Riposte Card No. 22: Nautical Disaster!

Or, Werner Herzog by Silas Kaufman

When I approached Silas Kaufman to illustrate a Riposte Card, he immediately suggested this line:

“Every man should pull a boat over a mountain once in his life.”
— Werner Herzog

With the proviso that “It’s not the wittiest quote, but I like that he says ‘once.’ I also like that he did just this. I also like that he's Werner Herzog.”

And I like Silas Kaufman, Alberta illustrator and frontrunner for Most Interesting Man in Calgary. He’s illustrated Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophicus Logicus Tractatus, has a whole series of Old Skater portraits, and please check out his amazing answer to the final question below:

What’s your go-to item in a well-stocked stationery store?
A Platinum fountain Carbon #ec45e4 or if that's not available (and it likely won't be) a bottle of Black Take - Sumi Iroshizuku ink.

Where do you go for inspiration and/or information?
Mad magazine’s usual gang of idiots, David Levine, Roz Chast, Joe Ciardiello, Jack Unruh, the city streets, thrift stores, cinema, books, boxing gyms, skate shops, my family and friends.

Is there one joke, witticism, or aphorism you live by?
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

What’s the best thing to put on toast?
Fromager d’Affinois Le Campagner

What work are you most proud of, and how can people support it?
All the hundreds of portraits I drew of inmates in youth prison that they then sent home to their families. In Canada you can’t have your picture taken in jail, so for some families the only image they could get of their child serving a prison sentence was a drawing. I should clarify that for 13 years I was a relief teacher at a local prison where I honed my portrait drawing skills. I had a rule: If you were working in class I’d draw you while you worked. This kept the class somewhat peaceful and the kids appreciated the drawing. If you want to support this, sign up to volunteer at a local public school if you can. I do it twice a week under my former principal from the youth prison.

Hooray for all of the above! Subscribe today and I’ll send Kaufman’s card to you via the Fitzcarraldo mail ship.