Interview with Jan Bobek
Jan Bobek is working at Eduard since 2020 and focuses on sales, marketing and social media. Previously, he worked for twenty years in management positions at the international consulting and engineering firm Tebodin. Before that he worked for five years at MPM (now Special Hobby). His great passion is aviation history. He is the author of more than a hundred articles mainly about German and Japanese airmen and their units during World War II. Since 2005 he has been a member of the Gemeinschaft der Flieger deutscher Streitkräfte e.V. and in 2018 he became an honorary member of L'Association des Amis du Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération (AAMOL). Thanks to his knowledge of history, he also works on the editorial board of the INFO Eduard magazine and contributes to the preparation of some of the kits. And he draws rabbits for Eduard. This interview was prepared by Vladimír Šulc on the topic of Jan's cartoons.
INTERVIEW
Jan Bobek is working at Eduard since 2020 and focuses
on sales, marketing and social media. Previously,
he worked for twenty years in management positions
at the international consulting and engineering firm
Tebodin. Before that he worked for five years at MPM
(now Special Hobby). His great passion is aviation
history. He is the author of more than a hundred articles
mainly about German and Japanese airmen and their
units during World War II. Since 2005 he has been
a member of the Gemeinschaft der Flieger deutscher
Streitkräfte e.V. and in 2018 he became an honorary
member of L‘Association des Amis du Musée de l‘Ordre
de la Libération (AAMOL). Thanks to his knowledge
of history, he also works on the editorial board of the INFO
Eduard magazine and contributes to the preparation
of some of the kits. And he draws rabbits for Eduard.
This interview was prepared by Vladimír Šulc on the
topic of Jan‘s cartoons.
Jan, where did the rabbit that
accompanies various Eduard events,
advertisements and texts come from?
It‘s a long story. Anyway, I‘ve the honour of
drawing the rabbit for the Eduard team since
2010, even though I didn‘t become an employee
of the company until ten years later. The clients
themselves named the cartoon character Eduard
Bunny, E
-
Bunny for short.
It‘s obvious that you have drawing
in your hand, so to speak, you
are talented. How did you get into
drawing?
Parents are to blame for a lot of things in our youth.
For me, it includes drawing. I inherited my drawing
and painting skills from my mom and her male
ancestors. She never pushed me to draw, I created
from a very early age, and quite intensively. During
my youth, I was very much influenced by comic
books, which, strangely enough, were published
in occupied Czechoslovakia. It wasn‘t just the
domestic science fiction comics, which were
created, for example, by Václav Šorel, the spiritual
father of many Czechoslovak plastic modellers,
but also Asterix, which was published in the
weekly Sedmička pionýrů (The Pioneers´ Seven),
despite communist censorship. I still love Asterix
and we all miss the gentleman Václav Šorel.
And Asterix made you draw rabbits?
Are these ears on his helmet?
They‘re not ears, they‘re wings! When I was young,
my main themes were science fiction, aviation
and mice. Strangely enough, not rabbits, but mice.
Until the age of 38, not a single rabbit appeared
in my work. But Rabbit was my nickname since
my early childhood thanks to the Czech TV kids‘
cartoon series with Bob and Bobek the rabbits.
One of the members of the team that created this
great evening cartoon was my teacher‘s brother.
You wouldn‘t believe how encouraged I was
in drawing as a first grader when he gave me
original animation sheets of rabbits or other TV
cartoons for children. I still have them to this day.
So that‘s what got you into art?
Did you study drawing at a specialized
school?
No, I didn‘t. When my parents were considering
what subjects I was going to study, my mother
categorically forbade me to apply to an art
school because she had graduated from one
herself. She was convinced that as an electrical
engineer I had a better chance of making a living.
I think it was a good move.
Who are your aviation art
inspirations?
After 1989, with no formal art training, I started to
paint aviation paintings, either with a brush or an
airbrush, or a combination of both. Legends such
as Shigeo Koike, Jaroslav Velc, Robert Taylor, Roy
Grinnell and others have been a great inspiration
to me. I also started painting colour profiles for
Czech HPM and REVI magazines. It was through
one of my paintings (Polikarpov I-153) that
I was introduced to you. It was a stimulating
acquaintance, during which you immediately
suggested that the painting was not worth much
and that I should rather pursue another field.
Despite your advice, I later illustrated several
books. My work wasn‘t the best, but it wasn‘t that
bad.
Jan Bobek and Vladimír Šulc at a joint photography
from Prague Castle. Jan is wearing a T-shirt
of the Japanese company Beaver Corporation,
whose mascot he designed.
INFO Eduard22
January 2024