Cartoonist Bob Eckstein was the artist-in-residence for the 2022 and 2024 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop. He "live-drew" the workshop, providing illustrations of keynote speakers, presenters, attendees and events.
Eckstein is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author, New Yorker cartoonist and New York University adjunct professor. View his website. To read his notes for each drawing, click on the image or title in the gallery below.
Artist statement
Before my first visit to the annual Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, I prepared by researching who the speakers were and sought out photos of them online. Before my plane landed in Dayton, Ohio, I did some pencil sketches of some of the speakers to warm up and get myself familiar with my subjects and practice drawing them. All the other drawings were executed on the spot. I sat in on as many sessions as I could; I started the illustration during the class and would finish the drawing about the time it concluded. The drawings were done on an Apple iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. I used the absurd software Art Set.
I was enjoying taking the classes myself. I teach humor, writing and drawing in colleges around the world (this year at NYU, New York City; Marywood University, Pennsylvania; and Yonsei University, South Korea), but I learn more than anything else. I learned a lot from my class hopping at the workshop, so I was taking notes and searching for takeaways to add to the drawings. Without my quotes, I feel the drawings lack context and are merely snapshots of a moment. I want all my creations to share what I learned.
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Keynote Illustration: Adriana Trigiani, Cathryn Michon, W. Bruce Cameron
I wrote down what I thought were key takeaways for each session, but because everyone attended this talk and all were attentive, I picked out little asides that were said instead to fill this page.
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Keynote Illustration: Dion Flynn
I used a photo for this one. I never laughed so hard in years, and Dion Flynn is someone I drew before, so I took a break, soaked in the show and came up with something that reflected his speech. After so many of my drawings, I feared fatigue for viewers and needed to do something totally different.
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Session Illustration: Adriana Trigiani
This drawing I tried to keep as loose as possible because this session was as loose as any. There was so much positive energy in this room, and I got caught up in the moment myself and regret not adding more color. It was a tough one because so many good ideas were being said by speaker Adriana Trigiani that I could barely keep up.
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Session Illustration: Alan Zweibel
Alan Zweibel quickly wins over a crowd, and I hope this is seen here.
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Session Illustration: Brooke Warner
Brooke Warner has such a cool look and a confidence that wins over a room. You can see that in the drawing that was the easiest one for me.
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Session Illustration: Inspired by Improv Workshop of Kathy Kinney and Cindy Ratzlaff
This was one of the exercises in the improv class taught by Cindy Ratzlaff and Kathy Kinney. They loved the drawings I did for that class — I did something every 10 minutes. I had a chance to tell Kathy, who played Mimi on The Drew Carey Show, that there was a time that was my favorite show.
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Session Illustration: James Breakwell
I loved this class so much that I had lunch with James Breakwell afterward, and we have still been in touch. A real bromance!
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Sketch: Adriana Trigiani
I recognized Adriana Trigiani on my flight to Dayton, and then we shared a shuttle to the hotel. I could draw her all day, yet it takes very little lines to capture her likeness and personality. Sometimes you get a drawing right away; some people can be hard to draw. I did this in 5 minutes.
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Sketch: Leighann Lord
Fast, fast drawing of a smart, smart woman. I wish I had some of her comedy chops she displayed as emcee. A fast live drawing doesn’t do her justice. She’s a real presence, and I’m sorry I didn’t redo this drawing. One day I will return and she will return, and I will execute something more substantial.
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Illustration: Thursday Night Welcome Banquet
At the first dinner, of the workshop, I sat opposite this year’s winner. In anticipation of the awards and what the food would be like, everyone was a bit nervous. I made friends immediately with those adjacent to me, but I think I upset one editor who I knew beforehand — and we had a disagreement about the current state of humor, no joke. I was also a little self-conscious that I may have been coming off as rude to others I didn’t speak with, preoccupied with drawing …
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Keynote Illustration: Cathy Guisewite
This Cathy Guisewite drawing is a little hodgepodge compositionally because I really didn’t know what to expect, and I just spit it out without any planning. Not sure if she liked it — we ran into each other during the weekend, and she is very shy.
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Sketch: Alan Zweibel
This is an example of me having difficulty drawing someone. I would do much better now having seen him face to face and not going by photos online — this was done on the flight over as practice. I never intended on others seeing this drawing. Before I do live events, I normally research the people and practice drawing their likeness.
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Sketch: Cathy Guisewite
I’m proud of this drawing, as I feel this captures her quirkiness, beauty and shyness.
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Sketch: Dion Flynn
Dion Flynn makes a living from changing his look and face, so there is really no one definitive look for him. It’s also tricky drawing very handsome men, and he has a great smile.
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Sketch: Laraine Newman
This is the first drawing I did for the event back in New York City in anticipation of my trip. I was rushing to finish all my previous work commitments and anxious to work for the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. This drawing is more of a Laraine Newman lifetime drawing, not what she looks like now. She is very beautiful … and very considerate — she was the last person I spoke with one on one when I checked out Sunday morning — but this drawing would be more how her fans would remember her, in character, from TV.
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Sketch: W. Bruce Cameron
Another quick study and practice on the way over. Having met Bruce Cameron now, I feel this is an OK likeness.
