A 1980 graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design, John Jude Palencar is a prolific horror and fantasy artist who has painted over 100 book covers. In 2010, Palencar was nominated for the World Fantasy Art Best Artist category. You can see more of his work at his official site.
This was a very special one for baseball fans like me. Today was opening day! Unfortunately, my team, the Texas Rangers, lost their first game of the season but the great thing about baseball is that there will always be a chance for redemption.
Ever since Edward Meeker first recorded it in 1908, Take Me Out To The Ballgame has served as the unofficial anthem of Major League Baseball. It’s also the perfect choice for today’s song of the day.
Alberto Vargas was one of the most famous of the classic pin-up artists. The son of noted photographer Max Vargas, he was born in Peru and moved to the U.S. in 1916 after studying art in Zurich and Geneva. His early career included working as an artist for the Ziegfeld Follies and for Paramount Pictures. His poster for The Sin of Nora Moran is often cited as one of the greatest movie posters ever made. He became famous in the 1940s when his pin-up work first started to appear in Esquire Magazine. Many World War II aircrafts flew into battle with a “Vargas Girl” painted on the side.
Much of Vargas’s work is now held at the Spencer Museum at the University of Kansas. Over 30 years since his death, his paintings are still eagerly sought by collectors.
The work of British artist Fiona Stephenson is inspired by the classic pin-up artists of the 40s and 50s, including the work of last week’s artist profile, Gil Elvgren. You can find out more about Fiona and her art by visiting FionaStephenson.com.
Over the course of a 40 year career that began in the 1930s, Gil Elvgren established himself as one of the most important and influential pin-up and glamour artists of the 20th century. You can learn more about his life and his art by visiting the Gil Elvgren website.
A very small sampling of his work can be found below:
Allen Anderson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and studied correspondence art courses at The Federal Schools, Inc. of Minneapolis, receiving his diploma in 1928. He worked as a staff artist at Fawcett Comics from 1929 to 1939, before moving to New York and working as a freelance artist. Anderson served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and eventually moved to upstate New York where he opened a small ad agency and worked as a sign painter.
A sampling of his work can be found below.
Malcolm H. Smith is considered to be one of the founders of Science Fiction Art. Originally born in Tennessee, Malcolm was a state archery champion in high school. After graduating, he moved to Illinois where he studied art at both the American Academy of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. As a freelance illustrator, his work appeared in a variety of pulp magazines but he became best known for his work in the science fiction field. In 1959, he moved to Huntsville, Alabama where he worked as a staff artist for NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center, where he worked with engineers to help make science fantasy into reality.
A sampling of his work can be found below.
Eliot Dudik is a fine arts photographer whose haunting pictures explore the culture and landscape of the South. His first book, Road Ends In Water, is available from his website at EliotDudik.com.
A former classmate of Walt Disney, Chicago-native Margaret Brundage sold 66 original pulp cover illustrations to Weird Tales Magazine from 1933 to 1945, making her one of the only female artists to find regular work in the pulps.
A native of Puerto Rico, Rafael De Soto was training for the priesthood when his natural artistic talent was first noticed by one of his teachers, Father Noel, who arranged for Rafael to take private art lessons with a local artist named Diaz McKenna. After completing his education at the seminary, Rafael decided to become an artist rather than complete his religious training in Rome. After moving to New York City in 1932, De Soto went on to become a prolific cover artist. After retiring from freelance illustration in 1964, De Soto taught art at the State University of New York.
Through the Shattered Lens