using reflections to create and suggest other worlds. This is a high school attempt to do something similar… notice the numbers on the ruler(s).