Meet Larry Brooks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Larry Brooks.

Larry, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I got started on dual, or maybe dueling careers as I was finishing my last year as a Fine Arts painting student in New York. I’d never considered anything other than painting, but I needed a job and remembered that a few years earlier while in high school I had met the owner of an advertising agency, so I looked him up and naively asked for a job, having no idea what I could do there. I brought in some drawings to show the creative director (an Englishman named Paul Rowntree, who I’m still friends with today. He’s a painter too). I was politely dismissed, but about six months later, they called and asked if I was still interested. I was. It was a full-time job but in hindsight maybe not much more than a paid internship at first, but I was just happy to be there working among a great group of creative people; most were Madison Avenue veterans, though I didn’t then know what that even meant. The agency was situated in a beautiful old lake house about 60 miles north of Manhattan. I thought all ad agencies had offices like that; I later found out that’s not the case. I didn’t do any graphic design at all at first since I didn’t even know what that was then. When they landed a new account advertising a new brand of shoes, (Rockport) Paul remembered a drawing of mine from that first meeting and asked if I could illustrate the shoes rather than have them photographed. I’d work on them at night after work and bring them in the next morning; they were used as the basis of Rockport’s first print ad campaign and also were the first drawings I was ever paid for. I was asked to illustrate a couple of campaigns for other accounts as well after that.

Later when they asked me to design a logo and a brochure, I was nearly fired after they saw what I had designed. I had no idea at what I was doing. Painting and art direction and graphic design are related but different disciplines, and never having taken or seen a design class, I had to learn on the job. By the way, this was all long before personal computers were introduced to the world; most everything was done manually. I did get a little better at it. About 18 months later, I wanted to leave New York and many people I knew were then talking about California as the “place to be”.

At 22, I drove alone cross-country from New York to Florida to California and landed in Los Angeles as my money was running out. I couldn’t afford to leave, so I freelanced wherever I could, finally getting a job after about six months at an ad agency in Long Beach where I worked for a couple of years before moving back up to Los Angeles. I was hired at another agency/studio designing movie posters, fashion advertising and book design. For about ten years or so, with Craig Butler of Butler Advertising, I co-designed and art directed the Workbook, known as the LA Workbook at the time. It put me in the company of a lot of the best LA illustrators and photographers. I eventually was asked to be a partner in what became Butler Kosh Brooks, with Craig Butler and John Kosh (professionally known as Kosh). Later Kosh and I opened Kosh Brooks Design specializing in album cover design. Kosh was even then a legendary cover designer so most of our work came directly from the bands or the record companies. We had a great partnership for several years, after which I worked at various design studios, and since have been operating my own small studio as Larry Brooks Design for the last eight years.

Now, all during this time, I never stopped being a painter, exhibiting in galleries in solo or group shows whenever possible. As a long-time artist member of the prestigious California Art Club and Oil Painters of America, I also often have work selected for juried exhibitions. While I consider myself a realist painter, my work has varied over the years from portraits of LA artists such as Ed Ruscha and Don Bachardy to large paintings of LA streets and sidewalks, done on handmade shaped wood panel. More recently I’ve been painting still lifes with somewhat of a Dutch and Spanish influence. Or so I’ve been told.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’ve always tried to balance both art direction and painting; it hasn’t always been easy to do but I’ve been consistently working at both for a fairly long time now. Yet when I first came to Los Angeles, I had no work connections or prospects, just a young portfolio and a hope that things would work out. I had only the phone number of an artist couple, Michael and Dianne Burke, both art school friends of Paul’s; we didn’t work together but I might not have stayed in LA if not for them. And we three also remain friends.

But I had no work and no place to live so I stayed in ‘inexpensive’ motels from the Valley to Long Beach for nearly a year, even after I got first steady job.

Another transition: I started as an art director before computers were introduced as a design tool, so there were a few years of on-the-job learning to make that transition; now its hard to remember how we did without them. Yet there was often a common misconception that designing on a computer makes your job easier and while that’s partly true, you actually work longer hours than before. There are so many more options available, and a client usually wants you to explore most of them.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
As an art director/designer I’ve tended to specialize in movie poster key art design/photo illustration and logo design, but I’ve done book and packaging design as well as non-entertainment projects over the years; I designed and illustrated signage for a Cook Children’s Medical Center in Texas. I’d like to do more work for local businesses; I recently designed the logo and branding for the Crenshaw Farmers Market and a Pasadena music school.

I like that when possible, I’ve been able to combine my painting and art direction in one project. An example was a work I did that combined graphic design and painting in a way that was very satisfying to do as it was completely created in my studio. ‘Muddy Waters’ is a mixed media piece (oil painting, steel and wood) I did for a curated exhibit—“The 100 Greatest Album Covers That Never Were”—that traveled to several galleries and museums around the country, the last stop being the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
As a freelancer or independent contractor, I’ve been able to contribute to large higher profile campaigns as one of several art directors assigned to them along with their staff of very talented in-house art directors, and I hope to continue doing that. Smaller independent films and cable series projects are very satisfying creatively to create posters and images for, and I’m always happy to work on such projects outside of a large agency whenever possible. I’m currently creating film posters and ads for a director friend of mine who is also a renowned painter.

I love working from my home studio which I set up for both art direction with several computer systems; and traditional painting and drawing with several easels drawing tables and countless tubes of paint. It’s a peaceful coexistence.

I paint more than I ever have and am excited about creating images that’ve been rattling around in my head for the past few years. I feel a new direction is on the horizon.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck plays a very important role; being in the right place at the right time but being able to recognize it when it happens. I’ve had instances where timing was important and that may be the same thing as luck. Meeting a person that could help, or being given an opportunity at the exact time one was needed. I can look back and see how that led to things that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. We all need luck.

• Website: www.larrybrooksart.com  www.larrybrooksdesign.com
• Email: larry@larrybrooksart.com
• Instagram: @larrybrooksart
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brooksart

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