Leonard Weisgard. Children’s Book Illustrator.
Leonard Weisgard was born in New Haven in 1916, Connecticut but spent much of his
early childhood in Manchester, England, where his father originally came from. His interest
in the quality of children’s books began after his family moved back to the USA when he was 8.
As a schoolboy in New York, he was dissatisfied with the books supplied by the public schools
he attended. He found the illustrations monotonous and thought that the world could not be
all that dreary and limited to only one colour. He went on to study art at the Pratt Institute
and the New School for Social Research, where he was influenced by primitive cave paintings,
Gothic and Renaissance art and avant-garde French illustrators of children’s books of the 1920s.
He used a wide range of colours and media in his books, including gouache, poster paint, crayon,
chalk, decoupage, stencilling and pen and ink. Weisgard also studied dance with Martha Graham
and worked in the field of window display. He began his career making illustrations for magazines
such as Good Housekeeping, The New Yorker and Harper’s Bazaar.
There’s a whole list with images of some of the 200 books that Leonard created here, and some
beautiful examples of his watercolour illustrations for Alice In Wonderland here.
Searching for Hutchings in 1969.
I came across an illustration from this lovely 1969 Annual on Flickr posted by Buglady 1104
and the illustrator was just listed as ‘Hutchings’.
I started to look into who this might be and came across the name of Gordon Hutchings
on Steve Holland’s site. Whether this is the same Hutchings or not he was a great artist
himself and also had a talented family of artists too. It’s possible, as he’s worked on some
Classics like Mickey Mouse Weekly, Sooty and The Magic Roundabout. I thought it was
funny to see how easily the internet can sidetrack you from one illustrator to another and
take you on a quick visual journey, you wouldn’t have made without typing those certain
words into google ! Lovely illustration Hutchings, whoever you might be lol.
Hawley Pratt. Animation Layout Artist.
The name Hawley Pratt (1911-1999) probably cannot be separated from the name
Friz Freleng (1906-1995).Hawley, a highly competent animation layout artist,
worked for cartoon director Freleng during the heyday of the Warner Brothers cartoons.
He later joined Friz at DePatie-Freleng studios, best remembered for the
opening credits of the Pink Panther movie series, starring Peter Sellers.
Similar to this homage for him on the later Steve Martin Pink Panther film.
He worked on well known favourite animated characters as The Cat In The Hat,
The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Top Cat, Sylvester and Tweetie Pie, Dick Tracy, Huckleberry Hound..
..to name but a few.
There are some great cartoons to watch on the Toon A Day site , that Hawley has worked upon.
You can see more of Hawley’s work and design style here, and if you like this style of artwork
then check out the Golden Gems website here.
Lowell Hess. Cartoonist and Pop-Up Greeting Card Designer.
Lowell Hess’s art career has spanned 6 decades. After serving in World War II as a lieutenant
in the US Army, this Oklahoma native attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
He subsequently worked as an illustrator in the heyday of magazine illustrations. His works were
featured in many publications, including Collier’s and Boy’s Life, for which he illustrated 22 covers.
He also illustrated numerous book series including Golden Books. Demonstrating the versatility
of his craft, Lowell went on to design and illustrate pop-up greeting cards for Graphics 3 Inc.
These cards incorporated a unique design feature that Lowell pioneered using rubber bands
as the pop-up mechanism. Lowell and Graphics 3, Inc., have produced
greeting cards for more than 25 years.
There’s a 2005 short interview with Hess on Leif Peng’s Site ‘Today’s Inspiration’ here.
Fishink and Tone Von Krogh Ceramics Collaboration
I’ve got some wonderful, exciting news that I’ve had to keep secret from you for a few weeks.
Namely that I’m very fortunate to be doing some collaborative work with the lovely and talented
ceramics artist Tone Von Krogh. We’re still in the early stages of developing small ranges or
one off pieces, but I thought it would be great to run some pieces by you and get some feedback too.
I’m hoping that people will be inspired by my quirky illustrations on Tones’ cool ceramics.
Please let me know what you think, all positives and negatives welcome.
They will be available to purchase soon on my etsy website.
Bob Wilvers, Art Director and Illustrator.
Bob Wilvers was the art director for the Carl Ally agency in the early 1960’s
when he developed a campaign for Salada Tea. The commercial featured little old ladies
on large Harley-Davidson motorcycles and the tag line …..
”Who says that Salada Tea is for little old ladies?” There’s a link to a poor copy of the original ad
here and another 3 amusing Salada Tea ads here.
In 1964, he became a founding partner and co-creative director at Jack Tinker & Partners,
with a client roster that included Coca-Cola, Gillette and Alka-Seltzer Plus.
He was an accomplished watercolor painter and illustrator whose work was featured in
several galleries and museums. Apparently Milwaukee based Wilvers was just 24
when he painted these.
Sadly there’s not a great deal of his work online. If anyone has any links to more of his beautiful
illustrations could they please let me know.
Bill Charmatz. From Cartoons to Travel Illustration
Bill Charmatz was born in New York in 1925. He attended the School of Industrial Arts
in Manhattan and served in the U.S. Navy (1943-1944). He began his freelance illustration
career for clients such as The New York Times (1945-2005), Washington Post,
Esquire Magazine, Playboy Fortune, Life, time and Sports Illustrated.
He illustrated a weekly column for S.I. for over 20 years, plus several major painting
assignments including; skiing in France, NFL football training and Major League baseball
spring training, etc. He is listed in the “Who’s Who of American Art”, is a member of the
Society of Illustrators, was the founder and Vice president of the Graphic Artist Guild
and recipient of numerous awards.
In addition to illustrating and painting for publications and advertising agencies,
he has written and illustrated over 12 adult and children’s books.
Also some lovely travel illustration. Bill is yet another artist with a great variety of styles.
You can fine more of Bill’s wonderful work here on the website created by his daughter.
Fishink New Ideas.
I’m constantly exploring new ways of drawing and working with the images I create.
Here’s one called Fat Chicken, and a second called Fat Fox. Can you see a theme developing ?..
All feedback greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Jeanne Henry. Ceramic world views… made in Oregon.
There’s something captivating about the work of Oregon artist Jeanne Henry that
draws you into her ceramics with a questioning and curious eye. This beautiful piece
entitled Salmon Dream, leads the way into her work quite nicely.
After 25 years of being a functional potter, making bowls etc she turned her hand to reproducing 3-D
ceramic pieces and views from her travels that appealed and inspired.
I find her work quite unique and visually inspiring in it’s portrayal of a french street or mexican house,
and you feel like you’ve almost been to those places with her.
Great to see that an established maker is still happy to transform her style and create something totally
fresh and new after 25 years. Well done Jeanne.
January Skies.
Has anyone else been noticing the beautiful skies we’ve been fortunate to gaze upon
during this month of January ? Here’s a couple when I’ve had my camera on hand.
Keep an eye open around 4 or 5 o clock to spot some beauties !
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