Hans de Beer

Hans de Beer is a favourite artist of mine.  He has written and illustrated many books for children.
His very well known ones feature Lars the little Polar bear and his adventures.

I have other books that are beautifully illustrated by him.  He has a muted approach with watercolour and delicate inkwork in his art work. His animal characters always show great empathy without going overboard in the facial expressions.

Ollie the Elephant

Little Polar Bear

Illustration Hans de Beer

Ahoy There Little Polar Bear

Prince Valentino

 All his works are worth looking at for his fine drawing and reading for the amusing and heartwarming stories written by Hans de Beer and other authors.

Gustaf Tenggren

Gustaf Tenggren was born in 1896 in Sweden to a family of artists. He showed early aptitude and began thorough training as an artist.  His early illustration work shows an influence from his contemporaries, mainly John Bauer, and decorative styles of the day.  The subject matter was often mythological in nature.

Tenggren immigrated to the US in 1920. He opened a studio in New York  and began a prolific output in children's books and magazine illustration. His style changed to adapt to the requirements of the market. In 1936 he was hired by Walt Disney to work on the first feature length animated film, Snow White.
He also worked on Pinocchio,  Fantasia, Bambi and others, as a concept artist and designer. His Scandinavian background is evident in the artwork for these films.

From the 1940's to 1962, Gustaf Tenggren was a major illustrator of  Little Golden books.  One of his best known titles from these books is The Poky Little Puppy. He was amazingly successful and produced art for a wide range of subjects and age groups.

One of my favourite books from childhood is called Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights with superb illustrations by Tenggren. His approach is more stylised than his Disney work.

Gustaf Tenggren died in 1970 and his widow donated much of his artwork and papers to the children's literature research library at the University of Minnesota,

Early works from the 1920's.

Little Golden Book titles illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren

Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights. Simon and Schuster. First published in 1957

For further information and more of his artwork, there is a great site devoted to Gustaf Tenggren. Take a look here.

Black and white illustration

I've always enjoyed drawing with pen and ink in my sketchbooks and my finished art. It's a good idea for artists to sketch straight in pen sometimes, and not always rely on the trusty pencil.  If you are not worried by mistakes in your sketchbooks, and of course, you shouldn't be, then your hand-eye co-ordination will improve in leaps and bounds and you will acquire a confidence in quick sketching.
There are many styles and techniques artists use in monochrome art.  Some of my favourite artists are Gustave Dore, Leonardo da Vinci, Honore Daumier, Peter Bruegel, Hans Holbein and so many others.
Some favourite illustrators are William Heath Robinson, Edward Gorey, Aubrey Beardsley, Robert Crumb, Alan Stamaty, the list goes on.
My illustrations below have been taken from a variety of my previously published books.

Garden goat

Jubilant gnome

Gnome concentration

Giraffes in knots

Irate fortune teller Madame Fratlin

A conference of elephants