The Linear Art of Tom McNeely

Canadian illustrator Tom McNeely is a gifted painter. His preferred medium is watercolour.



During the more than fifty years of his career however, Tom often worked in a variety of line art styles, from the very sketchy reportage style shown in yesterday's post, to a variety of loose, textural, or technical styles.







Sometimes Tom would experiment with linear treatments that might better reflected the mood of the article he was illustrating...





Sometimes he experimented simply to satisfy his naturally restless creativity.





What has always impressed me most is Tom's ability to marry a lively energetic quality to the accuracy of excellent draftsmanship. Here are a few more examples with an appropriately "summer fun" theme.









If you're interested in seeing more of Tom's artwork and reading about his career, just click on the links below:

Tom McNeely, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5