Engaging essays on a wide-variety of illustration-based subjects by knowledgable authors, scholars, artists, and students can be explored here.
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.
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.
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.
Making Meaning of Illustration
Michele Bogart, Ph.D. | October 8, 2018 - Thoughts on illustration from the Rockwell Center Society of Fellows' blog series on illustration.
Thoughts on Illustration from the Rockwell Center Society of Fellows
Stephanie Haboush Plunkett | October 1, 2018 - Thoughts on Illustration from the Rockwell Center Society of Fellows' blog series on illustration.
Design and Illustration in the Record Business
Michael Goldstein | August 10, 2018 - An introduction to the designers and illustrators who advanced the importance of album covers and record packaging in the modern music era.
Producing Album Cover Art for Clients in the Music Business
Michael Goldstein | July 19, 2018 - Album covers have benefited from the talents of the people who have worked on them, the tools they had available, and the dynamics of the “Popular Culture” at the time they were created.
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.
Inside Pulp Magazines: Detective Mysteries, Weird Tales, and Fantastic Adventures
Jesse M. Kowalski | January 11, 2018 - Printed on cheap paper, pulp magazines were an inexpensive alternative to "slicks" like "The Saturday Evening Post."
Remembering Uncle Andy
James Warhola | April 27, 2017 - Illustrator James Warhola comments on the exhibition "Inventing America: Rockwell and Warhol," organized by Norman Rockwell Museum.
Artist in the Third Dimension
Chris Spollen | April 17, 2017 - Chris Spollen's inspirations on his artistic journey to create three dimensional art.
Hanna-Barbera: The Architects of Saturday Morning
Jesse M. Kowalski | January 19, 2017 - A history of the world's longest animation partnership, which led the move of animated shorts from film to television and created Saturday Morning Cartoons.
The Life of a Still Image: Comics vs. Animation
Peter Murphey | July 7, 2016 - An examination of the animated and manga versions of Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira."
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.
Reflecting the Soul of a Nation: Polish Poster Art
Frederick Schneider | July 25, 2015 - The posters created in Poland from the 1950s through the 1980s represent a body of work critically important to the histories of visual communication, graphic design, and illustration.
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.