Every illustrator I know was overjoyed to learn that Brian Stauffer is the recipient of this year’s Hamilton King award. Over the years Brian has made a great many pieces that could easily have received this great and unique recognition. The fact is, almost everything he does could have qualified.

Brian is an exceptionally versatile artist, but he specializes in illustrating the most difficult, intense, and sensitive third-rail subjects. He consistently generates solutions that present
unexpected points of view in consistently fresh and unique ways. His creative process is rooted in his will to bring his own humanity and empathy to his work. Empathy isn’t a skill that he developed– it’s who he is. His nature enables him to understand and solve the most difficult and challenging illustration problems.

Brian’s illustration work is conceptual- it involves the visualization of ideas. In an important departure from the approach many illustrators take is that he spends at least as much time
thinking about his pictures he makes as he does creating them. He doesn’t draw pictures looking for ideas to emerge, he first looks at the problem from his own, personal point of view,
and only once an idea has formed does he begin to conjure an image. While his work is beautifully designed and executed, the concept reigns supreme from conception to completion.

His dominant position in the field of illustration obscures a lesser known fact about him – he is a great teacher. He relates with his student’s struggles to find a path amid the challenges that
face emerging illustrators today and goes far beyond that which is asked of him as a teacher. He invariably stays long after every class, meeting with individual students, pushing, probing,
questioning, and always encouraging. He leads and teaches by example: Learning, moving forward, adjusting, learning, and moving forward again.

Brian has attained a kind of serenity and balance in his life that is difficult for anyone to achieve, but especially for someone working at the highest level of illustration. His studio, like it’s owner, is constantly evolving and adapting to change. Here one can see evidence of the equilibrium between his life and work. His drawing board and work area are surrounded by tables used for projects by college-age sons Andy and Julian. Another desk is the base for his wife Alina, an educational therapist. Bicycles, skateboards, books, a Lego model of a Saturn 5 rocket, telescopes and surfboards are scattered about while a huge dog (Buddy) lounges in a corner. It might take a while to notice, but in the far back of the room is a shelf crowded to overflowing with an astonishing number of illustration awards. I know there will be a special spot made for this one.

Brian is one of truest keepers of the flame of good, serious illustration. I am honored to call him my friend, the winner of this year’s Hamilton king Award, Brian Stauffer. – Robert Hunt