Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog

One of my most prized books is the beautiful, and massive Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life. It’s a book filled with Harper’s brilliant modernist nature illustrations, and one that I think belongs in every illustrator’s collection. Two factors otherwise prohibit more people from adopting the book into their libraries: the book’s physical size (it’s so big, mine hides away in a drawer because no bookshelf can handle it, and it’s big enough to be its own coffee table) and its hefty $200 pricetag ($135 on Amazon).

As a book, it’s a work of art itself, and it’s truly inspiring to flip through and be fully enveloped by its pages, but I’ve always wished there was a more accessible showcase of his career for the more casual (and thrifty) fan. I suppose AMMO Books agrees; they have just released a popular edition of Charpey Harper: An Illustrated Life — the same book, but considerably smaller (and bookshelf friendly) and at an affordable $49.95 ($32.97 on Amazon).

So if you have been pining for this collection, but could never justify the price, now you have no excuse. And, of course, if money is no object, there’s always the limited editions from AMMO for $400 that are signed by Charley Harper and author Todd Oldham, and come with a fancy slipcase and one of Harper’s silkscreen prints. Yowza.

Previously: Charley Harper 1922-2007

Josh Brill’s Flora Fauna: Birds Edition print collection, via his label Lumadessa, is a beautiful, modern take on field guide bird illustrations.

When it comes to wildlife illustrations with a heavy dash of geometry, especially birds, it’s difficult to avoid comparisons to Modernist superstar Charley Harper (just look to our recent post on Eleanor Grosch). But I think Josh’s work has enough of its own unique flavour here to set him apart from Harper’s legacy. His shapes are certainly more digital in nature, and these birds look almost typographic in their abstraction. I’m going to go load up my iPhone with his wallpapers now.

Eleanor Grosch is a Philadelphia illustrator and printmaker with a habit of drawing animals, and gorgeously. Like a lot of artists, my world changed when I discovered Charley Harper, but Grosch seems to be his second incarnation. Her rock posters and licensed products are great, but it’s her art prints that I’m truly in love with. Her Aesop’s Fables series is a particular favorite.

(for my old home of Minnesota)

(for my new home in the Palouse)

One of my favorite influences, illustrator Charley Harper died this past Sunday, June 10th, of pneumonia, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was 84. Charley was wildly popular among bird enthusiasts for his stylized depictions of various birds, not to mention wildlife in general. He had a great simplicity to his art, a certain modern clarity when depicting animals and nature. There’s a classic quote by Charley that always seemed to be mentioned in every article written about him: “I don’t count the feathers in the wings, I just count the number of wings.” And that pretty much summed up his approach to his art.

I fell in love with the classic Charley Harper style several years ago after buying a couple of items he illustrated, The Giant Golden Book of Biology (1961) and the Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two Cookbook (1958). Whereas both were polar opposite in their execution (Biology in full-color and lushly illustrated, Dinner for Two spot illos done in the limited 2 color style), both exhibited Harper’s unique wit and affection for the animal kingdom. I also loved his compositions and use of symmetry/asymmetry — he had a graphic designer mindset that most artists and illustrators don’t possess. (I plan on scanning some from these two books soon.) Harper also did a number of illustrations for Ford Times Magazine throughout the 50’s and 60’s.

In his later years, Charley Harper found a huge following because of the many wildlife posters and serigraphs he cranked out on a routine basis — he was busy right up unto his final days. This year has been ramping up to be a big one for him: December 8th was proclaimed “Charley Harper Day” in Cincinnati, several exhibits featuring his work are currently running, and finally, Todd Oldham, who’s been a big fan of Harper’s, compiled a collection featuring the best of the artist’s work in a massive tome, Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life, becoming arguably THE definitive book on the artist.

To read more about Charley Harper, check these links below:

Cincinnati Enquirer obituary.

Memorium to Charley. (More here.)

Contemporary Arts Center memorium.

Graphic Content: Contemporary and Modern/Art and Design. (CAC current exhibit — Charley Harper is one of the featured artists.)

Interview with Charley by Todd Oldham.

Cincinnati Art Museum exhibit. (August 18-October 21, 2007)

Handmade Modern – Video of Charley Harper interview.

There’s also a Flickr group devoted to his artwork.

Side note: I actually called Charley up one day, wanting to talk with him about his life and artwork. I told him that I was having a hard time finding one of the other science books that he illustrated, The Animal Kingdom. I wasn’t trying to find out if he had any copies (I’m sure he didn’t), but nevertheless, he politely answered, “Well, there’s always eBay.” I hated that I never got to meet the guy. He had a kind, gentle quality to his voice. A gentle soul. He definitely will be missed.

Photo of Charlie from Cincinnati.com.

Attention dog lovers! The Wurst Gallery has launched its biggest show ever with over 100 artists each depicting a different breed of dog in their own unique style. Behold the Wurstminster Dog Show! Shown here is Allan Sanders’s bloodhound. Other artists include the recently-blogged Aaron Renier and Michael Wertz, as well as Drawn! faves Brandon Reese, Johnny Yanok, Keri Smith, Ray Fenwick, and Susie Ghahremani. Heck, there’s even a vintage Charley Harper springer spaniel thrown in for good measure!

A portion of the proceeds from the show will be donated to DoveLewis animal hospital in Portland, Oregon.