Western Post War Illustration

In today’s lecture we looked into American life in the 1950s, understanding that the war had allowed this country to prosper hugely, which is reflected in the illustration of the time. We looked at many different illustrators including people like Norman Rockwell and Bernie Fuchs. 

Robert Weaver was one of the artists we talked about in the lecture who I was intrigued by. I found that his compositions were unusual, especially the way he uses perspective, with the viewer really having to search for the focus of the image, creating a  voyeuristic feeling as we try to capture a glance of this couple stealing a kiss.

Brian Sanders was another illustrator that we looked into, finishing that his work was experimental and reflected the excitement of the times. He made his work interesting by using off-kilter compositions and bright colours. The medium he worked with was acrylic paint and he developed what was referred to as the ‘bubble and streak’ effect. In 1965, Sanders was commissioned by Stanley Kubrick to be an on set reportage illustrator during the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Sanders would draw on the set two days per week and work on larger paintings in his studio, mapping out the making of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

This was my attempt at creating an illustration which shows a mundane moment, I have tried to make this piece look exciting by being influenced by the techniques used by Brian Sanders and Robert Weaver. I have combined elements of the two artists, such as using a painted, streaky back ground like Brian Sanders and trying to play with making the foreground more prominent than the background like Robert Weaver. Yet I still feel like there are a lot more things I could have done to make this piece more visually interesting, including experimenting with a more vivid colour palette and using a less central composition. However, I feel that this practice has allowed me to take a step back from how I would usually work and be more open to learning from such brilliant illustratiors.