插畫家 Bernard Kliban介紹:
Kliban B. 出生於紐約,1962年。給花花公子以及紐約客等雜誌都畫過插畫,畫風可謂多樣。但最出名的還是他的貓漫畫:70年代初,生性愛貓的Kliban受到自己養的4隻貓的啟發開始創作「貓」系列,1975年第一部卡通書正式出版,名字就叫《貓》。
Jim Davis(加菲貓的作者)曾經說過:「我花了很長時間設計加菲貓系列漫畫,我打包了一堆漫畫樣張,寄給幾家通訊社,然後就專心祈禱好運降臨。前幾家都回絕了我,最後和聯合通訊社(United Features)聯絡。後來我才知道,以畫貓著名的柯裡班(Bernard Kliban)曾經跟他們接觸,想製作一個只在週日刊登的貓漫畫。柯裡班非常有才華,他畫的貓曾引起一陣小小的轟動,聯合通訊社也想要一些與貓有關的稿子,卻不知為什麼緣故放棄了柯裡班的作品。想必是命運吧。聯合通訊社拿到我的第一批稿子,要求看更多的作品。我士氣大振,立刻趕繪第二批……」Kliban當時是因為價錢問題沒有和聯合通訊社,要不是這樣,可能今天就沒有加菲貓了。
Kliban筆下的大肥貓也許在國內的名聲沒有加菲大,也沒他那麼多壞水兒,懶懶的愜意的生活,但看過以後你就會愛上他。令人惋惜的是B.Kliban在90年已經過世,他留下Kliban's cat這個品牌,到現在一直由他同樣是畫家的妻子管理,另外還建立了Kliban's Cat官方網站,能看到不少可愛的貓。
Bernard Kliban, who signed his work B. Kliban because he hated his first name, studied at the Pratt Institute in New York. During the 1950s, he went to Europe and traveled and painted there for a few years. Back in America, he settled in Marin County, near San Francisco.
Kliban held various jobs, at the same time drawing satirical cartoons. In 1962, he sent some of them to Playboy magazine and was instantly hired. In 1975, his book 'Cat', containing cat drawings, appeared. Several other cartoon books followed, with titles such as 'Never Eat Anything Larger Than Your Head', 'The Biggest Tongue in Tunisia', 'Two Guys Fooling Around with the Moon' and 'Tiny Footprints'.