Engaging essays on a wide-variety of illustration-based subjects by knowledgable authors, scholars, artists, and students can be explored here.
Enchanted: Illustrated Fairy Tales
Jesse M. Kowalski | September 23, 2020 - Images depicted alongside centuries-old children's stories reinforced the message conveyed within the tales.
Dan Smith: Rediscovered Star of the World
Alex Bialy | May 27, 2020 - This essay examines the remarkable career of a prolific Golden Age illustrator of full-page Sunday newspaper supplements and painted Western subjects.
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.
Fashion Illustration from the 16th Century to Now
Sarah Goethe-Jones | March 12, 2019 - Fashion illustration not only captures nuance through gesture, but transforms the graphic representation of a garment into an object of desire.
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.
Re-Covering America
Wayne Fields | February 10, 2016 - In post-war America, illustrator Al Parker creates a modern image of women on the covers of national magazines.
The Curious Case of the Stolen Composition
Heather Campbell Coyle | September 18, 2015 - Inspired by John Sloan's "The Sherlock Holmes Puzzle," Heather Campbell Coyle explores the visual history of Sherlock Holmes.
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.