Illustrator Research - Dean Cornwell

Dean Cornwell was born in Louisville, Kentucky and was inspired by his father's civil engineering drawings. He went to study art in Chicago, New York and England. He published in many important magazines at the time and painted several murals for public buildings. He is best known for his posters and advertisements supporting the war time effort. He died in 1960.

Illustrator Research - Jessie Willcox Smith

Jessie Willcox Smith was born in Philadelphia in 1863. She was going to be a kindergarten teacher (God only knows why) until he accidentally discovered her talent in drawing. She went to school, graduated, but wasn't very successful, yet. She then joined Howard Pyle's class and rented  a studio with her new BFFs Elizabeth Shippen Green and Violet Oakley. After that she published in many children magazines and books. She was best known for the covers of Good Housekeeping which she did for fifteen years. She died in her sleep in 1935 as America's premier female illustrator.

Illustrator Research - Sir Edward Burne-Jones

Sir Edward Burne-Jones was born in 1833 in Birmingham, England. He didn't really receive much formal art teachings but instead studied theology and wanted to be a priest. At school he became friends with William Morris and gained a love of the Middle Ages. With his new found obsession, he and Morris decided to both become artists. Burne-Jones started his career in art knowing that he should have started it a century ago but was determined nonetheless. He began with watercolor and worked up to painting. The subjects of pretty much all of his works were medieval in some way or the other. He became associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Then he died in 1898, and I couldn't find out how. (Side note, the fourth picture of his I provided is the same painting I did a paper on in Art History II. Go figure.)

Illustrator Research - N.C. Wyeth

N.C. Wyeth was born in 1882 and was always talented in drawing. He began formal art training in many different schools until he was accepted into Howard Pyle's school. While at school his talent blossomed, and he was publishing his work in several prominent magazines. After he graduated in 1904 he set up a studio and painted. He took several trips out to the West for inspiration and became known as a Western Adventure illustrator. Not only did he illustrate books, he did magazines, calendars, posters, murals and maps for the National Geographic society. He died in 1945 when his car was hit by a train.

Illustrator Research - Will H. Bradley

Will Bradley was a cartoonist, illustrator, decorator, and architect born in 1868 in Boston. He was known as one of leading poster designers at the turn of the century. He received his first formal training from his father who was the cartoonist for the local newspaper. From 1880 to 1887 he pursued a career in journalism, then decided to move to Chicago to study painting. By 1890s he was an independent designer and was producing posters for theater and advertisements in his studio. In 1915 he started working for William Randolph Hearst and in 1920 was the head art supervisor of Hearst magazines and newspapers. He died at the age of ninety-four in New Jersey.