A Christmas Convergence - Part 4

Yes, the December 1962 issue of McCall's really did present a convergence of styles: Old School, New School, Decorative - even Cartoon illustration, courtesy of one of the best... Roy Doty.


The mind-boggling thing about any Roy Doty illustration is how he effortlessly tackles a HUGE crowd - and manages to have every person engage in an individual activity or pose. No repetition here... McCall's staff members, as delineated in Doty's immaculate pen line, are as varied as they would have been in real life. He even included likenesses of key staffers and specific references to the contents of that issue.

For instance, that must be art director Otto Storch (below) in the commander's seat of the McCall's art department...


... and just below that, a reminder that McCall's could boast an enviable 8.4 million copies-per-issue circulation.

Look a little further down -- there's Walter Einsel's Christmas cookie cake that we discussed in yesterday's post!


Doty even included a self portrait (I presume "Hershey" is the woman standing next to him and the author of the accompanying poem in the centre of the page).


You know, Roy Doty's style remained largely unchanged throughout his career... and yet it never looked dated. As other illustration styles fell in and out of fashion, his clean, simple linework always looked fresh and current.

A testament to the merit of that old adage: "Keep it simple."

Take a few minutes to examine this entire image in greater detail. Go to my Roy Doty Flickr set and click the "All Sizes" tab above this image.