When I was a young teenager, I had dreams of being a gag cartoonist for the magazines. I remember leafing through old periodicals our neighbors were throwing out: The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s, True, Look and others from the glorious 1950s, the golden age of the one panel cartoon. There were dozens of names I […]
The Art of Cakes and Pies: Famous Illustrators
December 3, 2018 by
Famous illustrators rendered mouth-watering art of cake and pies in glorious color. In the early part of the last century, almost all food advertising had to use art work, not photography. Color photography produced dark images that were not suitable for the printed page. Hams, canned vegetables and fruits and especially baked goods were illustrated […]
James Williamson: The Second Arrow Shirt Man
November 26, 2018 by
Everyone remembers Joseph Leyendecker’s square-jawed Arrow Shirt Man. He was an American icon through the Roaring Twenties. Leyendecker’s illustrations became a distinctive image representing the country’s prosperous Jazz Age. However, with American economy in the midst of the Great Depression in the early 30s, manufacturer Cluett Peabody began a new ad campaign for Arrow based […]
Peter Helck: Trucking On
November 19, 2018 by
The illustrator Peter Helck was known for his masterful renderings of machinery, especially trucks, cars, trains and aircraft. When he was a boy in New York City around 1900 he would watch steam locomotives near Grand Central Station. That lead to a life-long fascination with engines and machinery. He became a commercial artist, but his […]
Decorative Food Art of Rene Clarke
November 16, 2018 by
Nobody drew and painted food like Rene Clarke. He joined the advertising firm of Caulkins and Holden in 1912, where he remained for 44 years. He became Art Director and served the last 7 years as President. While his given name was James Alfred Clarke, he admired a French artist by the name of Rene […]
Austin Briggs: His Advertising Illustrations
November 12, 2018 by
The artist Austin Briggs was rightly celebrated for his masterly editorial illustrations for magazines through the 1940s and 50s. His art drew the reader right into the stories with a sense of drama and anticipation, like a good movie trailer. Somewhat ignored is the advertising work he did for clients like American Airlines, General Motors […]
Artists who illustrated in the CEREAL WARS
November 9, 2018 by
Advertisers put illustrators to work painting adults and mostly children scarfing down all kinds of grains in all kinds of shapes. The idea of pouring milk on a bowl of cereal was a convenient and appealing answer to the problem of breakfast. Here’s some of the artists who succeeded in making it an everyday fixture […]
Before Danny the Dinosaur: The Early Cartoons of Syd Hoff
November 5, 2018 by
Syd Hoff was a prolific cartoonist, writer, children’s book author and illustrator. Born in 1912, he started drawing when he was four and never stopped. Serendipitously, when Hoff was in high school, cartoonist Milt Gross came to give a talk, saw Hoff’s work and predicted that someday Hoff would be a great cartoonist. On the […]
Before Roland and Sylvester: William Steig’s Early Cartoons
November 2, 2018 by
Today we mainly think of William Steig as an award -winning author/illustrator of children’s picture books. He was the creator of Shrek, Sylvester, Roland, Doctor De Soto and so many more popular and memorable characters. But Steig was 61 when his first children’s book was published. Before that he had a very successful career as […]
Guy “Giro” Rowe
December 15, 2013 by
by Dick Chodkowski – @dickchodkowski Born in Salt Lake City in 1894, GUY “GIRO” ROWE made it through the fifth grade before his family moved to Detroit where he went to work out of necessity. His job experiences were many and varied, including: railroad baggage handler, newspaper seller, tailor’s assistant, assembly-worker in a Detroit car […]
