EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 11 © 2015 The Book Palace (96 pages PAGES in Full edition)

61 ABOVE: A very early original painting, from an unidentified magazine, brings together all the strengths of a classic McConnell image, the atmospheric lighting heightening the tension between the three protagonists. The influence of US pulp artists such as Norman Saunders is readily discernible. imagination. On leaving school young James worked for a local printers as a blockmaker until he managed to gain a place in the prestigious St. Martin’s School of Art in London. Here, he studied part-time, whilst still working in the same trade as a blockmaker. St. Martin’s taught him solid draftsmanship, the understanding of anatomy and the intricacies of painting in watercolour: all attributes that were to stand him in good stead for his future career. On leaving St. Martin’s, McConnell was intent on earning a living as an illustrator. By 1933 he had been taken on by the Partridge Agency, one of the foremost illustrators' agents in the country, and was soon producing advertising art and, more importantly, paintings for book jackets. By the end of the ‘30s he had produced jackets for novels published by such illustrious names in the book