Who is Tayyar Özkan?He was born in 1962 to a family originally from Tunceli. His first drawings were published in local newspapers and magazines between 1976 and 1978. He graduated from the Animation Department of Gazi University's Faculty of Painting in 1983.During his student years and beyond, he illustrated numerous children's books and greeting cards. In later years, he drew for several humor magazines and daily newspapers of the time.He moved to New York in 1989. In his early years, he created numerous drawings for advertising agencies and well-known textile and fashion companies.In 1993, his comic strip "World War 3" was published. That same year, his popular comic strip "CAVEMAN" (Caveman) began its run in the prestigious magazine "Heavy Metal," a series that continues to this day. The first Caveman album was released by NBM in 1997.In 1994, he drew the 282-page novella La Pacifica, written by Joel Rose and Amos Poe, for Paradox/DC Comics. He later illustrated the four-issue series The Dreaming for Vertigo/DC Comics. His artwork also appeared in each of the series The BIG BOOK OF…, also published by Paradox.He has published 12 books by Eros Comix. His artwork has also appeared in numerous magazines, including Hustler and Screw in the US, Penthouse Comix in Spain, Blue in Italy, Playhouse in the Netherlands, and Showtime in Germany.He published four Caveman books under his own publishing house, Caveman Publishing, in New York.In 1999, his paperback Caveman album, published by 2L PRODUCTION in France, was chosen as the book of the month by the renowned company Fnac. That same year, Caveman wines were released in France. It was later released as an album in Spain in 2001 and 2007, and in the Netherlands in 2006. In Turkey, Caveman has been published in newspapers and magazines such as Yeni Yüzyıl, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, FHM, Esquire, and Av Fest, and has also been published as two separate albums.
Caveman also reached Chinese readers through Guangzhou Daily, China's third-largest daily newspaper.
He has designed characters for numerous cartoon projects, worked on storyboards and concept art for animation, commercials, and real-life films, and has also directed. He has also produced a work titled Tekno Park, which has been published as a book and published as a daily strip in newspapers.He has taught comics, animation, and design at universities in the United States and Turkey for many years, and continues to do so.Lately, his acrylic paintings, which he sees as a new career path after all his years as a global writer and illustrator, are the acrylic paintings he has been working on.He held his first solo exhibition at the Ankara Art House in 1981, during his student years. He has subsequently held solo exhibitions in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, and Eskişehir. He has won awards in numerous competitions. He has been featured in numerous articles, news reports, and interviews in national and international newspapers, magazines, and television programs.
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