Jessie Willcox Smith (1863- 1935) was an amazing illustrator. She is one of my all time favorites. Jessie was a bit late to art, starting drawing after age 20. She was taught by the incredible
Howard Pyle. Her work is beautifully done and was created with a mix of charcoal and oil paints. Jessie illustrated many books (my favorite being The Water- Babies) and created over 200 covers Good Housekeeping magazine as well as ads for Kodak, Ivory Soap, and Procter and Gamble.
Jessie never had kids but she was pretty much a genius in capturing the expressions and energy of children. I also am on love with her palette. There is such a earthiness to her colors. Her colors are both soft and strong. I think that she has been forgotten a bit through the years, perhaps over shadowed by her male counterparts. But that just makes me want to study her work even more. Here are a few of my favorites Jessie Willcox Smith's paintings.
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| From The Water Babies, 1916 |
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| from The Water Babies, 1916 |
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| from The Water Babies, 1916 |
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Elizabeth Shippen Green, Violet Oakley, Jessie Willcox Smith and Henrietta Cozens in their Chestnut Street studio, ca. 1901
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| Red Cross Poster, 1918 |
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| Bed Time c.1902 |
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| Little Red Riding Hood c.1911 |
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| Morning, 1908 |
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| Little Miss Muffet, 1914 |
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| Mother Kissing Baby, 1904 | | |
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| Young Girl Playing, 1902 |
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| Jessie Willcox Smith in her Stdio, 1917 |
Amazing work, don't you think? Pretty inspiring to see such amazing woman artists from so long ago. I wonder if it is still possible to have a illustration career like she had? It makes me wonder, would you buy more magazines if they had more incredible art like this on the cover? I definitely would.
Do you have a favorite classic illustrator? Who inspires you?
Well, as they say, I better get back to the drawing board....
