Fun Characters from Pageant

Here are some fun characters by a mysterious "Greenwald R." They're from Pageant Magazine, a smaller, "digest" size magazine for the "gentleman." Bordering on the cheesecake from time to time, the magazine actually has an interesting connection to Mad Magazine. Well, I wish I knew more about "Greenwald R." I've seen similar work done by this artist, but never have been able to find anything more about him/her.

Jules Verne: The Man Who Invented the Future

As I recuperate from several all-night work sessions because of three maddening deadlines, all within a week of each other, and before I start calling costume rental places asking if they have any chicken suits available, thought I'd share with you all some wonderful illustrations from this neato book on the futurist author Jules Verne. Considering that it's Mr. Verne's birthday today, consider this a little celebration for a man who stirred many an imagination with his wild and hairy stories, well over one-and-a-half centuries ago.

Jules Verne: The Man Who Invented the Future by Franz Born illustrated by Peter P. Plasencia ©1964 Prentice-Hall, Inc.



A great book, with even greater illustrations by Peter P. Plasencia, who, as you may recall, illustrated the wonderful Space Alphabet book. I love seeing how Peter utilized the gouache to create various depths of field by the use of the subtle shades of grey. All the while, flattening the space within the composition. Superb work. Love it.


Great use of flattened perspective here.








LOVE this piece. Fantastic composition!




This illustration accompanies the text that Jules Verne's works greatly inspired the explorer Richard Byrd, who flew over the Arctic (pictured here).

I know Verne is not an official "futurist" or "futurologist," but I'd like to think of him as such.

Actually, I'd love to become a futurologist, just so I can say, "I'm a futurologist." Sounds real nice when it rolls off the tongue.

Summer in Full Effect

It's here. It's definitely here and we can feel it. Summer has arrived in Portland—they say that the summer usually doesn't "officially" arrive here until around July 4th, and by golly, they're right. We're expecting temps in the 90s this week—I know that's no biggie to most of you on the eastern seaboard, but over here in the great northwest, it's kind of a big deal.

To kick it off, here's some summery vintage scans for you:


Fun Avis ad from Sunset magazine, January 1962.

At bottom:
"Now! If you want safety belts, you can have them up front at no extra charge on most '62 models."

Umm...gee, thanks, Avis!


Seattle Welcome Guide
Nice little pamphlet from the Seattle Convention and Tourist Bureau. 1959. No illustrator credit.


Dubble Bubble ad in Family Circle magazine, August 1953.


From Music 'Round The Clock, Follett Publishing Company, 1955. Illustrator is Val Samuelson.

Summer is the time for jungle gyms and freaky kids, apparently.

Ooo! Some leftover fireworks from 4th of July:


Mayflower Dairy Magic

Fun little booklet for Mayflower dairy products. No date, no illustrator credit. Thinking it's probably early 50s, based on the look and style of the photographs they have on the back cover (not shown in my Flickr or here). The little cook there is so fun. Yay! Cooking!


Anytime you've got a little cook with a wand pointing to a big star with the word CHEESE in the middle, I'm going to scan it, people.






Yay! Cottage cheese! Ice cream! Yay!

Summer is here.

The Question of Versatility

Several years ago I wrote about Lou Peters and his propensity to be diverse in various illustrative styles. (Still no new information on exactly what this mystery person was all about. Anyone?) While it's obvious I'm in awe of such talent - to be able to go from style to style without making it look difficult is quite a feat for any artist - this had me thinking, "Is it worth it to be a versatile artist? Was it beneficial for Lou Peters? Would it be beneficial for me?"

I've often wondered about this throughout my career as both an illustrator and animator. While in animation (especially of the hand-drawn variety) it usually works to one's advantage if they were an artistic chameleon, aping the look and style of every character and show that they've been assigned to work on. Throughout my time as director in broadcast animation, I often told my assistants this: Forget your own style; you have to be a chameleon. Sounds harsh, but it's a harsh reality in this industry. If they didn't completely conform to how a particular show was being drawn, they would be politely assigned to another project (which wasn't too often, I'm happy to say). Time is money,right? If an artist wasn't drawing the characters correctly, it was a waste a time - therefore, a waste of money.

This constant aping of various cartoon styles served to be both a blessing and a curse for me. I throughly enjoyed being assigned a new project, diving into all the research that went into it, watching shows frame-by-frame to see exactly how the characters moved and acted, grabbing screengrab after screengrab of faces, walkcycles, and characters. With my thirst for knowledge, the pre-production stage of each project was my favorite part. However, there were issues with how much time I devoted to research on the onset - did I really need 40 frames of Astro licking George Jetson's face? (In hindsight -yes, but that's just between you and me.) Could it be that too much information is, well, too much?

I digress. Back to the issue at hand. For an illustrator, the question of being diverse is different. It might look on the onset that being a versatile artist would be beneficial to an independent illustrator as well - to be able to address a look and style that fits each job offer that comes their way should work to their advantage, right? If a client is looking for illustrations that imitate Soviet propaganda posters, or mirror Roy Lichtenstein's pop art characters (which, in of itself is ripped from comic books, of course), or perhaps copy the pen and ink feel of Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are, then who's to say it would be wrong for an artist to not turn these projects down? Especially during this day and age of an unsure economy? But would the artist be compromising his own vision? Most freelance illustrators are in the business because they have a "voice", with their own unique look and style and use it to their advantage. In order to stand out, you have to be unequivocally forging ahead with your own distinctive style.

Or do you?

Let's take a look at the fantastic work of Mel Crawford. He's done plenty of children's books during the 50's, 60's, all the way through the 70's and 80's. (He's still alive and painting, by the way!) I've mentioned Mel before. Here's the cover to his take on Uncle Wiggily from 1953:





Bright, lively work, Mel captures the fun and energy of the story and brings this vitality through on each spread of this book. The colors are bold and the characters are posed wonderfully. Plus, I love the textures that he shows for the surroundings, such as the trees, grass, the house. All around, a brilliant book.

Now, let's look at another Little Golden Book he illustrated, Tommy's Camping Adventure, from 1962:


I had this book when I was a kid. When I saw it in the fleamarket, I bought it right away. A wave of nostalgia washed over me while turning the pages of this book. I remember it fondly.


Notice how Mel framed Tommy with the use of the tree and branches, and silhouettes the boy by the much lighter yellows and light greens behind him.


I remember looking so intently at this spread when I was a kid - the details, oh! the details! I could almost feel the ridges of the rings on the tree stump here. So wonderful. Take a closer look.



With the use of an extreme diagonal, Mel allows our eyes to go from the family down to Tommy, and finally, to what he's looking at: a little wood rat.




Again, the diagonal. Love that huge tree on the left there. Also, notice how Mel uses the tree on the extreme right to help guide our eyes to Tommy, so we don't go off the page.

Now, let's take a look at Casey The Clumsy Colt, also illustrated by Mel Crawford (from 1965):




What's interesting to me is the fact that Mel uses white in almost every single spread of this little book from Whitman Publishing. Whitman made small, easy-to-afford books for children, similar to Little Golden Books. They weren't known for their quality, however. Most Whitman books I own are in terrible shape because of weak binding and eager little fingers wanting to tear them apart throughout the decades.




Even on a busy spread, the details that Mel put in are simplified here - there's not too much to take away from the story, or the overall aesthetic.






Mel's characters are perfectly designed - simple, yet give off enough personality in each pose.




Even when there's more information painted in the background, white is evident.

The man definitely has a grasp on details and knowing how to pare back on what's necessary to show in order to get the story across. I've been looking at Tommy's Camping Adventure and Casey side-by-side and it's so fascinating to observe what Mel shows, and more importantly, doesn't show. What's clearly evident in all three books I've shown here is the fact that Mel Crawford is simply a great artist. He's able to take on any form of illustration technique and apply his talent and skills to the story at hand. Each book has its own "voice", which is very important for the reader. When I open each of these books, I'm transported to their respective worlds, and am able to be fully immersed in the story, without any doubts.

(Oh, by the way, check out some more Mel Crawford in my Mel Crawford Flickrset.)



With this in mind, I was curious about what others thought about being versatile in this industry. I put this question out to my Twitter followers, to see what they thought:

Do you think it helps or hinder your career to be diverse in styles as an artist?

I received some interesting answers:

@eimhin The canned answer is "Hurts", as we're always told to pare down to an identifiable style. ADs can't decide if we fit, otherwise...However, I think it ought to be seen as an asset. You just need to market each style differently, and not to same people. (from Even Jensen)

@matt_gavenda from my experience. you'll be asked at some point in your working years to do multiple things. only can help, i think. (from Matt Gavenda)

@hipphop If you are diverse in style, no, diverse within your style, yes. I have learned it gets looked at as inconsistent. (from Ryan Hipp)

@mary_longshore It is my opinion that it helps to have as many styles as possible. Versatility is important for success as an artist. (from Mary Longshore)

@AJB_Design A distinct style identifies an artist, but maybe limits their jobs. A generalist might be more versatile, but less memorable. (from Andrew Brozyna)

@arthurmount I'm for diversifying. While it may dilute the impact of having one style, it broadens your reach and creates new audiences. (from Arthur Mount)

@curtisdickie I believe it is good 2 be internally diverse-but u need to create an outward focused style 2 create your brand as an artist. (from Curtis Dickie)

@ohmgee personally, i have several styles. to hire, i want consistency. know what to expect. but sick of 1-trick pony graf artists. (from Martin Gee)

@suceda you should be able to work in different styles that are right for you, I wouldn't want to limit myself to just one media. I don't think I have ONE consistent style, I think & draw a certain way, but the actual execution of piece depends on subject. (from Santiago Uceda)

Illustrator Zack Rock then asked: "How do people with multiple styles represent themselves professionally? Different promos, sure. But different sites?" I replied: "I would think that artists w/different styles showcase them on their sites: as separate sections." At least, that's what I would probably do. I've seen others do this—if they have two or more distinct styles, they'll have different portfolios on their site, showcasing them separately.


Finally, I get this tweet from designer and typographer Mark Simonson:

@marksimonson 25 years ago, Mary Grandpré asked me that. I thought she should diversify. She didn't follow my advice.

If you didn't already know, Mary Grandpré is most known for the illustrations for the covers of the entire Harry Potter series.

What do you think? Does it help or hinder an artist to be versatile? I'm curious as to what you have to say.

-------------

LINKS:

Mel Crawford's official site
Mel Crawford's official blog
My Mel Crawford Flickrset
Mel Crawford featured on The Retro Kid
Mel Crawford on Golden Gems blog

Christmas Angel Book

Merry Christmas, everyone.

With love,
The Ward-O-Matic























The Christmas Angel Book by William Dugan. ©1965 Golden Press, Western Publishing Company, Inc.

William (or Bill) Dugan is one of my favorite illustrators, creating some of the more interesting and colorful books for children during the midcentury era. There were certain details that Bill focused on for some of his pieces, like the hair and fabic, that stood out from the usual stuff.

We read this each year for Christmas.

Chichibio and the Crane

Chichibio and the Crane, by Giovanni Boccacio. Adapted and illustrated by Lele Luzzati. An Astor Book, Ivan Obolensky Inc., NY. 1961.

Wonderful little children's book featuring illustrations by Emanuele (Lele) Luzzati. Here's what it says about the artist on the back French flap of the dust jacket:

Emanuele (Lele) Luzzati, one of the most versatile and active graphic artists of post-war Italy, was born in Genoa in 1921 and graduated from the School of Fine and Applied Arts in Lausanne in 1945. Since then he has worked with an inexhaustable [sic] freshness and fantasy in many fields, including stage and costume designing for all the important Italian lyric and prose theatres – La Scala, the Venice Festival, the Florence Maggio Musicale, the Rome Opera, etc. As a ceramicist he won first prize in 1955 at the International Ceramic Sow in Cannes. As an industrial designer and decorator he won commissions from companies all over the world. He is responsible for some of the décors of the new Italian liner Leonardo Da Vinci. He has recently completed his first animated cartoon. This is his first book for children.

NY animator Michael Sporn has plenty of information about Luzzati on his "Splog". Look through the category of Luzzati & Gianini. Luzzati often teamed up with Giulio Gianini on various animated films and theatrical performances.

What I love about Luzzati's work is that it's very expressionistic - the stocky characters depicted in scribbles and ink blots evoke emotion even through their somewhat limited poses. The emotions come out through the medium and materials used. In some ways Luzzati's work is the antithesis of all the perfectly rendered characters and scenes painted in the Little Golden Books and schoolbook readers (Dick & Jane, for instance) mass produced around the same time. He was the UPA to Dick & Jane's Disney.

Lele Luzzati died just two years ago, in 2007. He was 85.

Links:

Lele Luzzati's official site.
Lele Luzzati on YouTube. (I highly recommend checking out his animated films. Wonderful stuff.)
Obituary in The Guardian.

Click on each image to view larger:








I really dig this spread. Love the use of negative space to depict the table there.




Even with his black & white illustrations (the book is half color, half b&w), we can get a sense of color through Luzzati's expressionistic brushwork and lines.




And finally, the endpapers. Love the pen and ink characters up against that pattern.