On this day, September 20, 1920, cartoonist, animator, and TV producer Jay Ward was born in Berkeley, California. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley and received an MBA from Harvard University. Jay Ward’s first animated series was Crusader Rabbit, that ran from 1949 through 1952. Ward together with friend and animator Alex Anderson, were the creators of
On this day, September 19, 1975, John Malloy was born in Hanover Township, Pennsylvania. Malloy is self-taught in painting, pen and ink, design, and sequential art. He began working in his early 20s illustrating two works for Magic: The Gathering and his first graphic novel was Amnesia. His illustration and design work has been featured in
On this day, September 18, 1947, illustrator Clifford Ashley died in Westport Point, Massachusetts. After studying at the Eric Pape Art School in Boston, Ashley studied with Howard Pyle in Wilmington, Delaware. Ashley’s work primarily focused on images of ships and the sea. In 1944 he wrote and illustrated his famous The Ashley Book of Knots,
On this day, September 17, 1925, artist and illustrator Carl Eytel died in Banning, California. Eytel’s specialty was desert subjects of the American southwest. He traveled with author George Wharton James as he wrote Wonders of the Colorado Desert and contributed over 300 drawings to the 1908 publication.
On this day, September 16, 1881, illustrator Philip R. Goodwin was born in Norwich, Connecticut. After studies at the Rhode Island School of Design and with Howard Pyle in Wilmington. Delaware, Goodwin made his career focused on illustrations about the active outdoor life.
On this day, September 15, 1952, illustrator John Atherton died in New Brunswick, Canada. Atherton studied at the College of the Pacific and at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. He illustrated covers for various magazine and worked for a variety of advertisers. Atherton was also a surrealist painter.
On this day, September 14, 1911, animator and illustrator Clair Weeks was born in Mysore, India. After studying at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, Weeks was hired to work for the Walt Disney Studio. He began her career working as an assistant for Jack Campbell working on Snow White. Weeks also worked on Bambi
On this day, September 13, 1983, artist and comics creator Molly Crabapple (Jennifer Caban) was born in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York. She studied illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology and has done cover illustrations for various magazines and is the comics creator behind Straw House and Puppet Makers. She is also the creator of
On this day, September 12, 1946, illustrator Don Brautigam was born in Paterson, New Jersey. After studying at The School of Visual Arts in New York, Brautigam has had a long career illustrating book and album covers as well as some advertisements and magazine covers.
On this day, September 11, 2002, author/illustrator David Wisniewski died in Alexandria, Virginia. Wisniewski studied for a semester at the University of Maryland, College Park and then went to Clown College. Later he became a full-time author illustrating his own books. His book Golem, won the 1997 Caldecott Medal.