EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 21 © 2017 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

36 Stevan Dohanos Known as the “Delineat r of the Heart of America”, this Post cover artist was second in popularity to Norman Rockwell and his covers always showed a keen sense of humour as we followDiegoCordoba intohis illustrious career While today the name of Stevan Dohanos might not ring a bell, during the 1950s he was only second to Norman Rockwell as the most popular cover artist for The Saturday Evening Post . Unlike Rockwell who had a tendency of sweetening his subject matters, Dohanos on the contrary relished on the drab aspects of life, the shortcomings and general dissatisfaction the “real” families had when facing their day to day chores, or as he claimed, he “always gloried in finding beauty in the ordinary things in life.” Yet he always depicted these scenes with a keen sense of humour, making most of the situations and predicaments seem rather funny. For someone who also said, “a clean, strong, uncluttered image forms the basis of a good picture”, Dohanos rather “cluttered” his images with tons of detail, especially when showing people within their surroundings. It is almost as if he found it more interesting to paint the locales than the actual people living there. Dohanos used gouache, tempera or watercolours(though he also did some oil paintings when he had the time) which dried much faster, and could explain his great number of Post covers in slightly over two decades (more than 125 covers during the ABOVE: U.S. Army soldiers at base in a tropical environment , watercolour on board, 23” x 39.6”. Original illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, July 3, 1943. Dohanos documented life during World War II with his illustrations that often focused on more tranquil scenes such as this one. FACING PAGE: Icing the Cake , gouache and tempera on masonite, 14.5” x 11.25”. Cover for The Saturday Evening Post , June 16, 1945. Dohanos claimed that simplicity made for a good picture, yet you can see all the detail he puts into this image with all the utensils found in the kitchen, including a calender with its bakery image, which would have seemed superfluous to any other artist, but adds to the realism of the picture. Note the attention to detail on the main character with the expression on his face and how even his veins are bulging. Bonhams, San Francisco