Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Tom McNeely and National Geographic's "Making of America"

During the 1980s, Tom McNeely illustrated a series of 17 "Making of America" maps for National Geographic. Today being Independence Day, I thought these three originals from the series, which I happen to own, might be a nice way to celebrate the occasion.

Here, with Tom's acetate overlay still in place, is the "Making of America" art for New England.

McNeely55

McNeely55.detail01

I was able to find a scan online of the printed map title area for comparison.

McNeely55.detail02


Below, the original art from the "Making of America" map of Texas.

McNeely57

A couple of close-ups...

McNeely57.detail01

McNeely57.detail02

Finally, here is what I think might be the art for a "Making of America" map of Virginia. No overlay or pencil notes on the back of this one... but still; a really fine piece of work by a fantastic illustrator.

McNeely56

Happy July 4th to all our American friends and family!

10 comments:

  1. What absolutely gorgeous artwork! There is a wonderful warmth and luminosity to these watercolour illustrations. Thanks too, Leif, for including the distinct ragged edge of the watercolour paper with these scans. It's always helpful to see what sort of surface the artist was working on as we analyze their process. I'm really enjoying all of this art by Tom McNeely!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent review! Love all the original artwork and layouts. Happy 4th!

    ReplyDelete
  3. stephen11:53 PM

    The Virginia artwork is from the Tidewater Making of America map from 1988. It was the last of the 17 maps from that series. Tom McNeely also did the artwork for the British Columbia Making of Canada map in 1992.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MindGenius Crack Free Download is a powerful mind mapping, brainstorming, and design software that helps you visualize, manage, and share your knowledge and ideas.mindgeniuscrack

    ReplyDelete
  5. PHPMaker Crack Key Download is a useful automation tool that can quickly generate complete PHP packages from MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and SQLite databases.phpmakerlicensecode

    ReplyDelete
  6. Overloud TH-U Crack Free Download can load rig models created by the actual installation. The Overloud Key’s unique technology allows engineers to capture the response of the entire platform, including the non-linear and dynamic response of amplifiers, desks, microphones, microphone preamplifiers, and room sounds. overloudthutorrent

    ReplyDelete
  7. The goal of Evosounds All Hard Everything Crack Download is to provide inspirational sounds to create hard drops without breaking the bank.evosoundsallhardeverythingproductkey

    ReplyDelete
  8. PowerDVD Crack reads more than DVD and Blu-ray discs. For video, audio, photos, VR 360° content, and even YouTube or Vimeo, PowerDVD Crack is your funny accomplice.powerdvd

    ReplyDelete
  9. Allegorithmic Substance Designer Crack is the best tool for scanning and creating 3D content based on nodes. It has become the standard in the entertainment industry to create PBR (Physically Based Rendering) content.allegorithmicsubstancedesignerwithregistrationkey

    ReplyDelete