David Blossom: An Illustrator You Should Know

Last week's guest series by Tom Watson on his teacher and friend, Bob Foster, was certainly very well received. Many readers commented that there are so many great illustrators of the mid-century who are (too often) overlooked. As much as it has been the mission of Today's Inspiration to showcase the giants of the industry, its even more important to me that you discover all the other great illustrators who are, perhaps, less well known. One of those talented artists whose work we should definitely become more familiar with is David Blossom.


About a year ago, I received a note from Blossom's son, Peter:

"You don't have any of my dad's work, but you should! He was born in Chicago, Illinois but lived most of his life on the east coast, growing up in Rye, New York and Weston, Connecticut. He lived in Westport and Southport, Connecticut until 1963, when he moved with his family to Weston, where he lived until his death in 1995."


"He worked at Young & Rubicam as an art director (for the Ford Motor Company and Pan American Airways accounts) until moving to Weston, CT when he became a freelance illustrator. He created romance paperback book covers and Western themes (later in his career) and is also known for his movie posters (early Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", "A Fistful of Dollars", and "A Few Dollars More" among others) and magazine covers. He was a regular cover (and interior) illustrator for Outdoor Life magazine and Reader's Digest, as well as many others."

* Note: today's series is from Reader's Digest Condensed Books - Leif


"David Blossom received the Society of Illustrator's Hamilton King Award for best illustration of the year by a member in 1973, and awards of excellence in the Society's annual shows."


"He was the son of Earl Blossom, an illustrator in the 1930's-'50's, the father of Christopher Blossom, a well-known marine artist, and also Peter Blossom, a graphic designer."

* This biography appears on askart.com


Peter adds, "I've been enjoying looking at your classic illustrations. They bring back a lot of memories of growing up, as my father was a contemporary and friend of a lot of the people you have in your classic illustrators archives."

With the help of Peter and his aunt (David Blossom's sister, Mary) I hope to bring you an entire week of posts on the magnificently talented artist some time soon!

* My David Blossom Flickr set.