Charles Burns: Nathanael West, 2009

6" x 6" brush and ink portrait (board size: 9" x 8") of Nathanael West, author of Day of the Locust, by Charles Burns for June, 2009 cover of The Believer magazine. The close cropping of the image gives it a looming quality, an immediacy common to Burns' work for The Believer. And, of course, his brushed feathering technique is second to none. I've heard famous cartoonists like Mary Fleener and Robert Crumb openly declare their jealousy of Burns' talent. "It's like he isn't even human," Fleener told me once.