Illustration Art Gallery

The very best from the wide, sometimes overlooked, world of illustration art, including original artwork for book illustrations and covers, comic books and comic strips, graphic novels, magazines, film animation cels, newspaper strips, poster art, album covers, plus superb fine art reproductions and high quality art prints.

Our gallery brings together artists from all over the world and from many backgrounds, including fantasy, horror, romance, science fiction, education, sport, history, nature, technology, humour, glamour, architecture, film & tv, whimsy, even political satire and caricature.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Luis Arcas Brauner

Luis Arcas Brauner was a widely admired painter of portraits (including those of Spanish royalty), landscapes and still life. Born in Valencia on 20 October 1934, he enrolled in the School of Commerce at his father's insistence. Arcas, who wanted to devote himself to the arts, eventually entered the Escuela Superior de Bellas artes de San Carlos in Valencia, where he studied until 1954. In that year he held his first exhibition.

Arcas won numerous awards throughout his career as a painter, including the Silver Medal at the 13th Exposición de arte Universitario in 1952, the Premio extradordinario nacional at the 5th National Competition of Fine Arts in Alicante in 1956 and the Premio "La Coruña" at the exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1960.

His work was widely exhibited in Spain and in North and South America. He was one of the artists who participated in the "Setenta y cinco años de pintura valenciana" (Seventy-Five years of Valencian painting) exhibition supported by the Valencia City Council in 1975. A retrospective of his work, "Treinta años de vida profesional" (Thirty years of professional life), was exhibited at the Caja de Ahorros de Valencia.

He died in Cambridge, England, in July 1989, aged 54. Five years after his death, his work was celebrated as part of "Un siglo de pintura valenciana" (A century of Valencian painting) in Valencia.

The above illustration of a mounted hussar was painted for the children's educational magazine World of Wonder in 1971 and is available for sale at the Illustration Art Gallery.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Latest Art: September 2010

Will Eisner
Over 140 new art works added so far this month from 50 artists including 7 artists  NEW to the Gallery)
Enjoy the newly added art in our September slideshow!

Neal AdamsFour exciting colour prints depicting Tarzan in dynamic action scenes
Severino Baraldicolourful painting showing Ancient costumes
Jesus Blascocharming paintings entitled Making Sandwiches and Digging for Victory
Brian Bolland
History of the DC Universe Portfolio NEW
John BoltonHourglass portfolio of 5 stunning B&W prints signed by Bolton
Frank BrangwynLimited edtition The Way Of The Cross portfolio NEW
Robert Brookan atmospheric pen and ink wash entitled Red Bonnet after the adventures of Pierre the young son of a murdered Vicomte, caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution
Ralph Brucesigned pen and inks featuring Walteof the last Anglo-Saxon Earl commiting treason and pleading before King William
CazaBox set with 8 Plates and large format full colour book with cover signed by Caza.
Richard Corbenexciting Pilgor the Plunderer portfolio of 8 stunning plates
Graham Coton
dramatic paintings depicting a sinking submarine, the Long Ordeal of William Mann and The Mayflower Sails Again
Reginald B Davisgorgeous painting of an African Grey Parrot
Neville Dearatmospheric gouache Livingstone I Presume?, painted for Look and Learn magazine
Will EisnerThe Spirit full colour four page tabloid size adventure for everyone's favourite masked crime hunter
Gerry Embletonfine paintings including British Soldier Before Battle of Saratoga, The Battle of Senlac and Merlin Casts a Spell, plus Hande Hoch!
Ron Embletonresonant paintings including Cardinal Wolsey and Sir Thomas More, Pilgrim Fathers and Courage of the Chavante, plus a study of Coventry Cathedral and Beauty and the Beast serial
Dan Escottstriking watercolours depicting some surprising Cities' Coats-of-arms plus Samurai and The Burghers Of Calais Submit to Edward III
Harry Greena striking portrait of a Carib Indian, the London Blitz and a colourful illustration of Bus and Rail working symbiotically
Wilf Hardy
fine depictions of Korean Dragon Warship and a close-up of Aircraft landing gear in action signed by the artist
Burne Hogarthrare portfolio of 6 B&W King Arthur prints (signed)
Richard Hookdistinct illustrations depicting Edwardians at the Seaside, a Duellist and a Brass Band (signed)
Andrew Howatstriking depictions of the Russian Revolution and The Legend of Beowulf
Peter Jacksonglorious paintings featuring King Henry hunting with falcons and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and St Paul's Cathedral
Hank Jankussigned Portfolio of REM prints NEW
Jack Keaydynamic gouache showing an explorer travelling down a river by raft with an African guide
Jack Kirby
amazing portfolio of World's Famous Comic Books Artists (16 prints by Walt Simonson, Jean-Claude Gal, Bob McLeod, John Buscema, John Severin, Caza, Mike Zeck, Brian Bolland, Yves Chaland, Denis Sire, Howard Chaykin, Gil Kane, Mike Kaluta, ...!)
Bill Laceywonderful Odd Inventions including a windmill-driven car!
Viginio Livraghiuplifting painting of Brer Rabbit's Picnic in the Woods signed by Livraghi NEW
Angus McBridedramatic illustration of the Dardanelles Disaster
Hugh McNeillcharming watercolours featuring Harold Hare's Garden Party
Philip Mendozacharming gouaches featuring Mouseland and Nigel, Stephanie and the King
Frank Miller
magnificent Marvel Team-Up Portfolio Set 2 showcasing assorted Marvel heavy weights in superhero team-up action
MoebiusLimited edition Portfolios featuring City of Fire, Verdere Napoli and Sur L'Étoile Une Croisière Citroën
Rudy NebresCreatures of the Night Portfolio signed by Nebres NEW
Mark A Nelsongripping Aliens Portfolio including rare mini comic by Mark Verheiden and Mark Nelson
Will Nicklessatmospheric scenes of yesteryear Penny Post, Bandit Country and Postal delivery in Elizabethan times NEW
Patrick Nicollesporting originals including Jimmy Wilde vs Pancho Villa (Boxing) and Man Bites Dog (running)
Alex Ninoset of eight The Fantasy Worlds of Alex Nino prints signed by Alex Nino
Alexander Oliphantdramatic depiction of a scene from the opening instalment of the story Sea Change by Richard Armstrong
Jose Ortizbeguiling and amusing The Pied Piper of Hamelin illustration for a children's book
Nadir Quinto
Music Charms the Savage Beast plus other illustrations for a children's magazine
Simoncharming watercolour painted for a Christmas greeting card Christmas Surprise for Rabbit
Stobopainting of Combine Harvesters At Work signed by the artist NEW
Ferdinando Tacconisome paintings with a strong Nautical theme, including Crossing the Equator and Visiting the Ship's Bridge
Veta glorious painted reproduction of Frank Frazetta's classic Egyptian Queen picture!
Gerry Woodvivid paintings featuring Vickers mini-submarine plus German Retreat from Moscow
Wally Woodtwo fine Portfolios of prints EC Weird Science Portfolio and Wallace Wood Illustrator Archives vol. 1
Peter Woolcock
glorious illustrations from Wind in the Willows featuring Toad, Ratty and Mole
Bernie Wrightsonmacabre full colour Portfolio of Berni Wrightson Apparitions prints
Unattributedglorious illustration of Nellie the Elephant!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Peter Andrews

I have to admit that I've struck out on Peter Andrews... can't find a thing about him apart from the titles of a handful of childrens' classics he illustrated in the late 1960s. There was an artist named Peter B. Andrews who did the illustrations for Rim-Rocked. A story of the New West by Emmie D. Mygatt (New York, Longmans, Green & Co., 1952) who might just be the same guy.

Andrews illustrated a couple of pieces in the magazine Bible Story in 1964, one of which is offered for sale by the Illustration Art Gallery.

Illustrated Books
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, abridged by Sarah Lindsey. Brighton, Litor Publishers, 1967.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, abridged by Sarah Lindsey. Brighton, Litor Publishers, 1967.
Sinbad, retold by Shirley Dean. Robert J. Tyndall Ltd., 1968.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Colin Andrew

Colin Andrew has had a long and varied career in comics and as an illustrator and book cover artist, yet remains one of the lesser-known names in the field despite some high profile work.

Born and raised in Dundee, Andrew found work as a junior in Bill McCail's Mallard Features studio in Glasgow. His first published work was a cartoon in Lilliput magazine, and his first strip was for a local paper. For the latter he dreamed up the storylines and drew layouts for a story of anthropomorphic trains, in the spirit of Thomas the Tank Engine. After his national service, he moved to London and joined the King-Ganteaume studio, working mostly Westerns and historical strips for Pancho Villa, Rocky Mountain King, TV Heroes and other Len Miller titles. When the King-Ganteaume partnership split, Andrew continued to work for Kenneth King, contributing to Lone Star and Space Ace.

In the late 1950s, Andrew was drawing a great deal for Zip and Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, notably the "Captain Morgan" strip in Zip. In 1960 he assisted Syd Jordan, another McCail studio alumni, on Jordan's Daily Express strip "Jeff Hawke". The strips were written by Willie Patterson, with whom Andrew collaborated on two newspaper strips in Lord Beaverbrook's Glasgow Daily Herald, both factual strips, one a history of the world cup, the other on famous football players.


His favourite strip was also penned by Patterson, "What Is Exhibit X" in Boys' World, starring John Brody, a scientific investigator for the Daily Newsflash. The strip was subsequently taken over by other creators and Andrew found himself drawing "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" in Buster as well as features for Boys' World, Eagle, Lion and Tiger over the next few years.

He returned to strip work drawing "Tomorrow West" in Solo, followed by stints in "Fireball XL5" and "Stingray" in TV Century 21 and "Alias Smith and Jones" for TV Action. He also drew for both

Since the 1970s his output in comics has been limited as he has concentrated on illustration (including work for both World of Wonder and Look and Learn) and book covers; in particular he supplied New English Library with many quickly executed covers in the 1970s. He has also worked in advertising and for an advertising studio where he storyboarded television commercials; his work in the latter field included storyboarding the government's sell-off of PoweGen. In the 1980s he also drew editorial cartoons for a local newspaper for three years.


Andrew returned to comics in the 1990s via his friend Syd Jordan, who suggested he submit samples to Fleetway and Marvel UK. After some 18 months he was contacted by the latter, and worked irregularly on episodes of "Dr. Who" strips in Doctor Who Magazine.

The examples of Colin's work shown here are from the feature "Stand and Deliver", originally published in Eagle in 1964 and subsequently reprinted in Smash Annual 1976. All three pieces are for sale via the Illustration Art Gallery.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Matias Alonso and Mr Tomorrow

It isn't often you will get to see a complete strip as it was originally drawn, so this will be a bit of a treat as the Illustration Art Gallery has all nine pages of "Mr. Tomorrow", a thriller about a time-travelling criminal from the year 2971. But before we get to that, let's meet the artist...

Matías Alonso Andrés was born in Valle de Trapagaran (Euzkadi), near the Bay of Biscay in northern Spain, in 1935. An illustrator and painter from childhood, he won a Segundo Premio Nacional de Pintura (Second National Painting Prize) at the age of 16. He made his comic book debut in the pages of Colorin and Azucena but established himself at the age of 18 when he began drawing El Charro Termerario (1953), written by Pedro Muñoz for Barcelona-based Editora Grafidea. The character Juan Miguel, known as El Charro the bold, was first to be found in the wild west of Mexico and California, often fighting on behalf of the Aztec Indians. After 44 issues, Muñoz and Alonso changed the focus of the strip from Juan Miguel to a secondary character introduced to the strip, the teenage Flaviano, and his friend Knut.

The new series, La Capitana (1955), was set on the high seas and around the globe, from Africa to Australia, and Alonso could be seen developing as an artist: Jaume Salva i Lara has commented (and I'm paraphrasing because I know almost no Spanish and online translators are, at best, a little sloppy) that Alonso's artwork had taken on a lot of personality, the ships and military uniforms (such as those of the French foreign legion) drawn with an eye for detail and the exotic settings showing the influence of Hollywood movies. To counter this rather thankless attention to realism, Alonso tried to make the pages stylistically interesting, although the results could be somewhat mannered.

After a further 44 issues, the focus changed again. Now married (although his wife falls ill and is soon left behind), Flaviano travels to India for his next adventure, El Amuleto Verde (1956; The Green Amulet), a somewhat disappointing finale to the trilogy as the artwork became hurried and less detailed, the action bowdlerised and the storyline less interesting. It was brought to an end after 24 weeks.

Alonso went on to draw more historical strips Jarko, el Temible (20 episodes, 1957) and Luis Valiente (24 episodes, 1957) before adapting a series of science fiction stories, commonly known as 'La saga de los Aznar', written by George H. White (the pen-name of Spanish author Pascual Enguídanos Usach, 1923-2006), into comics, producing 44 issues under the title Hazañas de la Juventud Audaz (Daring Feats of Youth), published by Editora Valenciana in 1959-60.

Alonso then took over the artwork of the famous Spanish historical strip El Guerrero del Antifaz (The Warrior of the Mask) in 1961, which he drew in the style of the strip’s originator, Manuel Gago. He continued the adventures for 80 issues before Gago returned to the series. To some fans of the famous strip Alonso's artwork, influenced by Gago from the start, was a disappointing hiatus in a series that belonged to Gago; others consider the episodes featuring the clean, precise line of Alonso's artwork and storylines by Vincente Tortajada to be amongst the best.

It was around this period that Alonso began working with Luis Bermejo, a Valencian artist who was one of the leading lights of Spanish comics (Aventuras del FBI, Apache). Alonso began working for D.C. Thomson's Commando in 1962 (probably via Bermejo and Selecciones Illustrades) whilst continuing to work locally, drawing various episodes of Espíritu del Oeste (1963, written by Pedro Quesada) for the Spanish publisher Maga. Alonso also drew "La isla del Tesoro" (1964) for the magazine Flecha Roja and Las Aventuras de Marco Polo (1964) for Pantera Negra, the latter with Bermejo who, at that time, was also drawing "Heros the Spartan" for Eagle.

In Spain, Alonso collaborated with Bermejo on illustrations for children’s books such as Vida y Costumbres de los Vikingos and África y sus habitantes (1965). By the mid-1960s he was firmly established in the UK market, drawing for Commando, Battle Picture Library, Air Ace Picture Library and War Picture Library, sometimes working in collaboration with Bermejo and with Eustaquio Segrelles. A fine example of his collaborative work with Bermejo can be seen in the "Heros" strip that appeared in Eagle Annual 1967, although his contributions to Boys World Annual 1968 and especially the 1969 volume, show what he was capable of working solo.

From 1967 he became a regular contributor to Victor, drawing dozens of weekly strips over the next 23 years. Often to be found drawing historical or war adventures, the titles alone offer an insight to the range of strips he drew: "Johnny Gurka", "The Lost Warriors of Tartary", "Task Force with Tusks", "Jungle Joe", "The Planet Seekers", "Vengeance Stalks the Veldt", "The Sons of Ra", "The Wild Colonial Boy", "The White Tiger", "Wings of Death", "Eagle of the Rising Sun" and "The Haunting of Running Bear".

Alonso also drew occasional strips outside of the pages of Victor and Commando, including a handful of stories for girls' comics Judy, Diana, Debbie and Emma and the boys' adventure comic Bullet ("Claws of Terror") in the 1970s.

His last known contributions to British comics appeared in the early 1990s when he drew strips for Judy Picture Library and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. By then Alonso had established himself in Spain as a painter--noted for his landscapes of northern Spain and of Spanish ports with boats jostling in the water--and has had his work exhibited in Barcelona and Madrid.

So... here for your pleasure is the complete "Mr. Tomorrow", which originally appeared in Pow Annual 1971.










All nine pages are available for purchase here.

(* Mr. Tomorrow © IPC Magazines.)