Illustration

by Arnie Fenner





All the chatter for some time now has been regarding the evolution in publishing from print to digital. E-books this, tablets that: get content on your computer, on your smart phone, on your Kindle/Nook/IPad. Print is dead, yadayadayada. Me? Though I've got all the gadgets and use them daily I still prefer to pick up a good ol' fashioned newspaper or book or magazine when I want to read, either for enjoyment or to learn something.



The New York Times recently ran an article discussing a study claiming that an inordinately high percentage of people who used only the computer for their information or entertainment--rarely (if ever) picking up traditional books or magazines--experienced significantly lower levels of reading comprehension and shorter memories of what they'd read on-line. Now how true that might be is anyone's guess: there's the old caveat coined either by Mark Twain or Benjamin Disraeli, depending on who you want to believe, of, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Then again...a favorite server at the neighborhood restaurant Cathy and I frequent is going to school to be a nurse and during a recent chat she was complaining that the hardest part was having to use a regular book to study: "There's no 'search' option to find things for you! You have to read everything!"



What does all this have to do with Illustration magazine? Oh, not much, I suppose. Other than it gives me an opportunity to say that I love it, much prefer to hold a printed copy in my hands and savor each cleanly-designed page at my leisure rather than peruse it on-line (which is also an option publisher Dan Zimmer makes available for free), and believe everyone with even the slightest interest in art will find it invaluable and worthy of support. Whether you take out a subscription or buy it at your favorite bookstore, you'll be glad you did.



At the top: The most recent issue (#36) features heavily illustrated articles about John Berkey and Rose O'Neill.

Issue #35 features Joseph Szokli, Walt Reed, and Harry Clarke.

Issue #33 featured Jack Gaughan, Charles Copeland, and Edward Shenton.

Issue #32 featured Herbert Morton Stoops and Ed Balcourt.

Issue #26 featured Graves Gladney, Nan Pollard, and The American Academy of Art.

Issue #19 featured Louis Glanzman, Ed Emshwiller, and the Patterson & Hall Studio.