Friday, May 18, 2012

5 Items or Less

Supermarkets have been around basically since the 1930s, but it was in the '50s that they ballooned in size and content.

This cover from 1957 is surprising to me for the similarity to our contemporary supermarkets — from the XPress checkout to the magazines and comic book section, to the record spinner and gourmet section. This cover looks a little like a Mad magazine layout without all the antics, 'cept for that kid getting ready to ram his cart into that guy. And geez, the New Yorker cost a measly 20 cents!

Charles Martin — The New Yorker — May 18, 1957

Really. A Fine Day. In May.

William Steig certainly kept the child's spirit alive in his work.

William Steig — The New Yorker — May 18, 1981

What Day is so Fine as a Day in May?

J.J. Sempé — The New Yorker — May 18, 1998

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Red Coral

"Science stories", oh, indeed.

Hannes Bok — Other Worlds — May, 1951

Grow It Like It's 1999


William Joyce — The New Yorker — May 17, 1999

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Allegorical Month

Mucha — The Month of May — 1895

Garment District

Iris Van Rynbach — The New Yorker — May 16, 1988

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Tick Tick Tick

Carter Goodrich — The New Yorker — May 15, 2000

Monday, May 14, 2012

She Stops and Points

Another piece of candy, this from 73 years ago today, with that annoying redundancy of wasting text that describes the gesture.

Alex Raymond — Flash Gordon — May 14, 1939

Yummy

Here's a yummy bit of confection from precisely 80 years ago.

I love the modeling of the horse. Pure Leyendecker!

J.C. Leyendecker — Saturday Evening Post —May 14, 1932

Sunday, May 13, 2012

New Blog

51 weeks ago, in May of last year, I created a new blog that only now have I had time to jumpstart, called Snippets and Bibbets. The blog will showcase all manner of artwork that our studio has created for kids. While art for kids is only a portion of what our studio gets involved in, I'm somewhat amazed at how many kids projects we've created, and how many art files we've stockpiled.

Much of that work has been large-scale art, for installations of all sorts, which we will be showcasing in the months ahead.

Just this month though, a book that we illustrated has been published and is being distributed. We are going to start the blog out by sharing some of the process of the book's development (it took three years on our part, though only a fraction of that was spent on actual artwork). We will show much of our preliminary work leading up to finishes, and discuss candidly the trials and tribulations of our experiences.

You can jump over there by clicking here, and I hope you will consider 'following' us as we pull open some old art files.

Haller and Buchanan — CinderSilly — Published May, 2012
© Dramatic Adventures, Inc.

Enemies Only Inches Away

Mark Trail had no superheroes, no continuity, no comic punchlines. What it had was really nice graphics and interesting nature factoids.

Ed Dodd/Tom Hill — Mark Trail — May 13, 1973

Why Won't Whistler Call?

Today is Mother's Day. If you're fortunate enough to have one, call her. She's wanting to hear from you, I'm sure. If you are a mother tuning in here, all the best to you!

Edward Sorel — The New Yorker — May 13, 1996

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Mystery House

You've probably seen this cover before, but do you really mind seeing it again? I'd walk a mile or more to see Benda art.

W.T. Benda — The Shrine Magazine — May, 1927

One Egyptian Night

Romance — May, 1929

Update: Another choice bit of info from Mr. Door Tree: the artist for the above cover is Edgar Franklin Wittmack.

Thanks Mr. Door Tree!

Doom!

Gil Kane — The Micronauts — May, 1982

Friday, May 11, 2012

Neighborhood Watch

William Steig — The New Yorker — May 11, 1963

The Times, They Were A-Changin'

Art Spiegelman — The New Yorker — May 11, 1998

What the Duck ? !

Saul Steinberg — The New Yorker — May 11, 1987


Update: Thanks to a lead from docnad, I tracked down a pic, on Wiki, of this big duck— a building in Flanders, Suffolk County, New York, built in 1931 by a duck farmer.




The Spirit of Spring

George Herriman — Krazy Kat panel — May 11, 1924