What makes a shadow? Illustrations by Adrienne Adams 1962

 

What with the time change this Sunday, I am thinking longer days of sunlight. And so this book came to mind.

What makes a Shadow? by Clyde Robert Bulla with pictures by Adrienne Adams was published by T.Y. Crowell, New York, © 1962. This is a terrific little book that explains how shadows are made with bold, limited palette illustrations by Adrienne Adams.

Adrienne Adams (1906 - 2002) was born in Arkansas, grew up in Oklahoma and attended college in Missouri. She received her B.A. from Stephens College and attended the University of Missouri. When She was 23 years old she made the trip to New York City, attending the American School of Design. She would work as "a free-lance designer of displays, murals, textiles, greeting cards, etc. She married children's book writer John Lonzo Anderson on August 17, 1934,[2] and in 1942 illustrated his first book, Bag of Smoke, to begin her career as an illustrator. She became a full-time illustrator in 1952, and illustrated more than 30 books, ranging from contemporary authors including Rumer Godden, Irwin Shapiro and Aileen Fisher to the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.[1] She also wrote and illustrated six children books of her own" -- Wikipedia

Ms. Adams won the Caldecott twice. In 1973 she won the Rutgers Award for her contributions to children's literature. Four years later the University of Southern Mississippi's Medallion was bestowed upon her.

Here are some of the illustrations. My thanks to the Present and Correct blog:

 

There's more about her at this Today in Fort Smith article by Dennis McCaslin, including this lovely photo of her.

"Adrienne Adams’ career in illustration began in earnest in the early 1950s. Despite starting her day at 5 am to paint before heading to her job as a teacher, her commitment to her craft never wavered. In 1952, she transitioned to full-time illustration, a move that would see her rise to prominence in the field." -- Our Arklahoma Heritage: Fort Smith-born illustrator of children's books was a trailblazer in her field

 

Here are just a few samples of her work.  

American Can Company: "Miracle of the Can" Booklet Drawings by Barney Tobey

From the American Can Company, here is the complete "Miracle of the Can" brochure with drawings by New Yorker cartoonist Barney Tobey. This small (5" x 7") publication tells you all about canning in this undated, but most likely post-war, informational booklet. The fact that so much of it is in color, tells me that there was a sizable budget for the project. There are drawings and a couple of cartoons about cans by Mr. Tobey.

The American Can Company came to be in 1901, and was around for a good part of the century in Manhattan, and then in Connecticut. It was bought by Primerica and then Primerica was bought by Citigroup. The American Can Company is no more, as the holding companies having divested themselves from manufacturing.

The fun thing here is to imagine Mr. Tobey being asked to draw all this and to come up with some cartoons about cans. The one rule, being, of course, you CAN NOT make fun of cans.  And it is no joke! Polar history aficionados know that it was poor canning that doomed the 1845 John Franklin expedition! 

More Barney Tobey:


B. TOBEY OF THE NEW YORKER

Norman Rockwell Museum Exhibit: All for Laughs: The Artists of the Famous Cartoonist Course March 1 through June 15, 2025

 

-- Edited from a September 18, 2017 blog entry.

B. TOBEY OF THE NEW YORKER

Barney Tobey, a contract cartoonist for The New Yorker, had over 1,200 cartoons published in the magazine. When he was in his 20s, he sent in 3 cover ideas to The New Yorker magazine. To his pleasant surprise, they sold. That was a turning point. Mr. Tobey walked out of his BBD and O advertising agency job to become a full-time cartoonist freelancer. Brave soul!

Mr. Tobey (1906-1989) shares his sketchbook with us in B. TOBEY OF THE NEW YORKER, an oversized hardcover published by Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc. and copyright 1983 by Barney Tobey.

Below are his words, his sketchbook pages and then, the final cartoon finish, for two of Mr. Tobey's cartoons, taken from the appendix of the book.

THE MAKING OF A CARTOON - I







THE MAKING OF A CARTOON - II





Cartooning may look like it just drips out of the cartoonist's hand like a leaky creative faucet, but here is a peek at the time, the writing, the rewriting, the missteps, the hard labor — that all go into making the end result look effortless.

Related:

Norman Rockwell Museum Exhibit: All for Laughs: The Artists of the Famous Cartoonist Course March 1 through June 15, 2025

-- Edited from a May 5, 2009 blog entry.

Norman Rockwell Museum Exhibit: All for Laughs: The Artists of the Famous Cartoonist Course March 1 through June 15, 2025

 

From the Norman Rockwell Museum:

"What did 'famous' cartoonists Al Capp, Whitney Darrow, Barney Tobey, Dick Cavalli, Willard Mullin, Rube Goldberg, and Harry Haenigsen have in common? They were all celebrated visual humorists in the mid-twentieth century and faculty of the Famous Artists Cartoon Course—a popular correspondence course launched in the 1950s that was designed to teach artists to be funny. Original cartoons and instructional drawings from the Norman Rockwell Museum’s extensive Famous Artists School Collection by this cadre of noted artists will explore the wit and wisdom of the Famous Artists Cartoon Course."

 

Terry Gilliam Animations Made Outside of Monty Python's Flying Circus

Via the Monty Python Museum:

CBS Sunday Morning: From the archives: Illustrator Edward Gorey

Via CBS Sunday Morning:

"The prolific author and illustrator of morbidly funny books Edward Gorey, who departed this life in 2000, was born 100 years ago, on February 22, 1925. His darkly comic drawings depicted odd creatures and unfortunate events, and were popularized in the opening titles of the PBS series 'Mystery.' In this 'Sunday Morning' profile that aired April 20, 1997, correspondent Martha Teichner visited Gorey at his Cape Cod home, where the eccentric artist’s obsessions were piled high. She also talked with Clifford Ross and Karen Wilkin, authors of 'The World of Edward Gorey.'"

 

Dik Browne’s Life That Way Party Line Comics Collected by IndyPlanet

Dik Browne didn't have to do Hagar the Horrible. He was a prolific advertising cartoonist for years before he made his comic strip debut. I am sure he was busy enough without adding a daily comic to his regimen. But good for him that we got Hagar! 

Here's a collection of all thirty advertising comic strips that Dik drew for the Chesapeake and Tacoma Telephone Company of Virginia. You can buy it from IndyPlanet:

"In the early 1950s, cartoonist Dik Browne, best known as the creator of Hagar the Horrible and as the original artist on Hi & Lois, drew Life’s That Way…, a series of six-panel comic strips to be used in ads for local telephone companies. These stories focused on teaching proper phone etiquette, particularly for users of party lines, when several households shared a single phone line."