Searching for Jan Faust

In 1971, Dover Publications published a book of 101 new pen drawings by Jan Faust in The Underground Sketchbook. The drawings were surreal and satirical, clearly influenced by the counterculture of the time. I’ve been a fan of the book for a number of years, but I could find very little online about this talented artist. Recently, I tracked down a phone number for Mr. Faust, so I gave him a call. He now lives in Pennsylvania and was happy to answer a few questions about his art. The drawings featured in The Underground Sketchbook were originally pen and ink pieces Mr. Faust used in his portfolio when first becoming an illustrator. His stark black and white style was influenced by old prints, and artists like Albrecht Dürer, a 15th century printmaker whose style was gothic in nature. Mr. Faust also told me that he collected and was inspired by early Mad Magazines. The humor of the magazines, which was starting in his childhood years, can be seen in his outrageous illustrations.  

Fans of The Underground Sketchbook have wondered for years why Dover didn’t produce a second book. When I asked Mr. Faust about this, he said it was pretty much out of his hands. He did have enough material for a second volume, but Dover chose instead to release the first book as a stand-alone. Mr. Faust also had been doing a lot of illustration work at the time. After 1971, Mr. Faust did magazine and newspaper illustration and advertising and even did editorial drawings and theatre reviews for The Village Voice. When The Voice decided to produce a full comics section, he created the comic strip “Metamorphosis,” which appeared alongside master cartoonist Jules Feiffer’s comics. He had a gallery handle his work in New York and became an instructor at Parsons School of Design. When he moved to New Orleans for a time, a second gallery handled his material, and he continued to produce work that was much different than the drawings in his book. By this time, the satirical element had left his art as he focussed on more formal concerns.

These days, Mr. Faust is still drawing every day. At a certain point, he stopped showing and selling art professionally. The work that he produces now is more abstract and not satirical or symbolic. He still works in pen and ink, but the process of drawing and the satisfaction he gets from that process is his main concern. He enjoys using interesting things in his life to influence his art.