Illustration in Children's Literature & the Wyeths

When my daughter was little, I loved reading books to her, like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. His illustration style involved building up shapes from patterned pieces of paper. He inspired one of my kindergarten lesson plans and his patterned paper methodology also inspired my wrapping paper self-portrait project that I do with 5th- and 6th-graders. Henri Matisse also used paper cutouts in his later artwork.

Another of my favorites is the character-filled children's books written and illustrated by Richard Scarry. My daughter enjoyed the dressed up kittens and pigs, but my favorite character was Lowly Worm. Who would have thought such a character would be popular with kids! The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats, is another innovative storybook in that it uses real characters in real urban settings.

I also need to mention the Berenstain Bears books, by Stan and Jan Berenstain. I think we must have owned every book in the series. The reason that I mention these children's books is that there is a depth of creativity in how Carle texturized his shapes, how Scarry developed his characters (their clothing and surroundings), and how Stan and Jan captured life lessons in a family setting.

I also love the paintings of Andrew Wyeth and own a copy of his autobiography by Thomas Hoving and Wyeth; he was quite a quirky guy! I recall his painting of a roadside plantation house with a dead squirrel in the road. The book shows a study for the painting in which Wyeth uses a smear of actual squirrel's blood. My daughter and I loved that and at the same time, we were creeped out!

It wasn't until my retirement that I discovered Andrew's father, Newell Convers Wyeth. He is my all-time favorite illustrator. He has become a staple in my 5th-grade art lessons and inspires projects that reinforce the art element of movement. N.C. Wyeth learned from and was inspired by artist Howard Pyle. Wyeth is famous for illustrating classic stories such as The Yearling and Treasure Island.

In "Blue Lock, the Queen" (1916) you can really see the movement. This is taken from a story that was published in Colliers Magazine about a spirited wild mare. Also published in Collier's were 400 illustrations by Frederic Remington, whose sculpture I've blogged about.







Here's the motion project inspired by N.C. Wyeth and made by my 5th-grade classroom teacher. That's ex-Mariner pitcher, Felix Hernandez. One of her favorite illustrators is Norman Rockwell, who was prolific with his American portrait covers in the Saturday Evening Post. He is one of several artists who enjoys inserting his own image into his portraits, such as "The Dugout".

"The Dugout" (1948), Rockwell

My brother just told me about Clarence William Anderson

(not to be confused with Pro Wrestler, C.W. Anderson), a writer-illustrator famous for his "Billy and Blaze" book series about horses. He also did covers for the Saturday Evening Post.

Sendak's Wild Things

Drucker's Alfred E. Neuman

The last two illustrators -- Maurice Sendak and Mort Drucker -- are familiar for Where the Wild Things Are (left) and caricatures in MAD Magazine, respectively. I used to draw caricatures of my family, friends, and co-workers,
which were likely inspired by reading those satirical magazines. I never actually read any of Sendak's books, though I've admired his characters over the years.

Drucker's Unlikely Golf Threesome

Mort Drucker died just over a week ago at the age of 91. I dedicate this post to him.

BTW, I read that he was hired at MAD in 1956 when the then Brooklyn Dodgers were playing in the world series. The publisher told him he'd be hired if they won and they did!