Sunday, May 25, 2008

Robin Jacques

Robin Jacques
British Art Director/Educator/Illustrator
born 1920 - died 1995

Jacques (rhymes with Jakes) was orphaned at an early age, and taught himself to draw. He illustrated over 100 children's books in his career. These fantastic and detailed pen-and-ink drawings are from Steel Magic by Andre Norton, ©1965.

Click on pictures for full-size images.












Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Gordon Laite

Gordon Laite
American Illustrator
b. 1925 - d. ?

Our previous posting on Gordon Laite is here.

Laite illustrated this anthology of spooky tales, More Tales To Tremble By in 1968, published by Whitman Publishing for young readers. It includes such classic spooky stories as "Sredni Vashtar" by Saki, "God Grante That She Lye Stille" by Cynthia Asquith, "The Voice In the, Night" by William Hope Hodgson, "The Extra Passenger" by August Derleth, and "Casting the Runes" by M. R. James. As with many of the Whitman books, they were printed cheaply with board covers. The paper has tanned, and many fine details of Laite's outstanding illustrative and contemporary style dropped out in reproduction. Still, I think you'll agree that his illustrations match the creepy stories in this book.

Click on pictures for full-size images.


Sunday, May 11, 2008

Anton Loeb


Anton Loeb
? - ?

Animator/illustrator


I'm unable to find out much about Anton Loeb, except that he worked as an animator for various studios, including the Fleischer Brothers, who produced the Popeye cartoons. If you know anything about Loeb, please share the information.

He did the illustrations for this version of The Wizard Of Oz, adapted by Allan Chaffee from L. Frank Baum's 1900 classic original. This abridged version was published and ©1950 by Random House.

Click on pictures for full-size images.