Engaging essays on a wide-variety of illustration-based subjects by knowledgable authors, scholars, artists, and students can be explored here.
Mary Hallock Foote: An Artist in the Old West
Richard J. Boyle | April 11, 2020 - This essay by noted art historian and author Richard J. Boyle examines the life and career of Mary Hallock Foote, whose illustrations and writings drew upon her life experiences on the frontier during the late-nineteenth century.
Victor Livoti: Illustration’s Best-Kept Secret
Jeff Christoffersen | March 13, 2019 - A glimpse into the career of a prolific illustrator who painted hundreds of paperback book covers.
Children’s Book Illustrators in the Golden Age of Illustration
Corryn Kosik | June 26, 2018 - A look at some of the most influential illustrators working in 19th and 20th century England during the Golden Age of Illustration.
Pyle as a Picture Maker
James Gurney | September 16, 2015 - Pyle regarded the picture as a stage, and figures as actors in a drama.
Narrative Realism and Pictorial Composition in the Work of Howard Pyle
Frederick Schneider | June 29, 2015 - Narrative realism is an approach to illustration that engages viewers with the content of a story through composition, value, color, body language, facial expression, and the realistic portrayal of actions, events, and character interaction.
Chasing the Muse: Norman Rockwell and the Legacy of Howard Pyle
Stephanie Haboush Plunkett | April 13, 2015 - This essay explores illustrator Howard Pyle's influence on Norman Rockwell and offers consideration of their comparative works.
The Art of Hoarding
| January 10, 2015 - Aubrey Beardsley writes about the relative value of commercial art vs. fine art.