Tag: Illustrators

Henry Bassett Comstock – Author, Editor, Illustrator

Henry Bassett Comstock (1908 – 2003), the son of illustrator Enos Benjamin Comstock and Christine Frances Bassett, was an illustrator, journalist and editor of Munsey’s Railroad Magazine in the 1940s. This profile of him originally appeared in The Journal News, White Plains, New York, August 6, 1972. Locomotive tootles way into one man’s heartBY VIRGINIA… Continue reading Henry Bassett Comstock – Author, Editor, Illustrator

John Alan Maxwell, Illustrator of Romance

A few days ago, I was reading the first issue of Sea Stories and happened to glance through some of the covers of that magazine. The December 1925 issue, unattributed in the FictionMags Index, caught my eye. Ah! A signature on the bottom left of that cover. I squinted at it and tried to see… Continue reading John Alan Maxwell, Illustrator of Romance

Art of the Sale: The taxing business of illustration

In 1937, the City of New York tried to bring art into the ambit of the sales tax that had been passed three years earlier. Only to find out artists can be talented in more than one domain. From the La Grande Observer, Oregon, May 05, 1937 Artists Up In Arms Because Of The Sales… Continue reading Art of the Sale: The taxing business of illustration

Negatives, Dragon’s Blood and Acid. How line drawings were reproduced

I’ve always been interested in all aspects of pulp production including how they reproduced line drawings in the pulps. The same process worked for stylistically very different artists like Hannes Bok, Virgil Finlay, Edd Cartier, Nick Eggenhoffer, Arthur Rodman Bowker, Dorothy Flack  and John R. Flanagan. Read on and find out how they did it.… Continue reading Negatives, Dragon’s Blood and Acid. How line drawings were reproduced

Secrets of the Mask, part 1- In the beginning

A recent rummage through some boxes turned up two copies of Black Mask, and I started reading them. One was from the thirties, another from the forties. I thought it might be interesting to review a few issues to see the difference in editors as the magazine changed. As I did that, I found some… Continue reading Secrets of the Mask, part 1- In the beginning

Feeling down? Cheer up with free illustration art

A collection of illustration art links. In the “But is it pulp?” department: Glenn Bray’s 800-page book of comic book, pulp magazine, and book covers is available for pre-order Eyes on the stars The pulp magazines were printed on cheap paper, their covers were often colored brightly and done amateurishly. But there’s nothing like those… Continue reading Feeling down? Cheer up with free illustration art

Ups and Downs of the Illustrating life

Charlie Dye, famous illustrator and cowboy artist, on how he got into illustration and what he found it to be. “My career in Art has been typical of so many others, that only in detail does it differ. I first studied in Chicago and started in advertising art there in the Windy City. Then I… Continue reading Ups and Downs of the Illustrating life

The case of the unknown artists, or Who did the early covers for Blue Book?

A couple of weeks ago, as I was going through the May 1907 issue of Blue Book, I realized that the cover was signed but unidentified. Indeed, the FictionMags Index did not have artists attributed for the first few years of the magazine’s existence. From 1912 onwards, the magazine credited the cover artist in the… Continue reading The case of the unknown artists, or Who did the early covers for Blue Book?