Reportage by Bill Russell

Reportage by Bill Russell The sketchbook journalism and reportage of Bill Russell. Visual journalism, drawings and stories done on-the-spot.

I write about Robert Ripley and his 'Believe It or Not!' newspaper panel, that may very well have been the precursor to ...
08/29/2024

I write about Robert Ripley and his 'Believe It or Not!' newspaper panel, that may very well have been the precursor to today's National Enquirers, TMZs and other (dramatized) fake news.

A passion for travel, adventure, wonder and weirdness

Writer Wallace Stegner called the National Parks "the best idea we ever had." For me, it's also been a great act of crea...
08/22/2024

Writer Wallace Stegner called the National Parks "the best idea we ever had." For me, it's also been a great act of creativity. Celebrate the 108th birthday of the founding of the National Park Service this Sunday, August 25th. đŸžïž

Why national parks are a big (and creative) idea.

My collaboration with musician Brian Gore got me out of the comfort of my studio. We performed as a duo in live shows in...
08/15/2024

My collaboration with musician Brian Gore got me out of the comfort of my studio. We performed as a duo in live shows in towns around California. I projected my images and animations from my laptop to the large screen behind us. I also used my iPad as a digital sketchbook, to draw in the moment. It was improvisational and quite challenging. Here's my interview with Brian.

Musician Brian Gore and artist Bill Russell collaborate to tell California stories

KĂ€the Kollwitz told miserable stories beautifully. She shows us that artists mustn’t look away from the challenges in th...
08/08/2024

KĂ€the Kollwitz told miserable stories beautifully. She shows us that artists mustn’t look away from the challenges in the world.

Showing compassion and beauty in hardship and suffering

In 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh commissioned an expedition to pre-colonial North America. Artist and mapmaker John White docu...
07/11/2024

In 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh commissioned an expedition to pre-colonial North America. Artist and mapmaker John White documented, in his watercolors, the rich indigenous cultures and people he found. It was not without challenges.

A Gentleman-Artist charged to ‘drawe to life’ in the Lost Colony

I became an American 20 years ago. Despite our current, challenging options; I'm proud that I get to vote in America.
07/04/2024

I became an American 20 years ago. Despite our current, challenging options; I'm proud that I get to vote in America.

Sketching at my naturalization ceremony

David Levine was world renowned for his incisive, pen and ink caricatures; but his beautiful on-location watercolors of ...
06/27/2024

David Levine was world renowned for his incisive, pen and ink caricatures; but his beautiful on-location watercolors of Coney Island's bathers and Boardwalk narratives display a whole other side to this artist.

Famous Caricaturist paints Coney Island Bathers

When I travel with family and friends it can be challenging to find moments to draw, but there’s always down time in a c...
06/20/2024

When I travel with family and friends it can be challenging to find moments to draw, but there’s always down time in a cafe or on a hiking trail or at cocktail hour. That’s the time I make some fast and loose sketches in my small Moleskin sketchbook. Here are a few from a trip to the 11th C. Cardiff Castle in Wales.

Vacations provide the perfect opportunity to slow down, observe, create memories and draw. See Bill Russell's travel drawings of Wales.

On August 19, 1942, 5000 Canadian soldiers made an amphibious assault at the beaches near Dieppe, France. After the war ...
06/13/2024

On August 19, 1942, 5000 Canadian soldiers made an amphibious assault at the beaches near Dieppe, France. After the war Canadian painter Charles Comfort attempted to paint the scene. Can a war artist paint this disastrous battle truthfully?

How does a Canadian war artist paint the horrible battle truthfully?

From 1776 to 1780 John Webber was the official artist on Captain Cook’s third voyage to the Pacific region. He made pain...
05/30/2024

From 1776 to 1780 John Webber was the official artist on Captain Cook’s third voyage to the Pacific region. He made paintings and drawings of Polynesian peoples and culture, that were converted to engravings and popularized.

Bill Russell writes about visual journalism and great reportage artists. Click to read Illustrated Journalism, by Bill Russell, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

Have a look at the tree interpretations of artist Michael Brunsfeld. He interacts with the environment, by reinventing t...
05/28/2024

Have a look at the tree interpretations of artist Michael Brunsfeld. He interacts with the environment, by reinventing the world he envisions in joyful ways.

More narrative and transformed imagery of branches, trunks and roots

Mary Hallock Foote did not depict the daring exploits of trappers, buffalo hunters, cowboys and American Indians of the ...
05/16/2024

Mary Hallock Foote did not depict the daring exploits of trappers, buffalo hunters, cowboys and American Indians of the American West. She left that to male artists Frederic Re*****on and Charles M. Russell. The subjects of her art were more humble and intimate, about the real women and men she met, their struggles and life in mining camps. She wouldn’t allow society's expectations of womanhood and motherhood be an impediment to her creativity.

Woman artist and writer dares to portray a domesticated American West with families, mining camps and settlements

Andie Thrams ventures into the wildland forests near her town in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California carrying her ...
05/09/2024

Andie Thrams ventures into the wildland forests near her town in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California carrying her art materials. It’s like a meditation. She emerges with paintings that celebrate mystery, reverence, and pure delight. Read about Andie on my Substack.

The forest as a place of creativity and healing

Between 1868 and 1880, Victorian era travel writer and artist Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming explored numerous count...
05/02/2024

Between 1868 and 1880, Victorian era travel writer and artist Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming explored numerous countries in the Pacific Rim, producing several books about her experiences, and paintings of wonder and significance.

Paintings and prose from a Victorian era Lady wandering the globe

Early in the 19th C. Louis Le Breton was a surgeon in the French Navy, till he was recruited to be the official artist o...
04/18/2024

Early in the 19th C. Louis Le Breton was a surgeon in the French Navy, till he was recruited to be the official artist on Dumont d'Urville's ship ‘Astrolabe’, exploring Antarctica the South Pacific, and documenting the voyage and the exotic cultures they discovered.

Exploring and Drawing on the High Seas

American artists of the 19th C. travelled west to make art about the land and its peoples. In 1970 The Bureau of Reclama...
04/11/2024

American artists of the 19th C. travelled west to make art about the land and its peoples. In 1970 The Bureau of Reclamation commissioned artists to visit and create artworks inspired by water reclamation sites, hydropower development and water conservation. Their work ran the gamut of art styles, including on-the-spot drawing. It brought back the heritage of artists’ contribution to documenting westward expansion.

The Bureau of Reclamation Art Commissions

Artist Jo Brocklehurst's legacy is left shrouded in the dark recesses of the London punk clubs she frequented and the po...
04/04/2024

Artist Jo Brocklehurst's legacy is left shrouded in the dark recesses of the London punk clubs she frequented and the portraits she drew.

Drawing club goers, anarcho-punks and fetishists

Volcanic eruptions make for some captivating reportage. Read about The Volcano School, Jules Tavernier and the painters ...
03/28/2024

Volcanic eruptions make for some captivating reportage. Read about The Volcano School, Jules Tavernier and the painters of Hawaii’s Kilauea and Mauna Loa.

Painters who got close enough to feel the heat

Have a look at the sketchbook Mexican muralist Diego Rivera made on a trip to Moscow in 1927. His watercolor drawings of...
03/21/2024

Have a look at the sketchbook Mexican muralist Diego Rivera made on a trip to Moscow in 1927. His watercolor drawings offer a compelling visual narrative with a touch of human empathy
remarkable in that they bear witness to a significant global event while preserving an authentic human perspective.

Mexican muralist bears witness to the revolution

Immigrants throughout U.S. history have faced tribulations, struggle and discrimination, without any clear way to resolv...
03/14/2024

Immigrants throughout U.S. history have faced tribulations, struggle and discrimination, without any clear way to resolve it. Demonization of these diverse peoples at America’s borders by certain political leaders is not helpful. Artists must not use racist depictions of people from other countries who just seek the American dream and want to contribute. I made an animation that I hope ennobles a particular Chinese immigrant back in 1880.

Animating one long dark shadow of racism in America

George Grosz offers up visceral and honest observations of post-World War One society in turmoil. The energy in his draw...
03/06/2024

George Grosz offers up visceral and honest observations of post-World War One society in turmoil. The energy in his drawings reflects the chaos he felt, with lines that are skewed and jagged. Every stroke evokes a whirlwind of emotion...a process reflective of his own inner conflict.

Wandering Berlin and New York streets observing and satirizing people

During the Civil War, readers of the weekly newspapers looked to the illustrations of 'special artists' for news about t...
02/29/2024

During the Civil War, readers of the weekly newspapers looked to the illustrations of 'special artists' for news about the war. But did these artists deliver accurate and honest reportage? Not all did.

False heroes in media reportage is nothing new

In 1797, English wood-engraver Thomas Bewick was a mass media pioneer...writing, illustrating, printing and publishing b...
02/22/2024

In 1797, English wood-engraver Thomas Bewick was a mass media pioneer...writing, illustrating, printing and publishing books, most notably 'A History of British Birds'. He also possessed a talent for combining humor and the scandalous in his storytelling, which is evident in his (so-called) 'tale-pieces'.

Miniature masterpieces, tail-pieces and a sketchbook found

Diane Burko travels the globe to see for herself why glaciers and coral reefs are vanishing...then makes art of beauty a...
02/15/2024

Diane Burko travels the globe to see for herself why glaciers and coral reefs are vanishing...then makes art of beauty and anguish.

Making art about our planet in peril by using remote research and on-site experience

New York was a muse for artist D**g Kingman. He found inspiration in a city that was both exhilarating and overcrowded, ...
02/08/2024

New York was a muse for artist D**g Kingman. He found inspiration in a city that was both exhilarating and overcrowded, but what he chose to paint and how he composed the elements were his response to this rowdy city. His watercolor paintings managed to maintain a sense of organized chaos and optimism.

A plein air painter paints the megalopolis but is it visual journalism?

I interviewed artist and educator Diane Olivier. She leads drawing workshops all around Europe, most notably to Morocco....
02/01/2024

I interviewed artist and educator Diane Olivier. She leads drawing workshops all around Europe, most notably to Morocco. She knows that a sketchbook is the passport you require to see and fully experience life as you travel.

Your sketchbook is the passport you require to see and experience life as you travel. Here's the interview with artist and educator Diane Olivier.

Huỳnh PhÆ°ÆĄng ĐÎng and other Vietnamese soldier-artists captured, through their art, the beautiful and the grim in their ...
01/25/2024

Huỳnh PhÆ°ÆĄng ĐÎng and other Vietnamese soldier-artists captured, through their art, the beautiful and the grim in their war torn country.

Glory and pain in the art of the artist-soldiers of North Vietnam

I’m having a wonderful time in Whereverland! I'm drawing it, too. When I travel I will make pen and ink and watercolor p...
01/18/2024

I’m having a wonderful time in Whereverland! I'm drawing it, too. When I travel I will make pen and ink and watercolor postcards. This practice is my shorthand form of processing what I come across and embed the memory of the place or an experience. It's also about sharing. I'll put a stamp on the back or the front and mail them to friends and family. Read about my artful postcards.

When I travel to wherever, I make pen and ink and watercolor postcards. Here are a few I made in Venice, Iceland, Croatia, and California, that I managed to keep.

In 1819, ThĂ©odore GĂ©ricault painted the huge and ambitious ‘The Raft of the Medusa’. It was enlightening to me that he a...
01/11/2024

In 1819, ThĂ©odore GĂ©ricault painted the huge and ambitious ‘The Raft of the Medusa’. It was enlightening to me that he also struggled with some inner demons
drawing hangings, severed heads and painting portraits of the insane.

Drawing the Gruesome Cato Street Conspiracy Hangings

Betsey worked as a reservationist at The French Laundry in Yountville, California. Not an easy gig given the exclusivity...
01/04/2024

Betsey worked as a reservationist at The French Laundry in Yountville, California. Not an easy gig given the exclusivity of the restaurant and it's capacity limitations....and the deception, bullying, and even bribery people exhibited.

Betsey takes reservations for dinner at The French Laundry restaurant as I draw the process.

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Black & Gold Abstracts: Room & Board, SF, Nov. 11-12; Orinda Library, Nov. 6-30.

These ‘Woodies’ abstracts on birch veneer are coming to the Orinda Library for November. . . @cityoforinda

Mare Island Ship Repair

A Pow Wow is joyous gathering of the tribes.

Civil War Reanactors
Civil War Reanactors

Recology AIR
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Drawing Stories

Illustrator and visual journalist Bill Russell draws and interviews and makes drawings of people he finds interesting from Burning Man to the San Francisco Dump. His form of reportage and illustration begins with a pen, a sketchbook and some conversation.

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