tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70648698083778267742024-03-13T04:10:16.899-07:00Charlie Allen's Blog'The CAWS'. Acronym for 'The Charlie Allen Weekly Scan'. A B&W, and a color example, hopefully....and if for no other reason, just the history (out here) of the ad illustration biz.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-36572300880456613492009-12-09T11:14:00.000-08:002009-12-09T11:44:47.556-08:00I'M LATE....I'M LATE.... FOR A VERY IMPORTANT DATE NO TIME TO SAY HELLO, GOODBYE, I'M LATE, I'M LATE, I'M LATE !This is CAWS 75....a good round number on which to end. At the beginning, I had no idea the scans (or I) would last for 75 weeks. The many ads posted in a year and a half are probably 2/3 of the total done in my career. Many have been lost, proofs sent to clients and AD's that were never returned. Many were not worth saving or showing....but, enough have to get an idea how one western illustrator survived, supported a family, enjoyed his work, and enjoyed the many friends, events, and contacts made over the years.<br /><br />Back to the title, the words are engraved on my memory. I think a quote by the 'White Rabbit' in Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'. When our girls were very young, housebound by winter weather, they played 45 RPM children's records on a small record player. There were narrated and sung children's book stories, played over and over....and over! No 'Sesame Street' or digital toys in the early 50's. Books, dolls and doll furniture, toys and games, comprised the indoor entertainment in those days.<br /><br />Regarding the quote....the CAWS is quite late and long of tooth. Much of it has been work I'd never planned to show. Much of it would bore the socks off a centipede....so it's high time to say, 'Adios Amigos!' One more thing....and surely the most important. I have been surprised and humbled by the number, the knowledge, and the geographical distribution of viewers over the past year and a half. I'm amazed at their kind, appreciative, and too complimentary comments....something not often received back in the working days! Can't thank you folks enough....it's made the weekly blog an adventure and a pleasure. Also super grateful for Leif's never failing weekly efforts putting this thing together. As a card carrying computer klutz, none would have happened without TI, Leif's hard work, historical knowledge and interest in mid-century illustration.<br /><br />A long, garrulous start, but important to say. Now....we'll get on with the scans. First a gouache portrait of our oldest at age seven....still the 'home cooking' theme. Framed and on our bedroom wall for many years. She is surrounded by renditions of some of the story book illustrations of her time. Clockwise from the upper left, an Ernest Shepherd from the Milne books. A 'Little Black Sambo' illustration follows....politically incorrect these days, author unknown. Next, from 'The Real Mother Goose'....'Barber, barber, shave a pig....' Published in 1916, the great art deco illustrations by Blanche Fisher Wright. Our copy, worn and marked, was one of our favorite children's books. From 'Silver Pennies', another old timer, a poem about fairies. The illustrator, and fine deco drawings, are by Winifred Bromhall. Then, Peter Rabbit and last, 'Jemima Puddleduck with the 'Foxy Gentleman'....both illustrated by Beatrice Potter.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2524/4171070545_2ce3bbea7e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2524/4171070545_2ce3bbea7e_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The rest of the scans are from the last business magazine ads that I illustrated....in the early 90's, at age 70, plus or minus. For State Fund, a long and faithful client. This was a series called 'California Natives'....subjects, the California State plant, animal, bird, and various other designated 'natives' of the state. As an old salt by then, the illustrations were intentionally strong on value and color. My attitude was, 'go for broke!' Print media and illustrations were largely gone....why not leave with a statement? State Fund received a lot of letters on these, and ended up making prints to fill requests. First, the California grey whale. It migrates from far north down to Mexico, but is the state marine mammal. Thought about an underwater scene....but wanted to show north coastal California. A breaching grey, with 'sea stacks' jutting from the ocean, to repeat the illustrative theme.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2778/4171827204_4c96b7a7bd_b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 480px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2778/4171827204_4c96b7a7bd_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, the state bird, the California Quail. A popular, charming, friendly resident....mostly crowded out in suburbia these days by too much development.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2751/4171070735_a73dd420b6_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 472px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2751/4171070735_a73dd420b6_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />This is getting long....anyone awake? Following, is the state animal, the Grizzly Bear. Bays, valleys, streams, and more are named 'Grizzly Island', 'Grizzly Bay', and so on. Today, the nearest Grizzly is found in northern Montana, the Canadian Rockies, or in Alaska. The illustration shows a mother Grizzly and cubs....spring time in the Sierras in the early days.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2780/4171827470_4f29fa96e7_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 506px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2780/4171827470_4f29fa96e7_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The California Golden Trout, the state fish, is next....found in streams and small lakes in the very high Sierras.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2639/4171071015_8ab1209f1c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 513px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2639/4171071015_8ab1209f1c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, the state butterfly, the California Dog Face butterfly, named for the colorful design on the wings. These were done in gouache....a fun series to illustrate....thanks to State Fund, Chet Patterson, near retirement at that time, and to Bruce Hettema at PHCreative in Santa Rosa.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2761/4171071121_55051c0b51_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 516px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2761/4171071121_55051c0b51_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />That should do it....and thanks again to all. Mel Blanc was the amazing 'voice' of such famous cartoon characters as 'Bugs Bunny', 'Donald' and 'Daffy Duck', 'Porky Pig', and a host of others. I'll piggyback (pun intended) using the old 'Loony Tunes' sign-off by Porky Pig....'uppitty yuppity yup....that's all folks!' <br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>, which contains <span style="font-weight:bold;">nearly 700 images</span>, encompassing fifty years of professional and personal work!leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-26625240740767085752009-12-03T11:56:00.000-08:002009-12-03T12:10:00.161-08:00'HOME COOKIN TOO'....This week's Caws will continue the non-commercial theme....I think a change on the next one. Getting back to family projects....the first scan for our middle daughter, a silk screen label for an organic deer repellent she had conjured up....and it worked! She lived in Colorado at the time and had all kinds of deer and wildlife that made gardening difficult. The usual problems a product....distribution, advertising, and competition that developed a better mouse trap. The winning repellent, I believe, uses an extract of wolf urine....which lasts longer and works better. The 'O-DEER' title and label idea was hers.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/4156267728_5a522a5893_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 361px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/4156267728_5a522a5893_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, a letterhead, a request from a daughter who was a legal secretary for an L.A. law firm at the time. The attorney who headed the firm was Italian and very active in heading up a charitable foundation called the Heritage Center.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/4155505845_4371a7513f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 177px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/4155505845_4371a7513f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following that, a small self adhesive sticker that was used in my wife's vacation bible class sessions for a couple of summers. The subject, 'one world' studies depicting kids from around the world.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2752/4155505729_811f40b7cf_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 296px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2752/4155505729_811f40b7cf_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The remaining posts are of paintings done over the years on a variety of subjects. Most are framed and on our walls....never have been able to afford other artist's originals! Prints at times....mostly 'Impressionists'. The first of these, a fairly large acrylic on canvas of California native sycamore trees. Gnarly, twisted trees that grow in riparian areas along the coastal hills and mountains. These, about mid-state, were a familiar sight on our trips south. A western Magpie included, beautifully marked and sporting long tail feathers....a slow flying rural resident.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2733/4155505767_4f660e9a55_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2733/4155505767_4f660e9a55_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then, a painting of a Montana ghost town inspired by a small B&W photo. Added were the old car, desert plants, the warm colors, etc. It was done on gessoed board.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2672/4156267696_57cd7aeb78_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2672/4156267696_57cd7aeb78_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Two watercolors follow, both painted while at the Art Center School in 1947. The class was weekly, an 'all day' outdoor watercolor effort....actual working time about 4 hours. The first was painted from a pedestrian overpass of a large rail yard in the industrial section of Pasadena...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/4155505931_fe8bdb9b32_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/4155505931_fe8bdb9b32_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The second near the ocean pier at Venice, California. Our instructor, Ed Reep, a fine watercolorist, would assign the following week's location at each session. It could be anywhere in the large Los Angeles area. When he assigned the night location....we groaned....'You can't paint a watercolor at night!' 'Oh yes you can'....was his reply....'you'll find a way!' At the beach town location, many of us found a way....under a large bar and pool hall marque. To top it off, it was raining! Instead of looking out on the lights and pier, I chose this view across a wet parking lot. It seemed to work out fairly well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2553/4156267848_80ccd1e5fa_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2553/4156267848_80ccd1e5fa_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The last, a fishing boat watercolor at the colorful Fisherman's Wharf district on the San Francisco water front....painted in the 50's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/4155505863_05df09a2ff_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/4155505863_05df09a2ff_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-75503379715494243982009-11-26T08:36:00.000-08:002009-11-26T08:57:28.585-08:00HOME COOKIN'....Retirement in my case was not a sudden thing....as in a nine to five occupation. It happened gradually over many years. Still expect to do <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/3697727844/in/set-72157601497843304/">the yearly 'Olympian' cover portrait</a>....so maybe I'm not retired after all. The scans on this week's CAWS were done in the 80's and 90's....and represent volunteer efforts where needed by family or friends. Every doctor, lawyer, merchant, thief....oops, chief....(must be thinking politicians)....is approached by friends and family for 'advice'....free of course. Artists are, as well, and mostly it was a pleasure to be of help. I've had to turn down a few. Very early on, a neighbor said she'd love to have a painting of parrots over her mantel....and that she would pay 25 or 30 dollars for the painting. I tactfully said I didn't do parrots....and refrained from mentioning the monetary offer.<br /><br />The first scan, 'New Kids in the Cases', was a loose line cartoon used by the Natural Sciences department at the Oakland Museum.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2756/4135622529_2347b085f6_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2756/4135622529_2347b085f6_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />After retirement from her school teaching job, my wife volunteered as a docent in that department. This was a 'wifely' request....can't turn those down! Next, a couple of wine label comps for my brother....planned in one color to hold down costs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2699/4136383342_51166c0e12_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2699/4136383342_51166c0e12_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Retiring from an engineering career in Southern California, he and his wife moved up to Sonoma County, a well known wine growing and making area. He 'engineered' a marvelous wine cellar, outfitted and cooled to a constant temperature needed for storage and the production process. Making good wines is both a science and an art....and a bit of luck for good measure. Amateurs can make, bottle and distribute wines....but not sell them. He won many awards at fairs and competitions....and of course, we benefitted. He chose a third label, not shown here....I think I like these better. <br /><br />A comp for 'Moxie's' follows.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2525/4136383408_0e55b96fb0_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2525/4136383408_0e55b96fb0_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />In the 80's a daughter's friend opened a restaurant in Chico, catering to college students. The name was in honor of his much loved Australian Shepherd. My daughter, a community college art instructor, was the gallery art 'promoter'. Friends and students work....and a bit far out for my tastes. This logo, for some reason, was not used....may have been concern about rights or legalities....whatever. Then another request, influenced by my wife's participation for years in the Lafayette Garden Club. The line cover, front and back, was for their yearly membership directory. The gazebo plantings are maintained by the club.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2516/4136383466_2cc91f8ffc_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 354px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2516/4136383466_2cc91f8ffc_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, two designs produced in silk screen, the first, magnetized boxes for fishing lures.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/4135622743_d37eb3d7f7_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/4135622743_d37eb3d7f7_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Small travel items on the second box.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2727/4136383534_110d4e7d8f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2727/4136383534_110d4e7d8f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Last, and I may need to 'duck' incoming here. Unrelated to the above examples....one was a small comp prep for <a href="http://charlieallensblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/hunter-crouches-in-his-blind-neath.html">the Tejon Ranch painting</a>...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2512/4136383592_0fc4485fbd_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2512/4136383592_0fc4485fbd_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...the other for a remarque.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/4135622931_25062b8e0c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/4135622931_25062b8e0c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Reason....I found this breed fascinating to draw. The strong color pattern, the thick neck, and uniquely faired head and bill shape.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-905374544969813392009-11-18T06:58:00.000-08:002009-11-18T07:26:43.317-08:00'LADY OF STEEL, I ADORE YOU RIGHT FROM THE TIME I FIRST SAW YOU....'Improvising on the old tune, 'Lady of Spain'. I believe Eddie Fisher had a popular rendition of that in the 50's. A song often performed, for some reason, by accordion musicians....and wow, how dated this blog must seem each week! But, that's what it's about. The point is, we'll pay a last visit with the intrepid 'lady of steel'...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2581/4115095328_c5f7582794_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2581/4115095328_c5f7582794_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />... as well as a last look at a few early 50's and 60's black and white illustrations and spots.<br /><br />We'll begin with a '49 small B&W for American President Lines, an early attempt at the 'S.F. style' of line illustration established by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157594246993474/">Ludekins</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72057594067151549/">Galli</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157600047514036/">Bomberger</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1740403/">Haines Hall</a>, Jim Hastings, Willard Cox, and others.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2560/4115093394_d448ce483b_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 623px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2560/4115093394_d448ce483b_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A Chevron (or still Standard Oil) newspaper B&W follows, another early 50's effort, and an attempt to 'paint' with line tones. Not good on this, a complicated subject. I was then, and am still, an admirer of <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles-Dana-Gibson-usual-fans-and-gloves.gif">Charles Dana Gibson</a>....one of the truly great line illustrators way back at the turn of the century. He 'painted' halftones with pen and ink....remarkable. That gave way in our time to cleaner, simpler, line techniques...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2641/4115093576_ac7b8acdfe_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 445px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2641/4115093576_ac7b8acdfe_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...as seen on the 'Yogurt' illustration that follows.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2744/4114324365_22696ed0be_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 935px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2744/4114324365_22696ed0be_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />From this point on, US Steel B&W spots, many in the series seen earlier.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2719/4114325003_d4e34549b3_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2719/4114325003_d4e34549b3_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The first two were before the 'hostess' group...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/4114325113_673b70d1ef_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/4114325113_673b70d1ef_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />... the rest featuring our indomitable 'lady of steel'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2699/4114325275_a1dc5f04ce_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 370px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2699/4114325275_a1dc5f04ce_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Turned out in ads that included four, dozens and dozens over the years...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/4114325617_d650a4c331_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/4114325617_d650a4c331_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...a long running ad series for me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2453/4114325725_c0476335f6_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2453/4114325725_c0476335f6_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The last two or three show her 'bouffant' hair style, popular in the 60's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4114325825_684bac91b8_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4114325825_684bac91b8_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I've kidded about her role in these ads....but you can't blame the advertiser's concept.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2544/4115095224_03f49289c2_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2544/4115095224_03f49289c2_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />What better way to soften up and attract readers to 'cold' steel products? <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4114325455_0c968290c4_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 372px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4114325455_0c968290c4_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The CAWS is nearing the end....and we've heard that song before! Next week a change of subjects, closer to....in fact in....the retirement stage.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-53564013461472733312009-11-12T08:31:00.000-08:002009-11-12T08:45:24.655-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2581/4097827857_448194d644_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2581/4097827857_448194d644_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />'BLIND NONCENTS'<br /><br />MR DUCKS<br />MR NOT DUCKS<br />OSARDUCKS CMWINGS?<br />LIBMR DUCKS<br />MWAS DUCKS<br /><br />We'll deal with the above title at the end of this....nonsense indeed! Returning to last week's Colorado and Rhode Island duck stamp prints, coming along late in my illustration career. Those were published and sold by Steiner Prints in San Francisco. Bob Steiner is a good friend and a 'boomer' artist who, like many, arrived a bit too late for the advertising and editorial illustration world that was available when I started out. He was interested in the wildlife and duck stamp field....and with a lot of hard work and effort became a successful publisher as well as duck stamp and print artist.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2616/4097827923_36249ef08a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 279px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2616/4097827923_36249ef08a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />As mentioned last week the business had changed since the early 80's. Almost all states by the 90's had issued revenue stamps required of hunters. Duck stamps and prints multiplied exponentially....multiple states issuing new stamps each year. Result, multiple prints for sale. Soon the collectible phenomenon of the early 80's was a thing of the past....and even sales of the vaunted Federal duck stamp and print, around since the 30's, were greatly reduced. Colorado was the last 'real' competition that I entered and won....over 150 entries, as I recall, judged by a Colorado Dept. of Wildlife sponsored jury. Then, several years later, Steiner Prints invited several artists to submit entries for the Rhode Island competition. Several more entries came from the state. At that time commissions or royalties were greatly reduced....as well as fewer print sales in a small state. Following those, with an obviously old career, and with the exception of a few more commissioned paintings, that was the end of my duck stamp adventures.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2620/4098585396_8328063cd9_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2620/4098585396_8328063cd9_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Before proceeding, the pencil sketches posted on these blogs were small comps done for two purposes....possible designs for duck stamp entries, or on most, an outline comp for remarques. Remarques were original color or pencil drawings done just below the print....ordered, for an added cost, by some collectors. Finally....we'll get to the color scans. First, two rough gouache comps, one of mallards...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/4098585562_0c5415b813_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/4098585562_0c5415b813_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />... and the other of Canada geese, for duck stamp entries. I believe neither were finished or entered.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2596/4098585750_42ec162f42_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2596/4098585750_42ec162f42_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then a full size entry for, as I recall, a South Carolina competition (it came in high, but no cigar), later framed and sold to a collector.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2497/4098585294_32845c99e6_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 311px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2497/4098585294_32845c99e6_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then a color entry of redheads (ducks!) for a later Nevada competition....showing a typically chilly morning in the Fallon area.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2569/4097827729_2aa646c546_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2569/4097827729_2aa646c546_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Last, a commissioned painting, a large acrylic on canvas, of a collector's hunting area on the Tejon Ranch in the Southern California mountains. He specified and provided camera shots of the particular lake and hills....in late summer! Instructions....show canvasbacks on a windy, stormy, day with a light snowfall....in December....usually good for canvasback duck hunting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2698/4097828175_765dabcfae_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2698/4097828175_765dabcfae_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Because it's on the desktop, we'll end the duck stamp era blogs with a pencil comp....portraying three mallards landing in a rice field in the Sacramento Valley. It was an outline comp for a commissioned painting....a large acrylic on canvas. It was completed and delivered....but for some reason, no record of it now in color.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2634/4098585864_27da464303_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2634/4098585864_27da464303_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Oh yes.... the 'Blind Noncents' code! Should any viewers have the time or interest in providing an 'English translation' under comments, he or she will receive the exalted title (in keeping with our present administration) of 'Czar of Commenters'. Clue....two 'good ol' country boy' duck hunters, standing for hours in a cold blind with little or no action....a mild argument.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-43992673499519162392009-11-02T19:49:00.000-08:002009-11-02T20:45:53.311-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2482/4070663374_5cda413fe6_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 305px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2482/4070663374_5cda413fe6_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />THE HUNTER CROUCHES IN HIS BLIND<br />'NEATH CAMOUFLAGE OF EVERY KIND<br />AND CONJURES UP A QUACKING NOISE<br />TO LEND ALLURE TO HIS DECOYS....<br />THIS GROWN UP MAN, WITH LUCK AND PLUCK,<br />IS HOPING TO OUTWIT A DUCK.<br />OGDEN NASH<br /><br />Thanks and credits to Ogden Nash for the poetic witticism. When I was young my parents had friends who were ardent duck hunters. An often used joke when they served a fancy duck dinner was that it was a hundred dollar a plate meal. Like many hobbies and sports, duck hunting was, and is, a pricey avocation.<br /><br />On this second blog regarding duck stamps and art....one aside on an aspect of duck flight. The interest or allure of bird hunting is the timing and challenge of hitting a fast moving target in the air. Ducks are the 'fighter planes' of the bird world. Fast formation flying and maneuvering....exciting to witness. If it seems odd in a drawing to see a duck in a steep bank with its head in an upright position....it's an accurate portrayal. Their heads and eyes are constantly turning and looking.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/4070383461_473ec13859_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/4070383461_473ec13859_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />California's Stamp competition was limited to California artists, being the more populous state. Nevada's competition was open to artists anywhere in the U.S. More collectors bought prints and stamps sold on the first year....consequently Nevada sold over 1800 prints in 1982. My print followed in 1983, and the state requested I publish the same number of prints so collectors could duplicate their '82 print number....considered valuable in a collection. We cooperated, and sold less than half the total. In California we published over 900 '83 prints, and sold about 3/4. Merely one of the many complications and vagaries of this 'new' business.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4070628278_5310717758_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4070628278_5310717758_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I had to sign and number in pencil under the image on all of the editions, whether sold or not. Sounds easy....but the process, including writer's cramp, went on for a couple of weeks. There were other duties connected....forms and print covers to number, packaging and shipping groups of prints to the publisher and some to individuals. Additionally, drawing and painting dozens of pencil and color remarques for the collectors requesting those, and lots of phone calls to the publisher and retail dealers in and out of state. Busy times! The whole process lasted well into the second year....and I was still illustrating one or two commercial jobs each month. As said, being in the thick of the Duck Stamp Print fad was a learning and a worthwhile venture.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/4070663174_d9aa8efd36_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/4070663174_d9aa8efd36_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The first two scans posted were pencil sketches reproduced on the cover jackets of the California and Nevada prints. This week another wordy CAWS....but it's a large subject to cover. Later on I won two more Duck Stamp competitions....the 1992 Colorado Duck Stamp, <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/4069867955_d0f0078a3c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/4069867955_d0f0078a3c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />and the 1996 Rhode Island stamp...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2642/4069867843_2a6e821fa4_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2642/4069867843_2a6e821fa4_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />... at the age of 74! A bit more on those next week....but by then the business had changed drastically. Next week, we'll mention the differences and show a few collateral paintings and other examples of the duck stamp phase in this long lasting career. For now, we'll post the '92 Colorado print of Pintail ducks, <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/4069868131_9a364cbc74_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/4069868131_9a364cbc74_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />... and the Rhode Island print of a pair of Harlequin ducks over the New England coast. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2576/4070421267_62bbcdfbd5_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2576/4070421267_62bbcdfbd5_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />With dogged determination,<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2472/4070628196_5b1ab47e7c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 409px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2472/4070628196_5b1ab47e7c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />... the CAWS will post one more blog of the duck stamp era including comps and commissioned examples.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-14668315639433858772009-10-26T17:33:00.000-07:002009-10-27T03:55:43.548-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3515/4047768157_11dcbc4ee1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3515/4047768157_11dcbc4ee1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">'I WAS WALKING ALONG, MINDING MY BUSINESS....<br />WHEN OUT OF AN ORANGE COLORED SKY....WHAM! BAM! ALAKAZAM!</span><br /><br />Wait a second....we've used that song! But....that's pretty much the way it happened. Well....no orange colored sky. It was 1981 and business was just so-so, A few lower paying jobs from Gallo, Del Monte, the same old stuff. Ad agencies were shrinking, or gone....newer agencies specializing in TV replaced them....magazines and newspaper ads mostly gone. TV had won the budget battle. The 70's had been a decade of political turmoil, gas lines, hyper inflation....a time when the phrase 'cash is trash' became popular. In spite of double digit interest rates, people were investing in 'limited partnerships', farm and orchard land, other strange odds and ends, and....'collectibles'. One example of this fad became limited edition prints....a 'manufactured collectible'. The business still exists to some extent, though with a fraction of the popularity of the 80's. The CAWS will describe just a bit of the arcane world of limited edition Duck Stamp Prints this week. Two or three more blogs would still not cover the history and lore of that 'collectible' print phase in our time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2494/4048511210_3f588909e3_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2494/4048511210_3f588909e3_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Going back to the title....I was walking by a small frame and print store in nearby Walnut Creek when I noticed a nicely framed and matted 6 1/2 x 9 inch print for sale in the window. The illustration was of a pair of pintail ducks in flight....and a small matted window below the print contained a stamp. I had enjoyed duck hunting a few times each year in the Sacramento Valley during my 40's. At that time for hunters, a Federal duck stamp was required and a California hunting license. I walked in and asked about the print....found out the stamp was a California duck stamp, required of hunters since the mid 70's. Also, that the print was a signed and numbered limited edition print....a larger replica of the stamp....and was the result of a once a year design competition sponsored by the Calif. Dept. of Fish and Game. I sent off for the rules and entry forms....and in 1982 entered the required small 5 x 7 inch design in the competition. Subject, a pair of Green Wing Teal. Although the ad illustration business was highly competitive, this was the first judged competition I had entered in over 30 years of illustration. About 95 designs were entered....and mine was the winner. California was the first state to require a hunters stamp....Nevada and others soon followed. I then discovered Nevada held a competition very similar to California's. A month after the California win, I entered the Nevada contest (no names permitted on the entries)....and from about 150 entries, I won again.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/4048510986_cc00879d13_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/4048510986_cc00879d13_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The CAWS will post a scan of the California 6 1/2 x 9 inch print of Green Wing Teal....and then a scan of the similar size Nevada print of a pair of Gadwall Ducks. Briefly, I learned that I knew very little about the various ducks I had hunted, plucked, and eaten during my hunting years! I also learned that the judges were primarily Fish and Game people, duck hunters, environmental officials, an ornithologist, and one (I believe) college art professor. Later on, with a few artist friends, we called them 'feather counters'. Whatever....I found it was an entirely different ball game from advertising illustration. 1982 was still very early in the duck stamp business....mine was the third or fourth in the California yearly series, and the second year in the Nevada series. I'll post a descriptive blurb from the print cover. The prints, cover, ads, etc. were all published by a small midwest publisher, Voyager Art. The midwest, the center of the huge Mississippi River flyway of migratory waterfowl, was and still is, the center of Duck Stamp related art, and of many wildlife related artists and subjects.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3479/4048512022_ef4382b54c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3479/4048512022_ef4382b54c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/4048511854_572cdf95aa_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/4048511854_572cdf95aa_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/4047768383_90a65b68aa_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 234px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/4047768383_90a65b68aa_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The CAWS will press 'doggedly' on next week with the second chapter of the 1980's duck stamp phase....at least as it related to, by then, an aging career in illustration.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4047767681_f0e516526f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 464px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4047767681_f0e516526f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-31256778676724820882009-10-19T06:31:00.000-07:002009-10-19T06:46:36.147-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3500/4025411203_445b236f7a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3500/4025411203_445b236f7a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />This week's CAWS, which includes four African animal illustrations, offers a chance to quote the well known A.A. Milne and to post a small Ernest H. Shepard illustration or two. Milne, for the few who may not know, was the brilliant children's author from the 1920's who introduced Christopher Robin, Pooh Bear, plus his innumerable friends, to a huge worldwide audience. Ernest Shepard was the equally brilliant illustrator who, with small sketchy line drawings and cartoons, gave the Milne rhymes and stories visual meaning and life. None of the more recent replicas and illustrations for products, videos, and other media have come close to the charm, humor, and creativity of the original Shepard drawings. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/4025411331_bd0a2ea617_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 687px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/4025411331_bd0a2ea617_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I was lucky enough to grow up at the time, the 1920's, when the Milne series was first published, with a smart and foresighted mother who read them to us at an early age. My admiration for Shepard began then and continues to this day.<br /><br />We'll move on to the 'would have been' animal prints from the late 60's and early 70's. I have seldom dated work....at the time it seemed unimportant. Today it would be interesting. These were in acrylic and gouache, done in the then current technique (for me) in those years. Once again, they were 'portraits'....and the animals seem just a bit confrontational.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/4026165600_7c0cecb0ee_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/4026165600_7c0cecb0ee_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The intent was to engage the viewer....not showing violent hunting action....but alert, on guard, aware. The subjects are a pair of African male elephants, a black rhinoceros, a pair of lions, and a leopard in the twilight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/4025413565_a4349c3615_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/4025413565_a4349c3615_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />These were painted on gessoed illustration board....and for some reason, the original size on all of the illustrations in the series was 12 3/4 by 17 1/2 inches.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2686/4026165504_eb8620ec8e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2686/4026165504_eb8620ec8e_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I paired the animals from different reference sources....and the backgrounds and scenes were my concept of African locations.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3535/4025413475_80b6beb8af_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3535/4025413475_80b6beb8af_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Totally unrelated, but to clear the decks, the start of another subject....an antique race car. It was not finished....the gear shift and brake handles on the near side are missing. As said before, old planes and cars appealed to me as subjects....the other subjects chosen for variety....and I still have no idea of the reception by potential customers.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/4026165316_99e251a950_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/4026165316_99e251a950_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Last, another page from Milne's 'When We Were Very Young'? Why not!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/4026163254_73be95c620_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 638px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/4026163254_73be95c620_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />"When We Were Very Young" is © 1924 by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.<br />Copyright Renewal, 1952, by A.A. Milne <br />All Rights Reserved<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-78233879045225808962009-10-14T18:48:00.000-07:002009-10-14T18:54:00.128-07:00HORSING AROUND....From the late 60's and early 70's....another post in the series of prints planned to sell, described in an earlier CAWS. We've shown most, if not all, of the antique auto prints and WWI airplane illustrations. The other two 'selected' categories, four in each, were of horses and African animals. All of these, as mentioned, were 'portraits' of the subjects in what I deemed natural settings. And all were crisp but conservative renderings in gouache. Intended for youngsters and consumer sales, my amateur research indicated that the public cared very little for painting techniques....subject and content were the basic objectives. Many folks I had talked to did not differentiate between photos and illustrations. It was the image, impact, and subject matter that counted. These illustrations were done over two or three years....and at the time to be 'serious' about the project, I thought a backlog of illustrations was needed.<br /><br />The first scan, not one of the intended prints, was our youngest daughter at about seven or eight with our first venture into 'horsedom'....a Shetland pony named 'Trixie'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/4012399049_c87892de26_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/4012399049_c87892de26_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Her only trick, and she was quite adept at it, was a quick shrug or change of pace at a trot....effectively ejecting our daughters onto the ground. She was primarily a 'pettin' pony....combed, brushed, and fed well for several years by our daughters and neighborhood friends. This gouache, in an antique oval frame, has resided on our bedroom wall for many years.<br /><br />Following, the four horse prints as mentioned.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2613/4012399111_eacb631288_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 296px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2613/4012399111_eacb631288_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Horses seem to come in as many breeds, sizes, and differences as the canine world. Many we see are a mix called the American saddle horse....somewhat generic. These scans show the purer breeds....each 'designed' to do well for given events or purposes. The scenes were done from B&W photo reference of individual horses plus created locations.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2538/4013167562_8d04732a72_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2538/4013167562_8d04732a72_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Black and white reference was actually preferable and offered freedom for color interpretation and composition. On the thoroughbred racing scene, I had a good shot of the horse, and separate shots of the modified Santa Anita track in southern California. The San Jacinto mountain range was in the background. The painting of the Morgan horse and the scene ( the English saddled and dressed rider) was made up, with the exception of the jumper....as were the fields and hills behind the corral fenced black Arabian.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2536/4012399235_76229d44bf_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2536/4012399235_76229d44bf_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />In the 1950's our fields and hills to the south of Walnut Creek were that pristine. Now, and sadly, mostly developed with streets and homes. The rodeo illustration was, again, from B&W reference. Had good reference on the Quarter Horse and calf roper....the buttes and hills were my idea of an Arizona location.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2669/4013167700_2e9dc0a3d9_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2669/4013167700_2e9dc0a3d9_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next week, I have a hunch we'll pay a quick visit to Africa.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set.</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-87190515816560757442009-10-06T09:42:00.000-07:002009-10-06T09:52:45.608-07:00'WHERE ARE THE CLOWNS?'Well....many are right here in the California State Legislature....and a whole passel more are our elected representatives and senators in the U.S. Congress. And, I might add, are about as sad in performance and demeanor as this weeks' first scan of an Art Center model back in 1947. This was from an illustration class....the difference....he was a real McCoy clown.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/3986973173_ca6a6909e0_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 658px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2555/3986973173_ca6a6909e0_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Before proceeding, however, the above lyric title line is from the fine show and popular song composed by Stephen Sondheim, 'Send In The Clowns'. The Broadway musical was called, I believe, 'A Little Night Music', and here recommended if available on DVD or otherwise.<br /><br />The posed clown study was done in an illustration class, a one half or all day pose, and one of the early gouache illustrations I had tried. The school was fortunate to be located fairly near Hollywood....and in those days there were numerous 'extras' and characters from the film industry available for a days' modeling job at Art Center. Following that, a gouache cartoon done about the same time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/3986973581_d158048f51_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 147px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/3986973581_d158048f51_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The illustration assignment....portray a person or persons succeeding in spite of difficult or dangerous conditions. I was too busy at the time to try a 'cliffhanger' or serious illustration attempt....so took the easier road with the cartoon. The instructor was not all that pleased, as I recall, but it got the assignment done.<br /><br />Still going back to 'roots', a small southern California magazine, 'Western Family', used illustrated covers. I made a sketch for this while at Art Center and did the speculative illustration during 1948, my first year at Patterson and Hall. The magazine accepted it....and I was paid the grand amount of $75 for the design. Considering the post-war economy, that was almost to be expected from a publication of that kind.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2472/3987728090_af2532e3ff_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 551px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2472/3987728090_af2532e3ff_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, several years later in the 50's, a 'sample' painted during 'down' time....ergo, a slow period. I had clipped a small B&W photo of the glass carriers from a magazine. It fascinated me....and the men were almost as interesting in character as shown in the illustration. I placed them in an industrial setting in color and loosened up....this was the result.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3986974535_dc0963cae3_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3986974535_dc0963cae3_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, four small rough concept comps done in the 50's, as a start toward better comps.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2424/3987729124_a310db2a64_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2424/3987729124_a310db2a64_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Again, during a slow period....the purpose, a 'western' calendar theme.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/3986975519_3dbc37b030_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/3986975519_3dbc37b030_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />There were theme calendars, and several calendar publishers in those days. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2577/3986975737_6688188d17_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2577/3986975737_6688188d17_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The project was really too ambitious for the time available between jobs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/3986976291_f231981b3e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/3986976291_f231981b3e_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />These were pretty much off the top, and a lot more time and research would have been needed to go further.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set.</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-30202331544905105052009-09-28T07:49:00.000-07:002009-09-28T07:56:56.333-07:00'MY WALK WILL BE DIFFERENT....MY TALK AND MY NAME.... NOTHIN' ABOUT ME'S GONNA BE THE SAME....'Again, the upbeat old tune, 'There'll be some changes made'....from the 30's. The change I noticed in 1980 when painting these Matson subjects was that I felt older. Not physically, but I was 58 and had been illustrating actively in San Francisco for over 30 years. On my occasional visits to clients and agencies, and even at P&H, many of the artists and AD's were in their 20's or 30's. I was the 'old guy' and feeling a touch of discrimination. Naturally, I overlooked the early days when I and others of my generation were the 'new kids' on the block....replacing many older illustrators.<br /><br />We're back to the Matson Centennial brochure and my third painting, originally planned for Carl Evers. Before getting to that, a comment on the SS Monterey illustration posted last week. One 'old salt' at a Matson hosted luncheon asked why I had omitted the gun tub on the bow of the ship. It seems when the troop ships had been modified and painted grey for military service, several gun installations were added....bow to stern. I told him the only reference provided was of the 'Lurline' and 'Monterey' in peacetime white....no gun tubs! At that time I had just received a B&W photo of the SS Enterprise, Matson's first non-sail freighter. Once again, an ancient photo....and the only reference Matson had of the ship. The same 'salty gentleman' had served on Matson ships since the early 20's. I asked him if he knew what colors were used on the 'Enterprise'....the hull looked pure black....and neither Matson nor agency people had an idea. He replied, 'we called it brindle-shit brown!' I don't think Windsor-Newton gouache included that color....but the hull was duly illustrated in various shades of umber, the super structure, Matson yellow with white trim.<br /><br />Going back, a better scan of the 'Emma Claudina' photo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2628/3962044539_ba83e2b2d1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 462px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2628/3962044539_ba83e2b2d1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />In this it had become a coastal lumber schooner. They were often heavily loaded....a mere foot or two above water line. Next, a poor scan of an early comp done before the Claudina painting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2421/3962820324_140051b77c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2421/3962820324_140051b77c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following, and finally, the 'SS Enterprise' in 1902 at Hilo Harbor, on the big island of Hawaii. The 13,700 foot Mauna Kea volcano in the background, at times of the year snow covered....in a tropical climate! The Enterprise was a small freighter, the first oil powered ship in the Pacific. It took general cargo and 22 well fed travelers....at $50 per trip!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/3962820640_38d22d7224_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/3962820640_38d22d7224_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, a commission several years later from the Matson Company direct. They wanted a large oil or acrylic painting on canvas to present as a gift to an old Japanese shipping company, NYK Lines, on its' centennial anniversary. The companies had cooperated for many years with shipments, ports and facilities, and deliveries. The subject was NYK's first container ship leaving San Francisco bay.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3962820872_fca2dfca27_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 329px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3962820872_fca2dfca27_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />On the painting (this copy is my only record) I used both oils and acrylics. It was finished and framed in the mid 80's. The dark Golden Gate bridge was it's usual industrial red in the painting.<br /><br />Last, and displaying my limited marine painting portfolio, a color comp for one of those 'less established' clients that have been mentioned on CAWS....a client that needed better 'vetting'. At the time, president of the S.F. Yacht Club, he owned and raced a high tech crewed sail boat and wanted a painting for his Marin Co. Savings and Loan office. Also, he wanted to see a sample of sail boats on the bay. I knew nothing about his yacht....and whipped out this comp.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2558/3962045461_1d021302e7_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 296px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2558/3962045461_1d021302e7_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />He put it down as 'small time', and ordered a painting of his boat on a windy, stormy day, the GG Bridge in the background. Also he finally produced a photo of his Class (?) racing boat. The painting was completed and accepted....but never paid for! Another story for another time!<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set.</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-20222114558155372922009-09-22T18:44:00.000-07:002009-09-22T18:56:25.595-07:00'THERE'LL BE A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER....A CHANGE IN THE SEA.... FROM NOW ON THERE'LL BE A CHANGE IN ME....'One of the great old pop songs from the early 30's, composed by Billy Higgins, if not mistaken. I seem to recall Fats Waller had one of his classic piano and vocal renditions of the tune. Yep. the CAWS doesn't need to remind....all together now....'change is the constant!'<br /><br />In the late 70's both print media and the ad business had changed drastically. Gone were the billboards, many of the magazines, most of the big print ad budgets. TV was taking over. A lucrative illustration assignment in San Francisco was rare. Sometime in 1979 it came as a welcome surprise to receive a call from Allen-Dorward with a request for three large marine paintings....for an ambitious Matson Centennial brochure. Three known ship or marine artists had been commissioned by the agency. I was the fourth artist selected. Included was Carl G. Evers from the east coast....a well known and widely published marine artist. I had clipped Evers ad illustrations over the years with great admiration for his talents. The project had already begun....Evers had completed his first of two. The painting subject, a modern Matson container ship approaching Hawaii. Evers was 82 at the time....and the dozens of tiny Matson logos on the container ship boxes caused his hand to cramp up. He complained....and chose to do only the one painting. Hence....I was offered three paintings instead of two.<br /><br />As usual, these stories get too long. I was not known as a 'marine' painter....but helping out in this case, the AD for the marine paintings was a former BBD&O art director. I had illustrated Matson tourist ads for him (earlier posted on CAWS)....his name now escapes me....and I must assume he chose based on trust. The painting size was to be a minimum of 19 x 25 inches....large for my style of work....and the paintings were to be hung in the Matson building offices in San Francisco. The medium could be oils, acrylic, or gouache. Evers was a master at gouache painting....and because I was more familiar with it, I chose to 'emulate' Mr. Evers. There was no way to match Carl Evers masterful handling of the sea....and it meant a lot of homework and study to attempt the various moods and conditions of the ocean. It also meant returning to a more academic style of painting. That was mentioned earlier on CAWS.<br /><br />The scans will begin with three of the opening pages in the 12 x 18 inch well designed brochure.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/3946546770_03fdcc25ba_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/3946546770_03fdcc25ba_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The art director on the brochure design was a beautiful and talented young Chinese lady, Winnie Lum. The pages were on heavy stock, spiral bound....and the well written brochure covered 100 years of Matson history from sailing ships to modern container ships. Each painting was accompanied by a brief history of service and accomplishments.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2577/3945764473_d698d46db9_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2577/3945764473_d698d46db9_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The second introductory page shows a dark, indistinct photo of a three masted schooner, the 'Emma Claudina', William Matson's first sailing ship. This ancient B&W photo of the heavily loaded schooner was the only reference Matson possessed and provided for my first painting. It required a lot of research in libraries, books on sailing vessels, and time spent at the S.F. Maritime Museum to accurately portray a profile view of the 'Emma Claudina'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2548/3945764761_5f4d04fefa_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 554px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2548/3945764761_5f4d04fefa_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Illustrating it in heavy seas in the mid-Pacific was still another challenge.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2484/3946547316_5a98acd55c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2484/3946547316_5a98acd55c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The painting of the SS Monterey, in wartime duty as a troop carrier in the Mediterranean, was the second painting requested. Both paintings were done in 1980. Monterey had been one of two Matson tourist liners to Hawaii....before the age of air travel in the Pacific. In WWII both ships served valiantly as troop carriers, mostly on the Atlantic side. In this scene, the convoy had been under attack by German bombers. The Monterey survived and rescued over 1600 Canadians from the former Grace Lines troop ship.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2648/3946547462_3a78ac8ef2_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 307px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2648/3946547462_3a78ac8ef2_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I wanted to illustrate the attack....but the agency stated, 'we don't want to start WWII all over again....just show the rescue!' The smoke screen depicted was put up by escort destroyers in an attempt to protect the convoy. Pencil comps were made and approved by the agency and Matson ad people before the paintings were begun.<br /><br />Last, the illustration by Carl Evers of the Matson container ship 'Kauai'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2546/3946566064_21241d4d41_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2546/3946566064_21241d4d41_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A typically professional and inspiring gouache by Mr. Evers. It was a loss that he didn't complete the second painting. The brochure story will continue in next week's CAWS.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-10514202601482750702009-09-15T10:04:00.000-07:002009-09-15T10:23:16.792-07:00MORE 'NOT SO GOLDEN' OLDIES....It's really Leif's fault! Earlier in the week I had complained that these ancient ads were boring the pants (maybe it was the socks) off viewers. He hastened to assure that the Nielsen ratings were soaring....or maybe it was Google, and maybe slightly up....details, details! For better or worse, the CAWS will stuff most of the remaining old ads in this week's blog....and hopefully take a new tack next week. That's a sailing term, as I recall.<br /><br />Not in any sequence on these, part of a Washington Apple store banner....the fruit against a 'carved' wood sign board.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/3923371948_c782f958b3_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 279px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2632/3923371948_c782f958b3_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then a Safeway house-brand coffee halftone of a lady shopper, from 1951, and hopefully not a repeat.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/3922586033_0e317d6d42_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 481px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/3922586033_0e317d6d42_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A Kaiser Chemical green and black duotone illustration for a trade ad....an early 50's gouache rendition. Kaiser had a steel manufacturing division....in addition to Aluminum, auto manufacturing, refractory products, as well as other enterprises.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2590/3922586445_d629072c36_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 346px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2590/3922586445_d629072c36_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />And while Kaiser Chemical is the subject, another gouache duotone illustration for the refractory part of the business....proof dated on this, 1952.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/3922586539_932e78fd14_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 348px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/3922586539_932e78fd14_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A tad 'menacing' would be apt....but anything to get attention!<br /><br />Next, two halftone ads for Pan American....for Hawaiian newspapers in '56. A couple of others in this series have been posted...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2600/3923484230_4a1913480a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 325px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2600/3923484230_4a1913480a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...and done in the 'square' style mentioned a week or two back.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3923484012_29124dca57_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 549px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3923484012_29124dca57_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following, four B&W line ads for Chevron....again from the 1950's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3150/3923483824_a636f257b1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3150/3923483824_a636f257b1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The first two are both semi cartoon illustrations, and both part of larger newspaper ads.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/3922697593_3224960efb_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 167px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/3922697593_3224960efb_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The second two are also partial ads....in the more literal line style I normally used. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/3923516230_1e8da9c78f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 679px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/3923516230_1e8da9c78f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />It is obvious today, the 1950's was a time of great variety, and of plentiful ad assignments....a condition and state of business that we didn't really appreciate enough at the time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2517/3923516304_1bc583ac33_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 202px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2517/3923516304_1bc583ac33_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />No one had an idea that major changes in print media were coming in the next 10 to 15 years.<br /><br />A Pac Bell employment poster follows....about 15 x 20 inches in size....and the scan is from the poster. This came along in the early 60's and demonstrates a difference in approach. These heads were what I'd call 'generic'....nice looking young people drawn without photo reference. In the 50's, model shots would have been taken. However, not needed or wanted by me or by the client in the 60's. I'm pretty sure this was the ad that caused the dispute mentioned earlier on CAWS....about the AD, or client, who wanted an ever darker skin color on the girl on the left. Different times, indeed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3530/3923516392_91d29cc84b_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 198px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3530/3923516392_91d29cc84b_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, a Western Pacific train ad from the early 50's....a very poor scan from an old news clip.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/3922837779_5df299e54f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 390px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/3922837779_5df299e54f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then a simplified Burgie head logo for shipping boxes. Done in three flat colors, as I recall, due to a silk screen or basic printing process for boxes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3423/3923624600_edb069d2bf_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3423/3923624600_edb069d2bf_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Last, for Schilling seasoning products, a B&W line illustration of a Mexican casserole. Line art to illustrate food....and trying to keep the subject appetizing....was a difficult assignment.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3621/3922837623_a060db6985_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 543px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3621/3922837623_a060db6985_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Dan Romano in San Francisco was probably the best illustrator in that field.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-22716827130186301822009-09-08T06:24:00.000-07:002009-09-08T06:44:13.377-07:00'.....OLD, NEW, BORROWED, AND BLUE'Something old has never been a problem on CAWS....it's all old! The question becomes....Pleistocene, or Jurassic? As I reach the bottom of the venerable proof drawer, there is old, and then older. The examples bring a fresh reminder of how poor were my attempts for the first two years or so, in San Francisco. On some, even longer. Many of the old proofs are missing or will never see the light of day. Progress was there....but slowly. As said before, it was a steep 'on the job' learning curve. With classic youthful optimism when first interviewed, thought I was ready for 'prime time'. The moral is to all young artists....find a market, hang in, and work hard....there is hope!<br /><br />We'll start with blue, at least partially so. A full page late 50's Burgie ad in the SE Post....and one that I've avoided. Not my favorite illustration....both subject and handling. A photo op at the Sausalito marina was arranged by BBD&O....photo subject, someone's boat, as shown. The AD also wanted included the background homes, hillsides, etc. An illustration that just never came off....as much my fault as the concept.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/3900254352_8f838825e2_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/3900254352_8f838825e2_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A Washington State Apple POS poster follows. Large, 20 x 30 inches, and here, a patio photo of it....so not a good scan. At full size and in the store, it was not as hard edged appearing as on the scan.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2590/3899472127_36ee15385f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2590/3899472127_36ee15385f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, one more Dodge two color newspaper ad....a 1968 Dodge Polara. I still think the series of four illustrations were bright, effective ads.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3899472249_2b3de27263_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3899472249_2b3de27263_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A few B&W illustrations follow. The first, a news ad for the Villages, a large south bay home and golf course development encouraging seniors and retirees.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/3900254720_d6180d10a4_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 521px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/3900254720_d6180d10a4_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then a newspaper ad for Hill's Brothers Coffee, from the 50's. A good friend posed for the postman. He was actually with the FBI....and was warned to NOT pose for any more ads!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3899472619_7be4e2d50a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3899472619_7be4e2d50a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A simple line ad for an east bay Marriot Hotel is next in line...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2498/3900254978_c37e62fff1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 374px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2498/3900254978_c37e62fff1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...and then a very early '49 or '50 ad for Levis for boys. The 'stove pipe' look on the pants was, I'm sure, established by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157600047514036/">Bruce Bomberger</a> on a fine series of Levis billboards....and the client liked the look. This was an early attempt for me to break into the 'better' ads.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2620/3900255074_3e3321e677_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 474px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2620/3900255074_3e3321e677_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Last of the B&W's an early Hexol ad....several have been posted before. Yes, back in the days when boys and girls were bathed together in the same tub!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2648/3900255222_31a7a6dc9a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 593px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2648/3900255222_31a7a6dc9a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, three more of the early 70's antique autos...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3428/3899473049_80cc122282_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3428/3899473049_80cc122282_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...the first two from prints...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3491/3900255418_c10e9d3322_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3491/3900255418_c10e9d3322_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />... and the third from a reduced copy of a fairly large original. It portrays a 1929 Kissel convertible, complete with 'his and hers' golf bags attached....from the 'roaring twenties'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2568/3900255554_9811570051_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 296px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2568/3900255554_9811570051_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Not sure if this was really finished....but close enough.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-90881012380450691892009-08-31T19:38:00.000-07:002009-08-31T19:57:44.468-07:00THIS AND THAT....ODDS AND ENDSShould be a relaxed CAWS this week, and maybe the next. No series, just cleaning house, as it were. No philosophical or geo-political meanderings....except, as an old friend used to quip when a discussion got off subject....'what's that got to do with the price of eggs in China?' Obviously, nothing, so we'll try to stay on the illustration subject.<br /><br />First, a 50's PG&E halftone for newspapers, a wintertime emergency crew illustration. BBD&O provided a photo of the trailer and rain gear in use at the time. I came up with the scene of downed power lines. Their biggest concern was....make sure both workers are wearing safety glasses!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2545/3876863466_c5996abe20_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 346px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2545/3876863466_c5996abe20_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, an early PG&E ad promoting, or maybe acknowledging, the building of the Vallecitos nuclear plant in the east bay hills. If memory serves, it didn't last long, and was soon removed entirely. A similar nuclear generator in Eureka, CA, also had a fairly limited life.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2441/3876863378_6d1187334c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 419px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2441/3876863378_6d1187334c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then two line plus color illustrations, agency McCann Erickson, client Ortho Chemical.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2594/3876073049_4c6b50b2a7_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 438px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2594/3876073049_4c6b50b2a7_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I think these were for gardening magazines such as 'Sunset' and possibly for trade ads.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2534/3876863070_aa666d8d2f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 552px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2534/3876863070_aa666d8d2f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following, a rather poor scan from a photo taken on the patio, a point of sale box poster for a wine called 'Annie Green Springs'. Very much like the Gallo POS ads which we've seen, but a product of another wine company. It came at about the same time, in the 60's, promoting the cheaper 'fad' wines of the those days<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/3876072609_653f598e24_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/3876072609_653f598e24_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A large menu cover next....for Farrell's, a California chain of restaurants. Difficult to scan and Leif is piecing this together....good luck! The idea, a turn of the century or early 1900's painted sign board. It was a collaborative effort with artist/designer Jack Martin at P&H. He designed the comp and lettering styles, I did the finished art, including the lettering.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3462/3876072737_997a9474f5_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 579px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3462/3876072737_997a9474f5_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Still clearing, an early 50's B&W line illustration for Chevron. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/3381527675/in/set-72157601497843304/">A similar ad has been posted before, with two car passengers.</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2430/3876072467_bef0b59cb6_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 434px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2430/3876072467_bef0b59cb6_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then a B&W for newspapers, Southern California Edison, I think the client. A promotion for Palos Verdes Research Park, light industry in an expensive area. The agency wanted Catalina Island shown in the distance....visible just a few days a year. When seen, it does look 'perched' on the horizon. This again from the 50's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/3876862346_cd44d74700_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 496px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/3876862346_cd44d74700_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following, a close up color scan sent months ago by Bruce Hettema of P&H Creative in Santa Rosa. It was from a Chevron billboard showing a 'Senator Claghorn' (old radio character) type of politician. Sig Beartown of P&H posed....a frequent model in our ads. This shows my gouache painting technique pretty clearly.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3432/3876072017_e3bcf44dc1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 319px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3432/3876072017_e3bcf44dc1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Last, last....another visit from our brave 'Lady of Steel' (we may never run out of these spots)....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2526/3876862056_0b693ff526_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2526/3876862056_0b693ff526_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...still 'out standing in her field' in high heels and light clothing,<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2675/3876861488_e33a856251_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2675/3876861488_e33a856251_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />regardless of weather and rigorous conditions!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2580/3876071757_58e120046d_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2580/3876071757_58e120046d_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-37459648992726800572009-08-24T05:59:00.000-07:002009-08-24T06:09:59.764-07:00'....OF SHOES AND SHIPS AND SEALING WAX, OF CABBAGES AND KINGS!'I believe a quote by the 'Walrus' in Frank Baum's great classic, 'The Wizard of Oz'. Meaning here....maybe 'trivial' in most of our lives.... the subjects and product promotions of the huge advertising world. A very necessary part of commerce, of course....and though generally banal....advertising was, and still is, an important venue for writers, performers, and artists who might otherwise wither away!<br /><br />Had a brief discussion with Leif this week....in which I labeled (not libeled!) one of the old time ad and editorial illustrators as 'square as a bear'. I think I'm qualified (I believe called 'street creds' in today's parlance) to make the square critique, being a prototype model myself. My work didn't loosen up until the 60's and 70's. After that, I retreated back into 'squaredom', as we shall soon see. This week's CAWS will post some 50's ads that will surely verify these musings on 'squareness'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2673/3851607751_2fc12cb840_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 553px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2673/3851607751_2fc12cb840_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />First, from1953, four B&W newspaper ads for Lucky Lager Beer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2426/3852402180_4f56c66b56_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 530px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2426/3852402180_4f56c66b56_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />These were done in the Higgins ink wash technique that I preferred for halftones in those days.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/3852402014_66f1d99bdc_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 552px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/3852402014_66f1d99bdc_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Very square....but that was the era for it. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2329/3851607281_19c708f52a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 547px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2329/3851607281_19c708f52a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then a B&W line illustration for 'Morris Plan', a good client in 1950 when the ad was done. Vintage clue....the black cradle phone. The illustration, square as it was, was another 'break through' B&W for a young illustrator....new and other clients were added from this.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2664/3852423890_8e874772b1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 491px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2664/3852423890_8e874772b1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following that, one of the early 50's line PG&E consumer ads trumpeting low electrical rates in California. No more! Pen and brush and ink, this one of the college town of Chico was scanned from an old newspaper clip.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3490/3851628909_44ca83cdd8_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3490/3851628909_44ca83cdd8_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, one of the Potlatch Forests ads....a couple of those were posted earlier. This one on 'Presto Logs'....a very popular product in those days. The young model and her German short-haired pointer, and her parents, were good friends.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/3852424144_f962da6938_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 547px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/3852424144_f962da6938_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />She's now a boomer mom of young adults.<br /><br />Last....a change of pace....and not sure this fits the 'square' category! Again from a yellowed news clip, a B&W line plus green cartoon illustration for Acme Beer....a seasonal 'bock beer'. My Webster describes 'Bock' as a traditional Bavarian dark beer, drunk in the early spring. Can we assume that after a cold, snowy, Bavarian winter, the dark brew had them feeling a bit like big-horn rams? <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2516/3851629267_cd47731bdb_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2516/3851629267_cd47731bdb_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Dunno....cheers!<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-38121873025262923552009-08-18T06:58:00.000-07:002009-08-18T07:29:18.957-07:00'WHEN OUT OF AN ORANGE COLORED SKY.... FLASH....BAM....ALA-KAZAM !....'Obviously, we'll do anything to tie an old song into the weekly CAWS title. The lines were from a 1950's pop tune....Nat King Cole had a fine arrangement of it. Those two, maybe a bit off, are 'close enough for jazz', as the saying used to go. Probably due to working in my home studio from the late 50's on....and listening to radio talk shows and several DJ's playing 'top 40' tunes. Still remember parts and pieces of the era's music. A good live radio show then was Arthur Godfrey, who hosted different musicians including pianist Errol Garner, a favorite of mine. Again, I digress from illustration....maybe just as well!<br /><br />The first three scans are from a 70's typical 4 x 9 inch pamphlet, this for AT&T....done in line, halftone and one color.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2576/3833003773_b00043d627_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 441px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2576/3833003773_b00043d627_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The orange color was actually a second grey halftone....it was cheaper that way....but a bit of a guessing game.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/3833798422_0ae6809d9c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 313px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/3833798422_0ae6809d9c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The ad was intended for rural land owners back when thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable were being laced through the land.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/3833003213_7cf2143326_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 446px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/3833003213_7cf2143326_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following those, four small prints (roughly 6 x 9 inches) from a San Francisco Savings and Loan....goal, more savings and more loans.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2623/3833002997_929e500c9f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2623/3833002997_929e500c9f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />It may have been S.F. Federal, where we had an account in a branch near us.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/3833797722_3b5f9cea87_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/3833797722_3b5f9cea87_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Done in the late 60's, printed in sepia ink on a toned paper....and offered to customers....it was illustrated at the height of the 'acrylic craze'. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2627/3833797582_60a9dec0f1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2627/3833797582_60a9dec0f1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The art director's instructions, in keeping with the era, were to 'keep them loose'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3833001737_765b09ce33_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3833001737_765b09ce33_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The scans could be better....but loose they were.<br /><br />Then, clearing decks, a P&H promo ad from the early 50's, a B&W ink wash of a cowboy. A couple of eastern AD's had me down as a 'western' illustrator from this.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3579/3833001247_dec7de5de1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 507px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3579/3833001247_dec7de5de1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Again, the scan could be better....as is the case on the last two. Done in the 50's, a full page newspaper ad promoting winter sports in and around Reno. From a news proof, I copied and pieced the 19 inch figure....a 50% reduction....hence not good fidelity. It depicts a lovely model and the 'latest' in ski fashions.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2434/3833001559_7e23198363_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 968px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2434/3833001559_7e23198363_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Also included, displaying some of Reno's amenities (not including their 'main sport'....gambling!), a few B&W spots from the right side of the ad.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2455/3833796192_295a19a448_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 1107px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2455/3833796192_295a19a448_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-34191690993744079032009-08-12T07:33:00.000-07:002009-08-30T07:53:23.611-07:00MONTAGE MANIA....The CAWS has already posted scads of montages....and these should be the last of that genre. Genre....montage...collage....how many French words we use in the English language every day. Had an omelette for breakfast, a baguette for lunch, a croissant with coffee. Almost everything about an airplane is French....aviator to begin with....fuselage, empennage, aileron, canard (forward horizontal stabilizer as on my homebuilt). Enough wandering here! Montages were around when I produced illustrations for our high school year book in my junior year (they were not good!). Those yearly epic productions always included photo montages of students hamming it up at sports events, rallies, dances, or even posing for local ads. For some reason on the west coast, montages became a 60's and 70's fad once again....and I certainly contributed my share. I don't think eastern illustrators in the same years experienced the trend to the same degree.<br /><br />First (and at great professional risk!), I'll post three high school year book illustrations. Montages, way back then, done in some kind of pencil technique on Strathmore drawing paper....at age 16.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2542/3814150843_4d336f12ca_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 592px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2542/3814150843_4d336f12ca_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I was art editor for the 1939 Owl that year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3490/3814961052_588d74ffdc_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 604px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3490/3814961052_588d74ffdc_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The main purpose of these scans is to demonstrate to all young artists to hang in....there is hope!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/3814151029_43b9cc5c6c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 583px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/3814151029_43b9cc5c6c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then a group of brochure illustrations for State Fund.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/3814960548_f81ee18862_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 244px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/3814960548_f81ee18862_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />As said before, the type of services and business that State Fund represented led to brochures, and to portraying the diverse occupations covered by accident insurance.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3512/3814150637_aaf9a5a9ec_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 247px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3512/3814150637_aaf9a5a9ec_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />These were done in Charcoal pencil, reproduced in one or two colors.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/3814960250_b97a727a7f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 178px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/3814960250_b97a727a7f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3473/3814150337_b40046724d_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 249px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3473/3814150337_b40046724d_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2427/3814959972_af5d49c0c5_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 194px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2427/3814959972_af5d49c0c5_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following, three nibbed pen illustrations with added color, printed on colored stock. They were for Medi Fund, a medical equipment leasing company.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2665/3814149865_6c2b9b929d_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 522px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2665/3814149865_6c2b9b929d_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Montages again....that got a bit carried away, as I see them today. Done in the 70's, no doubt pushed for time and from trying to look mod or cool!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/3814959830_d1f78b451c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 443px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/3814959830_d1f78b451c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />As said the restless late 60's and early 70's environment encouraged new styles and a new look in advertising. Not just advertising....it really affected the entire culture.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3468/3814959504_1feffe360e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 442px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3468/3814959504_1feffe360e_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, a pamphlet for a very small client....a rather simple montage.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3814149503_49a4362116_b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 1000px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3814149503_49a4362116_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />For a historical cemetery being newly restored, plus buildings added, a couple of charcoal pencil drawings reproduced in two colors. Again I owe thanks to P&H design/layout guys for their essential roles in these.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3814959252_90dcd800e3_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 189px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3814959252_90dcd800e3_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Obviously, I used the Charcoal pencil technique often in those years....and still think it effective. This week should pretty much do it for montages.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-73162074847617725702009-08-05T10:10:00.000-07:002009-08-06T04:52:30.619-07:00'OUT....OUT....DAMNED SPOT!'If correct, a quote from Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'....Lady Macbeth's impassioned plea in that classic tragedy. From an old memory when I was young, my mother's occasional humorous quote when something spilled. To get to the point, a 'spot' in the 50's or 60's illustration world was any small illustration job, usually in B&W line. Our comments then might have been, 'In....in....more spots! The more the merrier. The reason, at least it was conjectured, you could earn more with frequent small spots than with bigger, more complicated jobs that required more time and effort to complete. I tended to agree....a small illustration was less of a challenge, a bit more fun to work on, and changed the pace. The CAWS will post some of those this week....maybe a repeat or two....having a short memory. Most are pretty boring....but hey, it was advertising!<br /><br />First in line are five spots for Bank of California...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/3792747070_9f81e99fb6_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 405px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/3792747070_9f81e99fb6_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...don't recall the agency, but a good client. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2499/3791933147_c4be1638b1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 471px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2499/3791933147_c4be1638b1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Printed images were about two by three inches.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3792747280_d7c53a14b5_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 716px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3792747280_d7c53a14b5_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2673/3791933377_a47c4695f7_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 615px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2673/3791933377_a47c4695f7_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The last of these (below) was from a photostat, the method of reproduction quality copies in those days. They were used, but don't have ad proofs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3792747774_61e96f651e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 806px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3792747774_61e96f651e_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The next two were from the back of 'Telephone News' mailers....some of the cover illustrations were posted earlier on CAWS.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3792747534_fce1a905ec_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 655px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3792747534_fce1a905ec_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The 'Fort Point' spot needed some sea gulls, or something for action. Very static, and probably done in a hurry.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/3792747670_8199250aec_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 697px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/3792747670_8199250aec_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following are four spots, again for Pac Tel, promoting the 'outstanding' job opportunities at the company.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/3791934201_ec31c10f30_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 811px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/3791934201_ec31c10f30_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3791934035_c2ce6b34de_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 383px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3791934035_c2ce6b34de_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />As pointed out many times here, check the inflation rate since that time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2430/3792747854_7ea4223e54_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 532px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2430/3792747854_7ea4223e54_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Hold your hats....it's going to happen again!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/3792748108_f30dc57029_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 825px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/3792748108_f30dc57029_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then a B&W spot for Castle and Cooke bananas...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3437/3791933965_c4758182d0_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 531px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3437/3791933965_c4758182d0_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...and an Ortho Chemical job. I seem to recall the headline was done first and my illustration matched the perspective.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/3792748328_0e3e324964_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 517px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/3792748328_0e3e324964_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, a scan from the original illustration, a line and wash B&W. I remember a couple more of these, done in the 70's...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2431/3792748406_5ff7b7afc1_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 480px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2431/3792748406_5ff7b7afc1_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...but haven't the foggiest notion who the client was. For now....enough spots!<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-74361760748929539662009-07-29T10:42:00.000-07:002009-07-29T10:54:55.049-07:00'BLACK AND WHITE AND BLUE ALL OVER'A dim memory cell tells me that was the title of a blues song from way back....I believe Louie Armstrong had a rendition of it....on a CD that's buried somewhere with some other old timers. It only applies to the first ad scan....an engine additive for snowmobiles and skidoos. Can't recall the product, or how the ad was used. This week's CAWS will be mainly B&W ads from a variety of years and clients. And once again, working our way through the 'shrinking inventory'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2476/3769740952_7b511363c0_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 319px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2476/3769740952_7b511363c0_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The next scan, a newspaper B&W for Chevron....a gull's eye view of the Golden Gate Bridge. A large ad, so hard to scan....and cropped on the right and lower sides. Done in the mid to late 50's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2506/3768941015_7fd68caa09_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2506/3768941015_7fd68caa09_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A change-up follows....an ad for the Olympia Beer Co. scheduled for trade or consumer magazine publication with a better quality of paper. The general concept and humor was a spoof of nineteenth century, or turn of the century, steel engraving art and technique. Done sometime in the 60's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2499/3768940851_0f9689c2e8_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 496px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2499/3768940851_0f9689c2e8_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />After that, three B&W ads for FMC, a San Jose manufacturer of large motor homes. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/3768940367_13bd14ac8a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 373px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/3768940367_13bd14ac8a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The company was better known for military tanks and vehicles....and like many manufacturers, was converting to civilian products.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2501/3768940655_b3a851e4cb_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 257px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2501/3768940655_b3a851e4cb_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Again, these were destined for trade ads or brochures on better paper than newsprint....and again, done sometime in the 60's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3544/3768940479_0ed24f8c25_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 354px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3544/3768940479_0ed24f8c25_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following are two B&W plus halftone horizontal spots for Mercury autos....various features of the then new Mercury.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/3768940183_e430a8c879_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 189px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/3768940183_e430a8c879_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Viewers should notice the price in the copy....under $4000! I haven't checked lately, but what can you get for $4000 today....maybe a clunker? Next, a newspaper ad for Chevy....this one from a local agency, Allen/Dorward. For a regional Chevy dealer's promotion, as I recall.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/3769739824_4a426d243c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/3769739824_4a426d243c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, a line B&W for a mattress company....the familiar 'hard bed vs. soft bed' pitch....and I can't remember the brand of mattress.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2549/3769739716_cb855fc0a0_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 410px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2549/3769739716_cb855fc0a0_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />My wife was the 'semi-willing' model for Poloroid shots on this....again done in the 60's.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-3250897421373962402009-07-22T10:05:00.000-07:002009-07-22T10:56:21.053-07:00'GONNA TAKE A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY....TO RENEW OLD MEMORIES!'<br /><br />Ah, yes....two lines from 'Sentimental Journey', the famous big band hit by Les Brown, sung by Doris Day, on juke boxes everywhere in 1945....and played probably a dozen times each evening in our bar. Our bar??!! In the closing months of that year, we were in the 'Occupation', in Tokyo living 'in style' in a four story former Japanese Army and Navy officers building, across the moat that surrounded the Emperor's Palace. We had just moved up from dirt (or mud) floor tents on Okinawa....and now had bedrooms with real beds, furniture, a dining room with table cloths and kimono clad waitresses....and yes, a bar....warm Japanese beer the only beverage! Army food was still being served, almost all of it dehydrated or canned, but it tasted a lot better in those surroundings. I was with 5th Air Force headquarters, hence the royal treatment. That building, and a few larger buildings further around the palace, where Gen. MacArthur had his staff and headquarters, were spared the devastation that befell the rest of Tokyo by the close proximity to the Emperor's palace. That was technically 'off limits' during the large bombing attacks earlier that year.<br /><br />A CAWS challenge the past year has been to make the blog long enough to be of some interest....but short enough to not bore the socks off viewers. It may be a test this week with the nostalgia thing. First, some non-ad illustration....and then some photos. Somehow, in the busy 70's, I found time to explore a print biz.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/3746863592_d197c5c471_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/3746863592_d197c5c471_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />This was long before the 'limited edition print' fad arrived in the 80's.... another story for another day. My 'business model' (no one had heard the term....there were no MBA's in those days) was flawed, as are many amateur endeavors. Long on production, short on sales distribution. Intended for 'kids' and kid's rooms, dirt cheap compared to later on, a series of four illustrations of several subjects....antique sports autos...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/3746863470_39e431b269_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/3746863470_39e431b269_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />... WW l airplanes, horses, African animals, for a start. All, of course, subjects that I or my daughters liked. In my 'spare' time finished a bunch of these, the old cars were reproduced. Those were a 'test market'....by the author, entrepreneur, and marketer....me. I found they sold rather easily to several bay area book stores....but it took a lot of time and effort to move a few dozen prints. The light finally dawned.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2531/3746073801_5b4e2072e9_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2531/3746073801_5b4e2072e9_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Needed was a real sales plan....without enough product to warrant one. I wisely gave it up.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2586/3746073703_56fbfcc54b_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2586/3746073703_56fbfcc54b_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Enough....I knew this blog would get long winded!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3450/3746073461_6b1e9f7c6b_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 277px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3450/3746073461_6b1e9f7c6b_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Unlike Harry Borgman's fine illustrations, and a host of other old airplane illustrators, these were intentionally more airplane portraits than combat scenes. I envisioned the 'buying moms' accepting the ideas!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3746073237_d832c48164_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3746073237_d832c48164_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, a few photos I had promised earlier. A first 'homebuilt' design by the now famous Burt Rutan (designer of the around the world non-stop 'Voyager', 'Space Ship One', etc,).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/3746073117_c108fd3003_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/3746073117_c108fd3003_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />This one, the 'Variviggen', was made from plans and a few fiberglass parts....and before today's complete kits, pre-drilled,every rivet and nut included, etc. Mainly Sitka spruce, aircraft plywood, almost all parts and metal fittings made by yours truly, the builder.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2586/3746862416_e8cb959a4e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2586/3746862416_e8cb959a4e_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A retractable gear, delta winged, rear engine pusher....really too sophisticated for a homebuilt. For eight or ten years into the 80's, an evening hobby and a 'diversion' from regular work. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2583/3746862268_5edcfd43f0_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 553px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2583/3746862268_5edcfd43f0_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />At least it was close by....across the walk to the garage. Never finished, I'm sure fortunately!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/3746072667_72ba36a809_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 529px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/3746072667_72ba36a809_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, some fuzzy photos from a tiny 18mm Japanese camera....a blast from the past. Personal cameras were forbidden by the Army when we flew our PBY overseas....from Savannah, GA, ending a couple of weeks later on Luzon in the Philippines. That was early in 1945. The hot humid climate spoiled film fast, anyway....and any photos taken by military photographers had to go through stiff censorship if sent home. In mid summer I was transferred from a squadron to 5th Air Force headquarters at Clark Field. As 'rated' (flying) personnel, we had to log four hours flying a month to receive flight pay....a third of our income....which for a 1st Lieutenant was $240. Good pay in those days. The small 5th AF 'airforce' at our disposal included a B-25, a couple of C-47's (DC-3's), a retired 'razorback' P-47, and a half dozen P-51's. The bigger planes required a minimum crew of three....hard to arrange. At Clark Field I chose the P-47....a far cry from a PBY....and kind of like going from a truck into a NASCAR open wheel race car! In late fall in Japan, I checked out in the P-51. I managed to log about ten hours in each plane, without major damage to either plane or pilot, before being shipped home in January, 1946. The first photo shows some of our 'airforce'....wooden Japanese hangars on the left<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3746072541_43cbbd1a0a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3746072541_43cbbd1a0a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The next two, a possessive, hand on prop pose. Attitude, 'well, I tamed this beast!'<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3746072393_b8fc3906fe_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 557px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3746072393_b8fc3906fe_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Attitude, 'well, I tamed this beast!'<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3746072167_4d586b1ea0_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 571px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3746072167_4d586b1ea0_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Last airplane....and the only 'homebuilt' finished....was a 'Gee Bee' racer mailbox a few years back. The real one, a short little barrel of a plane with huge wheel pants....Jimmy Doolittle raced it in the 30's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2529/3746861790_d9464cea35_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2529/3746861790_d9464cea35_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />He lived, others didn't! A mailbox is a fair facsimile. Very last....is anyone still awake?leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-11122963770745980772009-07-15T10:35:00.000-07:002009-07-15T11:14:06.753-07:00THE MARCUS MILLICHAP CHAPTER....Marcus & Millichap, as mentioned earlier was a commercial real estate investment and brokerage company located on the Penninsula (south bay) where many 'Sillicon Valley' hi-tech companies are located. I believe they are still there and still successful....through many real estate and economic booms and busts over the years. P&H worked with them for four or five years back in the 70's. Their range of business then seemed to be in the west, southwest, and in Texas when I illustrated for them....doing mostly B&W trade ads. I noticed they were consistent with a theme....which is good advertising....the 'gold miner' series, the promotion of their best salespeople each year, etc.<br /><br />First, an annual report or a promotional brochure, a montage color illustration of the two young founders, George Marcus and William Millichap, with their signatures incorporated into the portraits. The others in the illustration were some of their salespeople.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3724372214_891c82c22f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 438px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3724372214_891c82c22f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, some of the typical montage B&W trade ads, some showing various geographic areas they covered.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2634/3723563589_187ac13c7c_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 380px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2634/3723563589_187ac13c7c_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3492/3723563371_4f6cf53d35_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 434px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3492/3723563371_4f6cf53d35_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2545/3724371908_3a5d0332f5_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 404px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2545/3724371908_3a5d0332f5_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Then, one of several montage ads of sales personnel who excelled during a given year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3724373664_1059847490_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 478px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3724373664_1059847490_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following, the ghost town or pioneer series featuring the 'new miner', a well dressed sales person, often with a Mercedes car.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/3723563799_3325314da0_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 568px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/3723563799_3325314da0_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />They specified Mercedes, a symbol of success in those days.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2484/3723564029_4d35effd13_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 569px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2484/3723564029_4d35effd13_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The last of those, a comp that was a finish as well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2621/3724373448_90af6a7f54_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 492px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2621/3724373448_90af6a7f54_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Filling out the CAWS this week, and totally unrelated, a few more examples of State Fund brochure illustrations that were posted a couple of weeks ago. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/3723565119_a6b14ac5ac_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 349px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/3723565119_a6b14ac5ac_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />None of the scans lately are that different or that interesting....although to the artist, every job was of interest.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/3724374120_f28d835f74_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 824px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/3724374120_f28d835f74_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Also, in the late 70's, it was very close to a 'milestone' of 30 years of ad illustration in San Francisco....a very long time!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2569/3723564671_a2b04426f0_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 419px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2569/3723564671_a2b04426f0_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />In the next five or so years, I was able to get into some different subjects and areas....for me, at least. For better or worse, we'll post those in the weeks to come.<br /><br />Last....a teaser for next week. Identify the 23 year old lolling on the wing of a P-51. Tune in.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3442/3724374362_3748c031ff_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 552px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3442/3724374362_3748c031ff_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-19739115802551844102009-07-07T03:43:00.001-07:002009-07-07T04:10:41.991-07:00HALF-FAST HALFTONES....No reason for the title except that it's funny. A few years back, a few of our friends belonged to an older group called the 'Half-Fast Walkers'....and I've always wanted to use the line. Again this week clearing decks.....some old to new halftone illustrations. As said before, B&W line art was used for better reproduction in newspapers....but halftones were used at times....and more for trade ads where the paper generally was better.<br /><br />First....and back by popular demand....for a one week appearance only!! Ladeeez and Germs.....the one, the only, the incomparable....Lady of Steeeeel!! Right here! This illustration was a for a mid winter full page newspaper ad for Harrahs (as I recall) at Tahoe....and probably Las Vegas as well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/3696916607_a2dcc1003e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 745px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/3696916607_a2dcc1003e_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Our favorite model (never will remember her name) was a sweetie and good sport....not at all the show biz type! The costume, pinned in back came from a theatre supply. She wore it well, and posed like the pro she was. Next an early 50's Hexol ad. My oldest daughter and my wife, changed on this to a brunette, were the models.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/3696916711_c0199d9174_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 526px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2533/3696916711_c0199d9174_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A varied assortmennt this week....the next scan a newspaper halftone for a PG&E ad. Our neighbor was the model....another cheerful guy, he came over to my 'garage photo studio' where I set up the old Speed Graphic. He posed for several Chevron ads as well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2441/3697727298_66b270b0cb_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 566px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2441/3697727298_66b270b0cb_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following are two trade ads for Potlatch, a large western lumber and wood products company. They should be clear and accurate....but often the digital world and halftone screens don't 'get along'....strange patterns develop.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/3697727410_160df0f369_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 542px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/3697727410_160df0f369_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Both the PG&E and Potlatch illustrations were done with Perma- Grey gouache. I preferred those to Windsor Newton greys.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2614/3697727542_4cb4b61e25_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 552px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2614/3697727542_4cb4b61e25_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next in line, a Raisin (Sunmaid?) promotion, I think for magazines....the sleeping mom. A different model used on this....and I kind of liked the result.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3696917157_f21f5d6900_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 337px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3696917157_f21f5d6900_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />An old Chevron or Standard Oil newspaper ad, the scuba divers, follows. Done in the early 50's in Higgins Ink washes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/3697727726_0077ee6230_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 434px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/3697727726_0077ee6230_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The 'new' scan, as promoted, is an Olympic Club charcoal portrait sketch done this year in January. Very occasionally, I get back on the board....at least for short stints.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/3697727844_ec481b2a35_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 494px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/3697727844_ec481b2a35_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, to break the all grey pattern, and because they don't fit a group, a credit card sized ad for Chevron...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/3696917461_5b44cb2d9f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/3696917461_5b44cb2d9f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />... and another early and fast effort, both for mailers with bills.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/3697727962_2dae5d45ae_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/3697727962_2dae5d45ae_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-11693855343007266102009-06-30T14:27:00.001-07:002009-06-30T15:00:58.327-07:00OL' ROCKIN CHAIR'S GOT ME....'A pop tune by Hoagy Carmichael back in the 30's, if memory serves. <br /><br />Last time we looked, fifty two weeks added up to a year. <span style="font-weight:bold;">This is CAWS #52...</span> hard to believe! When started, I had no idea posting scans of ads done over the years would last (drag on?) this long. For better or worse, and before we sail off into the sunset, a few more to go. Metaphorically, it's probably late afternoon. The anniversary might just call for lifting a glass of the 'bubbly'....if so....cheers! Actually preferred would be a chilly Sierra Pale Ale or a Moose Head....to honor our Canadian contingent. And, as we 'clear the decks', age doesn't imply better examples of ads and work done over a long career....but maybe some just a bit different.<br /><br />The CAWS has some comps left over....and maybe this is as good a time as any to show them. Boring maybe....but the early thinking process is essential, and in hindsight, interesting to the illustrator who starts with a drawing pad only. First, for Aerojet General over in Sacramento, maker of booster rockets and other esoteric space stuff....a pencil comp, I think for an annual report. No finish on that....but I recall doing one finish for them....no record of it now. I went over there a couple of times, but a long drive and difficult contact.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3675806007_3d909e9162_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 567px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3675806007_3d909e9162_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next, for a Master Nurseryman's Association....a small agency our client...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2662/3675806819_8e89de3e64_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 484px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2662/3675806819_8e89de3e64_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...two comps for B&W trade ads....the second one used.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2513/3675807397_c84dacd2c8_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 495px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2513/3675807397_c84dacd2c8_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A finished proof lacking on the 'R is for Rose' sketch....but the next scan, 'T is for Thanksgiving', is a line B&W proof in that series.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2642/3676622890_d369815289_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 422px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2642/3676622890_d369815289_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Next on the list, a comp for Marcus Millichap, a south bay commercial real estate company. A group of ads done for them in the 70's will be posted soon. The 'gold miner' theme was one they used several times.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3629/3676623314_8927a0e876_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 537px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3629/3676623314_8927a0e876_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following those....a bunch of marker comps for State Fund for one of their many brochures.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3623/3676623428_6269e3ae18_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 424px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3623/3676623428_6269e3ae18_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Again, lacking a finished example.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3675807915_e8cd0fc52d_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 468px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3538/3675807915_e8cd0fc52d_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/3675808057_9d02375384_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 414px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/3675808057_9d02375384_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The last of those showing typical agency penciled notes....and the emphasis, so PC and sensitive at the time, on clearly including racial minorities.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2660/3675808217_8a60b1fe46_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 342px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2660/3675808217_8a60b1fe46_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />We'll show three small sections of a large pencil comp for a poster for Ortho Chemical, McCann Erickson the client.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3625/3676624464_cb56e8f24f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3625/3676624464_cb56e8f24f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The product, a chemical treatment or spray for invasive pond weeds. Very much like a botanical drawing assignment...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/3675808479_7db4a171db_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/3675808479_7db4a171db_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...and the only contribution by me was an attempt to create a good design on each group of weeds. I don't recall doing a finished illustration on this.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/3675808479_7db4a171db_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/3675808479_7db4a171db_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Finally, a group of awful B&W copies of color marker comps ...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2604/3676625146_b712eaa89f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 441px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2604/3676625146_b712eaa89f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...for a point of sale Del Monte poster campaign.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2027/3675809887_67a33e68fc_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 569px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2027/3675809887_67a33e68fc_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Eight or more in all, a ridiculous deadline, the theme, 'Music in America'...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3675811557_449c67df8f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 579px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3675811557_449c67df8f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />...all crunched out in two or three days.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3544/3675811057_8f430fbd80_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 575px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3544/3675811057_8f430fbd80_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I did the storyboard-like cartoons, others put in the copy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2536/3676627586_892576e629_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 440px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2536/3676627586_892576e629_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Again, time ran out for finished art and for production before the scheduled week of food store displays....so, no finished work.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3610/3676628164_79c7d19eab_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 444px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3610/3676628164_79c7d19eab_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />A big relief for this cat!<br /><br />* If Leif has the time and patience....I'd like to paraphrase a couple of quotes by Edgar Whitney, former AD for McCann Erickson in N.Y.... and in later years the very colorful curmudgeon and summer water color class teacher in Maine. Actually a better communicator and teacher than his paintings indicated, he left behind an assortment of wise, pithy, funny, but right-on admonitions that his students and we can still enjoy. Just two here, paraphrased to apply to illustration as well as painting. First....'You get facts from nature and photographs....you should get art from illustrators!' And one of his pithier ones....'Beginning an illustration without doing a comp....is like going to the bathroom without first pulling your pants down!' I'll bet most of us have attempted the first one of those!<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7064869808377826774.post-49470015185773978142009-06-24T09:42:00.000-07:002009-06-24T12:03:21.533-07:00KIND OF 'MOD'....Mentioned many times here, change is always with us. Oddly, when we are younger, and in this case my middle working years, we're surprised when it happens and affects our lives. The 'Hippie Era' of the 60's and 70's, and its' many iterations, caught most of my generation by surprise. 'Kids....what's the matter with kids today!'....a song from the Broadway show, 'Bye, bye, Birdie', if I remember correctly. Like many, I did my best to ignore the changes....but the cultural effects penetrated the society and certainly the advertising business almost immediately. To look 'hip' and current, illustrators had to change with the times. From the more traditional approach in the first third of my career, the following are a few examples of B&W ads from the 60's and 70's....and my attempts to cope with the new 'mod' ad scene.<br /><br />First....a B&W line illustration....a 'glass top' look at a GAP store, one scan enlarged.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3578/3656762483_a23233f24f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 551px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3578/3656762483_a23233f24f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Late 60's or early 70's....and not sure where it was used. I believe the GAP retail chain was started and headquartered in the S.F. bay area....and this was the only ad I recall doing for the company.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/3657556336_c3cc0c4751_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 305px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/3657556336_c3cc0c4751_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The next six are B&W spots from one full-page newspaper ad for Northstar, a Tahoe vacation and ski resort.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3657557072_f38a636b4e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 351px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3657557072_f38a636b4e_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2454/3656762561_9eef736ccc_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 380px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2454/3656762561_9eef736ccc_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />As on many old examples here, these were scanned from a clip or newspaper proof....and the results are a bit shabby.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3611/3656762851_13d86ac7d9_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 616px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3611/3656762851_13d86ac7d9_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3657557236_c66ed3aa21_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 341px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3657557236_c66ed3aa21_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3657557236_c66ed3aa21_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 341px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3657557236_c66ed3aa21_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3360/3656762979_3b0d42119f_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 534px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3360/3656762979_3b0d42119f_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I liked what was then the 'new look' on the small illustrations, however.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3401/3657557408_955a8eeff3_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 565px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3401/3657557408_955a8eeff3_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Following is a B&W 1974 calendar for a Marin County country store....'Old Brown's'. It was printed in sepia inks on a beige stock. Not included, the months and days were in two rows below the illustration. Actually, I 'piggybacked' on a comp done by Steve Hall who was too busy at the time on other work. Much younger than I, Steve excelled at more decorative illustration....and what I call the 'mod look'. With a few changes, I pretty much followed his concept.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3401/3657558054_52fcccfd22_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 441px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3401/3657558054_52fcccfd22_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Last, three scans from a B&W brochure done for a Bay Area entrepreneur....his product called the Sitzski. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/3656764035_37f5ed915a_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 256px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/3656764035_37f5ed915a_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />As a recreational skier, and a skiing family as our daughters were growing up, I suspected the Sitzski was a 'loser' when I worked on the ad!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3367/3656764209_3bc7330182_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 511px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3367/3656764209_3bc7330182_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />One of the few jobs in my career on which we were 'stiffed' when his operation was declared bankrupt.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/3656763855_24872c31f5_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 398px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/3656763855_24872c31f5_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />In spite of the no pay, however, I liked the B&W approach on these....and they were fun to work on.<br /><br />* <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/72157601497843304/">Charlie Allen's Flickr set</a>leifpenghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.com2