Al Parker: Illustrator, Innovator

The latest volume in our series highlighting the great American illustrators. This lavishly illustrated book covers every aspect of this important artist's career with authoritative articles, hundreds of incredible full color illustrations and rarely seen photographs.

One of America's best known magazine illustrators from the 1940's to the 1960's, Al Parker was an innovator, a trend setter and a constant experimenter. Each chapter describes his top work for every key American magazine, from fiction illustrations to advertising to covers.

He was the go-to artist in all the early "slicks," the highest peak a commercial artist could attain in his day. Colliers, Ladie's Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, McCall's. And in genre pieces: Grand Prize Automobiles, Jazz, and the series Jane's Blanket, plus Kit Parker films. A chapter captures his wonderful photography, "From Models to Print" using beautiful models as well as himself and his family.

A 1964 interview captures his thoughts at the peak of his career. His niece talks about growing up with "Uncle Al" in Carmel Valley, California. Stephenie Plunkett writes about about "Al Parker and the American Woman's Magazine, 1940-60." David Apatoff writes about Parker's ability to change styles "as effortlessly as you or I might change socks." In 1948, Norman Rockwell wrote Al a fan letter: "It is simply extraordinary; your amazing creativeness, taste, and versatility. While the rest of us are working knee-deep in a groove, [you] are forever changing and improving. You have brought more freshness, charm, and vitality to illustration than any other living illustrator."

Manuel Auad has written many articles about artists since the early nineteen sixties. He has contributed to Maurice Horn's "World Encyclopedia of Comics". His interviews with comic book artists from Europe and Asia have been published in "Cartoonist Profiles" and various other periodicals.
He has complied and edited a series of books celebrating the work of artist Alex Toth. The first of these volumes - titled simply "Alex Toth - won the coveted Eisner Award for Best Comic Related Book in 1996. He has also edited books on the work of Al Dorne, Robert Fawcett, Franklin Booth and Jordi Bernet.

Kit Parker is the third child of Al and Evelyn Parker. He is a life long movie buff. He founded Kit Parker Films in 1971 and continues to oversee the restoration of vintage motion pictures and make them available on DVD.
Kit donated the family collection of Al Parker illustrations to Washington University in St. Louis, his parents alma mater.

Leif Peng is a Canadian illustrator/cartoonist with nearly thirty years of professional experience. In 2005 he began the "Today's Illustration" blog, researching and writing on the subject of mid-century illustration, cartooning and design.
He has written articles for "Illustration" magazine and "Illustrators" magazine and lectured at the Society of Illustrators in New York. Peng also teaches drawing foundations skills and illustration techniques with traditional and digital media at Mohawk College.