On this day, February 2, 1916, Alden Spurr McWilliams was born in Greenwich, Connecticut. McWilliams studied at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts and was soon producing interior story illustrations for pulp magazines. After service in the Army in WWII, McWilliams returned to illustration and eventually also comic strip work. His memorable
On this day, February 1, 1910, Joe DeMers was born in San Diego, California and attended the Chouinard Art School. In the 1930s he worked as a production illustrator for Warner Brothers and then in New York he worked for The Charles E. Cooper studio producing illustration.
On this day, January 31, 1959, illustrator, photographer, and film director Matt Mahurin was born in Santa Cruz, California. Mahurin’s illustrations have appeared in numerous mainstream periodicals. He sometimes uses his own likeness manipulated in his commercial photo-illustration work.
On this day, January 30, 1905, pulp illustrator Robert Fuqua (the pen name of Joseph Wirt Tillotson) was born in Greenville, Mississippi. After attending classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Tillotson worked for an advertising agency in Chicago. He also supplemented his income by producing pulp images under his assumed name.
On this day, January 29, 1952, illustrator and writer Paul Kirchner was born in New Haven, Connecticut. After his studies at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York, Kirchner began to work in the comic book industry. In the early 80s Kirchner and his brother Thomas produced a graphic detective novel, Murder by Remote
On this day, January 28, 1927, children’s book author and illustrator Vera Williams was born in Hollywood, California. Trained at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, Williams did not begin creating her own stories until the late 1970s.
On this day, January 27, 2009, illustrator and author Blair Lent died in Medford, Massachusetts. Trained at the Boston Museum School, Lent illustrated both his own stories as well as stories by others including the retelling of a Lafcadio Hearn story, The Wave written by Margaret Hodges.
On this day, January 26, 1882, illustrator Gerrit Albertus Beneker was born Grand Rapids, Michigan. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Art Students League in New York. Beneker’s specialty was illustrations of the workingman because he believed in art as a constructive force.
On this day, January 25, 1966, illustrator Bradshaw Crandell died in Madison, Connecticut. Although Crandell attended classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago he was a student at Wesleyan University (but did not graduate). Crandell’s career exploded in the 1920s with illustrations for popular magazines and his work evolved into a specialty
On this day, January 24, 1936, illustrator Doug Chaffee was born in New York. He studied art and art history at Bob Jones University. After a 20 year career at IBM, Chaffee opened his own firm providing illustrations and graphic design services. His work included science fiction illustrations and images for the gaming industry.