Surprises Await in Dan's Cover Artist Chaz Letzkus' Work

This week’s Dan’s Papers cover artist Chaz Letzkus discusses his “Lion Eyes” drawing, his inspiration, artistic path and unique, hidden-image style.

A Chat with Chaz Letzkus

Tell me a little about this “Lion Eyes” piece? Does the animal subject matter hold a special meaning for you?

I’m an animal lover and I especially admire wild animals, particularly the big cats. Enlarged versions of this drawing and “Tigerama” hang above my mantle in my living room. The inspiration for “Lion Eyes” came from Santana’s first album cover that was released in 1969, the year Santana performed at Woodstock. The cover was a pen and ink drawing of a lion face made up of a native woman and eight other faces. I was a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh at the time and while I didn’t do my lion drawing till many years later, that year was the beginning of my creative journey.

How did you develop this style of combining many images to create one larger picture? Do you always make an answer key to find the hidden animals?

The first hidden image drawing came about in 1973 after I had graduated from Pitt and was applying for a job. I was doing a drawing of a gazelle and the gazelle’s ears looked like a bird’s wings swooping down, so I drew a bird and made the gazelle’s eye a fish. I continued to hide different animals in the drawing and my style was born. When I do a drawing, I start with the main image and a little detail and then decide what to put in the drawing. It might be all different animals, North American animals, all dogs or cats, or later on I started doing drawings with people or objects hidden in them. Once I decide, then I start drawing in pencil and after drawing an animal, I look to see if that shape suggests the shape of another animal, then another. It’s like building a puzzle. Once the creative is done in pencil, I ink it in with a German Rapidograph pen with a point as small as .13mm.

I don’t keep track every time I add an animal to a drawing. That would break the creative flow. After the drawing is complete, I make a copy and find and label all the animals in the drawing. For example, “Tigerama” is made up of over 170 animals. It’s like the “Find the Hidden Objects” page in Highlights magazine. Highlights has had a hidden objects page in every edition for over 60 years and kept many kids busy in the waiting rooms of doctors and dentists. Highlights hidden objects page was one of my inspirations and I still look for one when I go to a doctor.

Are you a fan of puzzles or brain teasers?

I’m a puzzle person. Most every morning I have a cup of green tea as I do my puzzles from the newspaper. I do the Cryptoquip, the Jumble and a crossword puzzle. I work out at my gym three times a week to keep my body in shape and I hope doing puzzles will keep my brain in shape and avoid dementia. I have always liked brain teasers and optical illusions. My favorite artist is M.C. Escher. His black and white drawings of birds forming fish or his infinity drawings or optical illusions inspired me. I like any kind of art that challenges your brain whether it be geared for kids like I Spy or Where’s Waldo or computer generated art like the Magic Eye stereograms.

What was your path to becoming an artist?

I liked to draw when I was young, mostly cartoons. I even thought about art as a career but was told art could always be a hobby and that I was good in math and science and should be an engineer. I started in Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh but ended up graduating with a degree in Economics. My first job was as a cost analyst at U.S. Steel Corporation. It was 1973, and having been a hippie in college, getting my haircut and wearing a suit and tie and playing with numbers all day was not for me. My best friend ended up in Laguna Beach, California and I visited him on vacation in 1975. He lived right by the beach and I thought, “this is where I want to be.” So I quit my job, loaded up my Mustang and headed to Laguna. I worked at a resort out there and took a few classes at Orange Coast College, but I am pretty much self taught as an artist.

What is your greatest artistic accomplishment?

I do a one-man exhibition of my art for six months at Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. It’s rated one of the top 15 hospitals in the country out of 1,500 by U.S. News and World Report. I have 120 framed prints of my art hanging in their West Wing Gallery and as they sell, I frame and hang replacements each week. I donate 25% of sales to their Ladies Auxiliary which supports their volunteer office. This will be my fifth year exhibiting there. I usually hang my replacements on the weekend and sometimes get to talk to people who approach me. Across the street is the Hillman Cancer Center and people will tell me that a loved one is in the hospital with a serious illness or getting chemo treatments at Hillman and they really enjoy taking a break and admiring my art and looking at all the hidden things. I start to tear up with some conversations and I’m touched that my art can bring some measure of joy to people going through some really tough times.

What are you working on now?

I just got my 2025 calendar from my printer today. It’s the 16th year I’ve done a calendar and it features 14 of my drawings. I have an art show this weekend and it’s the start of seven consecutive weekends that I have a show, so it’s a busy time for me. I’ll be 74 in November but don’t feel old or look or act old. My doctor thinks doing art shows keeps me feeling younger. I have an idea for a bigger project. I have drawings of over 60 different dog breeds. Each dog drawing is made up of the same breed so “Shih Tzu Happens” is made up of 20 Shih Tzus. I want to combine all my dog drawings in to one large image of a big puppy. I think that would be cool. My dog and cat drawings do well. Pets, to many people, are part of the family.

Do you have any final thoughts?

I don’t just do hidden animal drawings. “See the Light” is made up of all lighthouses, “Castle Rock” is made up of musical instruments, “Old-fashioned Santa” is made up of 125 holiday things. I have six drawings of universities that do well. Whatever I do, I’m going to hide things. My motto is, “Look closer!” My prints are open-ended, not limited edition. I like to say my art is unique and affordable. I’m not in galleries and rarely sell originals. Many people buy my art as gifts and I often hide the recipient’s name in the drawing. I still embrace parts of the hippie culture. The more people that purchase my work can spread the word and share my talent with others.

See more of Chaz Letzkus’ art at chazmania.com.