Thanks again to Mike Vosburg for all these terrific Rowland B. Wilson scans we've been enjoying this week!
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Monday, 9 May 2011
If, as a kid, you ever snuck a peek at your dad's Playboy magazines, you probably remember seeing the magnificent art of Rowland B. Wilson.
Now, tear your eyes away from the nekkid ladies for a minute...
... and take a closer look at all the wonderful stuff going on in the other parts of the picture!
This guy could paint!
Here are a few more Rowland B. Wilson Playboy cartoons, all courtesy of Mike Vosburg. Thanks Mike!
What a wonderful sense of design and composition Wilson had...
... not to mention his dazzling use of colour!
* I'm away this week, but I'll still try to get a few more of Mike Vosburg's Rowland B. Wilson scans posted each day. Enjoy!
Now, tear your eyes away from the nekkid ladies for a minute...
... and take a closer look at all the wonderful stuff going on in the other parts of the picture!
This guy could paint!
Here are a few more Rowland B. Wilson Playboy cartoons, all courtesy of Mike Vosburg. Thanks Mike!
What a wonderful sense of design and composition Wilson had...
... not to mention his dazzling use of colour!
* I'm away this week, but I'll still try to get a few more of Mike Vosburg's Rowland B. Wilson scans posted each day. Enjoy!
Friday, 6 May 2011
This 1951 Mother's Day ad for Whitman's was illustrated by David Attie.
I knew I'd heard that name before... but there doesn't seem to be much by Attie on the Internet - and even less about him.
I managed to locate this 1953 piece in my collection of Art Director & Studio News magazines. So at least we now know that Attie was an east coast illustrator in the early '50s, represented by the prestigious Fredman-Chaite studios.
Mitchell Hooks, Frank McCarthy and the young Bob Peak were all at FC during this same period. Perhaps they all knew each other...
Attie gets a brief mention in the one issue of the Fredman-Chaite Portfolio promotional magazine I own...
... unfortunately the promo contains no biographical info on Attie.
Finally, here's a 1956 paperback cover by Dave Attie from my friend Uilke's Flickr archives.
And for now, that's all we know about David Attie. Perhaps (hopefully) TI readers can add more!
I knew I'd heard that name before... but there doesn't seem to be much by Attie on the Internet - and even less about him.
I managed to locate this 1953 piece in my collection of Art Director & Studio News magazines. So at least we now know that Attie was an east coast illustrator in the early '50s, represented by the prestigious Fredman-Chaite studios.
Mitchell Hooks, Frank McCarthy and the young Bob Peak were all at FC during this same period. Perhaps they all knew each other...
Attie gets a brief mention in the one issue of the Fredman-Chaite Portfolio promotional magazine I own...
... unfortunately the promo contains no biographical info on Attie.
Finally, here's a 1956 paperback cover by Dave Attie from my friend Uilke's Flickr archives.
And for now, that's all we know about David Attie. Perhaps (hopefully) TI readers can add more!
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Not long ago Bruce Fernie contacted me to let me know he had created a website to celebrate the career of his father, the illustrator John Fernie. I've come across Fernie's work on several occasions and really liked it. Below are three examples I found in various mid-1950s issues of Cosmopolitan magazine.
Now there's a place where you can read about John Fernie's life and see some great examples of his work!
Visit the John Fernie website for more.
Now there's a place where you can read about John Fernie's life and see some great examples of his work!
Visit the John Fernie website for more.
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
By guest author Ken Nutt
I thought your readers might like to see some samples from an exhibition currently at the Gallery Stratford in Stratford, Ontario. The title of the show is 'ART AT WORK: Commercial Art from the Collection of Ken Nutt.' It features original artwork for illustrations, mainly from the nineteen-fifties, that I have collected over the years.
The above piece is by an illustrator named J. (Jack) Smith.
One of the reasons I started collecting originals was to learn how effects that I admired in print were achieved -- so I could recreate them in my own work. In the above painting for a two-colour illustration, the stripes on the gent's shirt are brushed in opaque gouache while the woman's red dress has been stenciled in with transparent ink.
Here's a pencil drawing done for the British America Bank Note Company, a Canadian company which specialized in the production of steel engravings for use in the printing of money, stamps and, in the case of the drawing below, stock certificates.
The BABNC, as it was known, was founded in the year before Confederation, but judging by the resemblance of the goddess above to Grace Kelly, I think this design is of a much later date.
Below, another anonymous illustration, this one for a men's magazine. This is part of the section of the show dedicated to magazine illustration. As I laid out samples of the 'glossies' -- The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, McCall's -- it came as a shock to think that the young illustrators in the neighbouring gallery might never have seen these big-format magazines, which were the pinnacle of the trade for mid-century commercial artists.
Below, three of four post-war gouaches for the covers to British paperbacks.
The amazing thing here is that all the white lettering is painted directly on top of the illustration, gouache on gouache.
I would have hated to have been the lettering artist.
Below, This seven-foot-long mural is one of three painted for an American bank by illustrator Harold Ashodian.
Many illustrators, most famously Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish and Dean Cornwell, painted murals. My guess is that illustrators were better equipped than easel painters to tell a story in paint, which is what a mural commission usually involves.
There are thirty-three pieces of vintage illustration in the show, great contemporary posters and editorial illustrations by Jack Dylan and Pete Ryan in the adjoining gallery, as well as a third space devoted to the conceptual photography of artist Suzy Lake. So, if you would like to spend a pleasant afternoon looking at some cool illustration -- and perhaps even take in a play -- come visit. ~ Ken Nutt
The Gallery Stratford, 54 Romeo St., Stratford Ontario, is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11AM-3PM
Starting May 17: Tuesday to Sunday: 10AM-5PM
The exhibitions run till June 5, 2011
I thought your readers might like to see some samples from an exhibition currently at the Gallery Stratford in Stratford, Ontario. The title of the show is 'ART AT WORK: Commercial Art from the Collection of Ken Nutt.' It features original artwork for illustrations, mainly from the nineteen-fifties, that I have collected over the years.
The above piece is by an illustrator named J. (Jack) Smith.
One of the reasons I started collecting originals was to learn how effects that I admired in print were achieved -- so I could recreate them in my own work. In the above painting for a two-colour illustration, the stripes on the gent's shirt are brushed in opaque gouache while the woman's red dress has been stenciled in with transparent ink.
Here's a pencil drawing done for the British America Bank Note Company, a Canadian company which specialized in the production of steel engravings for use in the printing of money, stamps and, in the case of the drawing below, stock certificates.
The BABNC, as it was known, was founded in the year before Confederation, but judging by the resemblance of the goddess above to Grace Kelly, I think this design is of a much later date.
Below, another anonymous illustration, this one for a men's magazine. This is part of the section of the show dedicated to magazine illustration. As I laid out samples of the 'glossies' -- The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, McCall's -- it came as a shock to think that the young illustrators in the neighbouring gallery might never have seen these big-format magazines, which were the pinnacle of the trade for mid-century commercial artists.
Below, three of four post-war gouaches for the covers to British paperbacks.
The amazing thing here is that all the white lettering is painted directly on top of the illustration, gouache on gouache.
I would have hated to have been the lettering artist.
Below, This seven-foot-long mural is one of three painted for an American bank by illustrator Harold Ashodian.
Many illustrators, most famously Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish and Dean Cornwell, painted murals. My guess is that illustrators were better equipped than easel painters to tell a story in paint, which is what a mural commission usually involves.
There are thirty-three pieces of vintage illustration in the show, great contemporary posters and editorial illustrations by Jack Dylan and Pete Ryan in the adjoining gallery, as well as a third space devoted to the conceptual photography of artist Suzy Lake. So, if you would like to spend a pleasant afternoon looking at some cool illustration -- and perhaps even take in a play -- come visit. ~ Ken Nutt
The Gallery Stratford, 54 Romeo St., Stratford Ontario, is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11AM-3PM
Starting May 17: Tuesday to Sunday: 10AM-5PM
The exhibitions run till June 5, 2011
Monday, 2 May 2011
That's pretty amazing actually: with the way tastes change, how many other illustrators could claim to have done work for a single magazine client for three decades (and to get to do the covers at that)? Another example of how tremendously versatile and adaptable Al Parker was.
The '50s
The '60s
The '70s
* Many thanks to TI list member Tom Johnsonn who, out of the blue, sent all of today's scans one day last week. I always like to include a link to a contributor's website as a way of saying thanks. Since Tom doesn't have a website, he suggested I include one to his son Ted's site Pilates Any Time. "Ted's doing really well with this site," writes Tom. "Maybe there are some sedentary artists who might be interested in getting fit?"
* My Al Parker Flickr set.
The '50s
The '60s
The '70s
* Many thanks to TI list member Tom Johnsonn who, out of the blue, sent all of today's scans one day last week. I always like to include a link to a contributor's website as a way of saying thanks. Since Tom doesn't have a website, he suggested I include one to his son Ted's site Pilates Any Time. "Ted's doing really well with this site," writes Tom. "Maybe there are some sedentary artists who might be interested in getting fit?"
* My Al Parker Flickr set.
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