William Steig — The New Yorker — May 31, 1982
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Flight Into Yesterday
Earle Bergey had a way with painting women who were all woman, and painting men that were . . . well . . . um . . . that is . . . well, anyway.
Earle Bergey — Startling Stories — May 1951
Earle Bergey — Startling Stories — May 1949
For What Ails You, Boy
Nostalgia from back when Norman Rockwell used a rich muted palette and didn't work from photographs as heavily as he did later.
Norman Rockwell — The Saturday Evening Post — May 30, 1936
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Princess Minihahaskirt
I could only take Al Capp's world in little doses, and female presence, such as the princess here, always made it more bearable.
Al Capp — Li'l Abner — May 28, 1967
Cosmic-Radio Television
Comic strip cheesecake, with some nifty hardware. This is what I want the new Apple teevee to look like when it finally comes around.
Buck Rogers — panel detail — May 28, 1933
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
A Nice L'i'l Arrangement
Rather traditional, not controversial or edgy, but pretty.
Jenni Oliver — The New Yorker — May 25, 1981
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
In Chaucer's Youth
Hmm, this is confusing. I thought this author was Elizabeth Pennell, wife of Joseph Pennell, the artist—both of the late 19th, early 20th centuries. But her full name is Elizabeth Robins Pennell, and these initials certainly look like E. A. P.
I still thought perhaps the illustration was by Joseph Pennell, but no, it was by B.J. Rosenmeyer.
Yet, both Joseph and Elizabeth wrote and illustrated a book about the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer . . . so, is this author related to them?
Hmm.
B.J. Rosenmeyer — In Chaucer's Youth
St Nicholas magazine — May, 1903
B.J. Rosenmeyer — In Chaucer's Youth
St Nicholas magazine — May, 1903
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
A Novel of the Future
I constantly marvel at how the pulp artists were able to create compact compositions with so many elements in one small rectangle.
Rudolph Belarski — Startling Stories — May, 1941
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Taking a Stab
Back to the genteel for the moment, this is an amazingly bucolic cover for one such as Charles Addams, taking a stab at an Escheresque concept, without a morbid element in sight.
Charles Addams — The New Yorker — May 19, 1975
House Where Evil Lived
The so-called 'shudder pulps' are quite a contrast to the genteel New Yorker covers, and the one shown here is one of the milder of those. This cover is so outrageous that the menace doesn't seem real, but look how effective the composition is — with the needle perfectly placed in front of the hyper-manic face, and the two doll women positioned perfectly in their nightmare distress.
Uncanny Tales — May, 1940
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
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
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!
Friday, May 11, 2012
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.