Books &Disney &Illustration &Layout & Design 04 Oct 2010 07:11 am
I Can Fly
- I had intended to give a rest to Mary Blair‘s incredible work after having posted so many recent pieces by her. However, I just bought a copy of her first children’s book, after separating from the Disney studio.
I Can Fly is extraordinary. After getting a copy in my hands, I realized I had to share it – even though it’s out there in numerous ways. So that’s what today’s post is about. This is Mary Blair’s book, I Can Fly. Words are by Ruth Kraus.
(Click any image to enlarge.)
The inner covers.
1
The title page.
2
All of these are double page spreads.
3
4
5
6
7
8
Note that this is identical to the inner covers (above)
with the addition of the child and puppy overlay.
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
The back cover
on 04 Oct 2010 at 8:38 am 1.Kellie Strøm said …
Great to see this – the edition I have cuts out several of these spreads. I suspect the edition at your Amazon link does too.
on 04 Oct 2010 at 8:40 am 2.Kellie Strøm said …
Here’s the correct Amazon link for the edition you’ve scanned:
http://www.amazon.com/CAN-FLY-Little-Golden-Book/dp/0307105482/
on 04 Oct 2010 at 9:13 am 3.Bill said …
WOW! Great art, pure and simple! In a league by herself. Thanks for the posting.
on 04 Oct 2010 at 11:18 am 4.Michael said …
No, I don’t have that back cover, but thanks for linking it for us.
on 04 Oct 2010 at 12:00 pm 5.Eddie Fitzgerald said …
Boy, does that red chair pop in the Matisse-style “Crunch” picture! The wall and the two chairs on the left are fully saturated primaries, and everything else is textured and diluted, but given more space to play out. Of course the primaries aren’t exacltly pure. Instead of the classic red, yellow and blue, you have scarlet red, royal blue and that intense, slightly orange yellow they make from horse pee.
on 04 Oct 2010 at 1:25 pm 6.billburgnyc said …
Years ago, I saw a great photo of JFK reading this book to Caroline. I can’t find the exact photo I remember, but here is another from the same session:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25803264@N02/3328639403/
My daughter loves this book, too.
on 04 Oct 2010 at 6:16 pm 7.Achi levin said …
Grrhhh…. they even erased some of the animals in the spread numbered 20 in my edition
are these the actual colors in your book?,because
they look kind of garish compared to my edition
on 04 Oct 2010 at 7:07 pm 8.Kellie Strøm said …
Coincidentally, this arrived in the post today, a history of Little Golden Books in the Netherlands, with a small contribution by yours truly.
on 05 Oct 2010 at 1:06 am 9.Joel Brinkerhoff said …
I’ve loved this book since childhood and I too have a truncated version with many spreads missing. What I recall and you verified was the Donald Duck on a drinking glass. This first tipped my young mind to the association of Disney artists working on Little Golden Books.
Another thing I would like to comment on is Marys’ incredible color used of pink grass, and sky, and her jubilant expression of play using flowers turned upside down and different angles while the girl and dog romp and play.
She was an original.
on 05 Oct 2010 at 2:49 am 10.The Gee said …
Does anyone know what the originals’ sizes are? Or, just what sizes she typically worked in?
While it isn’t super important, I’m just curious because of the levels of detail in the paintings.
For example, the spread: “My house is…like a mouse’s.” The table cloth and the wall behind the table have those lines. Many, many lines.
on 05 Oct 2010 at 2:50 am 11.The Gee said …
caveat: I’m trusting my tired eyes, here. So, if what I’m seeing is paper texture then it is paper texture….
on 05 Oct 2010 at 4:42 am 12.Kellie Strøm said …
The Gee – looking at the lighter stripes on the tablecloth in that spread, it does seem to suggest she was using dry brush on textured paper – a nice effect.
on 05 Oct 2010 at 6:13 am 13.Stephen Macquignon said …
You can see the same texture in
“I can walk like a cat”
on 05 Oct 2010 at 10:37 am 14.The Gee said …
Thanks.
After enlarging it and squinting( like the old man I feel I am), I did notice that it seems like mainly a texture.
And, it is a nice effect used to great affect. She was a talent and half.
But thanks for the fresh eyes.
on 03 Apr 2013 at 5:00 pm 15.M Park said …
To get the book with all of the pages, you need to get the 2003 version. Does anyone know if this art is available for purchase (other than in the book)? It is truly stunning!