Illustrators Utah! Show

Joe Bowler painting from the collection of Paul Mann

I had the pleasure last Friday night of attending the opening of  this years rendition of the Illustrators Utah! competition. This show has been a regular fixture in the Bountiful Davis Art Center rotation of exhibits over the past decade and I have been privileged to be a part of every one of the previous shows. The show runs through November 4, 2011.

In addition to this years contemporary illustration work, there is the added bonus of an entire room dedicated to showcasing illustrator Paul Mann's collection of classic illustration. The collection includes superb examples of work from highly regarded classic illustrators such as Robert McGinnis, Austin Briggs, Tom Lovell, Robert Fawcett, Bob Peak and Joe Bowler. Anyone with a background in classic illustration will want to make the trip to Bountiful just to see these works alone.

my honorable mention winner Dog-Fish

This year I had three pieces accepted into the show. Misty Morning,  Parade and Dog-Fish are all on display with Dog-Fish earning an honorable mention award. Juror Robert Neubecker said he chose my piece because "who can resist a gorgeously painted snarly bulldog fishy guy". Winners included Robert Barrett's first place winning pair of paintings depicting young Barrack and Michelle Obama for a children's book project, second place winner Rob McKay's "Kitchen Conversation", Shawna Tenney's "Ghost Watcher" taking third and another honorable mention went to Hilary Onyon's "Moonrat".

If You Go: Bountiful Davis Art Center is located at 745 S Main Street in Bountiful, Utah. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 6 pm and Saturday 2 pm to 5 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Find Directions to BDAC here.

41 Illustrators and How They Worked

The highly anticipated release of Masters of American Illustration- 41 Illustrators and How They Worked has finally come. I have been waiting for a volume like this since I stumbled upon a similar book from the 1940's titled 40 Illustrators and How They Worked which I profiled in an earlier post.

This volume by Illustration historian Fred Taraba and published by The Illustrated Press compiles twelve years worth of his popular Golden Age Illustrator profiles titled "Methods of the Masters"  from Step By Step Magazine. This book is massive at 432 pages and the 9" x 12" page format allows plenty of room to enjoy the copious full color reproductions.

The text is informative and insightful without getting overly wordy. Taraba allows the pictures to speak for themselves and speak they do. Many of the profiles show preliminary sketches as well as the reference photos used in the process of each artist.

Plenty has already been written about luminaries such as N.C. Wyeth, Norman, Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish, Howard Pyle and the like, so they are not covered here, but those familiar with early  and mid 20th century illustration will find plenty of artists they recognize such as Franklin Booth, Austin Briggs, Pruett Carter, Jon Whitcomb and Coby Whitmore. There are also features on other artists that though largely forgotten, are no less worthy of coverage. I look forward to enjoying my copy for years to come and highly recommend it to any artist or fan of American Illustration.

Buy your copy of 41 Illustrators and How They Worked