A Day of Thanks

We all enjoy a little turkey, pie and football and I am looking forward to that today as well, but this year has been different. The last few months have had their ups and downs but through it all, I have found so many reasons to be thankful. I am thankful for a great family and a loving spouse whom I admire and adore. I am grateful for all the countless acts  of kindness and support from friends and family who have brought in meals, to kind notes in the mail to the army of friends and neighbors who helped me get to all those yard work  and maintenance tasks that have been on the back burner since breast cancer threw us for a loop in July. I am grateful for modern medicine and for the healing powers of heaven. I wish you all a day filled with gratitude for the bounteous blessing we all enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy New Year!

J.C Leyendecker

The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without these things vanishes and even modest talent with those characteristics grows.Milton Glaser

Many feel that 2011 was  a rough year and for a lot of artists (and regular folks too) it was. For me it had its challenges but for the most part I am grateful that things went as well as they did. Despite some bumps along the way, I ended the year in the black with some work on the table as well as a teaching contract that will carry through August. I have a lot to be grateful for and one of those things is that 2011 was a little better than 2010. I see signs of the economy and the markets coming back and I am hopeful for an even more productive and lucrative 2012. The above illustration by one of my favorite Golden Age illustrators J.C. Leyendecker says a little about how I feel going into the New Year. It doesn't matter how many times you get knocked off the horse, anyone who is successful has learned to get back on and continue riding into battle.Whatever your goals for this year are, hard work and persistence will be the beasts of burden that carry you there. Good luck and stay on that horse! 

Happy Thanksgiving

J.C Leyendecker- 1922

I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you will all take a moment today to contemplate all of Heaven's blessings. Today I am grateful that I have great family, enough work, health, and I am also thankful that I get to create artwork every day. I can't think of a better job. A big thank you to everyone who spends a few moments out of their day to peek at this blog and share thoughts and comments. I appreciate it. May the Lord bless you all today and throughout this wonderful Holiday season. We all have much to be grateful for!

The Power of Silhouette

Harvest - by Maxfield Parrish

The term silhouette was named after the French government official Etienne de Silhouettte who because of economic crisis in 1759, was forced to imposed harsh economic policies upon the French people, in particular the very wealthy. As a result, his name became synonymous with anything that was done very cheaply, including the making of cut paper portraits.

Silhouette type portraits were popular at the time before the advent of photography mainly because they could be produced quickly and at very little cost. An artist with a modicum of skill could produce a portrait likeness with such basic materials as black card paper and scissors. 

End paper art for Treasure Island - by N.C. Wyeth

One of many Kuppenheimer ads done by J.C. Leyendecker

The best illustrators also understand the power of this simple concept to carry their artwork as evidenced by these examples from some of my favorite Golden Age illustrators.

Rosie the Riveter - by Norman Rockwell

The above Parrish piece reduced to black and white still caries the dramatic intensity of the original

Even when reduced to black and white, these images still retain their readability, narrative content and compositional heft because the artists understood the power of the silhouette.