About

Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels.

Francisco Goya

In 1993, after being disillusioned with my American art school experience, I decided to leave it all behind and go to England. I went to Loughborough College of Art Design and threw myself into a new illustration program conceived by the mad genius Mario Minichiello. After learning the value of drawing on location, I developed a drawing language that is the closest, most personal, and most direct expression of what I want to say. This has been the basis of all my work. In fact, many of the characters that populate my drawings are people I have seen and covertly documented. Since 1997 I have been illustrating for magazines, books, interactive presentations and for the web.

Love and Folly

My work has been shaped by a combination of a love of intuitive drawing and a never ceasing amazement at the folly of modern political and social constructs. As I have come from the loony bin that is America, I have a keen awareness of how progress is measured in mini mansions, large gas guzzling cars, plastic surgery, religious awakening, and all manner of institutionalized corruption, also known as crony capitalism. I believe a good drawing is the manifestation of a deeply felt opinion. The America I left behind the second time to join the illustration department at Portsmouth (UK) is as crazy as ever.

In the wake of wars of choice, religious intolerance, racism, torture, and the economic swindle, (to name a few) I still believe in the innate power of drawing to elucidate a kind of rage that is unique in modern media. Instead of embracing political correctness or “balance”, drawing is a celebration of declarative fact. It is true because I have drawn it. It doesn’t work at dinner parties because people will think you are a fool but in a drawing, the fervor and passion is universal. That universality is my aim and it is why I rarely draw politicians. I am more interested in the human wreckage, both the pitied and the pitiful.

Seduction and Synthesis

My illustrations have garnered praise from art directors for their “powerful and seductive draftsmanship,” and for the “synthesis of complex themes into imagery.”  I have taught at SUNY Purchase, Westchester Community College, Parsons School of Design and now at the University of Portsmouth in the UK.

I am currently working on a book with Terry Richard Bazes called the User’s Guide to People and will be starting on an animation written by Nathan Callahan about CIA experiments in the Cold War. I have a book called Life’s Too Short For Nuance that is jam packed with etchings and drawings about America. It can be purchased on the Books page here.

Thank you for taking a look.  I would love to hear from you.

Louis Netter Illustration

Southsea, Hampshire, UK

Cell: 07593058494

US No. (same phone) (347)318-4265

lou@louisnetter.com