Artist Profile: Harry Barton (1908 — 2001)


ArgosyHarry Barton was born in Seattle.  After graduating from Broadway High, Barton got his first job as a commercial artist working in a sign shop.  After studying with Art Students League in New York City, Barton painted covers for Argosy and Exciting Westerns.  Through the 1950s and 1960s, Barton painted paperback book covers.  From the 1970s until his death, Barton specialized in paintings of the Old West, which he sold through the Smith Gallery in New York.

A selection of his paperback work can be found below:

A Sin In TimeDeath Draws The LineFlame Too HotGolden TrampLament For JulieTender-Hearted HarlotThe Adulterers

Artist Profile: Drew Struzan (1947– )


1 the walking deadOriginally from Oregon City, Oregon, Drew Struzan studied at the Art Center College of Design. Struzan started out his career as an illustrator by designing album covers.  He illustrated his first movie poster in 1975 and, since then, he has been responsible for over 150 posters.  He has designed posters for everything from the Star Wars to Harry Potter.

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Scenes I Love: The Final Home Run From The Natural


I love baseball and I love my Texas Rangers.  Josh Hamilton may say that I don’t live in a “baseball town,” but I know that, whether my team is winning or losing, I will always be there cheering them on.

Baseball is known as being “America’s past time” because it’s the oldest sport to have been played in this country.  Football may get more attention but baseball, with its emphasis on teamwork and personal sacrifice, is the sport the epitomizes the American ideal.

There have been some great films made about baseball.  This scene that I love comes from The Natural.  This is a scene that captures the glory and the magic of the game of baseball.

Artist Profile: Boris Vallejo (1941– )


BarbarellaBorn in Peru, Boris Vallejo started painting when he was 13 and got his first professional illustration job at the age of 16.  He emigrated to the United States in 1964.  Vallejo is best known for his fantasy-themed artwork, which often features characters based on both himself and his wife, artist Julie Bell.

A few examples of his work can be found below.

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Artist Profile: Gene Colan (1926 — 2011)


1Gene Colan was born in New York and studied art at the Art Students League of New York.  Colan joined the Army Air Corps in 1944 and served in the Philippines where he drew for the Manila Times.  Upon returning to civilian life in 1946, Colan began to work for Timely Comics, which eventually became Marvel Comics.  Over the course of his long career, Colan illustrated everything from super hero to young romance comics.  He might be best known for his work in the 70s, when he illustrated two cult comics — Tomb of Dracula and Howard the Duck.  In 2005, Colan was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.

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