“I want to be an illustrator,” is one of the first things Elizabeth Graeber said to me when I arrived at her home studio.  But when you’ve already created artwork for three books and are working on a fourth, you are an illustrator.  I think she knows this, but as a graduate from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2007, she’s still searching for that big commission or job to jettison her career and make a name for herself.  In the meantime, Graeber freelances, works part time at the The Phillips Collection, walks dogs and sells her work online or at art shows.

My first exposure to her illustrations came at The New Creatives exhibition on April 24, where she hung a portrait of every U.S. president from Washington to Obama.  Each of the 44 half-serious, half-whimsical representations were made with watercolor and guache, labeled with the president’s name and date of their term(s).  Except for smiling presidents Jimmy Carter through George W. Bush, each appears unemotional and resigned.  Most of them stare straight at the viewer with an icy sense of purpose, while others, such as John Adams or Grover Cleveland, glare off into the distance.  But wherever their gaze, its clear Graeber has the vision to illustrate 234 years worth of American royalty.  I got the sense she could create a mural of Civil War soldiers one day, and the very next, begin drafting a book of McDonald’s employees.  And she even drew me!

Anyway, I’m not an art critic but I know what I like.  It’s often what I look for in my own photography, a prolific body of work that’s aesthetically agreeable, lighthearted and has its own unique signature.  Graeber’s illustrations of people and animals (she loves birds) possess all these traits.  Later this week I’ll share mores images of her work, including the 44 presidents at The New Creatives and her sketch of this photographer.

[Part 2] [Part 3]

Above, Graeber is holding a piece whose glass broke and was out for the trash.  Below, inside her home studio.

Photo Credits: Joshua Yospyn/Worn Magazine (please ask permission to use our images)

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