Tommy Kane: All My Photographs Are Made with Pens

“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).