All My Photographs Are Made with Pens

by Tommy Kane (Artist)

"My drawings and paintings are really just the photographs I would have taken if I were not obsessed with sketchbooks." --Tommy Kane

Tommy Kane has worked as a creative director in advertising for over 30 years, during which time he has kept sketchbooks, documenting his surroundings with his humble weapon of choice--the Uni-ball Vision Fine Point--in a style he has described as a cross between Robert Crumb and James Jean with a large dose of MAD magazine thrown in.

An urban sketchbook by a virtuoso draughtsman, All My Photographs Are Made with Pens follows the international success of Kane's first book, An Excuse to Draw (2014). As the title suggests, Kane approaches scenes with a photographic eye but renders them in his trademark detailed drawing style. The subjects are wide-ranging--wildlife, models, travel and movie sets--but all vividly convey his characteristic charm and wit.

Born in Jamaica, Queens, Tommy Kane attended art school in Buffalo, before moving to New York. He has created print ads and television commercials for major corporations (among them Sony, Samsung, IBM and Barnes & Noble). Kane has also created one of the most memorable advertising campaigns of the last decade for Steve Madden (who has attributed the financial success of his company to Kane's work), and for Yellow Tail Wine (the most successful launch of a wine brand in US history).

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

228 pages, Hardcover

Published November 21, 2017

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tommy Kane lets us into his weird and wonderful artworld once again. His talents lie giving attention to detail and the ability to capture his views and feelings of the world through his drawings.
His style is unique and he has a good personality and much humour.

[Trudy · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT!!!! Highly recommend!! A great resource for anyone at all interested in sketching and drawing in a style with great character. Tommy is TOPS!!!! This is a great collection of his work. Not to be missed!! Lots of little detail tucked into the drawings, lots of text there, too, and Tommy's humor is spread throughout. Get your copy today!!!

[Tully Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite artists... love the concept of this book. All of the images (and there are a TON) are great. Being a vegan I was curious to see his images related to that... powerful and in some cases hard to look at which is actually the point, I believe, to make people look and think.

[Wenxiu59 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and weird(?) drawings, full of inspirations and surprises(?). Who doesn’t drink coffee,Haha. Just a bit disappointed the very first page, the one before the title page, not sure what it’s called, only has 22 types of cameras drawn. I’m sure he’s drawn more than that, wish they’d been included.😁

[Jesse Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful, but no connecting theme or interesting concept.

[Sigrun Hodne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great drawings!

[Megan M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal art, wild imagination, witty commentary.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great imagination and brilliant art work - lots of inspiration to be taken from this book and liked the humour throughout the book.

[Unigami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great drawings, great anecdotes, great sense of humor. Really enjoyed this!

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75⭐️ because some of the handwritten text is impossible to read without a good magnifying glass. But, really, it’s only a small amount and the book is wonderful!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kane is a very good artist and he has a very good sense of humor. But these are not drawn photographs per se. He reminds of Ray Troll a bit.

[Gail Button · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much. The attached stories of Tommy’s life are just as enthralling and engaging as the art itself. I read this book in a few hours but I just know I will come back to it again and again.