In spite of that, I still love illustrations of marlin fishing - and this week's theme gives me the perfect excuse to show you a few I've been saving up. This one, below, is also interesting because its painted by Wendell Kling.
Kling was certainly an accomplished illustrator -- but more importantly, he owned a massive graphic arts studio in Chicago that provided a huge array of services - including the services of many of Chicago's top illustrators - to the advertising industry in that city. Kling Studios also had branch offices in New York, Detroit and Hollywood. It must surely have been the largest graphic arts services studio in America at that time.
Finally, here's one of my favourite 50's illustrators, Rudy Pott, showing us how to do it right. If the typical marlin fishing shot is from behind the fisherman, then bring the fish right up alongside the boat so we can be impressed by its magnificent size, power and strength as it fairly leaps into our lap!
As a young man, Rudy Pott had high hopes of becoming a western artist, even moving from his native Philadelphia to New Mexico to immerse himself in the surroundings of his chosen subject matter.
But fate had other plans for Pott. Upon his return to Philly he found the market flooded with western artists and the Saturday Evening Post offering steady assignments as the regular artist on author Philip Wylie's tales of a rugged Florida fisherman, Crunch Adams.
I have more to tell you about Rudy Pott... but we'll save that for another time.
For now, take a moment to enjoy all of today's images at full size in my Fishing Flickr set.
Oh! And a quick note to go check out Jack Raglin's photostream on Flickr. Jack has just added several fishing- themed illustrations by the wonderful Enoch Bolles.
Interesting how the river fishing is shown from the fish's perspective, but the ocean fishing is from the boat's perspective. Thanks again for these fun illustrations!
ReplyDeleteYeah - its weird, right? And, in each case, its a fairly standardized approach repeated by artist after artist (with occassional exceptions, to be sure) that I think is kind of an interesting - if esoteric - curiousity.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Stephen! :-)
Sidebar re Philip Wylie's long-running "Crunch and Des" series (I read once he wrote about 250! C&D short stories/novelettes for the post):
ReplyDeleteWylie is best known as the co-author of WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE and the misanthropic classic essay GENERATION OF VIPERS. By himself he wrote a number of well known sci-fi novels including GLADIATOR (one of the inspirations for Superman as well as the basis of a Joe E. Brown movie that pops up now and then on TCM!), THE DISAPPEARANCE (men and women shift into alternate dimensions), and TOMORROW, in which a Midwest town is devastated by a nuclear blast in loving/gory detail.
Yet arguably his most popular stories are the surprisingly calm and gentle "Crunch and Des" tales about two war buddies who run a charter fishing business in Florida. Many of the best "Crunch and Des" stories were collected about 1990; I don't know if the book is still available but I recommend it to anyone who enjoys nice, laid back, easy-going stories.
Well, that's VERY cool, Buzz - thanks for letting us know. :-)
ReplyDeleteI will go fishing this weekend j/k (extended weekend here) :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing illustrations once again Leif.
Regards
Thanks, pablo - and good luck with your fishing this weekend! :-)
ReplyDelete