Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- I’ve been a fan of Edward Lear forever. When Bill Peckmann sent me this incredible book with these great illustrations by Keith Ward, I had to open it up to you. I hope you enjoy it. (By the way, I’ve tried to find out about Ward, but I keep coming up with a philospher in England who doesn’t fit the bill. If you know anything about him share. Bill Peckmann led me to this link.)
The book was published in 1922.

The book’s front cover.

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(Click any image to enlarge.)

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The book’s back cover.

By the way, the book is long, so it’ll come in a couple of parts.

- Bill Peckmann recently introduced me to a fabulous German illustrator, Fritz Baumgarten, who’s created many beautiful children’s books. They feel as though they come from an earlier generation. Baumgarten died in 1966, so in a sense they are, but they feel more like the 30s and 40s – Snow White.

I’d like to post one of them, written by Liselotte Burger von Dessart. Zwitschi.

cover
(Click any image to enlarge.)

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I’ll have another book by Baumgarten soon. Thanks to Bill Peckmann.

- Bill Peckmann sent me this group of Gag Drawings from his days of working with Phil Kimmelman and Ass. I thought the drawings had so much life and interest, that I wanted to share them. The unfortunate part of studio gags is that the life behind the gag is usually something that we can’t even understand – outside of that studio’s atmosphere. However, at times the drawing is so much fun, it makes up for it. That’s true here, I think.

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- I’m not familiar with the work of Russell Brockbank, a British cartoonist, but Bill Peckmann sent me this note, along with six pages of his cartoons. I thought I’d share:

Here are 6 pages of “Punch” cartoonist Russell Brockbank. Fortunately he also showed up in our “Road & Track” magazine from which these pages are taken.

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(Clicka any page to enlarge.)

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- I’ve posted a number of items by and about artist Vernon Grant and I’m glad to be able to showcase this rarity as well.

The Cow and the Silver Cream is a booklet that Vernon Grant wrote and illustrated in 1943 for the Wright Silver Cream Company. It was used as a giveaway item for those who sent in for it.

This item comes from the collection of Bill Peckmann and it’s an enormous rarity. I’m thrilled to be able to share it with you.

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This is the inner cover liner.

Many thanks, once again, to the inimitable Bill Peckmann for this booklet. It’s a gem and it’s a real rarity.

For other posts about Vernon Grant, go here.

- Here are some Time Magazine covers by Jack Davis from 1973 & 1974. These pieces are part of Bill Peckmann‘s amazing collection and I’m glad to showcase them here today. Thanks Bill.

This of course, isn’t a Time Magazine cover but
the cover to Jack Davis’ book of collected works
Some of My Good Stuff.

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- This just in from Bill Peckmann, an excellent piece from the great cartoonist, Jack Davis. In Bill’s words:

This . . . “is a page from Hank Harrison’s ‘the Art Of Jack Davis’ which explains Jack’s strip, and the next three are tear sheets that Jack had made up at that time. Hope the scan isn’t destroying Jack’s fine pen line.”

(Click any image to enlarge to a readable size.)

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I posted part of Rowland B. Wilson‘s book, The Whites of Their Eyes, two weeks ago. (Go here to see that post.) This book was published in 1962 by Dutton and displays in B&W many of the Wilson cartoons up to that time. The display is not always glorious, but it is the only printed copy of any of his panel cartoons. Consequently, we have to be grateful for what we have.

These cartoons are xeroxed copies from Bill Peckmann‘s large collection of Rowland’s work. I’m grateful for his loan of these illustrations to post here.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

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Rowland B. Wilson‘s Istanbul Express appears in his book The Whites of Their Eyes which was published by Dutton in 1962. However it’s in B&W and appears relatively small size. Hard to read. Denis Wheary, a first rate collector and authority on Rowland B. Wilson’s work, has kindly photographed the original Esquire publication in color and has sent these photos to me. Using some heavy photoshop work, I was able to clean up the photos to a very presentable shape. Here are the four pages.

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Here’s a color cartoon right out of Playboy courtesy of Bill Peckmann.

Also from Bill Peckmann’s outstanding collection of Rowland Wilson art is this flyer Rowland designed to promote himself.

Here are a pair of Consumer Reports covers done by RBW.
I suggest you click to enlarge to check out all the detail.

Here are a pair of Christmas cards RBW did
for some Customer Service center.

And here are a pair done for a dentist.

- Thanks to the inimitable Bill Peckmann, I have a few Alex Toth doodles which I’d like to share with you.

This is a color sketch done by someone who
obviously loves flying and loves drawing/painting it.

These are a pair of spot illustrations done for a newspaper.

Here’s a bit of animatic art done on vellum.

Here’s a bit of original Toth page art.

(this note from Bill Peckmann:) “This attachment has an Alex
doodle that I tried to turn into a ‘New Yorker’ cover . . .

. . . One rejection slip later, I still had the fun of Xeroxing and
painting it and now scanning it.”

I think the final piece, The New Yorker cover, is a piece of art in itself.

More doodles.

Last of the doodles.

Bill Peckmann writes of this piece:
“This was made for fun, Alex’s ‘Underoos’ L.O. drawings were so well done (what else!) and posed, that I ganged up a few of them, Xeroxed ‘em and painted them. It’s a pan cel.”