Celebrating illustration, design, cartoon and comic art of the mid-20th century.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Al Parker Step-by-Step: Part 4
* This article originally appeared in the Famous Artists School magazine in 1958. For those interested in finding out more about school, I've added their website link to my sidebar.
I absolutely love these step-by-steps. Thank you so very much for your generous efforts. It's truly wonderful to see the process of an artist shown in such detail, especially an artist from the golden age of illustration.
Sometimes the process of creation can be tricky, and one can feel that one is reinventing the wheel. To see another artist work from start to finish can help one to feel more grounded, and less alone.
Thanks for your enthusiastic comment, harley. I have some more material like this and will schedule it in for some other upcoming week. What I hope people got from this demo is how much emphasis Parker placed on developing a sound concept and a solid composition. I loved his line about using the paints that were "closest to his elbow" - emphasizing that slavish attention to what materials a master uses is not the secret to a good illustration.
These tutorial posts were amazing. I had one question, he says that he used whatever medium he had near him, but that it could have been achieved with ink, oils, etc. I'm assuming that all of the painting for this piece was done in gouache, is that correct?
Thanks again for the great post, and for having such a helpful, inspiring blog.
I'm pretty sure you're right, keith - gouache was the mainstay medium of the 50's 'New School' illustrators. They used it in place of oils because of the quick drying time and its generally flat, graphic quality contributed to the proliferation of art done in this style (with parker leading the way).
I absolutely love these step-by-steps. Thank you so very much for your generous efforts. It's truly wonderful to see the process of an artist shown in such detail, especially an artist from the golden age of illustration.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the process of creation can be tricky, and one can feel that one is reinventing the wheel. To see another artist work from start to finish can help one to feel more grounded, and less alone.
Thank you once again for this superb blog.
Thanks for your enthusiastic comment, harley. I have some more material like this and will schedule it in for some other upcoming week. What I hope people got from this demo is how much emphasis Parker placed on developing a sound concept and a solid composition. I loved his line about using the paints that were "closest to his elbow" - emphasizing that slavish attention to what materials a master uses is not the secret to a good illustration.
ReplyDeleteLeif, you're right - a real artist can make a compelling picture with a stick in the dirt.
ReplyDeleteI really look forward to seeing some more step-by-steps in the future.
These tutorial posts were amazing. I had one question, he says that he used whatever medium he had near him, but that it could have been achieved with ink, oils, etc. I'm assuming that all of the painting for this piece was done in gouache, is that correct?
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the great post, and for having such a helpful, inspiring blog.
I'm pretty sure you're right, keith - gouache was the mainstay medium of the 50's 'New School' illustrators. They used it in place of oils because of the quick drying time and its generally flat, graphic quality contributed to the proliferation of art done in this style (with parker leading the way).
ReplyDeleteVery glad you enjoyed these posts! :-)