EXTRACTS: illustrators issue 3 © 2013 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

94 The Bookshelf The definitive book on one of the major artists of the pulp era, David Saunders’ assessment of his father’s career is not just a dazzling cavalcade of some of the greatest illustrations of the last century, but is also a riveting read into the bargain. Norman Saunders life and work is well documented with photos and samples of his work, including his earliest cartoons which provided the entrée to the world of publishing, to full page reproductions sourced from the surviving original artworks. The book is a delight to navigate, with beautifully designed layouts guiding the reader through Saunders life and career. Saunders life story mirrors the changing world which helped shape his art, from the heady days of pulp covers, through to the raw energy of his war time sketch books and the latter years, where despite the infirmities of age, his energy and optimism ensured that his work remained as vital as ever. For anyone with the remotest interest in 20th century illustration, its origins and it’s greatest exponents, this book is worthy of serious consideration. For lovers of pulp art at its raunchiest best this book is essential. Peter Richardson Norman Saunders by David Saunders. Hard-bound 368 pages. The Illustrated Press £14.99 The Art Of Denis McLoughlin by David Ashford Hard-bound & Hard-Boiled 272 pages. Book Palace Books £45.00 / £70.00 David Ashford’s The Art of Denis McLoughlin is a sumptuous hardback with 272 pages of glorious cover and comics art, interspersed with essays by Ashford, recollections by the late McLoughlin, and checklists of every dust jacket and comic strip McLoughlin ever worked on. McLoughlin is still probably best known for his comics: his Buffalo Bill western strips, his war and adventure comics which, taken on its own, would be enough to secure him a place in the pantheon of top flight British illustrators. But add in his TV Boardman covers as well, and the scale of McLoughlin’s achievement becomes breathtaking. David Ashford rightly dedicates well over half the book to this remarkable but rarely seen (a good many of the Boardman Bloodhounds are extremely hard to come by) body of work, tracking the development of McLoughlin’s Boardman covers from 1944 to 1968. The Art of Denis McLoughlin is a beautiful and fitting tribute to an astonishingly talented artist, illustrator and designer, and deserves a place on the shelves of every discerning appreciator of fine dust jacket design. Nick Jones l illustrators is also available in the USA from Budplant.com and in France from Pulpsart.com and Album.fr So You Want To Be A Cartoonist? by Peter Maddocks. Soft-bound 100 pages. CreativeSpace Indepedent Publishing £3.99 Peter Maddocks’ guide to cartooning provides a delightful and instructive introduction to this art form. With his typically distinctive and quirky take on the world around him, and a lifetime’s accumulated know-how on the art of the cartoon, he takes his reader through all the necessary steps to create their own ‘funny pictures’. In the process, Peter Maddocks shares his observations on what makes great cartoons work and, in so doing, offers guidance to all artists keen on communicating their ideas with clarity and economy. William Golding’s axiom, “The greatest ideas are the simplest” could easily be applied to Maddocks’ guide. The book is captivatingly arranged, with the artist’s hand lettered text, perfectly complimenting page after page of lively and informative illustrations, that take the reader through all the fundamentals of creating cartoons with punch and clarity. Its charm is so infectious, that all but the most reticent of readers will find themselves reaching for a sheet of paper and a pen with which to create their own cartoons. Also available as an e-book. Peter Richardson