Ed Vebell, Condensed

Ed Vebell preferred illustrating in pencil rather than pen and ink. Some clients, however, required artwork that reproduced well under less than ideal printing circumstances. Such was the case with Readers Digest Condensed Books. In 1954 Vebell illustrated the story, "Tomorrow!" by Philip Wylie.



You can see from the title page spread above that even after a fair amount of Photoshop adjustment on my part, when the art is done with 'soft' media the poor quality pulp paper and rudimentary colour printing leaves something to be desired.

Because Reader's Digest was such a good, steady client, over the years Vebell developed a process to accommodate both his and the Digest's needs.



Vebell would make line drawings in pencil on cameo paper at two to three times printed size.



These would be reproduced in halftone rather than as solid line cuts, with two to four flat colour separations.



Where solid line cuts were needed out of necessity,



... the artist would trace over his initial artwork on a new sheet with carbon pencil.



Sometimes Vebell would work with a fluorographic pencil or use a fluorographic solution with brush and water. Arcane processes in this digital age, but at that time, it was a way of achieving clean whites in a halftone cut (some screening would normally appear in the white areas of halftones).



As described yesterday, Ed Vebell always shot his own reference photos for assignments (and in an age when photography wasn't the instantaneous process it is today).



In spite of such hurdles, Vebell typically started and finished an illustration assignment in one day, including set-up and photography.



Because deadlines are always in the morning, Vebell's workday started at noon. He would work steadily 'til one in the morning, sleep, then get up in time to hand the wrapped artwork off to an early morning courier bound for New York City.





In spite of his extensive use of the camera, Vebell never relied on it as a crutch. An exceptional and dependable draughtsman, art directors rarely asked to see sketches from him.



Once an assignment had been turned over, clients generally let Vebell do his thing, knowing his interpretation of the subject would satisfy their needs.



"My work must be quickly done and good," said Vebell. "Pressure makes me alert."











As I was scanning these images, I couldn't help but notice that, like Alfred Hitchcock's famous cameos, Ed Vebell makes a brief guest appearance in the background of this illustration.









Hope you enjoyed this look at some of Vebell's work that I suspect hasn't seen the light of day in over half a century. Happily, Ed Vebell is still going strong at age 93. Here he is on youtube in a February 2013 interview, talking about his work at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945...



* Thanks to Larry Roibal for bringing Ed Vebell's youtube interview to my attention.

Ed Vebell, Historical Illustrator

Robert Fawcett once described a visit to a Hollywood movie studio: "I was talking to a woman who was in charge of all research," said Fawcett. "I told her of the great value we illustrators place in movie stills as sources of historical reference. We assumed, I said, that the research facilities of the movie industry were much greater than our own and we therefore relied heavily on this research for accuracy. She replied that, on the contrary, if a picture had appeared in a magazine such as The Saturday Evening Post, that constituted authority enough for them!"

If that woman was talking about Ed Vebell's illustrations, she would have been correct.



Vebell's clients often called on him for illustrations of historical subjects. They knew they could count on getting not only solid professional work, but work done with great authenticity.



While others might be satisfied to work from movie stills alone, Ed Vebell said he had little regard for what he called "studio style" art. He began his illustrations with a thumbnail sketch...



... and would then invest a tremendous amount of time and effort photographing the people, scenes and props - the "factual material" Vebell felt was essential to creating an authentic-feeling illustration.





Shortly after WWII, Vebell began collecting military uniforms, weapons and other historic articles and memorabilia. Over time, he amassed the largest private collection of these items in the U.S. When Westport News' Dan Woog visited Vebell in 2010, the artist pointed out, "I've got Buffalo Bill Cody's hat... over there, in a bathtub."



Once Vebell had assembled his photo reference, the drawing began. He felt that a line drawing should not be worked over - preferring to do a new drawing on a clean sheet over the old one on a light box.



During his time in Paris, Vebell had studied lithography on stone at the Beaux Arts. It had given him an appreciation for working with lithographic sticks and tusche. Only rarely would he finish a piece with pen and ink.

(A scan of the final image, found online)


* Images in today's post are from (in order) Pulp Illustration Art.com , Heritage Auctions and American Artist magazine, November 1962.

Ed Vebell: War, Love, and a Lifetime of Making Art

In 1942, just a year out of school and working as a free-lance in Chicago and Cleveland, 20-year-old Ed Vebell's budding professional career was abruptly side-tracked. Vebell was inducted into the army.



Decades later he told Westport News' Dan Woog, "I shot a gun once, and they sent me overseas." Vebell was stationed in Algiers where he began drawing for Stars and Stripes.



He soon took a position as staff illustrator of the U.S. military paper's European edition.



That first period of duty was a pleasant time for Vebell. He had the use of a car, he learned French and rode with French cavalry mounts, he painted and exhibited his watercolours in the city galleries...



... until he was transferred to combat duty as a reporter illustrator. On his very first assignment (at Anzio) his colleague Gregory Duncan was killed.



Ed Vebell saw heavy action on the front lines of many battles - at the taking of Monte Cassino, for example. Vebell recalled, "Standing and drawing, I made a pretty good target. The photographers could just take their picture, and duck."



When not risking his life in the line of fire, Vebell was in Naples sharing a studio with cartoonist Bill Mauldin.



When the war ended Vebell moved to Paris. He drew for Yank magazine. He got to know some of the lovely young ladies of the Folies Bergère. He met Edith Piaf, Yves Montand and Josephine Baker. After his discharge in 1945, rather than return to the U.S., Vebell decided to stay on in the city. "Everyone else wanted to leave," said Vebell "I didn't. I might have been the last soldier home."



That year he attended the Nuremberg War Trials as a courtroom artist for Stars & Stripes.



Vebell opened his own studio and took editorial assignments from French magazines. To his recollection, the quality of the work being done in Paris was below American commercial art standards.



Clients were delighted to have a genuine American talent at their disposal.



For two years he turned out three illustrations a week for just one publisher alone. Working 13 hours a day, 7 days a week, Vebell saw nothing of the city, rarely spoke English, and became fluent in French.

In 1947 Vebell decided to return home.



I wish I had more context for the story that follows because it's a fascinating anecdote; that year Vebell was trapped for eight days "aboard a crippled schooner... that drifted more than a thousand miles in the center of an Atlantic storm."



"One of the eight crew members was lost and none expected to survive, but Vebell managed to make so many sketch notes that he later provided the illustrations and factual material for five different magazine features on the adventure."



Upon his return to the United States, Vebell moved to New York and began freelance illustrating. In 1950 he married.



At that point another man might have been satisfied to settle down and enjoy a busy career at the drawing board - but not Ed Vebell.

When he was 14, Ed Vebell had taken a terrible beating at the hands of a bully. He determined to become physically fit and stay that way. Vebell started lifting weights, which lead to wrestling. That lead to boxing, archery and horseback riding. Eventually fencing became his sport of choice. In 1951, in the midst of an already hectic commercial art schedule, Vebell fenced at the Pan-American Olympics in Buenos Aires. He took third place. The following year, at the Olympics in Helsinki he made the semi-finals, and at the North American Championships in Canada in 1953, Vebell won the top prize.



That same year he signed on with an art rep: Stephan Lion Associates.



Vebell's name is not included in any Stephan Lion ads before or after 1953, so we must assume the relationship was not particularly productive. Vebell, however, was. A steady stream of clients such as Reader's Digest, This Week, Sports Illustrated, Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, Sunday Mirror and many others meant Ed Vebell was rarely wanting for work.



Below, a tiny sampling of the countless illustrations Vebell produced during that busy mid-century period.



















Tomorrow: How Ed Vebell makes a picture. A step-by-step demonstration.

Most of the biographical information this week is from a February 1962 article in American Artist magazine. Some of the images in this series of posts are from the same article. Thanks to Aron Gagliardo of the American Academy of Art for the image of the running man surrounded by pretty girls (about halfway through today's post). Other images in today's post are from Pulp Illustration Art.com and are available for purchase. The first two images at the top of today's post are from the Westport Public Library website and additional images were found at the ReMinders blog. ~ Leif