By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 6/14/2006
I was first exposed to the work of Jan Balet at the vintage illustration flickr collection of Leif Peng of Today's Inspiration. Suffice it to say the name Jan Balet immediately went on my search list. Eventually, I hit paydirt. Collected here are some samples from the children's book What Makes an Orchestra written and illustrated by Jan Balet, 1951.
click on images for large view
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 5/30/2006
Sorry for the long delay in posting folks. Let me take this opportunity to announce the launch of the new and improved design of my website. I've added a few new works as well, one of which I've posted below for a job I did for Charlotte Magazine. Please check out the rest at www.esturdevant.com.
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 5/8/2006
Previously featured here last November, its time to follow-up with more vintage illustrations from Leonard Weisgard. The first five images are from the hard to find classic Little Golden Book from 1951, Pantaloon, written by Kathryn Jackson. The next three are from Pelican Here, Pelican There, which was also written by Weisgard and published in 1948.
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 4/21/2006
Another classic illustrated by Mel Crawford, circa 1963. I added some more samples from this book at my flickr page for Mel Crawford. I previously posted about Mr. Crawford's work here. Also, check out Clarke Snyde's excellent blog Inspiration Grab-Bag and see his post of Mel Crawford's Pebbles Flintstone Little Golden Book.
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 4/12/2006
The above illustration of mine was recently selected to be in Illustration Annual 47, the July '06 issue of Communication Arts. I've long admired the works that appeared in the CA Illustration Annuals, so it's really gratifying to have made it into this year's edition, my first ever! The piece originally was done as a job for Atlanta Magazine. Also, you may remember it from a previous Illustration Friday post from last December.
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 4/10/2006
In consecutive 2 page spreads, one for every month of the year, the activity surrounding Mr. Jolly's Sidewalk Market is depicted in this charming wordless book. Story and pictures by Laura Jean Allen, published in 1963. To see more images, go to my flickr page, or drop on over to The Retro Kid for even more great vintage children's printed goodies from the mid 20th century.
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(detail from November spread)
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 3/31/2006
It's that time again. Pictured is each side of the latest postcard promotional for my illustration biz. Just waiting to get them back from the printer, hopefully by end of next week. Then its off to the post office...
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 3/27/2006
Each day this week, Leif Peng at Today's Inspriation blog is featuring vintage ads from the 1950s with illustration stylistically influenced by children's story books. He's invited various guests to write the posts to go with these images. Monday's guest blogger is Dan Goodsell of A Sampler of Things blog with a very informative commentary on a lushly illustrated ad for Del Monte. I've written a post that Leif will run later this week, so be sure to check back again and again, you'll be glad you did.
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 3/22/2006
Little Peewee (1948), written by Dorothy Kunhardt, was J. P. Miller's first in the Little Golden Book series, followed by Tommy's Wonderful Rides (not pictured).
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 3/13/2006
The below excerpt is from J. P. Miller's N.Y. Times obituary...
... the illustrator of several incredible Little Golden Books, Miller's art is still influential to a new generation of animators artists. His "Little Red Hen" is still in print and considered a classic. "Lucky Mrs. Ticklefeather," "Little Pee Wee" "The Little Golden Funny Book", "The Marvelous Merry-Go-Round", "Tommy's Wonderful Rides", "The Circus ABC" and many others, define the Little Golden Book style. These books, all done in the late 1940s and early 50s, are prime examples of the stylized modern commercial art of the era - and a huge influence on many of today's best animators (including Spumco), leading cartoonists and commercial designers.Also, be sure to read A Remebrance of John Parr Miller by his brother George Miller at Cartoon Brew. It details his beginnings as an animator at Disney during the depression.
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 3/7/2006
This is the first in a series of posts on J. P. Miller. Of the classic Little Golden Book illustrators, J. P. Miller is probably my favorite. The following are from the his Little Golden Book, What If? written by Helen and Henry Tanous, first published in 1951.
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 2/26/2006
THERE'S AN ELEPHANT IN THE BATHTUB published in 1964, was the first children's book by Roger Bradfield. Check out the cover gallery on his web site to see more of his many titles. One of these books, PICKLE CHIFFON PIE, has been reprinted by Purple House Press with THE FLYING HOCKEY STICK to come this spring. I've got some more scans here and at The Retro Kid flickr group.
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 2/17/2006
Here are some samples from a few books illustrated by Dellwyn Cunningham. Represented are: The Blowaway Hat 1946, What Am I? I'm A Churkendoose! 1946, and Fuzzy Friends in Mother Goose 1952. If you want to see more click on over to my flickr page.
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 2/14/2006
Christopher Wheeler has compiled an impressive collection of rare Charles Addams cover art which he has generously posted here for all our viewing pleasure. While you're at it, check out the rest of his vast cartoon collection. Included are photos of most of the 275 artists featured.
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 2/7/2006
These illustrations by Janet LaSalle are from the book SOUND originally published in 1962 as part of an educational series by Follett Pubishing Company. Her deceptively simple illustrations also appear in BILLY'S NEIGHBORS, another educational book by Follett from 1957. Many lively images from this book can be seen at my flickr page.
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 1/29/2006
This is the last in the series for The Best of Times by Ludwig Bemelmans.
(cover detail)
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 1/26/2006
Here are some more images from The Best of Times by Ludwig Bemelmans...
If you're interested in an learning more of Bemelman's life and career, I recommend the book Bemelmans: the Life and Art of Madeline's Creator, compiled and written by his grandson John Bemelmans Marciano. If you're interested, click on the link, Amazon has some great deals in the used section. The book has a lots of photos and reproductions of his art, including some unpublished work. I'm not finished with it yet, but so far it's an interesting read.
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 1/23/2006
Most known for his children's book series Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans was a prolific author and illustrator of many books for adults, as well as a regular magazine contributor.
On assignment for Holiday magazine, Bemelmans traveled through postwar Europe producing a series of articles, drawings and paintings. The Best of Times, published in 1948, collects these works which include 50 color illustrations and 110 black and white illustrations.
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 1/21/2006
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A Little Owl Book published in 1963, ALL KINDS OF NEIGHBORS was written by Howard R. Wellesley.
These are a few images from one of my favorite books that was illustrated by Aliki. I have tons more of her stuff at my flickr page HERE.
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 1/18/2006
© Eric Sturdevant 2006
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 1/18/2006
First published in Germany in 1925, THE CITY is a portrait of urban Europe between the wars, told in one hundred woodcuts of exceptional force and beauty.This is a change in tone, so I beg your pardon in advance if you came here to see fun pictures (after all the name of this blog is Fun All Around). Still, I feel compelled to post the woodcuts of Belgian born artist Frans Masereel from his wordless book THE CITY. The opening quote (as well as these scans) were taken from the 1988 reprint from Schocken Books.
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By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 1/13/2006
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Simplicity and a strong sense of design mark the warm and playfully absurd work of Abner Graboff. You can see more samples of his book illustration here.
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 1/8/2006
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Happy New Year gentle surfers! I'm sorry that it's been a while since my last post. So far the Baby New Year has brought a lot of good work my way, which in turn, has kept me away from the blog.
The above illustrations were some early work done by Cliff Roberts for FORD TIMES magazine. At a young age, Roberts did wildlife illustrations for FORD TIMES in the late 40s, before he went on to work in animation as a designer and writer. Roberts cites illustrator Jan Balet as an influence of his from this period. Leif Peng at Today's Inspiration has provided some great samples of Balet's work here. A few more samples of Roberts' FORD TIMES work can be found here.
Thanks to Amid Amidi at Cartoon Brew for pointing me in the direction to find Cliff Roberts' work and for providing an article about his career, written by Roberts in 1971.
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 12/30/2005
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I end the year with these covers from the Bobbs-Merrill Best of Children's Literature elementary school readers, published in 1960. I can't get over the whimsically absurd wrap-around cover art of Joseph Giordano that graced these texts. You'll notice the name for this blog comes from one of the titles. Giordano was also one of many who did interior illustrations for this series which number six in all. If you want to check out the other two covers and some of Giordano's inside illustrations, click here.
Thanks to all who supported my foray into the blog-o-sphere with their comments and for highlighting Fun All Around on their blogs. With five weeks since it's inception, this blog has had visitors in 30 different countries from all four corners of the world-wide-web. That blows my mind. I hope to continue to make this a fun place to visit for the coming year. One thing I'd like to do for 2006 is expand the content to include contemporary illustrators that I like. Of course, I'll also continue to feature children's book illustrators of the mid-20th century, as well as stuff I've been working on.
Have a happy New Year!
Best wishes,
Eric
By: Eric Sturdevant,
on 12/23/2005
A favorite from my childhood collection - Roudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, illustrated by Richard Scarry.
Have a wonderful and joyous Christmas and a happy New Year!
Eric
