Robert Hummel’s cartoon style paintings of central New Jersey’s historic towns are on view at Orpha’s Coffee Shop.
By: Susan Van Dongen
Cottonball clouds, skies filled with swirls, psychedelic farmer’s fields and Van Gogh-esque trees these are just a few elements of Robert Hummel’s cartoon style paintings of Central Jersey’s historic towns.
We see Princeton’s Nassau Inn with snowflakes falling, smoke billowing out of the chimney and the Christmas tree aglow, painted like a page out of a children’s book. Mr. Hummel has transformed quaint Cranbury and Kingston into something that animators from Hanna-Barbera might have imagined. For future creations, he has his eye on Bordentown and Allentown, and may be coming to your burg with his canvases as well.
"There are a lot of pretty towns here, but as far as deciding on the ones to paint, I wanted to feature places that have a main street you can visit and stroll," Mr. Hummel says. "I’m hoping eventually to do a cartoon book that will also include a small write-up on the history of these towns. A lot of places in New Jersey don’t have this kind of charm."
Throughout the month of November, Mr. Hummel will be showing his paintings at Orpha’s Coffee Shop in Montgomery in the exhibit New Jersey Towns in Cartoon. You can also view his whimsical works on Dec. 2, when he and 16 other resident artists at The Art Station in Hightstown will open their studios to the public.
The seed of the series came from a business project that didn’t quite work out. In his "other life" Mr. Hummel paints murals for private homes, restaurants and commercial enterprises.
"My painting of Cranbury was a mock-up for a mural for a new restaurant there, but something fell through," he says. "I tried to design a style that was almost the opposite of any other murals in town, full of color to brighten up the space. It’s part of a long painting (2-by-5 feet) that also features part of Main Street, the park behind it with the town’s landmark water tower and farmlands in the distance. I realized that it looked like Cranbury in cartoon, so that got the ball rolling."
One of his images shows the Gothic manor house at the Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart. Mr. Hummel did it on location two years ago at Paint Out Day, an event organized for plein air painters.
"It was a cold morning in October and not so easy to paint with frozen hands," Mr. Hummel says. "When painting this, my intention was that it could be suitable for a child’s room, maybe even for one of the children attending the school. While I was working, I noticed the kids coming by and really enjoying my work. I figured it reminded them of a scene from the pages of a children’s book."
Born and raised in Sayreville, but now living in Plainsboro, Mr. Hummel studied commercial art, advertising and scenic design at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.
"For a while, I was working with graphics agencies but then I did some things for event companies and decided I loved large scenic work instead of small, graphic things," he says. "I stumbled on a book about Macy’s Parade Studio and thought, ‘Wow, that would be interesting work and it would be nice to move back up there.’"
Mr. Hummel was one of the year-round creative artisans at the Hoboken-based Macy’s Parade Studio. Some of the creations he worked on can still be seen floating down Broadway as part of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
"I see (elements of) a cornucopia float we designed years ago," he says. "We also did a float for Earth Day where we painted a globe. I recognized my old globe on a new float for the Animal Planet. Every year I see something."
Locally, Mr. Hummel created the outdoor stage background for KatManDu in Trenton, designed to appear as though you are looking out at a tropical sunset. Those bright colors and fantasy settings inspired the New Jersey Towns in Cartoon series.
"I’m a fan of children’s books, I think the artwork and the colors are fantastic," Mr. Hummel says. "I was also a fan of the background artists for the Warner Brothers and Hanna-Barbera cartoons. When I paint a house, I don’t want to paint something that actually looks like a house, I prefer the cartoon style. So this is pretty much what I’m going to stick with. My work is mostly about the colors that’s what intrigues me. The brighter the better."
New Jersey Towns in Cartoon, paintings by Robert Hummel, is on view at Orpha’s
Coffee Shop, 1330 Route 206, Montgomery, through Nov. 30. Hours: Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m.-4:30
p.m., Sat. 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. For information, call (609)
430-2828. On the Web: www.orphas.com.
Open house at The Art Station Studios, 148 Monmouth St., Hightstown, Dec. 2, 10
a.m.-2 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. For information, call (609) 443-1386. On the Web: www.artstationstudios.com.
Robert Hummel on the Web: njtownsincartoon.com

