Ben Schachter is an internationally award-winning designer and graphic novelist. He received the Emma Lazarus Award for a design combatting Antisemitism. His illustrated short story, "Las Huellas del Diablo," was selected as a finalist for "Solstice" literary magazine graphic literature award. Achnai Pizza, his first graphic novel, explored how interpersonal relationships can be destroyed by arguing without listening.
Mr. Schachter teaches Intro to Advanced Digital Art Involving Animation, 3D Modeling, and Storyboarding.
Education
MFA, Pratt Institute MS, Pratt Institute
Courses
3D Modeling Storyboarding for Graphic Novels and Video Drawing and Illustration for Media Expressive Type and Motion Graphics Visual Brainstorming
Research Interests
What do we imagine when we read a story? Do we see the world the author created? Do we feel the emotions the protagonist feels? How does it work? What happens when we make pictures inspired by stories? What do we illustrate? When should we elaborate and add images that are not in the text? What should we leave out? How do our illustrations compliment, enrich, simplify, or explain the written word?
These are the questions I think about when I read. Over the past several years I have illustrated ancient and biblical texts. I gravitate to these stories, in part, because they are well known. You might think that a well-known story is hard to illustrate. What could I possibly add to what has already been done? Well, you might be surprised.
Selected Publications
“The Sukkah as Architectural Brief,” in We Are All Guests Here, Exhibition Catalog, Bridge Projects, Los Angeles, CA. 2021.
Akhnai Pizza. Self-published comic book. 2020
“UN-SETTLED-MENT,” in We Are All Guests Here, Exhibition Catalog, Bridge Projects, Los Angeles, CA. 2021.
Image, Action, and Idea in Contemporary Jewish Art. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017.
