Charlie Allen's Blog

I'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 !

2009-12-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Next, the state bird, the California Quail. A popular, charming, friendly resident....mostly crowded out in suburbia these days by too much development.

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.

The California Golden Trout, the state fish, is next....found in streams and small lakes in the very high Sierras.

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.

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!'

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set, which contains nearly 700 images, encompassing fifty years of professional and personal work!

'HOME COOKIN TOO'....

2009-12-03T11:56:00.000-08:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

The last, a fishing boat watercolor at the colorful Fisherman's Wharf district on the San Francisco water front....painted in the 50's.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

HOME COOKIN'....

2009-11-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

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 the yearly 'Olympian' cover portrait....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.

The first scan, 'New Kids in the Cases', was a loose line cartoon used by the Natural Sciences department at the Oakland Museum.

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.

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.

A comp for 'Moxie's' follows.

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.

Finally, two designs produced in silk screen, the first, magnetized boxes for fishing lures.

Small travel items on the second box.

Last, and I may need to 'duck' incoming here. Unrelated to the above examples....one was a small comp prep for the Tejon Ranch painting...

...the other for a remarque.

Reason....I found this breed fascinating to draw. The strong color pattern, the thick neck, and uniquely faired head and bill shape.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'LADY OF STEEL, I ADORE YOU RIGHT FROM THE TIME I FIRST SAW YOU....'

2009-11-18T06:58:00.000-08:00

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'...

... as well as a last look at a few early 50's and 60's black and white illustrations and spots.

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 Ludekins, Galli, Bomberger, Haines Hall, Jim Hastings, Willard Cox, and others.

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 Charles Dana Gibson....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...

...as seen on the 'Yogurt' illustration that follows.

From this point on, US Steel B&W spots, many in the series seen earlier.

The first two were before the 'hostess' group...

... the rest featuring our indomitable 'lady of steel'.

Turned out in ads that included four, dozens and dozens over the years...

...a long running ad series for me.

The last two or three show her 'bouffant' hair style, popular in the 60's.

I've kidded about her role in these ads....but you can't blame the advertiser's concept.

What better way to soften up and attract readers to 'cold' steel products?

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.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

2009-11-12T08:31:00.000-08:00

'BLIND NONCENTS'

MR DUCKS
MR NOT DUCKS
OSARDUCKS CMWINGS?
LIBMR DUCKS
MWAS DUCKS

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.

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.

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...

... and the other of Canada geese, for duck stamp entries. I believe neither were finished or entered.

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.

Then a color entry of redheads (ducks!) for a later Nevada competition....showing a typically chilly morning in the Fallon area.

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.

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.

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.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

2009-11-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

THE HUNTER CROUCHES IN HIS BLIND
'NEATH CAMOUFLAGE OF EVERY KIND
AND CONJURES UP A QUACKING NOISE
TO LEND ALLURE TO HIS DECOYS....
THIS GROWN UP MAN, WITH LUCK AND PLUCK,
IS HOPING TO OUTWIT A DUCK.
OGDEN NASH

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.

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.

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.

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.

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,

and the 1996 Rhode Island stamp...

... 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,

... and the Rhode Island print of a pair of Harlequin ducks over the New England coast.

With dogged determination,

... the CAWS will post one more blog of the duck stamp era including comps and commissioned examples.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

2009-10-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

'I WAS WALKING ALONG, MINDING MY BUSINESS....
WHEN OUT OF AN ORANGE COLORED SKY....WHAM! BAM! ALAKAZAM!

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.

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.

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.

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.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

2009-10-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I paired the animals from different reference sources....and the backgrounds and scenes were my concept of African locations.

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.

Last, another page from Milne's 'When We Were Very Young'? Why not!

"When We Were Very Young" is © 1924 by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
Copyright Renewal, 1952, by A.A. Milne
All Rights Reserved

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

HORSING AROUND....

2009-10-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

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.

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'.

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.

Following, the four horse prints as mentioned.

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.

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.

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.

Next week, I have a hunch we'll pay a quick visit to Africa.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'WHERE ARE THE CLOWNS?'

2009-10-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Finally, four small rough concept comps done in the 50's, as a start toward better comps.

Again, during a slow period....the purpose, a 'western' calendar theme.

There were theme calendars, and several calendar publishers in those days.

The project was really too ambitious for the time available between jobs.

These were pretty much off the top, and a lot more time and research would have been needed to go further.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'MY WALK WILL BE DIFFERENT....MY TALK AND MY NAME.... NOTHIN' ABOUT ME'S GONNA BE THE SAME....'

2009-09-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

Going back, a better scan of the 'Emma Claudina' photo.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'THERE'LL BE A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER....A CHANGE IN THE SEA.... FROM NOW ON THERE'LL BE A CHANGE IN ME....'

2009-09-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

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!'

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.

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.

The scans will begin with three of the opening pages in the 12 x 18 inch well designed brochure.

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.

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'.

Illustrating it in heavy seas in the mid-Pacific was still another challenge.

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.

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.

Last, the illustration by Carl Evers of the Matson container ship 'Kauai'.

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.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

MORE 'NOT SO GOLDEN' OLDIES....

2009-09-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

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.

Not in any sequence on these, part of a Washington Apple store banner....the fruit against a 'carved' wood sign board.

Then a Safeway house-brand coffee halftone of a lady shopper, from 1951, and hopefully not a repeat.

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.

And while Kaiser Chemical is the subject, another gouache duotone illustration for the refractory part of the business....proof dated on this, 1952.

A tad 'menacing' would be apt....but anything to get attention!

Next, two halftone ads for Pan American....for Hawaiian newspapers in '56. A couple of others in this series have been posted...

...and done in the 'square' style mentioned a week or two back.

Following, four B&W line ads for Chevron....again from the 1950's.

The first two are both semi cartoon illustrations, and both part of larger newspaper ads.

The second two are also partial ads....in the more literal line style I normally used.

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.

No one had an idea that major changes in print media were coming in the next 10 to 15 years.

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.

Finally, a Western Pacific train ad from the early 50's....a very poor scan from an old news clip.

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.

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.

Dan Romano in San Francisco was probably the best illustrator in that field.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'.....OLD, NEW, BORROWED, AND BLUE'

2009-09-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

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!

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.

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.

Next, one more Dodge two color newspaper ad....a 1968 Dodge Polara. I still think the series of four illustrations were bright, effective ads.

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.

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!

A simple line ad for an east bay Marriot Hotel is next in line...

...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 Bruce Bomberger 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.

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!

Finally, three more of the early 70's antique autos...

...the first two from prints...

... 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'.

Not sure if this was really finished....but close enough.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

THIS AND THAT....ODDS AND ENDS

2009-08-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

Should 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.

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!

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.

Then two line plus color illustrations, agency McCann Erickson, client Ortho Chemical.

I think these were for gardening magazines such as 'Sunset' and possibly for trade ads.

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

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.

Still clearing, an early 50's B&W line illustration for Chevron. A similar ad has been posted before, with two car passengers.

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.

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.

Last, last....another visit from our brave 'Lady of Steel' (we may never run out of these spots)....

...still 'out standing in her field' in high heels and light clothing,

regardless of weather and rigorous conditions!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'....OF SHOES AND SHIPS AND SEALING WAX, OF CABBAGES AND KINGS!'

2009-08-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

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!

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'.

First, from1953, four B&W newspaper ads for Lucky Lager Beer.

These were done in the Higgins ink wash technique that I preferred for halftones in those days.

Very square....but that was the era for it.

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.

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.

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.

She's now a boomer mom of young adults.

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?

Dunno....cheers!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

'WHEN OUT OF AN ORANGE COLORED SKY.... FLASH....BAM....ALA-KAZAM !....'

2009-08-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

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!

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.

The orange color was actually a second grey halftone....it was cheaper that way....but a bit of a guessing game.

The ad was intended for rural land owners back when thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable were being laced through the land.

Following those, four small prints (roughly 6 x 9 inches) from a San Francisco Savings and Loan....goal, more savings and more loans.

It may have been S.F. Federal, where we had an account in a branch near us.

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'.

The art director's instructions, in keeping with the era, were to 'keep them loose'.

The scans could be better....but loose they were.

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.

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.

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.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

MONTAGE MANIA....

2009-08-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

I was art editor for the 1939 Owl that year.

The main purpose of these scans is to demonstrate to all young artists to hang in....there is hope!

Then a group of brochure illustrations for State Fund.

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.

These were done in Charcoal pencil, reproduced in one or two colors.

Following, three nibbed pen illustrations with added color, printed on colored stock. They were for Medi Fund, a medical equipment leasing company.

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!

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.

Finally, a pamphlet for a very small client....a rather simple montage.

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.

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.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

'OUT....OUT....DAMNED SPOT!'

2009-08-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

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!

First in line are five spots for Bank of California...

...don't recall the agency, but a good client.

Printed images were about two by three inches.

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.

The next two were from the back of 'Telephone News' mailers....some of the cover illustrations were posted earlier on CAWS.

The 'Fort Point' spot needed some sea gulls, or something for action. Very static, and probably done in a hurry.

Following are four spots, again for Pac Tel, promoting the 'outstanding' job opportunities at the company.

As pointed out many times here, check the inflation rate since that time.

Hold your hats....it's going to happen again!

Then a B&W spot for Castle and Cooke bananas...

...and an Ortho Chemical job. I seem to recall the headline was done first and my illustration matched the perspective.

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...

...but haven't the foggiest notion who the client was. For now....enough spots!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

'BLACK AND WHITE AND BLUE ALL OVER'

2009-07-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

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'.

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.

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.

After that, three B&W ads for FMC, a San Jose manufacturer of large motor homes.

The company was better known for military tanks and vehicles....and like many manufacturers, was converting to civilian products.

Again, these were destined for trade ads or brochures on better paper than newsprint....and again, done sometime in the 60's.

Following are two B&W plus halftone horizontal spots for Mercury autos....various features of the then new Mercury.

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.

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.

My wife was the 'semi-willing' model for Poloroid shots on this....again done in the 60's.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

'GONNA TAKE A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY....

2009-07-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

TO RENEW OLD MEMORIES!'

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.

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.

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...

... 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.

Needed was a real sales plan....without enough product to warrant one. I wisely gave it up.

Enough....I knew this blog would get long winded!

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!

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,).

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.

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.

At least it was close by....across the walk to the garage. Never finished, I'm sure fortunately!

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

The next two, a possessive, hand on prop pose. Attitude, 'well, I tamed this beast!'

Attitude, 'well, I tamed this beast!'

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.

He lived, others didn't! A mailbox is a fair facsimile. Very last....is anyone still awake?

THE MARCUS MILLICHAP CHAPTER....

2009-07-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

Next, some of the typical montage B&W trade ads, some showing various geographic areas they covered.

Then, one of several montage ads of sales personnel who excelled during a given year.

Following, the ghost town or pioneer series featuring the 'new miner', a well dressed sales person, often with a Mercedes car.

They specified Mercedes, a symbol of success in those days.

The last of those, a comp that was a finish as well.

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.

None of the scans lately are that different or that interesting....although to the artist, every job was of interest.

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!

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.

Last....a teaser for next week. Identify the 23 year old lolling on the wing of a P-51. Tune in.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

HALF-FAST HALFTONES....

2009-07-07T03:43:00.001-07:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Both the PG&E and Potlatch illustrations were done with Perma- Grey gouache. I preferred those to Windsor Newton greys.

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.

An old Chevron or Standard Oil newspaper ad, the scuba divers, follows. Done in the early 50's in Higgins Ink washes.

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.

Finally, to break the all grey pattern, and because they don't fit a group, a credit card sized ad for Chevron...

... and another early and fast effort, both for mailers with bills.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

OL' ROCKIN CHAIR'S GOT ME....'

2009-06-30T14:27:00.001-07:00

A pop tune by Hoagy Carmichael back in the 30's, if memory serves.

Last time we looked, fifty two weeks added up to a year. This is CAWS #52... 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.

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.

Next, for a Master Nurseryman's Association....a small agency our client...

...two comps for B&W trade ads....the second one used.

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.

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.

Following those....a bunch of marker comps for State Fund for one of their many brochures.

Again, lacking a finished example.

The last of those showing typical agency penciled notes....and the emphasis, so PC and sensitive at the time, on clearly including racial minorities.

We'll show three small sections of a large pencil comp for a poster for Ortho Chemical, McCann Erickson the client.

The product, a chemical treatment or spray for invasive pond weeds. Very much like a botanical drawing assignment...

...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.

Finally, a group of awful B&W copies of color marker comps ...

...for a point of sale Del Monte poster campaign.

Eight or more in all, a ridiculous deadline, the theme, 'Music in America'...

...all crunched out in two or three days.

I did the storyboard-like cartoons, others put in the copy.

Again, time ran out for finished art and for production before the scheduled week of food store displays....so, no finished work.

A big relief for this cat!

* 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!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

KIND OF 'MOD'....

2009-06-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

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.

First....a B&W line illustration....a 'glass top' look at a GAP store, one scan enlarged.

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.

The next six are B&W spots from one full-page newspaper ad for Northstar, a Tahoe vacation and ski resort.

As on many old examples here, these were scanned from a clip or newspaper proof....and the results are a bit shabby.

I liked what was then the 'new look' on the small illustrations, however.

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.

Last, three scans from a B&W brochure done for a Bay Area entrepreneur....his product called the Sitzski.

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!

One of the few jobs in my career on which we were 'stiffed' when his operation was declared bankrupt.

In spite of the no pay, however, I liked the B&W approach on these....and they were fun to work on.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

CAWS #50: "Please take a brochure!"

2009-06-16T06:54:00.000-07:00

This week's CAWS may be the ultimate boring blog!

Here it's a 'clear the decks' mode, however, and this group represents frequent ad assignments that helped out in slow times. Pamphlets and brochures....not sure of the difference, except that I think brochures were larger with several pages. For some reason, most pamphlets were 4 x 9 inches in size....as were fold out maps. There were variations on that, of course.....and I never inquired how or where they were used. Displayed in branch offices, probably, or on travel counters. Maybe business mailings. There were more, but these should be sufficient.

The first scan, an ad for American President Lines, was pamphlet sized, but was a large fold out....much like a map. I notice it was printed in 1954....and was probably the first of the shipboard travel scenes I illustrated.

This records pretty fair likenesses of several P&H stalwarts, who posed separately, as usual, in our photo studio. Behind the bathing suited young lady, from front to back on the left....Haines Hall, then one of our receptionists, Z. Alexander, head of the photo department, an unknown lady, and George Albertus, cartoonist/illustrator. The right hand servers were George Albertus in front, Sig Beartown, and Jack Painter. The model in the striped bathing suit was, no less....our 'Lady of Steel' hostess....portrayed later in in many US Steel ads. The next pamphlet, for a bay area restaurant supply company, a two color pen and ink line job.

After that, the next six or seven pamphlet illustrations were for State Fund....a frequent client for brochures and such.

Have no idea who posed for the chefs...

...and by this time in my work, as long as someone took the pose indicating the posture and gestures. I could usually 'wing it' on character types and outfits.

Following those, the next two designs....a pamphlet for Mills Hospital...

...and then a Chevron 4x9" fold out map, here cropped at the top.

Last, not a pamphlet, but a typical B&W plus halftone newspaper ad promoting free maps.

Like everything else, maps have zoomed up in price....nothing is free....and pump your own gas, please!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

GOLF TWO....PLAYING THROUGH

2009-06-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

Still on last week's golf theme, the first scan is of the third PGA tournament cover I illustrated. Montages (a blog on the subject coming up) were the 'innovation du jour' in the 60's and 70's. The approach that I used on this cover had a lot going on within the Watson figure, and plenty of color. It needed a neutral background....I chose black to hold it all together.

Next is an inside illustration, a graphic of Ben Hogan combined with a view of the Colonial golf club in Texas....I think Hogan's home club. Again the concept was a result of teamwork with P&H designers.

Separately, but on golf, a brochure assignment that came in during the 70's, and again during the montage years. This was for a tour sponsored by TIA Airlines, primarily a specialty and vacation charter business.

The host was Paul Hahn, a professional golfer, entreprenuer, entertainer, and trick shot artist. These were ambitious times....and I wonder today how successful it was, and how many golfers joined the tour. Somehow, I don't think it would 'fly' today....but I've been wrong once or twice!

Done in line and two colors, using gouache mixed with acrylic medium on much of it.

Following are three spots done in charcoal pencil....the grey stock insert inside the brochure.

It was an expensive promotion, and as said, wonder how well it fared. I recall at that time feeling a bit 'burned out'....more interested in my homebuilt airplane project than illustration.

No doubt the project was a needed diversion after a lot of years of deadlines, and during some crowded 'pressure years'. Part of those concerns were the changing times....and that magazines and print ad budgets were rapidly losing out to TV broadcasting.

On an unrelated subject, and to pad the CAWS this week, we'll post a comp and finish reproduction of a Chevron product ad....not sure how the ad was used.

The comp was in marker and pencil, the finish done in gouache with an acrylic mix behind the products.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

'WHILE TEARING OFF...A GAME OF GOLF

2009-06-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

I MAY MAKE A PLAY FOR THE CADDY....
BUT IF I DO....I DON'T FOLLOW THROUGH
'CAUSE MY HEART BELONGS TO DADDY!'

Song and lyrics by the famous composer, Cole Porter, first performed on Broadway by Mary Martin back in 1938....way back when lyrics were clever, coherent, and had a sense of humor. Golf is the subject this week, however, not music. Chet Patterson, who headed up P&H, was athletic and always an enthusiastic golfer. With a low handicap, he was match play champ at Meadow Wood, his Marin County golf club, as well as a winner in other tournaments. I think his competitive WWll fighter pilot 'nerves of steel' served him well in golf. Chet had friends and contacts with the PGA, and for about four years in the 70's, P&H produced a tournament golf magazine for several major PGA events. Published by the PGA, these had well written articles and ads, very much like consumer golf magazines. I illustrated the covers in 1975, '77 and '78....not sure what occurred in 1976. This week's CAWS will post a couple of the cover illustrations and a few inside illustrations. I always welcomed a change, and these came as near editorial illustration as I ventured. Will again mention the excellent page designs and teamwork with P&H artists....in this case, mainly Jack Martin, but others as well. Next week another CAWS on golf....a few still to go.

As said, the 70's were a time of change in illustratiom. There seemed to be no hard and fast techniques or styles....and most of these were my adaptations to that era. First, the 1975 Players Tournament cover. The original had Jack Nicklaus's hands above his shoulder, the golf club slanting down behind, making for a strong design element and action. For some reason I was told to remove the hands and club. I did....the paycheck mattered! I still have the original art....have meant to repaint the hands and club, but have never gotten around to it. The golfers were rendered in pastel pencil and gouache. In order from the top, Miller, Palmer, Trevino, Weiskopf, Player, Snead, Geiberger, and Nicklaus.

Next, the '77 cover featuring Johnny Miller, Hubert Green, and Jerry Pate. For better or worse, the cover designs were mine.

Then for an inside article, two of Lee Trevino.

In an attempt to compliment his Mexican heritage and colorful career, these were collages using bright tissue paper over charcoal pencil.

In an attempt to compliment his Mexican heritage and colorful career, these were collages using bright tissue paper over charcoal pencil.

Next from an article on professional caddies, a line and gouache rendition of a caddy...

...and following, the next page showing photos of a few of them.

After that, not my work, but a page by one of our decorative artists (can't recall who)....showing a nice variety of editorial illustration.

Finally, and admittedly doing a stretch on this blog, a four by nine inch pamphlet for an S.F. mutual fund. A charcoal pencil montage. It does have a golfer in it!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

'BURGIE AND FRIENDS....'

2009-05-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure about the 'friends' part....just a title....and the fact that these scans have been close neighbors on my desktop for months now. Burgermeister, based in San Francisco, was a BBD&O account, and through AD Nick Carter, was a good client in the 50's and early 60's. I recall illustrating at least three full page ads that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post as well as other magazines, and many billboards over those years. Viewers have already seen the Burgie 'beach scene' ad and at least two Burgie billboards in past months on the CAWS. We'll present a few more....and a few point of sale display cards for another good client, Olympia Beer, based in Olympia, Washington.

First, a Burgie SE Post ad, I believe in the spring of 1960.

I had a lot of freedom on these and on the Burgie billboards. The agency and client wanted what was thought of then as a 'new look'. The instructions were, 'don't come up with the fully painted figures and compositions popular in the 50's.'

For better or worse, except for given subjects and the large Burgie logo theme, these were my concepts. I tried to keep them colorful and the figures flat in the rendering. Following the magazine 'gardening ad' at top, these three billboards were scanned from B&W photos taken at P&H, and now my only records.

A bit hard to visualize in bright colors, but the client seemed to like them.

Next, totally unrelated, and to display probably the last billboard scan on my desktop, a Bank of America poster.

Again, a colorful poster....the lady's shoe a bright teal blue. And again, another BBD&O account.

Three Olympia Beer POS small signs follow....I think they were designed to fit on a beer case.

My college age daughter, attending a Canadian school at the time, and a Canadian boy friend, posed for two of these ads. And like many POS ads, silly stuff.

Advertising was not rocket science!

Finally, gradually clearing images from the desktop, a die-cut poster using a fine young model and former neighbor. He would be in his 50's nowadays!

The product, other than 'western ranch dinner', a mystery.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

'SCHOOL DAZE....'

2009-05-20T05:08:00.000-07:00

'Reading 'an writing 'an 'rithmatic....taught to the tune of a hickory stick!' I wonder how many today remember that old-timer? I was educated well after the one room school house and the hickory stick. But in elementary school we had outside wooden building girls and boys bathrooms and drinking fountains. I don't recall any indoor plumbing. And 'capital punishment' did rule at times. The teacher's and principal's word was law....no quibbles from parents, PTA's, or school unions. We sat in long rows of fixed desks, kept quiet (for the most part), and did our repetitive lessons. I remember practicing endless pages and rows of capital and lower case letters in script, both in pencil and ink-dipped pen. If nothing else, it may have helped develop eye-hand coordination and a later discipline to draw and letter accurately. I'll show a halftone ad, I believe for Hexol, done in the early 50's that depicts pretty closely my experience in those young years...

...including the hole in the desk for ink (ours were fitted with ink wells) and the steam radiator. I took photo reference for this at a nearby San Francisco French Catholic school. The rows of cast iron desks were identical to those in my youth!

The CAWS will again post a US Steel brochure cover, early or mid 60's....the 'little red schoolhouse'. The inside illustrations have not been shown. First, though, two small comps from a former BBD&O art director friend from those days....very fuzzy photos that he sent recently.

At least viewers can get an idea of the thinking before beginning.

As always, it was a push to get the cover, inside illustrations, and back cover work done in the time allowed. A loose technique (always OK with me), and no figures included, were part of the decisions when job approval came in....just show the steel buildings, please! These were done in gouache on gessoed illustration board.

Not in regard to schools, but more building subjects follow.

Architectural rendering was not a field I sought.

A couple of those for architects were done, and I hated the time and the effort to translate from plans, and relatively low reward compared to advertising.

There were enough building subjects from advertisers as it was. I'll post a few examples.

From a State Fund brochure, a two color drawing in charcoal pencil.

Then a typical attempt to make the hum-drum look presentable....from a property management company, Terok (bottom line, paying client)...

... four of a bunch of ad mailers.

Then, for State Fund again, two of many brochure covers showing branch offices around the state.

Dull stuff!

Finally a couple of early US Steel B&W line newspaper line spots, before the 'lady of steel' arrived on the scene. Again, buildings were featured.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'FLYING OBJECTS....'

2009-05-12T07:08:00.001-07:00

IFO's in this case....not UFO's! As were many kids back in the 1920's and 30's, my older brother and I were fascinated by airplanes. To further fuel the interest, Fresno's first municipal airport was constructed almost across the street from our home. We could hardly believe our 'good luck'! In a few years we moved, but for a long time we built model airplanes....he more seriously than I. My brother went on to become an engineer, and later spent a large part of his career in wind tunnel design on NASA projects. I enlisted in the AAF in WWll and became a pilot....mainly flying air-sea rescue in PBY's in the Pacific theatre of operations. Following the war I returned to school, a newspaper job, and my first interest and love....illustration.

The San Francisco Bay area was not a home for aircraft industries, as were Los Angeles and Seattle on the west coast. In advertising illustration, however, there were aviation subjects, and the CAWS has already posted a few airline ads. The first scan is from a newspaper B&W halftone ad for Chevron done in the 50's....I believe showing a Douglas DC-6, the popular airliner of the day.

Next, a Kaiser Aluminum two color trade magazine ad showing missile fins formed by Kaiser.

I think the fighter shown was called the Sabre-Jet, built by North American Aviation....operational in the 50's when the ad was done

Following, for a travel brochure for UTA Airlines, a French vacation carrier in the South Pacific, two DC-10 renditions.

I liked the color scheme on their planes.

Two Trans International Airline brochure illustrations follow, in a flat color outlined technique....partly the design of the comp....but also due to the large size.

The side view of the DC-10 (above) was on a three page foldout....34 inches nose to tail.

Speaking of airlines....figures, not planes.... we'll include a B&W halftone ad for Pan Am back in the mid 50's. This may have been shown earlier on a CAWS....not sure.

Then a scan of a small comp done in my first year at P&H, just to keep busy. Just two years after military service, the scene was fresh in mind. Our PBY missions often orbited a Navy sub sharing rescue duty, a few miles offshore the targets on Formosa (Taiwan). This shows a TBF instead of a PBY, but the sub was accurate.

Of personal interest and history I'll include a plastic model of my plane....'taking off' over nearby Mt. Diablo. Please excuse the hasty and shabby retouch of the photo-lamp stand holding it up!

Then the real thing....a photo taken from my plane of a squadron mate on a low level search over the trackless miles of the South China Sea in 1945.

His tail and call number 015, just a digit from mine at 016.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'COME AWAY WITH ME, LUCILLE...

2009-05-06T05:15:00.000-07:00

... IN MY MERRY OLDSMOBILE....'

Over the years an oft performed tune in shows, vaudeville, and in Oldsmobile commercials, I believe....written by Gus Edwards way back in 1905. I've never illustrated an Oldsmobile ad, but happen to have illustrated a 1905 'Franklin Gentleman's Roadster'....pretty much the vintage looks of those very early automobiles. This scan is from one of the several antique auto prints that I completed and produced back in the very busy 1970's.

We'll post the others on a later blog. This week, however, the subject will be car ads....for clients other than Chevrolet. In the west and San Francisco, most auto advertising clients represented the western U.S., or northern California dealership organizations, plus a few for overseas ad distribution.

We'll begin with a couple of bright two color newspaper ads for Dodge, done in the 60's.

Film positives, plus halftone, plus a color plate. Viewers can't help but notice the $3500 price tag for a full size 1968 Dodge Charger....a glaring example of what real inflation is all about!

Next, a Mercury B&W line illustration. A rather 'odd duck', as I recall, with the auto art done in Detroit and stripped in with my figure art. I did several of those....with results that always seemed 'out of sync'.

Following....a B&W photo of a color Simca illustration....including the agency's favorite symbol for the French made car, a grey poodle. Tom Hall, the second partner in Patterson and Hall, was the male model.

Then three small Simca B&W ads in line and halftone for newspapers.

A Mercury Comet B&W, minus the halftone on the car, follows those.

Finally, two ads involving the American Motors Pacer...

...the first a joint promotion with Shasta soft drinks, and the second, a Pacer ad for distribution in the Netherlands. As I recall, the Pacer didn't last long in the market...

...one more misguided effort in auto manufacturing history. Both ads were combos of a film pos and gouache halftone.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

THE EXTINCT BILLBOARD....

2009-04-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

Among the myriad changes ('Change is the Constant') since the 1950's when these Chevron billboards were done, none has been as sudden and as environmentally altering as the disappearance of countless billboards and prominent signs in our towns and on the highways.

It happened in the 60's, if memory serves. Streets were cluttered with billboards on the sides of buildings, on top of buildings, behind service stations. Tall signs and logos of all kinds topped restaurants, service stations, and dozens of businesses. All of that changed in a very short space of time.

The nation seemed suddenly aware of visual and esthetic pollution. The rapid ascent of television and finally the computer....and the demise of most magazines (now even newspapers) including much of the print media....has been more culturally transforming, but over a longer period of time.

All, of course, in the times of my working life and career.

This week the CAWS will show Chevron posters from old files and not already posted here on taxi boards. Patterson and Hall photographed all of the outgoing billboards....I suppose knowing that ad proofs would not be available to keep on file and to show clients. These were black and white photos....color prints were not only expensive but not reliable.

Color copiers had not been invented. I have photo copies of most of the posters I illustrated....not all. There are a few more posters for other clients that we'll post later on CAWS.

As said before, here in the west billboards were a desirable job to receive....both the pay and the display value were better than on most ads.

Another advantage, Chevron billboards were replaced at regular intervals...I believe at about one month. At the time, and resisting change, I hoped they would go on 'forever'. Even then, though, we had a sense that billboards were a threatened species!

These posters don't need too much explanation....pretty typical billboard advertising of the day. On most, a rather tight gouache technique in keeping with 1950's illustration styles. The loose techniques of the 60's hadn't arrived.

Modeling for these were a fellow P&H illustrator, a neighbor and young son, a friend in San Francisco, and professional models.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'HOW YA GONNA KEEP 'EM DOWN ON THE FARM

2009-04-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

AFTER THEY'VE SEEN PAR-EEE....'

A post WWl tin-pan alley tune....even older than I ! About 1919 or 1920, I believe. Predictive, however. Agriculture is still the largest economic factor in California....but fewer and fewer farmers and workers participate and manage farming these days. Corporate farming is pretty much in charge....and has a powerful influence in state government on California's always critical water policy and other political decisions.

Farming subjects were fairly regular assignments from a variety of agencies and accounts....Del Monte, US Steel, Kaiser Aluminum, State Fund, Ortho Chemicals, California wineries....those were the main ones I can think of. We'll begin with a couple of pencil comps for McCann Erickson and the Ortho Chemical division of Chevron.

I'm lacking a proof, but the ag plane comp did have a color illustration.

The three in color were for farm magazines....and so typical of ad designs for that purpose. The slanted cropping, the inset of the insect, (I didn't illustrate the bugs!), the whole concept.

The lima bean, green bean ad with the split location background....again not an ad layout you'd see in most publications.

For what it's worth, the tobacco farmer holding a tray of seedlings is a fair facsimile of 'your friendly illustrator' in a tractor hat, at that age. Have never planted tobacco, however!

Following, a couple of charcoal pencil montages for State fund farm ads.

Can't remember whether the finished illustrations were in ink or this form.

Next, three US Steel B&W spots for their series showing uses of steel on farm machines.

Then the Shock Wave Shaker, a two color brochure. I recall driving up to the Sacramento Valley where it was built to take pictures.

Walnuts and almonds are major crops in California....and the trees are shaken for the fall harvest.

Finally, two State Insurance Fund newsprint farm journal ads in B&W.

Charcoal pencil on rough board....no doubt for speed...

...and in the 70's, a technique that fit the subject.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'GALLO....ONE MORE TIME'

2009-04-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

The Gallo Champagne scan shown below was on CAWS near the start, and I think a faded scan is still on the Flickr set. We'll update....but as with most scans, original value and color subtleties are changed. In the early 70's, as I remember, Julius Spector called with a plea....'Cholly, you've got to come over....we have a problem!' For an important (to the Gallo brothers) Champagne poster, he had commissioned a Los Angeles artist whose work he thought resembled Van Gogh. I drove over, and sure enough, the illustration in oils was amateurish....poor figures, values....even the always important wine bottle was badly executed. Julius wanted me to do it over, in a 'Van Gogh' style....deadline one week. I said it would have to be in gouache and handled loosely....my version of impressionism. Back home, I took a poloroid shot of myself for the vintner, gessoed some illustration board, and used the 'palette knife' method described earlier....several sizes of cut illustration board, dipped in gouache, and scraped on.

I met the deadline....Julius Spector was relieved....the Gallo brothers were pleased....and they wanted the next poster depicting their wine chemists done in the same style.

Maybe a good time to describe the Gallo winery. Easy to spot from the air, it looked a bit like a small refinery. Dozens of tall tanks, controlled and insulated to keep wines cool in the 100+ degree summer temperatures. A huge headquarters building, large lawns with flocks of guinea hens, many separate outlying buildings. It included a large, modern lab building, with a staff of chemists researching wine varieties, blends, production, new wines, and other grape products. Gallo provided photo reference for the three wine chemists in scan # 2. I arranged the composition....wine bottles front and center, of course....and placed the figures, portraits actually, behind.

A colorful Carlo Rossi vineyard poster follows.

Then a race car illustration....a section of a large display poster featuring Mario Andretti with an endorsement for Gallo Vermouth wines.

After that, another partial section of a Sangria Wine poster. I liked the simple, bold color and line technique. A litho reproduction, it looked a bit like a silk screen job.

Then, with a tie-in with a TV commercial, the Boone's Farm grandma with her needlepoint creation of the label. Painting the needlepoint was an interesting challenge, as I recall.

The next three scans (there might have been a fourth) were small cocktail table cards designed to stand up.

Featuring various drink concoctions using E&J Brandy.

Not outstanding, but I liked the renditions of the brandy drinks on these.

That's about it for Gallo....I did others, but too boring or banal! Next week, we'll head out to the farm.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

FUN WITH GALLO....

2009-03-31T06:08:00.000-07:00

No....not using their product....at least, not in this case. In the late 60's I received a call from Julius Spector, head of the Point of Sale department at Gallo Wineries in Modesto. His group was in charge of design and production of store displays, posters, banners, box displays, etc., nationally. He needed an illustrator....a 'Norman Rockwell' type (!). I think he had received a reference from a San Francisco agency. I drove over to Modesto, about 75 miles into the central valley, where the Gallo plant and headquarters are located, to meet Julius and to pick up a POS job. We got along well from the start....and over the years I illustrated dozens of posters and ads for Gallo. Julius Spector was a short, cigar chomping, take charge type, from New York, with an accent to match. And a plus....a sense of humor. I was known as 'Cholly' over there.

The above heading, 'fun', meant two things. The ads were mostly for Gallo's 'jug' wines, popular in stores in the 70's, and aimed at a young mass audience. Maybe a better description for the ads would be 'seventies silly'. Little of it serious....except to sell the product. It pretty well matched the turbulent 70's times. The second part of the 'fun' was that in good weather, I would fly over to Modesto from Buchanan Field in Concord, not too far away. Below, a couple of shots of the plane and driver in those Gallo days.

The 'aim' was to save time....the flight in a small plane was half that of driving. However, by the time I rented the little Grumman Trainer, kicked the tires, wiped the windshield, preflighted the plane, fuel valves drained, oil and fuel levels checked, bugs wiped from the leading edges of the wing, the flight made....no time was saved! But it was fun getting there and back.

Modesto's airport was less than a mile from Gallo, and I was picked up by Julius or his secretary.

Diversity was the name of the game on subjects, and photographs of bottles, glasses, etc. were often combined with the art. The department had several ad and display designers, two of them former P&H artists, who comped some of the ad layouts seen here. First, a 'Tyrolean' scene, our middle daughter and a boy friend the models toasting each other.

Next, one of several 'General Boone' posters....one of the sillier series. I think a tie-in with a TV ad character.

Another General Boone follows...

...and then a Hay Wagon illustration....done in markers to speed things up for a tight deadline.

A Carlo Rossi ad follows. Carlo was a brother in law of Ernest or Julio Gallo, and had a line of jug wines in his name. On the illustrations shown, Carlo and I would meet on the lawn in front of the large headquarters building, where I would take reference shots for the posters. I recall a cheerful Italian vintner, his lacquered nails and hand tailored shirts!

The next scan was for a line of wines called 'Boone's Farm'....this one called Wild Mountain. Another short deadline large poster....done in gouache and black line technique.

Finally, a pair of nearly life sized die-cut Tyrolean figures, displayed in more spacious stores with Gallo's wines.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES

2009-03-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

HAVING YOU TO WALK WITH....
SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES
HAVING YOU TO TALK WITH....'

A 'sedimental' old ballad composed by Carmen Lombardo and played by brother, Guy Lombardo, the well known hotel band leader and orchestra back in the 30's, 40's and 50's. He was famous for slow dance music and fast racing boats. Also for ushering in the New Year each year from a posh NYC hotel, back when dance orchestras were broadcast nationally over network radio. Ah yes....gentler times. And....times to match some very early B&W ads, 1950 or '51. The CAWS is all about old, of course....but there is old and older. Trying to clear the decks, anyway, of most of these....historical or hysterical....viewers choice.

First, four B&W PG&E ads from the consumer series in the early 50's. These were to promote the low power rates in Northern California....now, some of the highest rates in the nation! Monterey Bay, the location of the first illustration. Fishing boats often carried female names on the bow....I used my wife's name on the foreground boat

Then, central valley cotton fields and hills the scene on the next...

...followed by San Jose with the palm trees.

A new Richmond city hall building follows. The interior scene, both pen and brush and ink, presented a challenge, as I recall.

A B&W Chevron service station illustration follows....back when credit card use was just beginning....this one showing a new imprinter. As I remember, this was my third 'important' Chevron assignment from BBD&O....very tight and very dated.

Two smaller B&W spots next, a professor lectured by a student and Chevron attendant.

A Marathon Oil ad after that, minus the halftone background that went with the film pos. This came from an eastern ad agency.

Finally, three small tuna ads from very early on, I think 1950.

Two of them lamenting the sad plight of the young hostess not choosing the 'right' tuna! Tres tragique!

And very last....two scans revisiting our intrepid 'Lady of Steel' once again.

Merely 'au revoir'....I'm sure we'll see her again!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'HOLA, AMIGOS....FIESTA!'

2009-03-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

Most people know Mexico had missions and settlements up and down California long before our eastern gold seekers and pioneers headed west across the plains. When I was young in the 30's, I worked summer shifts in my dad's country general merchandise store a few miles south of Fresno. At least half of our customers were Mexicans who worked there in the orchards, vineyards, fields and railroads. Then, as now, they provided most of the agricultural labor and a large part of the construction work force in California. The current tensions of illegal immigration and of drug cartels did not exist back in the 60's when these point of sale posters were done for McCann Erickson and Del Monte. Then we could portray the happy cliches and symbols of 'Old Mexico' in advertising. I doubt if this campaign would fly today.

As I focus on these old proofs, memories come back. I recall being tired when these came in.

I preferred jobs that came along singly....one at a time, please! It was easier to concentrate on the problems of one illustration. When a series came in....six or eight in this case....the pressure level increased.

The solution had to be fitting the illustration style and technique to the deadline....and to the Del Monte budget requirements....always on the low side. I opted for a loose line technique on rough illustration board and film positives over bright colors

The choice would both save time and compliment the Mexican theme and attention value needed on store posters. Also it lessened dependance on good, specific, reference or models. These were charcoal pencil on cold press Whatman board for the line....gouache behind the film positives.

Most of these scans are from a printed promotion piece for grocers showing the posters installed in a store. Hence the red edged backgrounds.

One of the B&W's, minus color, is included as an example.

A couple of B&W ink renditions of Mexican and American cowboys follow that were used in newspaper 'Viva Fiesta' promotions.

Two more scans....unrelated to 'Fiesta'.... but horse related. These were B&W illustrations, part of the Elanco/Graslan ads shown much earlier on CAWS. The first is from a brochure and the second, a film pos B&W minus the color background. Missing is a finished proof....as are many ads done over the years.

For now, adios amigos!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

RANDOM ACTS OF BLACK AND WHITE....

2009-03-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

No title tunes this week....but if there were, it would probably be an old depression era ditty. For better or worse, though, the songmeister will return!

The general theme on CAWS has been to show somewhat related ads and series. However, in my time, jobs and assignments never came in that way. In any given week or month work could involve B&W line art, ink wash, gouache in color or in greys, marker or charcoal pencil comps... almost back to back. Also it would include a variety of subjects from a variety of agencies and clients. All in all, it kept things interesting. On this, we'll show a variety of B&W's, some including halftone.

The first two are from a full page newspaper ad by the Port of San Francisco, done about 1970. Line film positives plus halftone.

Then, again in the early 70's, a B&W line illustration for the Bank of California....'entering California, Oregon, and Washington'.

Another for Bank of California showing off their new building in Portland, Oregon.

Following that, a change up....food B&W's. The first, an ad for Farrell's, a restaurant chain in northern California. B&W line technique presents a real challenge....trying to make food look appetizing. Hopefully a bit later, will show a color menu cover done for Farrell's.

Then a Tetley Tea B&W...film pos with halftone. Almost as much a lettering exercise as line illustration.

Finally, a fanciful B&W for the Four Seasons Hotel....from a large newspaper advertisement. Both Tahoe and Reno were and are major resort and hotel locations....and on occasion were good clients. A lot of promotion in California cities was needed to keep them busy year around.

Very last....two catalog poster illustrations of six items for sale....there were dozens on the poster. When times were slow....and it seemed to happen more often in the 70's....it was 'this brush for hire'....even catalog work!

These were done with charcoal pencil on smooth hot press illustration board....or small brush and ink....or possibly both.

Hard to remember!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'ARTY SMARTY'

2009-03-04T07:21:00.000-08:00

The origin of the heading, for CAWS at least, is explained below. My attempts at 'arty smarty' came along during the turbulent 70's....when everything had to have a 'new look'.

Most men grew long sideburns and longer hair. Most wore hip hugging, polyester bell bottom pants. Young women (my daughters included) wore mini skirts that nearly achieved the unachievable. Vietnam, major demonstrations, Watergate, long gas lines, closed gas stations, stagflation....a rebellious time. In my world, montages and busy acrylic textures became the style in illustration.

One of the most loyal clients for P&H, and for me, was the California State Insurance Fund, the big provider of workman's comp, required for every worker in the state. Over the years, I illustrated dozens of brochures and pamphlets....and on some, got adventurous. We'll start with a two color brochure....four scans

The line work was done with a fiber tip pen on newsprint....hence the 'blotter' look. Again, enjoyed the changes....although art prices were not keeping up with inflation. Come to think....have they ever?

In the late 40's and during the 50's, P&H was at 425 Bush St. in San Francisco, near the financial, corporate, and advertising center of town. Pat Patterson and Haines Hall owned the five story building. P&H occupied the so called 'penthouse', a one-half sixth floor addition. A small but modern elevator serviced the floors up to the fifth floor. The single sliding door held a 9x12 inch framed plexiglass panel....and P&H artists were 'encouraged' to take weekly turns to promote the P&H art service. On this occasion it held a colorful abstract, I think of food, by one of our bunch. One noon on the fifth floor, the elevator filled with three or four from P&H, a couple of secretaries and two or three from the architectural firm on the fifth. Last on, facing the door and the panel, was a tall black bike delivery courier....frequent visitors to 425 Bush St. Elevator etiquette prevailed....conversations stopped, people looked ahead or at the ceiling...a bit too close for personal contact. Just before the door opened at the first floor, the delivery guy broke the silence. In a deep voice he announced, 'AHTY SMAHTY!'. Needless to say, he got a big laugh. Our family has used the expression ever since.

Another State Fund brochure follows....four scans...

One of the most loyal clients for P&H, and for me, was the California State Insurance Fund, the big provider of workman's comp, required for every worker in the state. Over the years, I illustrated dozens of brochures and pamphlets....and on some, got adventurous. We'll start with a two color brochure....four scans...

...and a definite style departure for me.

Line art, film positives over the second color....which on these was done in greys mixed with acrylic medium.

The system seemed to work. I felt out of my 'comfort zone' on these...but as usual, had fun trying something new.

Another medical montage in the same style, this one in red ink, came from a separate pamphlet.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'MIS-TER CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

2009-02-24T09:12:00.000-08:00

SAILED THE WORLD WITHOUT A COMPASS....'

From a dimly remembered big band swing tune. For some reason I keep relating old tunes and lyrics with today's events. Checked this one out on Google, and sure enough, heard an audio sample by Benny Goodman....good stuff! Actually, Columbus did use a compass. What he lacked was a method or instrument to track longitude....thereby not knowing how far they had traveled. The first scan is of Columbus's 'Nina', frustratingly out of focus, from a large Gallo point of sale poster done in the 70's. 'Tasteful' was never a big consideration with Gallo POS ads....just large, hard hitting, product advertising.

I did dozens over the years. They often used product photos with the art....the photos in the foreground. In this case, the illustration was set up behind the glass and bottle, so naturally suffered from camera focus. This art was for a red 'jug wine' named Spanada.

History, or illustration relating to history, is the CAWS idea this week....and there were not a lot of historical assignments in advertising....for me at least. Two 1970's comps follow, again for a client that I can't recall. It did not come through the normal agency channels. This fairly large illustration went to finish....but I never saw the poster. The comp request was for the Lincoln Memorial statue....painted in sepia tones....with the famous quotation from the Gettysburg address above it.

After seeing the sepia comp, the client requested the finish be done in the more natural colors of the marble statue, plus a flag theme behind with the quotation....and a panel below showing the well known exterior view of the Lincoln Memorial. The client didn't want the cost of another comp, as I recall. I created this hasty but necessary comp for myself....hence the lack of 'sharp' drawing. Wish I had followed through to see the finished result, and where it was used.

Next, three unique commissions from a 1970's San Francisco entrepreneur selling 'audio postcards'. These were plastic covered cards, a 33 1/3 record embossed on them, commemorating the bicentennial anniversary of the founding of our country. Four in all....I'm missing one....and yes, Virginia, people played music on turntables in those days! These scans, grooves and all, are from the cards....done at the height of the montage and 'acrylic swish' illustration period on the west coast.

A bank savings poster follows....Thomas Edison the subject....a gouache done in the 50's.

Finally a marker and pencil color comp for a Wells Fargo billboard....this one for me, a more finished comp submitted. One day Tom Hall came in, said Wells Fargo, the very conservative San Francisco bank, wanted a 'new look' for their billboards....still using the traditional symbol, the red and yellow stage coach plus six horse team. My ad philosophy, especially on billboards, was to give the client the most bang for the buck. I think this could have been a strong, eye catching poster. As it turned out, too much of a 'new look' for the conservative bank.

They went back to their traditional photographed posters of the Wells Fargo stage coach and team.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

DO TEL....

2009-02-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

Odd title, but fits....from my notes made weeks ago. More telephone related jobs this week, and we'll start where we left off with the California 'lobby brochure'....for lack of a better description. These scans are from the printed pages, and I still think an eye catching concept. Again, my ad illustration career was kept interesting by the variety of assignments. Creating editorial illustration would have been more challenging, I'm sure. However, editors and art directors tended to categorize artists.....the romance boy/girl thing, or drama and mystery, or cartooned and humorous, maybe historical....or something else. One eastern art director had me down as a cowboy artist....from just one sample he had seen. On the west coast I had much more latitude.

First, the Pac Tel brochure cover, then an inside pair, and then the vertical half page examples seen in comps last week.

Following that...three of the 'Telephone News' mailers that haven't been shown on CAWS...that I recall. If it seems we're stuck in red inks this week....just coincidence....not my 'favorite color'. Which reminds me of an amusing and typically acerbic talk one evening in the 60's by Robert Fawcett before a group of San Francisco artists. His anecdote....when invited to lunch by an art director and the client, head of a large corporation, the client asked Fawcett to name his favorite color. Fawcett, irked by the banal question, replied, 'I play no favorites!'

The telephone mailers had a variety of subjects....always enjoyable for me.

They were done in gouache or Perma Greys, the second color added mechanically with a lighter screen of the original halftone illustration.

Finally, in the olden days before computer conferencing, a couple of newspaper B&W line plus halftone Pac Tel jobs from about 1960. The executive holding the phone was a church friend....and the other three gentlemen were my neighbors....all good sports.

Difficult to get them over at the same time, so they posed separately. For those days, and for newspapers, the line film pos and halftone underneath made for a good clear technique for an ad.

It would be again today....if illustrative figure ads were even used!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

COMPS TOO....

2009-02-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

Back to comps again....and there will be several more on the subject. I'll include more color comps on this. In the late 60's and in the 70's the variety of jobs and clients never seemed to end. About two thirds came from P&H, and one third free lance clients. Each needed a recognizable example of what they were buying in print advertising. For some reason I saved a few....but certainly not all. We'll start with a bay area pizza chain, Straw Hat, some time back in the 70's.

Brochures and peripheral kinds of advertising had largely replaced magazine ads, billboards, and large newspaper advertisemnts....all victims of TV and the rapidly changing times. Straw Hat was a typical example.

First (at top), a color comp, using markers, black fiber tipped pen, and charcoal pencil, followed by the printed ad....and, as long as we're at it, a couple more scans from the same brochure.

Then, 'fast forwarding' to the mid 80's, an unusual assignment from Pacific Lithograph in south San Francisco. The call came from an old friend and a favorite art director, Julius Spector, formerly head of the point of sale department at Gallo in Modesto. This was for the Kendall Jackson Winery in Sonoma County, still to this day a popular and successful California brand of wines. The request was for comps for a contemporary poster....or posters....incorporating the location and interests of the owner. These included rolling California hills and vineyards, the native redwood trees, a lake, white herons, a captive mountain lion (hopefully somewhat tamed!), and the owner's collection of medieval armor. Oh yes....an attractive blonde model sipping wine, and of course, the product! I recall doing a couple of color comps in markers and gouache.

A tracing of one here looking a bit like a 'paint by the numbers' example. Also several pencil comps.

The 'chain of command'....or chain of communication....from owner and staff, to the sales rep at Pacific Litho, to the art director, and then to me, was never good.

Stop and go, changing requests, lack of clarity, all raised doubts ....and I finally put a copyright sign on the one shown. The comps were paid for, but the poster and the ideas never materialized.

Following, still on wine, a B&W line comp on a picnic theme for Christian Brothers Wines....I believe for a decorative brochure. Don't recall it being finished, though it may have been used.

Finally, from a slick two color brochure for Pacific Telephone's many employees, here an introductory page. The message was about active participation in local government, civic groups, and advocacy to state representatives and to the press. Legitimate lobbying....and I think at the time when AT&T"s monopoly of long distance lines had been de-regulated and the 'Baby Bells' formed.

Three half page comps follow....and we'll show more finishes next week. Designed by Jack Martin....one of the fine ad designers at P&H....I liked the strong color panel use with B&W illustration throughout the brochure.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

SPRING CLEANING

2009-02-03T05:50:00.000-08:00

Certainly not the time for that in most of the country....one of the coldest, iciest winters in recent history. In total contrast, California has had one of the warmest and driest Januarys ever recorded....mid day into the 60's and 70's. We seem to be fulfilling the title of an excellent book on irrigated California and Arizona called 'Cadillac Desert'. The cleaning we're referring to are some desktop scans of the old Chevron 'taxiboards' and billboards from the 50's. Here, of course, 'old' is a relative term....the CAWS is all about old! 'Modern' in my career would be in the 70's and 80's. Changing the subject, I'm enjoying Leif's series on comps this week....and next week the CAWS will show a few odd color comps from my checkered past.

First, the last three Chevron taxi boards....some of that series shown earlier.

Nothing here too memorable...

...and typical subjects from Chevron and BBD&O.

A Lucky Lager spring poster the next...

...and then a Bank of America vacation billboard.

A PG&E 24 sheet poster follows, 'Washday's a breeze'. This scan is from a small flyer that was mailed with bills. All done in gouache, of course.

A B&W photo of a PG&E billboard, done way back in '52, and my first PG&E poster. This came from one of my favorite art directors, Nick Carter, at BBD&O. We had a friendly dispute about the muted values on the wagon team. I maintained the historical difference was enough, especially for a billboard. Let's make the color and values more equal. He insisted on the faded, muted look....and, as usual, the art director nearly always wins! PG&E trucks back then were a dark brown....but the difference in values on the billboard were a little less strong than on the scan.

Think I'll add, for the second time, the scan of probably my favorite PG&E poster, our distressed little housewife in a teacup!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

COMP THIS....?

2009-01-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

In the interests of change and diversity after several weeks of Chevy ads, the CAWS will return to comps....and, for better or worse, there will be more later on. Comps, as said before, can be just about any kind of presentation before finished art was ordered. They could be as simple as a rough pencil sketch, or a tight rendition in paint, marker, or charcoal pencil. Comps, to me, are interesting....more vitality, energy....often showing more of the creative side of illustration. Finished art usually showed a more technical demonstration of the illustrator's ability to get the job done. Wish I had saved some art director comps from which I worked. Mostly rough, due to time constraints, and to having to churn out so many before the client gave an 'OK'. That actually helped us.....almost anything the illustrator did was an improvement! Once an AD comp came to the illustrator, or a requested comp was provided to the agency (about half the time), there was financial commitment involved....even if the comp was not approved for final art. On occasion, my comps were used as final art. One major national corporation (who will remain nameless) ran my comps on their barbeque briquet packaging for years....having paid only the much lower comp price. Time and cost made it not worth litigation.

Let's get to the comps....and diversity....something I enjoyed over the years. First, a Del Monte children's coloring page, an old fashioned country scene....a point of sale offer.

Not too successful as I recall, but anything to get shopping mothers involved. The comps first...

...then a finished version....from a weak copy, my only record.

Next, a loose comp of a shopper for a Safeway promotion.

Then, a line marker drawing for a story board....minus the usual marker color....can't remember the product. Pancakes, juice....or? Done in the late 60's I believe.

For Japan Airlines....several grey marker comps, again in the late 60's or early 70's. I can't recall the intended use....but finished art was never done.

The large one, shown in sections, was at least full page newspaper in size.

They provided reference on the background decor and stewardess costumes....but the figures were just sketched....very generic.

Almost like mannikins....same age, handsome, no charachter....but after, all it was a comp!

Following....not a comp....but a typical Del Monte B&W plus halftone trade magazine illustration of a vacationing shopping family.

Finally, a charcoal pencil comp for Dole fresh mushrooms....and again, can't remember where this ad appeared.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

As Basie said....'One More Time!'

2009-01-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

'WHETHER TRAVELING LIGHT OR WITH A LOAD THAT'S HEAVY,
PERFORMANCE IS SWEETER, NOTHING CAN BEAT 'HER
LIFE IS COMPLETER IN A CHEVY....
SO MAKE A DATE TODAY TO SEE THE U.S.A.
AND SEE IT IN YOUR CHEVROLET!'

OK, OK.....that should do it for the Chevy ad jingle....as well as for most of the Chevy ads I illustrated. We'll begin with the now familiar yellow Corvair ad done sometime in the 60's. As with many jobs, a story goes with it....hopefully not too boring.

Chet Patterson and Jim Hastings, sometime in the 60's, had a falling out. I never knew why....and this ad came through Butte, Herrero, and Hyde, a well known creative-design team in S.F. Several illustrators were invited to submit color comps for two magazine ads. Mine and Gordon Brusstar's were selected by Hastings. My comp had the same bridge and bay scene, 'color coordinated' around a light blue Chevy Corvair. The Chevrolet people liked it, but ordered a yellow Corvair to replace the blue. That, I reasoned, encroached into my ' artistic domain'. No way could I illustrate a bay scene coordinated in yellow tones! On the finished art, I changed the background to a rural New England scene....a small maple sugar outfit, trees, barns, a few patches of late snow, etc. Jim Hastings liked it, but it was turned down flat by Chevy. The illustration was sent back....it had to be the bay scene....or else! To save all the hard labor on the Corvair, I covered and masked it....sponged off the maple sugar location, gessoed the background, and re painted the bridge and bay. Yep....in color coordinated yellows, greens, etc. So much for artistic liberty!

The next scan, a double page ad in the S.E. Post, a profile view of a 1955 pink and black Chevy.

General Motors was very proud of this car....the first 'wrap around' windshield in the business, a great new V-8 engine, a new look.....and of course, a big seller. This ad was the first color assignment I had received from Campbell Ewald....and a Jim Hastings layout. In the mid 50's two color autos were the new 'in thing'. We owned a '56 Chevy station wagon in grey and white.

Following....three color illustrations scanned from 8x10" B&W photos taken at P&H before the jobs were shipped. Actually better fidelity than something in color. First, another hill scene for magazines, previously seen here on TI in color. I liked the background vignette of the boiling over hot rod, young owner, and disgusted date.

The next two were Chevrolet national billboards....a 1958 Chevy...

...and a 1957 Chevy convertible showing the couple with the door opened. An unusual concept for Chevy, but considered successful. A bright, colorful ad with a teal blue car and a yellow dress on the young lady.

Next, a '62 Chevy full page newspaper B&W line, plus color, ad. A rural 'lazy river' car ferry scene....no doubt somewhere in the south. I had to pretty much 'design' the ferry...and it was probably not all that feasible for a real life operation. Once again....advertising! Done in the usual method....a B&W line film pos over a color rendering.

The close up of the Chevy is a better example of the way it looked.

A different kind of ad follows for 'Body by Fisher', a separate division of GM, as I recall. 1955 saw the first 'wrap around windshield' in the auto industry, and Chevrolet was very proud of it. This, a B&W halftone, just the windshield, the roll out 'wind wings', and chrome moulding ....my wife and daughter, the models. Not sure where the copy and headline were....probably under the art.

Last, my first or second Chevy B&W ad. A posh, morning coated, striped pants with spats, jeweler....helping an equally posh lady into her '55 Chevy. Must have been an expensive purchase! The tall street clock, a close copy of a well known clock on Market Street in San Francisco.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

Second stanza....all together now!

2009-01-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

'DRIVE YOUR CHEVROLET THROUGH THE U.S.A.
AMERICA IS THE GREATEST LAND OF ALL....'

[Credits to composers Leo Corday and Leon Carr, the Peter Lynd Hayes/Mary Healy Show, the Dinah Shore Show, Chevrolet, ASCAP, et al.]

Yep....the Chevy jingle again...with good reason. It was very much a part of the 1950's radio and TV advertising culture, along with the newspaper and magazine 'Chevy blitz' to which so many illustrators contributed. This week more Chevy newspaper B&W's....then we'll finish the Chevy illustrations next week with a mix of billboard and magazine ads.

Once again, Leif is 'elected' to patch together partial scans from full page clips and newsprint proofs. It seems to be the only way to come up with decent scans on these B&W line ads. (Click on each image to see a MUCH larger version.)

First (above)....a 'could be' Arizona location and family scene....conjured up from imagination, and from our very different northern California environment....grassy hills, bays, oaks, redwoods, eucalyptus, etc. I was aware in those days that the tight rendering on the cars tended to add the same style to the rest of the illustration. Pretty hard to 'loosen up' on Chevrolet ads! I finally did....on the yellow Corvair magazine illustration seen earlier, and maybe again later on.

Following, another steep hill concept, so favored by Jim Hastings and staff at Campbell Ewald. This is a fictitious bay scene....whose bay? Not sure....somewhere in the 'wild west'! Again....it's advertising!

Then a mountain road location with a cable and gondola overhead. Sharp eyes will notice how I 'cleverly' sneaked my TR-3 sports car into a Chevy ad....in the scenic pull out in the background.

The 'Jack Robinson' illustration should be next....and I seem to recall the agency and Chevy liked this ad.

Next, a must inclusion of a glider scene. A tough assignment, as I remember, getting car, glider, background and all, in the picture. I had in mind a quiet glider-friendly airport, maybe in the Tehachapi Pass area of the Sierras. Not so sure I would want to be in the glider....an early release at a low altitude could ruin your whole day!

Finally, one more oldtimer that hadn't worked earlier. Comment....not much, except I can't remember where I took the shot looking up the tailpipe of a military jet....but probably at Alameda Naval Air Station.

Here's the bridge....sing out now!

'ON A HIGHWAY OR A ROAD ALONG A LEVEE
PERFORMANCE IS SWEETER, NOTHING CAN BEAT HER
LIFE IS COMPLETER IN A CHEVY....
SO MAKE A DATE TODAY TO SEE THE U.S.A.
AND SEE IT IN YOUR CHEVROLET!'

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'SEE THE...USA...IN YOUR CHEVROLET'

2009-01-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

That second line may have been, 'America is inviting you to call...' It was the opening and closing theme, sung enthusiastically by Dinah Shore back in the 50's and early 60's on her weekly variety show sponsored by Chevrolet. Pleasant entertainment, typical of the day....songs and comedy by stars of those times....plus lots of commercials for Chevy and others. That was when General Motors was the blue-chip 'King of the Road', and the Chevrolet division outsold every other brand of car on the road. How times have changed in the intervening fifty or more years!

Chevrolet, through our relationship with Campbell Ewald in Detroit, was one, if not 'the', most important client that P&H and I had in the 50's and early 60's. Important, because all of their ads were national in distribution....and because the pay was better than on local or regional accounts. A long and complicated history, but to cut to the chase, Jim Hastings, a talented San Francisco artist, ad designer, art director, et al, became the head art director for Campbell Ewald in Detroit, and head of the Chevrolet account. He liked and favored west coast illustrators....Fred Ludekins, Stan Galli, Bruce Bomberger, Gordon Brusstar, Dan Romano....and....Charlie Allen. I was included a bit early....in the early 50's....really before I had enough experience. It was sink or swim....and I did some of both....on very complicated assignments. Even in the 50's there was overnight air delivery....so working long distance was practical.

We'll begin with scans of line art. Most of the dozens of ads I did for Chevy were large newspaper B&W ads...and most were line film positives over a halftone rendering on the car. I've found that line art and textures don't scan well....especially when a full page ad has been reduced to a smaller copy. Therefore, click on each image shown in this post to see a much larger version.

Hastings, and other AD's at C.E., promoted large ads with ambitious, dramatic compositions that were often difficult to render in pen, brush, and ink line art.

Above, a classic Jim Hastings concept....strong values, an implausible location with a wild-west stagecoach chase, a 1958 convertible plus movie directors, speeding along in a dry wash. I doubt if either of us had a clue how Hollywood would film such....certainly not with film crews perched on top of steep rocks, a director yelling with a megaphone from the car! Hey...it's advertising! This scan was from a glossy photostat, minus the halftone on the car, so the same as the film pos. In hindsight, wish I had asked for glossy proofs of these ads....but life was moving fast in those days...it didn't seem that important.

Next, again, strong values on a helicopter 'commuter dad' scene. Pretty sure it was a '57 Chevrolet. The cars had to be drawn as accurately and as 'sexy' as possible to please the Chevy people. In those days civilian helicopters were new. This was a Hiller (as I recall) that I photographed at Crissy Field, a small former military base on the S.F. Marina.

Below... a typical pencil comp that I did of a golf club scene....with multiple cars. I liked it, and Jim Hastings liked it, but Chevrolet wanted more cars showing.

The next scan was the result....a boring composition....but lots of Chevy's in the parking lot!

Finally, most of a full page B&W of a 1959 Chevy and family at a train crossing. Detroit was truly into the 'big, gaudy, fin stage' in car design by this time!

Next week....more B&W's and other types of Chevy ads.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

THE DOG DAYS OF JANUARY?

2008-12-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

Not likely! I believe those days are in midsummer.

(With credits to Barron's magazine and Frank Cotham)

But with this year's frigid winter, the cartoon just might warm a few hearts. The CAWS will head back to the early 50's, and the B&W PG&E consumer ads of that time. Most include dogs. They were an important family symbol.

These ads were about young families, and about selling new appliances....no one worried about using too much energy back then. This group should pretty much finish the scans of that PG&E series, with the exception of three or four 'location' ads showing low energy rates in California.

All of these are self explanatory....really, not much to say about them. Pen, brush and ink on Whatman Illustration board. As I remember, time was usually short. The AD at BBD&O would send over an ad layout....the illustration space left blank. We'd talk over instructions on the subject and appliances...a comp not needed. We were fond of dachshunds then, and we ended up owning one for about seven years. Definitely a character, and a great rat-catcher, he appeared in several ads.

Bruce Bomberger and Stan Galli used to favor dalmatians, the 'fire house dog', in their illustrations. For some reason, and for drawing purposes, I preferred spaniels and terriers.

My wife and oldest daughter posed for the 'bank book' ad.

Our two youngest were the little ones in front of the red leather chair with the relaxed dad. Won't identify him...

...except to say, I always improved the model!

Happy New Year!

Charlie Allen's Flickr set

'THE CHILDREN WERE NESTLED...

2008-12-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

ALL SNUG IN THEIR BEDS....
WHILE VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS
DANCED IN THEIR HEADS!'

I know....a very retro Christmas CAWS this week. However....it was ready to go and couldn't wait for next year.

It should be pretty obvious to any interested viewers that the CAWS is a 'limited edition' publication. The venerable large clip and proof drawer has definite limits. Hopefully, for what it's worth, we have several months of mid-century illustrative 'odds and ends' before a merciful fini is announced.

Leading off, a Bank of America billboard and bank poster, my oldest daughter and a neighbor youngster the models, about 1956. Not sure why the caption is missing. A challenging illustration for me at the time....trying for an early morning lighting effect, and that 'bicycle Christmas' expression with the kids!

Next, an early 50's PG&E pen and ink, one of the newspaper consumer ads in the B&W series we've seen before. This one timed for Christmas, the across the street roof lighted display a bit of a workout! There are a few more in that group still to be 'CAWSd' in weeks to come.

An E&J Gallo Brandy point of sale poster follows....the scan a bit weak, from a smaller reproduction that I had. Gouache again, largely done in watercolor-like washes. One of the advantages of gouache is the versatility....and it's faster and easier to use than acrylics.

Then another Gallo, this time Ernest and Julio's 'personal' Christmas card (I did several of those). It really went to hundreds, or maybe thousands, of Gallo clients and dealers.

Finally, two more B&W US Steel illustrations....featuring....and back by popular demand....our high heeled 'lady of steel hostess' with an all steel Christmas! No doubt a few more in that series will be seen down the line.

O.K....time to say 'Cheers and Happy 2009!' to viewers of TI and the CAWS.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

'TWAS THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS

2008-12-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

ON A CLEAR STARRY NIGHT....
THE CITY'S LIGHTS SPARKLED

WHAT A WONDEROUS SIGHT!

....To paraphrase the old poem by Clement Clarke Moore. And yes, illustrators tend to build on reference! This 'impressionist' version of San Francisco, back in 1974, was the only record album assignment I received over the many years. As said before, S.F. was not really a publisher of records and entertainment. This came from the Embarcadero Center, a big S.F. developer and promotional group. Instructions.....elevate and feature the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill....and make it festive and bright! I recall taking some late afternoon shots from Treasure Island, mid bay, and then improvising on the city's skyline. For what it's worth, the method here was much like the 'old school house' for US Steel, seen earlier. Heavy brushed gesso on illustration board, thin to thick gouache brushed and palette knifed on. My 'palette knives' were several small pieces of illustration board, cut in strips, 1/2 to 1 inch wide, the edge dragged in paint, then applied or scraped on. It works! I liked the rough texture of the illustration contrasted and made more stable by the beautifully designed title in script form.

We'll have a Christmas ad theme this week, and hopefully the next. Just in case, however, the CAWS would like to wish a hearty 'Merry Christmas!' to any and all viewers of TI and this blog over the past several months. It has been an interesting and rewarding experience....and Leif has been valiant in his support.

The next three scans are the now familiar 'Telephone News' mailers. Christmas subjects....usually received in a very non-Christmas time of year....sometimes mid-summer! But, that's life for many businesses. Spring and summer merchandise is often shown and advertised in the winter months.

I'll include two Gallo comps in pencil....for a POS Christmas poster in the 70's.

Last, a blast from the past! When our family was young, and even through our daughter's teen years....with my trusty Speed Graphic camera set on timer....I would take, develop, and print a B&W family photo each year for a Christmas Card. This one, in 1957, with my lovely wife and our three prides and joy. The mechanical 'pride and joy' was a bright red '55 TR-3 Triumph sports car.

To be honest, it rode like a brick....fun, but not sprung for comfort! It, or I, lasted for about three years before a replacement was made.

Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT....

2008-12-09T10:42:00.001-08:00

....stay out of the kitchen!' Pretty sure that admonition came from the feisty president, Harry Truman, way back in the 40's. Politicians, however, aren't the only ones having to withstand more than a little heat in their occupations. Many, if not most jobs, involve one form of 'heat' or another. That's why it's called a 'job'!

Certainly the advertising illustration business had it's share....from nearly endless tight deadlines, odd, impossible, or inappropriate ideas on illustration subjects, 'changes' that made little sense to the ad....whatever! Of course, the eternal wrestle with the technical was present....finding adequate reference or models, boards and paper, pens and inks, brushes and paints, odiferous markers, and 'Murphy' was never asleep! The usual problems of making it all work.

The CAWS will return to the Kaiser Aluminum ads of the 50's this week. First, the aluminum clad fire fighter, one more example of Kaiser's relaxed attitude on products.

They liked drama in these national magazine ads....and fire was an attention getter. The agency, Foote/Cone, or Kaiser, provided a photo of an asbestus type fire suit, a square windowed head hood, and a large CO2 nozzle....very much like the illustration depicted. When I inquired, 'where is the aluminum?'....the answer came back....'just make it look like heavy aluminum foil'! I believe this was my second Kaiser national ad....the first being the youngster holding aloft the aluminum stroller.

Next, the unlikely aluminum skillet held over a roaring open fire....but, what the heck....it's dramatic and gets attention. It's advertising!

The ad was a double page spread in SE Post and several other magazines. Regarding the right side, with some of the spots: note the mom is using the power mower! The one shown was our first Briggs and Stratton gasoline powered mower.

And finally, a couple of Kaiser ads featuring just the spot illustrations....again, back in the 50's.

Next week, a bit of Christmas cheer....from the ad world!

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

THE BIG APPLE....

2008-12-02T08:19:00.000-08:00

No, not THAT 'big apple'....NYC. And not the dance fad called the 'big apple' way back when I was in high school. A group of couples forming a circle, a few brave ones stepping out in the center doing a solo dance called 'truckin'. Not for this cat!

In this case, the 'big apple' was the Washington State Apple Commission, which promoted and sponsored the large variety of apples and pears grown in the Pacific Northwest....advertised, distributed, and sold around the country.

The ad agency, I can't recall now.....BBD&O, Foote, Cone & Belding, McCann Erickson? Not sure, but certainly loyal clients for Patterson & Hall, and for me. The assignments were mainly 'point of sale' posters, banners (they were hung on wires), and displays. They were widely used in supermarkets in those days.

'Point of sale' displays and ads have largely disappeared from food and produce sections in modern times....giving way to the esthetic, environmental, less commercial, and I should add, more expensive produce sections installed in supermarkets these days.

This week's CAWS will show a few banner examples, plus a few close up sections (out takes?) from a large, and now timely, Christmas poster.

These were straight arrow, literal but bright, renderings of the product.

All were done in gouache, before acrylics. The full poster, too large to photo and scan in my usual method, was not that great. But I liked the color and loose technique in general.

Last, still on food, 'one more time!', a rescan of the familiar Lucky Lager Thanksgiving poster....showing it did have both color and value.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.....

2008-11-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

This week, on Thursday, 27th November, the USA celebrates it's traditional Thanksgiving. We'll open the CAWS with a classic Gary Larson cartoon....and offer many thanks to Mr. Larson for a million laughs over the years....way out there on the 'far side'!

Today....in spite of the current global and domestic financial meltdown....and not to mention the normal pitfalls of our human existence on this somewhat weary planet....most of us have much to be thankful about. Not least, as I write, I'm grateful for 'Today's Inspiration', and for Leif's untiring efforts to inform and entertain with historic artists and illustration. This week he informed me of the Google Analytics chart showing the number of visitors to TI and the CAWS from around the world. To this old timer, just mind boggling....and I'm thankful for the chance to share some of my efforts and interests, over a lot of years, with generations from the digital age'.

A 'Lucky Lager' billboard (above) to start, from a poster, again photographed propped up on a patio chair. Not the greatest fidelity. The turkey, still in plastic wrap, and the laden 'Lucky' shopper, are the only Thanksgiving illustration I recall doing. I illustrated many Christmas themes...and have done a bunch of 'turkeys'....but those are of a different definition!

We'll return this week to many of the rest of the 'Telephone News' mailers from the 60's. I enjoyed the variety of subjects.

Most of the technical reference was provided by BBD&O, and the rest, including most figures, by the illustrator.

All were done in a gouache technique....using Windsor Newton Designers Gouache, Perma Greys Gouache, often with Liquitex acrylic matte medium mixed in.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set

* Gary Larson cartoon © 1992 FarWorks Inc. All Rights Reserved.

¿Habla usted español?

2008-11-18T08:02:00.000-08:00

A few phrases are remembered from high school Spanish... and I'll assume this one is correct. Scrolling forward to the 70's, Here are some brochure illustrations for a language TV program for Spanish speaking youngsters... no doubt through PBS stations in the S.F. Bay area and So. California.

That time frame may sound odd now... 'forward to the 70's'... but it was my third decade of illustration in San Francisco. As previously mentioned, work had changed drastically over those years. I was kept busy... more brochures, trade ads, 'point of sale' assignments, new and different agencies and accounts. Billboards - with the exception of the occasional highway painted bulletin and big magazine ads - had disappeared... and most of the 'big budgets' to boot! TV had become the '600 lb. gorilla' in the ad world. But other things... and a lot of variety... filled in.

More one and two color ads were the norm. The Spanish language brochure was essentially black on toned paper stock....and I used my weapon of choice in those days, a General charcoal pencil on cold pressed illustration board.

I'd like to add (and I haven't mentioned this) I worked with some great and talented guys and girls at P&H... and at the advertising agencies. There were creative ad designers and lettering designers, well before the age of instant computer generated fonts and designs... cartoonists, production experts, et al. We worked as a team... and I credit much of my stuff to those talented people. It was a pleasure working with professionals of that caliber!

Following the brochure, a couple of illustrations using the same method. Although legitimate jobs, I can't recall where the 'historical' montage was used...

...and I'm drawing a blank on the 'pencil on rough board' portrait. I think a local S.F. journalist...

...but just too many years!

Will try one more... ¿Habla usted inglés?

Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

"Whenever you're watching a hula girl dance..."

2008-11-12T17:24:00.000-08:00

"Whenever you're watching a hula girl dance...
Be careful, you're tempting romance...
Don't keep your eyes on her hips
Her naughty hula hips...
Keep your eyes on the hands!"

[Alfred Apaka, back in the 50's, from the Hawaiian Village, in Honolulu. Think coconut palms, soft trade winds, ukuleles, Hawaiian guitars, grass skirts swaying....maybe a tall Mai-Tai! ]

Two things I share with the 'Singing Detective', from the British PBS TV series, years ago. An obscure auto-immune skin disorder, mostly controlled these days with Prednisone. And....a tendency to associate pop songs from our era with subjects or events of today. So....the above Hawaiian tune!

A travel and Hawaiian theme on this week's CAWS. First, the 'Chevron Island' hula dancer. In color, an aviation magazine ad...

...and in B&W (from color), a Chevron ad minus the copy above and on the left.

Both the Cessna Co. and the FAA might have had fits seeing that unacceptably low turn on final approach! But, hey....it's a fantasy world! Hula girls and gas pumps aren't normally found on runway thresholds!

Next, three Matson travel ads...around 1958. Matson was still promoting passenger ship tours to Hawaii on the 'Monterey' and the 'Lurline', both ships back from WWII service.

Competition at that time was from flights on DC 6's and Boeing Stratocruisers, both great prop engined planes. However...a ten or more hour flight to Hawaii in the usual bumpy, turbulent weather. Shortly after the 50's, jet travel took over....with a mere five hour flight to Hawaii...normally in smooth air.

Matson and American President Lines turned to freight and container ships. These three illustrations were done in the usual Windsor-Newton designers gouache.

Then, a Japan Airlines B&W news ad from the same era. It was a line film pos over ink wash halftone.

Last, an early 50's ink wash illustration for BCPA....air travel to New Zealand and Australia. Early days, indeed!

Another verse? Why not!

"Remember, she's telling a story to you...
Her opu is swaying, but don't watch the view...
Don't concentrate on her swing
It doesn't mean a thing....
Keep your eyes on the hands...they tell the sto-ry
K-e-e-e-p your eyes on the hands!"

2008-11-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

It's a workaday world...and, life is work!

When I was a kid (a couple of hundred years ago!), boys grew up with pocket knives, cap pistols, even BB guns. Most commercial toys were made of cast metal or formed metal. Decades before plastic toys were the norm, we carved and created most of our play items. From pine box wood....we made airplanes, boats, race cars. Paper provided airplanes and boats. From bamboo....submarines, blow guns, and orange peel shooters! Forks of branches gave us sling shots....rubber inner tube strips tied on. At one young stage, and from our encyclopedia, a friend and I were fascinated by mummies, catacombs, and Egyptian tombs. We carved small figures, wrapped them in strips of cotton, then burned them at the stake. I know....warped from the start!

Back to pocket knives, one of my two original knives is shown in this Kaiser Refractories duo-tone ad, opening an industrial bag.

Mat knives were around in the 50's, but box cutters had not come into common use. I still have the pocket knife, and a similar pair of work gloves.

Western industry and agricultural corporations, though smaller in numbers than in the mid-west and east coast, still provided a lot of ads and illustration subjects back in the 50's and 60's. This week's CAWS will post a few assignments from Kaiser Corporation and US Steel.

Kaiser had multiple divisions....Kaiser Aluminum, Kaiser Steel, Kaiser Refractories, Kaiser Automotive, which produced cars for several years, and, of course, one of the first and most successful HMO's in the country.

Above are two scans from an early Kaiser Aluminum wire cable brochure. Below, three US Steel B&W spots....all working subjects...

...one including our 'lady of steel'!

Finally, a 1960's Kaiser Aluminas ad, four engineer portraits, done at the height of the acrylic 'swish' era.

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* See these (and many more) images at full size in Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

'MARTHA! THIS IS THE BIG ONE!'

2008-10-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

San Francisco has always had plenty of entertainment....from fine opera, ballet, and symphony companies, theatre and musical comedy performances, down to the bawdiest of North Beach night clubs. But...as an entertainment capital....S.F. was not. The television and movie industries were in Los Angeles and Hollywood....as well as the advertising and promotions for both that were created there.

Still, occasional 'show biz' related assignments and stories came my way. This week's CAWS will show a few.

Redd Fox, with one of his oft feigned heart attacks on the entertaining sitcom, 'Sanford and Son', back in the 70's. His flexible face and expressions were a pleasure to draw!

The 'Sanford' montage, and the actors heads, were done with what became my favorite tool in the 70's....plain General charcoal pencils, 2B to 6B.

'That's Entertainment' was the original idea on this piece: a PG&E newspaper TV ad with two inch spots...proving a lot can be shown in a small space.

Next scans, three 1960's KFRC radio disc jockey promos....'hippie era' stuff...and my adaptation to it.

One, a scruffy technique on a scruffy DJ!

Also, an 8" x 10" B&W copy of a Burgie billboard....I think early 60's. We brought in a couple of models from one of the agencies in town....the young guy just bursting with energy, pep and go. His name was Bill Bixby....and I had a hunch he wouldn't be around long. Obviously, he went on to a long TV series and career in Hollywood.

Finally, the 'Chevron Island' hula dancer, tied in with their TV ads at the time.

The last image on 'show biz' will have to be in the viewer's eye... and we'll liberate a fine Bob Peak cheer-girls 7up illustration to set the scene...

On a crisp fall morning in the 70's, I delivered a job to P&H in S.F. Walking in, was 'shhhh-ed' at the door by the receptionist. "They're video taping!" P&H had added a service called the 'Film Works' in the 60's...film/photo/video/documentary stuff. I walked quietly up carpeted stairs to Chet Patterson's office....which had a glass wall looking down on the photo studio. For some corporate client....and to lights, action, and camera....a cute blond cheerleader was going through her act. Practiced moves, white outfit and shoes, with big red pom-poms....just one thing was missing....her top! A few seconds later, the final big leap, arms and pom-poms high in the air....for a brief instant, all defied gravity! I turned to Chet....'Wow....the Film Works has all the fun jobs....who's the model?' He said, 'She's from San Mateo....her name is Suzanne Sommers'. As we know, Suzanne went on to a successful career on the sitcom, 'Three's Company', as well as other venues in Hollywood. Still active in business, and looks great.

*Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

LEFT IN SPACE!

2008-10-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

No....not the astronaut on an early spacewalk back in 1965. He returned in fine shape. I did not!

This Telephone illustration was on my drawing board at the time, the upper sky and astronaut 95% completed. My youngest daughter and I went over to a nearby grassy hillside where her horse was pastured. Supplemental oats were needed at that late summer time of year. Will skip the sad details, and my lack of 'horse sense', but I ended up on the ground with a right forearm broken in two places. Fortunately, the lightning fast kick hit between my elbow and wrist....either of those blows could have been a career ending event!

The two breaks were set, a heavy plaster cast, hand to upper arm, plus sling, installed. Then....what to do? Decided to finish the lower half of the illustration left handed....hence....'left in space!' It took three days to finish what should have been a half day's work. Please try working with the 'wrong' hand sometime....it's just sheer torture! The ad was completed, a tad late...followed by four months of 'early retirement', plus several weeks of rehab, before returning to working efficiency. At the time I was overloaded with work....and over stressed. Maybe a good thing!

To stay with a theme, will include a few other space subjects, very much in the news in those days....the 50's and 60's.

The first three, Telephone News mailers, once again.

Then, the scientist stepping into space, for National Oil Seals....and I still get a bit of vertigo when I see it occasionally.

Finally, a NASA subject showing early space and satellite efforts for Vought Aircraft, down Texas way.

* All of these images can be seen at full size in Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

TAXI!

2008-10-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

For a change, CAWS 16 will stay with a theme...last week's 'taxi boards'. The usual attempt is to vary subjects to avoid the boredom thing as much as possible. Coming from one source and advertising art from one market, not easy!

'Taxi boards' were 2 x 3 foot heavy cardboard weather-proofed posters mounted in a metal frame on the backs of San Francisco Yellow Cabs. Can't recall whether they were displayed in other cities in California, or elsewhere. On the first, the race car winners, I used two neighbors as models. One a stock broker, the other a high school teacher, but good sports both. They were not that different in size! Sport car racing was a popular fad in the 1950's....now racing seems all NASCAR oriented.

Then...the wind streaked convertible couple... good rendering but classic shallow advertising.

I swallowed my pride about content early... going in. Wanted to earn decent money and support a family. I suppose we all compromise in our work lives... but hey, no complaints!

Next, the '20/20 vision' Chevron service station attendant. I don't recall ever receiving that service in the old days!

My contribution....the 'looks' on the couple in the car. He looks a bit skeptical...jealous?...whatever. She looks pleased...even admiring. Too subtle, I'm sure.

Then....the cool hand filling the radiator....and, yes, children....radiators did fill that way back in the 50's!

Finally, the 'busy car gasolines'....and, you guessed....I'm the briefcase commuter!

All of these were reproductions of Chevron billboards...obviously advertising that Chevron and the Yellow Cab Co. thought valuable and profitable. Back in August I remembered a stash of about a dozen of those and other posters too large for a proof drawer. Out of sight between a metal file and studio wall, I hadn't looked at them for years. I propped a few against the back of a patio chair and took shots with my Pentax. Considering their age (about 50 years), original reproduction limits, and my camera distortion, the color fidelity and results are better than I expected.

* See these images at full size in Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

BILLBOARDS: ART...EYESORES...BOTH?

2008-10-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

As a youngster in high school, I enjoyed looking at billboards. Recall trying to imitate the technique on the 'Double Your Pleasure" Wrigley gum ads....without much success. Those were Americanized versions of European poster art....and I doubt if I knew what an airbrush was. Much later as an illustrator, I had a vested interest in what were called 24 and 30 sheet posters....and I completed dozens of them. They were choice jobs to receive, and paid a lot of bills for my growing family!

Above, a Bank of America billboard, 'Rainy Day Money'....and today we probably still need it!

When the 'big change' happened in the late 60's, it happened suddenly. Billboards WERE an eyesore....cluttering up streets, buildings, and highways in the open countryside. It was time for them to go. Once again, my mantra, 'change is the constant'....but the change greatly affected illustrators, and certainly affected my sources of work and income. Well....cest la vie!

* Seen before: the 'windshield wipers' poster above (on which my neighbors were the models). One earlier comment on Flickr had said they looked like the same guy....but actually, only one repeat! Which two? Answer at the bottom....

Below, a faded color print (and my only record) of probably my favorite poster from the late 50's. The grandmother's dress was originally blue-violet....now, flesh tones are faded, heater and other colors gone, although the drawing and values still hold up fairly well.

This PG&E board received the 2nd 'Max Schmidt' annual award for best poster in the western states that I had won. The earlier winner was another PG&E poster, again with an electric heater, with red-orange Dayglo fluorescent ink silkscreened in the center....amazingly real in appearance.

Also included is an 8 x 10 inch B&W copy print of a 1960's 'Burgie' billboard.

Definitely not a Whitcomb or Whitmore romantic story illustrator....but I'm still pleased with the gouache handling on this poster.

Finally, the 'toothache mastiff' once again, which shows the approximate colors. This and the 'windshield wipers' poster near the top were 'taxi boards'....24 x 36 inch Chevron posters mounted on the backs of San Francisco Yellow Cab taxis...

...more on those later.

* See these images at full size in Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

* A: The two attendants in the middle!

'COMP' = COMPREHENSIVE

2008-09-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

Mr. Webster defines comprehensive as....."dealing with all or many of the relevant details; including much; inclusive." In ad illustration, right on!

As one of the old school, and digitally disadvantaged, I have no idea if the word 'comp' is used in today's advertising and media world. In my thirty or more years illustrating, 'comp' or 'comped' were everyday terms for a sketch in B&W or color shown to an agency or client for approval before finished art was begun. 'Storyboards', or comps before TV commercials are produced, were around back in the 70's. I did a few, and Leif tells me they're still in demand....only in computer form instead of markers.

This week's CAWS will show some random comps with a general date.....and more will follow in the weeks to come. Illustrators agreed that their comps were often better, and certainly had more vigor, than a more precise, tightened up, finish. The client would probably not agree! Oddly, in my work, the more important jobs....billboards, most Chevvy ads, Kaiser Aluminum ads, a few others....were comped by the art director, and client approved, before coming over to me. On many 'lesser ' ads, the artist had to provide comps before a finish was ordered.

Below, a 2B pencil comp on bond pad for Hexol, a home and bath disinfectant....in the early 50's.

A finished ad, done in ink wash, follows. For some reason the Hexol folks were hooked on the twins idea. No problem....it still just required one model, my daughter, or maybe one of her friends!

Next, the charcoal pencil sketch of pony, tyke, and dad, for State Fund done in the 70's. Why the tractor tire? I have no idea....and can't recall if it became a finished ad.

Then two more charcoal pencil comps for US Steel B&W ads. As with the two at the top of this post... 1960's vintage.

Finally, a charcoal pencil montage, a popular fad in the 70's. It was for a State Fund Ag insurance ad, usually published in farm journals.

Some of those, which we'll see later on, were cleaned up and used as finished art.

* See these images at full size in Charlie Allen's Flickr set.

Times Are A-Changin'!

2008-09-23T04:47:00.000-07:00

"What this country needs is change!" The ancient rhetoric of politicians... heard once again in the current political season. My theme and experience has been... "Change is the constant!"

From the long distance of time and today, ten or fifteen years way back can seem compressed... not all that long. However, the early 1950's to the mid-1960's was a very long time in the advertising and illustration environment.

In a decade, the nation had changed from a print media and a reading public to a television viewing culture. News and entertainment were quickly moving from newspapers and magazines into television... and of course advertising budgets both led - and followed - all the way.

In my specialized world, the traditional literal illustration and ad assignments were changing into more designed, simpler images... and thanks to eastern artist like Briggs, Fuchs, Peak and others, more action figures were in demand.

Per usual, it was adapt... or else!

This week's CAWS shows a Mercury-Comet B&W series, done in the mid-60's. Kenyon-Eckhardt in S.F. was the ad agency for the Mercury account for the states west of the Mississippi, a frequent division in sales and advertising. I can't recall the art director, but he was good. The method usually was a line film positive over a halftone rendering of the car.

This last example is a grey marker comp, typical of the comps I sent over for AD and client approval. Not sure if this one went to 'finish'... don't have a clip or proof of it.

These were enjoyable assignments... and again, a change from the usual car ads.

* Charlie Allen's Flickr set.