Herewith a couple of snaps supplied to us by Charlie White. The bottom image depicts Charlie, his wife Linda and their two kids as the ultimate hipster family. Charlie would like it known that "and we weren't hippies man, we were artists!!!" It was taken in New Jersey in 1967. On top is an awe-inspiring photo by the infamous Jean-Paul Goude. It was used as an advertisement for Wrangler Jeans in Sweden in 1975. This is the only evidence of Charlie's all-too-brief modeling career in the 1970s. I think the main thing to note from all these CWIII posts is this: Did any illustrator have more fun in the 1960s and 70s? I think not! Charlie did something with his persona and his work that was perhaps only possible for a West Coast boy to do: lighten up, go Hollywood, and not worry. It's not a NYC-centric attitude (which focused much more on notions of conceptual rigor, seriousness, and societies), and as we view all this history, it makes more and more sense why the Overspray Kings have been so meticulously excised from the NYC-controlled illustration history books: they were too fun, too image oriented. Too LA But we should embrace it! Embrace the LA It is still the future there. It always will be.
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