Archive for the ‘magazine’ Category

Saturday, March 16th, 2024

Inbetweens: The Genius of Don Martin

Don Martin Comic

Like Basil Wolverton and Virgil Partch, Don Martin is an artist that defies categorization. Known as “Mad’s Maddest Artist”, Martin was a mainstay at the magazine from 1956 until he left after a dispute over royalties for paperback reprints in 1987. Martin’s warped and slightly sick sense of humor was a perfect fit for Mad, and the magazine suffered after he left to join the staff of the competitor, Cracked. I think you’ll really enjoy Martin’s cartoons, but look beyond the gags to the posing, staging and hilarious drawings themselves. Martin was no slouch!

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GET THIS WHILE YOU STILL CAN!
Don Martin Book

A few years back, Running Press released MAD’s Greatest Artists: The Completely MAD Don Martin. It’s out of print now, but you can still find copies at some online retailers. It’s one of the best collections on a single Mad artist out there- big, beautifully printed and bound, a joy all around. It’s bound to be a collector’s item. Grab it while you still can.

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

THIS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG!

Animation Resources has been sharing treasures from the Animation Archive with its members for over a decade. Every other month, our members get access to a downloadable Reference Pack, full of information, inspiration and animation. The RefPacks consist of e-books jam packed with high resolution scans of great art, still framable animated films from around the world, documentaries, podcasts, seminars and MORE! The best part is that all of this material has been selected and curated by our Board of professionals to aid you in your self study. Our goal is to help you be a greater artist. Why wouldn’t you want to be a member of a group like that?

Membership comes in three levels. General Members get access to a bi-monthly Reference Pack as well as a Bonus RefPack from past offerings in the in-between months. We offer a discounted Student Membership for full time students and educators. And if you want to try out being a member, there is a Quarterly Membership that runs for three months.


JOIN TODAY!
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FREE SAMPLES!

Not Convinced Yet? Check out this SAMPLE REFERENCE PACK! It will give you a taste of what Animation Resources members get to download every other month! That’s 560 pages of great high resolution images and nearly an hour of rare animation available to everyone to download for FREE! https://animationresources.org/join-us-sample-reference-pack/

Sample RefPack

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Tuesday, December 19th, 2023

Magazine Cartoons: Reginald Birch and St Nicholas Magazine

St Nicholas Magazine Reginald Birch

A MAGAZINE FOR CHILDREN

In 1872, Scribner’s began publishing St Nicholas Magazine, a sister publication to The Century aimed at an audience between the ages of 5 and 18. As Linda Young points out in her excellent article on St Nicholas, in the late 19th and early 20th century, there was no real distinction between young children and teenagers. Children were considered children until they married or went away to college. Features "For The Little Folk" ran in St Nicholas side by side with articles on natural history or science intended for older readers. When it came to fiction, the subjects ranged from adventure stories about far-away lands to fairy tales and historical romance. St Nicholas was the premiere magazine of its type, and although it was aimed at children, it counted many adults among its readership.

St Nicholas Magazine Reginald Birch

But the main reason why we’re interested in St Nicholas is the illustrations. Scribner’s had access to many of the best artists of the day… Arthur Rackham, Harrison Cady, Maxfield Parrish, Willy Pogany, Charles Dana Gibson, Palmer Cox and Howard Pyle, among many others. But no artist was as closely associated with the look of St Nicholas as Reginald Birch.

St Nicholas Magazine Reginald BirchSt Nicholas Magazine Reginald BirchReginald Birch was born in 1856 in London, England. At the age of 14, he relocated to San Francisco, CA where he prepared wood block theater posters in his father’s shop. In 1873, Birch attended the Royal Academy in Munich and upon his return to America, he settled in as an illustrator in New York City.

Today, Birch may be forgotten, but his contribution to our American cultural identity certainly isn’t. At St Nicholas Magazine Birch took the character of Santa Claus, created by Thomas Nast in the 1862 Christmas Issue of Harper’s Weekly, and refined it into the jolly bearded character in the red suit that we all think of today.

St Nicholas Magazine Reginald Birch

1906 Christmas cover by Reginald Birch

Little Lord Fauntleroy Reginald BirchSt Nicholas Magazine Reginald BirchReginald Birch illustrated a wide variety of poems and stories for St Nicholas, but perhaps the most famous was Frances Hodgson Burnett’s "Little Lord Fauntleroy". Following Burnett’s vivid description, Birch created the iconic image of the precocious little boy in curls wearing a black velvet suit with lace collar. This image became the basis for the character Buster Brown, and was widely lampooned in parodies casting Burnett’s wunderkind as a spoiled brat or monster child, like Eddie Munster. The image of the enfant terrible in the Buster Brown outfit has entered our cultural subconscious to the point where most of us don’t even realize where it came from… but it came from Reginald Birch.

Little Lord Fauntleroy

Freddie Bartholomew as Little Lord Fauntleroy

By the beginning of World War I, Birch’s Victorian pen and ink style was beginning to look dated. Demand for his services began to decline, and by 1930, he was penniless. He enjoyed an "Indian Summer" as a book illustrator in the late 30s until his failing eyesight forced him to retire in 1941. He passed away in 1943.

Here is a fantastic story written by St Nicholas editor, Tudor Jenks and illustrated in the distinctive style by Reginald Birch. Notice how Birch juggles the text in the layouts, his superb draughtsmanship and control of perspective, and the expressive posing of his characters.

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St Nicholas Magazine Reginald BirchSt Nicholas Magazine Reginald Birch

A SELECTION OF IMAGES FROM
THE CHRISTMAS, 1910 ISSUE

To finish out this post, here is a sampling of the sort of illustration and cartooning that filled the pages of a typical issue of St. Nicholas Magazine.

St Nicholas Magazine December 1910
St Nicholas Magazine December 1910
St Nicholas Magazine December 1910
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St Nicholas Magazine December 1910
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St Nicholas Magazine December 1910
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St Nicholas Magazine December 1910
St Nicholas Magazine December 1910
St Nicholas Magazine December 1910
St Nicholas Magazine December 1910

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

Magazine CartoonsMagazine Cartoons

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

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

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Wednesday, October 4th, 2023

Magazine Cartoons: Virgil Partch’s Wild, Wild Women

Virgil VIP Partch

Virgil “Vip” Partch is one of the greatest cartoonists who ever lived, but the simplicity and directness of his style belie its sophistication. Born in 1916, Partch studied under Rico LeBrun at Choiuinard Art Institute, before joining the Disney studios as a story man. His influence can be seen clearly in the Donald Duck cartoon “Duck Pimples”. Partch worked at Disney for four years, until his stay there was cut short by the strike in 1941.

Virgil VIP Partch

Out of work, Partch submitted some one panel cartoons to Colliers, and they were published. This began a fruitful career as a magazine cartoonist. Throughout the 50s, he published small collections of his cartoons, grouped by themes. “Bottle Fatigue” dealt with the spell of alcohol, “Here We Go Again” was a collection of cartoons dealing with Army life, and “Wild, Wild Women” and “Man The Beast” dealt with the battle between the sexes. Partch’s cartoons are absurd, visually delightful and wicked. Most of all, they are unique.

Virgil VIP Partch

As I said before, Vip’s style is so streamlined and simple, it’s easy to overlook the depth of thought beneath the surface of his cartoons. His compositions always read beautifully with clear silhouettes, appealing shapes and interesting negative spaces. The lines define a solid form and simple visual clues indicate rock-solid perspective… His drawings never seem flat, no matter how stylized they are. There’s a wide variety of ways of depicting different facial expressions and expressive personality that is obviously observed from life. It doesn’t get better than this!

Virgil VIP Partch

Partch’s greatest book was "Wild, Wild Women". Check out these beautiful drawings.

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Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

Magazine CartoonsMagazine Cartoons

This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Magazine Cartoons.

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