Illustration Unit: N.C. Wyeth

One of the biggest american illustrators is N.C. Wyeth (Newell Convers). He was a gifted artist as a child and went to a few art colleges before joining Howard Pyle's art school when he was twenty years old. Within a few months, he was commissioned to do a cover for the Saturday Evening Post and his career took off from there.

He went on to produce over 3000 illustrations and 112 books in his career. He also started a family of artists, with his son Andrew Wyeth becoming one of the important american fine artists of the second half of the 20th century. Interestingly, his grandson Howard Pyle Wyeth, was the drummer for Bob Dylan for a while.

N.C. Wyeth responded well to Pyle's approach to illustration and his influence can be seen throughout his work. Thematically, he continued in Pyle's tradition of americana and adventure book illustration full of pirates, native americans and Robin Hood. He also worked extensively creating magazine illustrations and advertisements. His images demonstrate an exploration of Pyle's focus on realism and an expressive use of colour within a strong composition.

Illustration Unit: Howard Pyle

The next illustrator to study in this unit is the influential american artist, writer and art teacher Howard Pyle. He started teaching at a young age and many of his students became successful artists including N.C. Wyeth. Pyle and his followers have been termed the "Brandywine School" after the region they lived in.

His work demonstrates realism with a sophisticated use of colour and composition. His images also feature recurring themes of patriotism.

Like Rackham and Pogany, Pyle's focus was on children's stories and adventure books and he has been credited with developing the typical image of the pirate.

One of his well-known works, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood,  he both wrote and illustrated.