On this day, April 23, 1926, illustrator and artist Joseph Pennell died in New York City. Pennell first studied art in Philadelphia and then went to Europe to complete his education. A friend of James McNeill Whistler, Pennell also made his home in London. With war looming in the teens, Pennell returned to the U.S. and
On this day, April 22, 1968, Ernest Nordli died in San Francisco, California. Nordli worked for Disney as a production artist, also for Warner Brothers, and then he returned to Disney. He worked on Dumbo, Fantasia and later on Sleeping Beauty, and on One Hundred and One Dalmatians including the background drawing style on this movie.
On this day, April 21, 1959, cartoonist Tim Jacobus was born in New Jersey. He began drawing in high school and has since become known for creating the covers to all the issues (67) of R. L. Stone's series Goosebumps until the series' cancellation.
On this day, April 20, 1968, comic strip artist Rudolph Dirks died in New York City. In 1897 Dirks created The Katzenjammer Kids for the New York Journal. In 1914 Dirks moved to work for Pulitzer's New York World where he produced Hans and Fritz and then The Captain and the Kids.
On this day, April 19, 1873, Charles M. Lefferts was born in New York City. After serving in the New York National Guard and then the federal army, Lefferts retired in 1921. The rest of his life Lefferts spent studying the uniforms of the American Revolution And making illustrations of those uniforms.
On this day, April 18, 1883, the illustrator Clara Elsene Peck was born in Allegan, Michigan. Peck studied at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and later at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. By 1906 she was earning her living as an illustrator. After Harvey Dunn began his school and colony of illustrators in
By Sarah Schneider, grad student MICA's Illustration Practice, Fall 2013, Critical Seminar Final Paper. Comics have historically been separated from art and literature, cast off as a ‘low brow’ art form in the public consciousness. Generally created for reproduction, either as a disposable booklet or a humorous addition to
By JiYeon Pak, grad student MICA's MFA Illustration Practice, Fall 2013, Critical Seminar, Final Paper. When you imagine a girl in a fantasy world, what is the first image that comes in your mind? The answer is probably Alice in Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland is a novel written by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) in 1865. This novel
Proctor and Gamble Company of Cincinnati first sold Ivory Soap in 1879. As you can see in the ad here on the right, early advertising illustration was produced in a minimalist way and from a purely practical aspect—so what you see is a pair of hands use a thread to divide the double-sized bar soap at
On this day, April 17, 1914, cartoonist Emmanuel "Mac" Raboy was born in New York City. Raboy worked on Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel Jr. and as the Sunday strip artist of Flash Gordon for over 20 years.