On this day, December 19, 1939, illustrator Gertrude Alice Kay died Alliance, Ohio. Born in Ohio, Kay studied illustration at the Philadelphia Museum School of Design and then with Howard Pyle at Drexel Institute. In addition to being a popular illustrator, Kay also wrote some of the articles and stories she illustrated.
On this day, December 18, 1889, artist and illustrator Arthur Roy Mitchell was born in Trinidad City, Colorado. As a young man, Mitchell drew political cartoons for his newspaper. After service in WWI, Mitchell studied in New York at the Grand Central School of Art and worked producing western images for pulp magazines.
On this day, December 17, 1917, illustrator Earl Sherwan was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sherwan studied at the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee. In the 1940s he began to produce illustrations for pulp books and magazines. Sherwan later produced many popular animal illustrations. He wrote and illustrated various books including, Mask, the Door County Coon.
On this day, December 16, 1956, illustrator E. B. (Earl Bradley) Lewis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While still in grade school Lewis began attending the Saturday morning Temple University School of Art League and later he went to college at Temple and then worked as an art teacher. By the early 1990s Lewis was producing
On this day, December 15, 1966, Walt Disney died in Burbank, California. While in high school, Disney began his art study at the Schoolof the Art Institute of Chicago. After serving for the Red Cross in WWI, Disney began his career as an advertising cartoonist. His first animated cartoon were created in 1920. Mickey Mouse was
On this day, December 14, 1879, Edwin Roscoe Shrader was born in Quincy, Illinois. He studied art at the University of Southern California and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and illustration with Howard Pyle in Wilmington, Delaware. By 1917 Schrader had settled in California and was a teacher at the Otis Art
On this day, December 13, 1916, Leonard Weisgard was born in New Haven, Connecticut. After studies at Pratt Institute and at the New School for Social Research, Weisgard’s early career encompassed shop window display and making illustrations for major magazines. His first book Suki, the Siamese Pussy was published in 1937. In 1939 Weisgard began a
Charley Harper (1922-2007) Gregor Mendel Transferring Pollen from One Flower to Another, 1961 Illustration in The Giant Golden Book of Biology (Golden Press, 1961) In Charley Harper’s Gregor Mendel Transferring Pollen from One Flower to Another created to illustrate the portion of the Book of Biology text that deals with DNA, genetics, and inherited traits,
On this day, December 12, 1967, cartoonist Emmanuel “Mac” Raboy died. In the 1940s Raboy worked as the illustrator for Captain Marvel, Jr. and in 1946 King Features hired Raboy to continue the Sunday page adventures of Flash Gordon. He worked on that strip until his death.
On this day, December 11, 2010, illustrator Mike Ludlow died in Oxford, New York. He studied at the Art Students League of New York and was soon became known for his glamorous illustrations of beautiful women. In the 50s Ludlow did pin-up work for Esquire and a 12-page calendar for 1957. In addition to advertising illustration,