Archive for the ‘golden book’ Category

Tuesday, March 14th, 2023

Illustration: Gustaf Tenggren’s Little Trapper

Tenggren Little Trapper

Gustaf Tenggren was born in Sweden in 1896. Throughout the 1920s, he illustrated children’s books and fairy tales in a richly detailed style similar to Arthur Rackham and Kay Nielsen. In 1936, Walt Disney brought Tenggren to Hollywood to work on Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. His designs for the Dwarfs’ cottage and the forest were directly incorporated into the film by the layout artists.

The experience of working at Disney changed Tenggren’s artistic outlook. He abandoned the European illustrator style for a simpler, more direct, stylized approach. He illustrated the most iconic Golden Books… The Poky Little Puppy, The Saggy Baggy Elephant, The Shy Little Kitten and The Tawny Scrawny Lion, and he continued to paint for Western Publishing until his death in the early sixties.

Tenggren’s Golden Books are exemplified by bold, clear compositions; a harmonious use of color and masterful rendering of a variety of textures. This book, The Little Trapper, is one of Tenggren’s least often seen titles. Published in 1950, several years before DIsney’s Davy Crockett popularized the coonskin cap, this book includes some disarmingly beautiful paintings. In particular, notice how Tenggren renders the fur. It’s a different technique every time.

Tenggren Little Trapper
Tenggren Little Trapper
Tenggren Little Trapper
Tenggren Little Trapper
Tenggren Little Trapper
Tenggren Little Trapper
Tenggren Little Trapper
Tenggren Little Trapper
Tenggren Little Trapper
Tenggren Little Trapper

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

IllustrationIllustration

This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit spotlighting Illustration.

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Friday, January 27th, 2023

Illustration: Rojankovsky’s Frog Went A Courtin

Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin

Animation Resources supporter, Kent Butterworth dropped by with a wonderful children’s book by the great illustrator Feodor Rojankovsky. Titled, Frog Went A-Courtin’, this book won the Caldicot Prize in 1955 for Best Children’s Picture Book of the year.

Rojankovsky was born in Russia in 1891, and served in the Russian army in the first World War. He spent some time in France, then emigrated to the United States when war broke out again in 1940. He was a prolific illustrator, creating over 100 picture books for Western Publishing’s Golden Books line and for other publishers as well. When asked how be began his interest in art, he replied…

Two great events determined the course of my childhood. l was taken to the zoo and saw the most marvelous creatures on earth: bears, tigers, monkeys and reindeer, and, while my admiration was running high, l was given a set of color crayons. Naturally, I began immediately to depict the animals which captured my imagination. Also when my eider brothers, who were in schools in the capital, came home for vacation, I tried to copy their drawings and to imitate their paintings.

Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin

Later when l went to school in Reval Tallinn, an ancient town on the shores of the Baltic sea, my love for art was enhanced and strengthened by a passion for nature. Tallinn was surrounded by forest. The sea presented wonderful opportunities for excursions and study of sea life. But there were also steamers, sailboats, flags, and all the excitement of a port. This was no less exciting than playing Red Indians or reading James Fenimore Cooper, the beloved author of all Russian children before, during, and after the Revolution.

SELECTED ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
FROG WENT A-COURTIN’

>Make sure to click on these to see them large. Rojankovsky was a master of texture, and the smaller size images don’t show that as well.

Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin
Rojankovsky Frog Went A Courtin

RojankovskyRojankovskyIf you like this book, you’re in luck… it’s still in print. You can find it at Amazon.

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

IllustrationIllustration

This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit spotlighting Illustration.

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Thursday, November 17th, 2022

Animation: Ferdinand the Bull (1938)

Ferdinand the Bull

I am catching up on my scanning duties here at Animation Resources, and today we digitized this 1938 storybook based on the Oscar winning Disney short subject, Ferdinand the Bull. This oversized book is very close to the look of the actual cartoon, and I wonder if perhaps Claude Coates might have been the one who painted it.

Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull
Ferdinand the Bull

Looks like some little fingers have gotten to that cover! Thanks to Archive Supporter, Jennifer Roth for sharing this with us.

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

Animated CartoonsAnimated Cartoons

This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Animation.
IllustrationIllustration

This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit spotlighting Illustration.

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