Monday, April 18, 2011

JW West Pen and Ink

I wish today’s magazines had penwork on the level of this piece by J.Walter West.

This was just a bit of decorative art, but it’s a little gem. Part of the appeal is the variety of line: long, sweeping folds versus tight curling wrinkles. The bold areas of black hold all the fine line work together.

From the Magazine of Art, 1895. page V

3 comments:

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Well as a pen and ink artist, I can certainly agree with that.

Do you know of any online resources were West's work can be seen in more detail? A Google search keeps turning up a preacher with the same name.

James Gurney said...

Erik, I've added a link on the post, which takes you directly to the scan of the original magazine it came from.

If you go to books.Google.com and search around for J.W. West in "Magazine of Art" and "Studio International," you should find more samples by him.

My Pen Name said...

how about ramon casa's:
Masthead design for Pèl & Ploma,

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/barcelona_modernity/images/barcelona_02_L.jpg