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BooksHumourIllustration

The Art Of Humorous Illustration by Nick Meglin (book review).

I thought it was time for a bit of a laugh to cheer everyone up and this 1981 book, ‘The Art Of Humorous Illustration’ by Nick Meglin should fit that bill. Over its 12 chapters, it covers brief histories of 12 illustrators, many of whom worked for Mad Magazine and stacks of visual jokes displaying their work and how it was accomplished giving some rare insight.

The cartoonists: Sergio Aragones, Paul Coker, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Gerry Gersten, Johnny Hart, Allan Jaffee, Bob Jones, Donald Reilly, Norman Rockwell, Arnold Roth and Maurice Sendak. You can’t miss the names as they are on both sides of the cover.

What was interesting reading the interview with Jack Davis is his liking to work under the cosh when it comes to deadlines. A lot of this came from doing last minute work for newspapers. It does seem like an odd balance between playing games with his children or sport generally and then working hard for a couple days but his speed although comes with being a talented artist.

The same also applies to Frank Frazetta. From my own artistic pov, I do appreciate any deadline when working for other people than doing art for myself as being a motivator so that might be the ingredient.

Don’t think its all potted histories as these artists give various tips about their techniques and tools of the trade. Mort Drucker points out that getting the body language and figure shape of a caricature is as important as getting the face right. It also helps to be a good study of people. Gerry Gersten enforces the need for decent reference source.

Of course, this is all pre-Internet but if you are relying on the Net for all your pictures then the odds are you’re going to look like other people who do so always consider other resources. I like Johnny Hart’s comment that the comic strip field is made up of people who refuse to grow up offering fantasies to people who wish they hadn’t.

The image of the Esso tiger is different in the UK compared to the USA but seeing Bob Jones work on the tiger is certainly a lesson in an animated look and easily one of my standout points in this book.

With so many of these cartoonists no longer with us, I tend to think of this book as a rare find. Even if you’re not interested in how it was done, there’s certainly enough cartoons here to at least raise a few chuckles.

GF Willmetts

June 2022

(pub: Watson-Guptill, 1981. 180 page illustrated indexed large softcover. Price:  I pulled my copy for about £ 7.00 (UK). ISBN: 0-8230-0269-1)

UncleGeoff

Geoff Willmetts has been editor at SFCrowsnest for some 21 plus years now, showing a versatility and knowledge in not only Science Fiction, but also the sciences and arts, all of which has been displayed here through editorials, reviews, articles and stories. With the latter, he has been running a short story series under the title of ‘Psi-Kicks’ If you want to contribute to SFCrowsnest, read the guidelines and show him what you can do. If it isn’t usable, he spends as much time telling you what the problems is as he would with material he accepts. This is largely how he got called an Uncle, as in Dutch Uncle. He’s not actually Dutch but hails from the west country in the UK.

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