Victor Juhasz
I was born in Newark, New Jersey, 1954. My parents were immigrants, displaced from the wreck of post World War II Eastern Europe. No surprisingly, the first images I remember drawing were those of soldiers and war. My first professionally published piece was in 1974 for the New York Times while I was still studying at Parsons in NYC.
Over the course of a forty year career my work has appeared in many of the major publications and newspapers both domestic and foreign as well as commissioned for advertising and books, both adult and children’s. I have been the recipient of a number of awards including gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators as well as the prestigious Arthur William Brown and Hamilton King awards. My approaches to illustration cover the spectrum, from caricature and humorous satire to realistic reportorial war art drawn in combat zones. In August 2011, I embedded with the 1-52nd Arctic Thunder Dustoff (MEDEVAC) unit in Kandahar, accompanying them on helicopter rescue missions. Both my writings and drawings from that embed ran in GQ online in July 2012. My work is in the permanent collection of the USAF Art Program. I am a member of the Joe Bonham Project, which documents through art the returning wounded from the front lines of combat.
It was my intention to contribute in some small way to bringing awareness to the medical challenges facing our veterans, and in the process, hopefully raise some money for the program. Having never served in the military, I see an opportunity like this as a way to give back. In our own family our youngest son is a SSgt in the USMC. We can’t all be warriors, but we can contribute our talents.
Creating an image that would be used as the box cover and for the backs of the cards presented challenges that were different from illustrating a specific card. For one thing the image had to act as a unifying theme that covered all bases, without favor, and without editorializing. It had to be straightforward and uncomplicated; to acknowledge the various services and genders, allowing them equal visual weight as best as possible without ornamentation. I believe this was accomplished with the choice of image and its execution. The image is a positive one, depicting teamwork, cooperation, and shared objectives. Color choices were kept simple, acting as complements to the drawing. The faces were to have character without becoming too specific.
It was an honor and privilege to be called into this project.