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Home > Essays

Essays in Story Illustration

Engaging essays on a wide-variety of illustration-based subjects by knowledgable authors, scholars, artists, and students can be explored here.

The Red Rose Girls: An alliance for artistic success

Barbara Rundback Venus van Ness | March 8, 2021 - During an era when women were expected to get married, raise children, and manage a household, Elizabeth Shippen Green (1871-1954), Jessie Wilcox Smith (1863-1935), and Violet Oakley (1874-1961) chose to pursue careers in the arts.

Santa in Illustration

Venus van Ness | December 21, 2020 - Images of Santa Claus in the 1800s do not portray the round, jolly, bearded man that we know today. Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, images of Santa morphed through a variety of looks.

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-19th 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.

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.

Genres
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Art Works. National Endowment for the Arts. arts.gov

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"The great band of illustrators have shown us to ourselves and I am proud to be among their company."
- Norman Rockwell

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