Another all time favourite of mine. Howard Pyle was an American illustrator of the golden era of Victorian illustration. I came across him in my teenage years when I first borrowed a copy of 'The adventures of Robin Hood' illustrated and written by Pyle. It was a great book and one which I later found a copy of and to my eternal shame I stole. My morals have always been a bit relaxed with regards to books and libraries and the border between borrowing a book and not handing it in on time... Later I discovered more of his work, Arthur and the Knights of the Round table' and 'Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates; fiction, fact & fancy concerning the buccaneers & marooners of the Spanish main' the latter proving impossible to find an affordable copy of... or even one I could 'borrow'.
Pyle was a brilliant draughtsman and for my part, that makes his work far more interesting than any famous artist. The way Pyle was able to create narrative and his sense of style easily make for the sort of captivating illustrations that are today considered old fashioned, but they are as descriptive and evocative as an old decaying door that opens into the realm of childhood imagination. I used to be very jealous of Pyle's line, I still am, and copied it in endless sketches. I was always frustrated though. I could never catch the essence of the composition or the stance of the figures. Eventually I let it go, I fell in love with Bernie Wrightson's line instead. *chuckle*
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2 comments:
I've always loved the mermaid image, and I used to have a print of it on my bedroom wall. It often inspired me, and I'm ashamed to say that I've never delved deeper into Howard Pyle's work.
He's not that easy to delve into, at least not in my experience. I scoured the book shops of Londona nd Rochester and I've often done searches for his work on line, but never with satisfactory results.
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