Before Rackham, Pyle, and Pogány, there was Crane.

Happy New Year. I've been away for a bit, holidays and all that. Let's get back to business. Books in the pipe- a selection of Maxfield Parrish imagery is going through final press stages, and my book on H. J. Ford is about ready to head to the printer. A few weeks ago I announced an upcoming project on Walter Crane (1845-1915), and promised a peek at what makes him interesting. Let's get to that now.


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The thing that makes Crane stand out the most, is that he was one of the first—predating H. J. Ford, even. His early children's work changed and developed as printing technology did, with heavy lines and flat color at first, where the work of his last two volumes more closely resembled the fully rendered paintings he produced in the latter part of his career. All throughout, he was a great advocate of the decorated book, and produced many publications that showcased his skills from title-page to end.
He did not look back to the Pre-Raphaelites, they were his contemporaries. While an illustrator trying to enter the fine art market is a rare and difficult task now, Crane did well in both areas, concurrently. His imaginative work ran the gamut between nursery rhymes to classic mythology. His styles ranged from simple line to full-blown oils to design and patterns. He was in-step with the active art scene of the day, but found commercial outlets that made him highly successful.
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There is a LOT of material on Crane out there, but here are a few of the better links to the tip of the iceberg-
Crane at Artmagick
at Artcyclopedia
At the Elizabeth Nesbitt room

Knightly Inspirations

Ah, the summer months are almost upon us. The challenges of commitment have made some appearance recently, with some lapse in regular posts. I have a full dance card at the moment, with many projects relating to things here. In the last few weeks I sent a collection of Fairy images to press, wrapped up a very interesting set of images on Mermaids, and am about to finish the "polishing" steps of my new book on Willy Pogány. Throw in a few illustration assignments, my full-time job and a four-day fishing trip, ok, I'm busy. I have two big treats for the next two entries, so sit back and get set-

Maybe 20 years ago,Time-Life Books came out with a series on folklore and mythology called "The Enchanted World" This series of large-size hardcovers were richly illustrated, both with classic public-domain imagery, and brand new illustration from some of the big name illustrators of the day. Having just graduated art school, this was great material, and great reference- I signed on to receive all the books as they came out. I found a few inspirations among the artists in those pages, but one that really floored me was William Russell Flint. (1880-1969)

Flint was Scottish by birth, spent most of his life in Britain, and was knighted(!) for his artistic achievements in 1962. As usual, there is a good look at his work in relation to illustration at Jim Vadeboncouer's site at Bud Plant-
There is plenty of info on him scattered about the web, and he still has a healthy and active representation marketing his prints today.

There are a few things about Flint that drew me to his work—First was his design sense. The early picture that I saw in the Time-Life volume was the opening image on the page here, from the "Odyssey". These figures and visual devices are assembled in a way that continuously leads the viewer around the image area. The second thing that almost perplexed me was the use of medium—namely, watercolor. Really? Watercolor? It was these Flint pieces that convinced me that it could be used as a serious medium for illustration, that it could be used with accuracy and control.

Unfortunately for us illustration junkies, Flint's career in illustration was comparably short to his many years of creative output. He started with the Illustrated London News in 1903, and gave us some great plate books for about 25 years, including The Odyssey, Le Morte D'Arthur, The Canturbury Tales, and a number of editions on the works of Gilbert and Sullivan's operas. In the early 1930's, he made the leap that so many attempt, but so few succeed—he became accepted in gallery art; both for his landscapes, and his exquisite figure work. It is primarily this latter work that drives interest in his art today, but his illustration is still held in high esteem, from all quarters.

Visions of Camelot

Visions of Camelot: Great Illustrations of King Arthur and his Court

My relationship with Dover Publications goes back almost 11 years. Much longer if you look at the time their books have been influencing me. Dover prides itself in making available the hard-to-find, both in texts, and in images.

Having put together a handful of books for Dover— my favorites have been those connected by a central theme. The first like this was Poe: Illustrated. The idea and format were well enough received that we've been able to do a few more, the latest having hit Dover's site this week. This theme is a selection of Arthurian imagery.

Visions of Camelot, (now available here on Dover's site) is my fourth title with this approach. There are classic images you might expect, like a selection of Aubrey Beardsley's iconic line pieces from the 1894 Le Morte D'Arthur ; and a generous sampling of Howard Pyle's decorative ink style. Color works from such illustration giants as Walter Crane (one of his last books), Arthur Rackham, and N.C. Wyeth. In keeping with Dover's history, there are some rare gems as well—a nice group by British watercolor legend, Sir William Russell Flint, from early in his career, and seven pages of art-deco styled Arthur by Thomas Mackenzie. If Arthurian legend interests you, this collection of over 140 images gives you some of the best imagery created from 1893-1923, stylistically ranging from Victorian to Art-Deco.

From top to bottom on the right- The Crane plates are from 1911.They are less decorative, and more illustrative than his typical work, but they perform the task admirably. This plate, "Beaumins wins the fight at the ford," breaks from Crane's usual stoic poses, to throw the viewer full into the action.

Willy Pogany here is at his best- I love his work on Wagner's Ring Trilogy. 1911-1915. The plate from Parsifal places a classic grail knight at the throat of a dragon, complete with damsel and grail-shield. Note the tremendous restraint on Pogany's part—the image is two colors, only the thin halo around the knights head is printed in Brown-gold.

Howard Pyle's work (#3) got me into all of this. Like Gordon Grant, mentioned last week, (see below) Pyle uses ink to make lines that read as areas of values, an inking technique brought over from the days of preparing plates for engravers.

The last plate, is one of those scarce William Russell Flint pieces. Originally from a two-volume set, "She was a great huntress and daily she used to hunt, and ever she bare her bow with her." This piece has some great design qualities, and Flint's whole group reads to me as a powerful influence on the watercolor work of modern day master Alan Lee.

See you next week—Jeff