I studied Rockwell Method in my thirties for painting, and that brought me to Leyendecker. Leyendecker and Rockwell used the same method: charcoal underdrawing with oil paint heavily thinned with turpentine, because they didn't have things like fast-drying acrylics. The thing about that mix is it wasn't as fast-drying as modern acrylics, and it allowed a lot of working time that Rockwell took advantage of in eliminating stroke, whereas Leyendecker embraced the brush stroke as you can see if a lot of the hard line brush strokes. Leyendecker's embrace of brush strokes would work really well with modern, fast-drying paints, because of his lack of cern with blending. Commercial artists back then used watercolor to a great degree (fast turnaround times, think Loomis), so strokes appearing was par for the course. Rockwell veered away from that, going more strongly towards realism. Wonderful video, Rich. The Leyendeckers are largely unsugn heroes, as Rockwelland time sort of elbowed them out of the public consciousness.
I have to give you a good grade on this. It's so strange hearing a young 21st century perspective of Leyendecker, but I've got to hand it to you, you get it. The context of the work is so important - what was happening at the time, how his work would presage what would follow, by so many. I rarely get into illustration, and I'm so tired of Rockwell, but Leyendecker was extraordinary, as was his brother, and Mucha. Thanks for sharing this - the KIDS TODAY! They really need to know his work... And thanks for covering his sexuality and his partner and frequent model, Charles Beach. Leyendecker was in the truest sense of the word a trailblazer. And the blank canvas for his highlights is extraordinary. I used to have hundreds of Saturday Evening Posts in their entirety that I'd bought in the early eighties until my mother threw them all away - I'm still heartbroken...
I‘m 19 so I probably wouldn’t count as a kid, but he’s so underrated, I can look at his works for hours and I’m considering to buy this art book. The only reason I got to know his work, was Pinterest
@@OnAJourney-vl4db just to put things into perspective, you're even younger than I thought you were. Nineteen is very much a kid. In fact, you're so young that not only are you too young to drink, you have to wait *two years* before you can. It's also really pathetic that Pinterest, of all things, a totally superfluous and self important, and completely stupid for-profit tech business is how young people are learning about Leyendecker, instead of in school which is where people *should* be learning about him (thanks to years of Republicans decimating budgets for public schools and education generally), but it's wonderful that you are now familiar with his work, and I'm really glad that you are, and that you appreciate it, and if it takes something as annoying and self important as Pinterest to show people some great work that they would otherwise not have discovered, so be it, and to that extent it is actually a very good thing. Thank you for making this video, too. If people learn about Leyendecker from your video and others like it, that too is a good thing.
On a college class trip, I was in an old gallery in NYC which was mainly used for storage anymore. There were STACKS of classic illustrators' work piled everywhere. The owner allowed us to look around and I found a practice board of Leyendecker's hiding in a stack. It was a painting of a few gloved hands and part of a horse. I HELD IT IN MY OWN TWO HANDS. It was a surreal experience and I continue to wonder why we were allowed to hold them! There was also an amazing Vargas pin-up we didn't touch but I got some close-up shots. I coulda sworn I took a photo of the Leyendecker piece but I can't find the photo anywhere. I can't remember where the gallery was, or the name either. It was one of the best moments of my life. Lol
Hey I'm so sorry about your uncle....with Leyendecker painting all those WW1 soldiers, another lost generation. It's interesting that people consider he paints his women in an unsympathetic manner but I don't think it's quite that. I just think the way he paints his men is so stunning they upstaged the ladies, as gorgeous as they are.
All that nicely shined silk is gorgeous. Its also my complaint with bad contemporary gradated digital coloring. Often I have to tell colorists that they are making wool and cotton and denim look like it is silk or rubber. Okay,I'm over forty,so give me brush work every time. Your friend,the crotchety cartoonist.
I have that book, and several others. I learned about Leyendecker many years ago from my teacher, an old guy from the academic area. Chicago Art Institute, Winner of Grand Prix de Rome 1919, etc. Those old school artists knew STRUCTURE. And everything else that comes after and along with it.
Absolute Grand Master! I think Quesada was the first to turn me onto him in 99 or so, and I'm still as amazed. My favorite of the post raphealite stylization.
When I first saw J Cs work, I was struck by the choice of color, as well as his boldness, which was immensely helpful with the textures of the clothing he had to render. If I had been living back there, i would have bought a ton of that clothing just because of the artwork.
Absolutely delicious book and great review! I have this beautiful book and I never get tired of flipping through the pages, such gorgeous figures Mr. J.C Leyendecker made!
Excellent coverage here, thanks! Just look at how much sheer artistry went into an Ivory Soap ad, so very posh...makes me wonder if society has actually progressed or regressed. I've read that Norman Rockwell lived in the same neighborhood, and you can see some of the the same models popping up in both of their works. Beyond that, I'm not that well versed in Leyendecker, although I do know that Rockwell put an extraordinary amount of time and effort and research into setting up his very particular reference shots. He famously had an extensive historical costume collection and would physically act out various poses to instruct his models; it was a highly theatrical production. And I imagine that by association and just looking at his masterful work that J.C. did the same. And so for all those comic book artist purists who somehow have been artistically condemned with the strange strangling notion that using reference is a weakness or even cheating...this clearly demonstrates that they are out of their silly fucking impoverished minds. Andrew Loomis in his Opening Chats would strongly urge every aspiring illustrator to find and use the very best copy possible rather than attempt to invent characters and fashion from imagination. So obviously it isn't a matter of using reference, and as much as you possibly can, but of how you use it. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule that's governed the most masterful works of representational art since classical antiquity...Jim Lee definitely comes to mind - but Jim's heroically idealized stylization is highly accomplished despite the lack of it, not because of it. Of course that's my own opinion, however informed, but at the end of the day that's what a truly creative artist really needs, that is, their own opinion and not to be cowered into compliance by a tyrannical mob mentality led by brute villainous unreasoning animals or simply blindly following the herd of swine, going along to get along. If comics were produced with this classic level of artistic excellence with its accompanying criteria and values, maybe the comic book industry wouldn't seem to be a sinking ship in a growing economy....or so that's what I'm betting on - on feeding a famine that's been perpetuated with an unhealthy diet of junk art reflecting junk values. And I see you Rich as being one of the select few exceptions with your high esteem for the Golden Age of Illustration being at the core of substantially good taste making for a solid foundation of lasting work and of remarkable character.
there's a joke that goes something like this...comics is the "slums" or the art world...and then you have a snobbery within that. It's a pretty funny observation. :)
Comics are definately looked down on by "fine artists." But I challenge them to try to tell a convincing story through sequential art. I bet they can't. Comic creation is the culmination of not just artistic practices but also all those practices that go into film making as well. Comic artists have to set scenes, direct actions, direct the viewers' eye movement, and tell a story visually. In my opinion, effective comic pages are way more difficult to create than effective "one off" pieces.
Also, sorry for the essay, but I've watched dozens of art streams, and Jim Lee uses references constantly. In fact, I haven't seen an artist who doesn't EVER use reference. It's not "cheating." It's just smart.
at 6:48 I refer to that as Charles Beach in the photo of the man admiring a painting. I didn't double check but watching this back...I remembered that is actually an actor from that era (Neil Hamilton) and he modeled for that particular painting...that said...he does look a lot like Beach...not a big deal but I hate to give misinformation on these videos. so that is correct. I double checked while typing this./
wow that would be trippy./ I honestly don't know!!! wow great catch. I am JUST walking out the door so I'll have to look into it when I get back/ see we are always learning here! hahaha The time frame matches up...because just guessing that photo was probably from about 20 years before the show was filmed so the age matches up.
What a generous response, haha. I would never ever ever ask for a portfolio review in a comment on a Leyendecker video, tough act to follow to say the least. :p But such a bold move might suggest that you're among the best that's ever been...maybe you are?
Lyndecker is totally in my top 5 too, he is definitely one of the best to study from, too bad people focus mainly on his sexuality rather than his artistic style and achievements, literally every article or biography I read is “ lyndecker was one of the most influential gay artists” when it should be “ lyndecker was one of the of the most influential artists who just happened to be gay”
I usually restrain myself from making multiple comments on one video... but geez... @10:19 looks like he stole DNA from Flash Gordon and Cable. Sorry... I can't unsee that. (Gustav Klimt is one of my favorite old school painters/ Illustrators)
The Leyendecker brothers were geniuses. What they did can't be reproduced.
I studied Rockwell Method in my thirties for painting, and that brought me to Leyendecker. Leyendecker and Rockwell used the same method: charcoal underdrawing with oil paint heavily thinned with turpentine, because they didn't have things like fast-drying acrylics. The thing about that mix is it wasn't as fast-drying as modern acrylics, and it allowed a lot of working time that Rockwell took advantage of in eliminating stroke, whereas Leyendecker embraced the brush stroke as you can see if a lot of the hard line brush strokes. Leyendecker's embrace of brush strokes would work really well with modern, fast-drying paints, because of his lack of cern with blending. Commercial artists back then used watercolor to a great degree (fast turnaround times, think Loomis), so strokes appearing was par for the course. Rockwell veered away from that, going more strongly towards realism. Wonderful video, Rich. The Leyendeckers are largely unsugn heroes, as Rockwelland time sort of elbowed them out of the public consciousness.
I was already a 100% Fangirl for Leyendecker, but this video...dude. The love for this guy's work...sigh.
I have a giant coffee table sized book of Rockwell but after seeing this it looks like I need to complement that with Leynendecker as well.
what would that book be called ?
I'm late to this video but I love your enthusiasm for JC really makes the difference to a boring video about him!
I have to give you a good grade on this. It's so strange hearing a young 21st century perspective of Leyendecker, but I've got to hand it to you, you get it. The context of the work is so important - what was happening at the time, how his work would presage what would follow, by so many. I rarely get into illustration, and I'm so tired of Rockwell, but Leyendecker was extraordinary, as was his brother, and Mucha. Thanks for sharing this - the KIDS TODAY! They really need to know his work... And thanks for covering his sexuality and his partner and frequent model, Charles Beach. Leyendecker was in the truest sense of the word a trailblazer. And the blank canvas for his highlights is extraordinary. I used to have hundreds of Saturday Evening Posts in their entirety that I'd bought in the early eighties until my mother threw them all away - I'm still heartbroken...
I‘m 19 so I probably wouldn’t count as a kid, but he’s so underrated, I can look at his works for hours and I’m considering to buy this art book. The only reason I got to know his work, was Pinterest
@@OnAJourney-vl4db just to put things into perspective, you're even younger than I thought you were. Nineteen is very much a kid. In fact, you're so young that not only are you too young to drink, you have to wait *two years* before you can. It's also really pathetic that Pinterest, of all things, a totally superfluous and self important, and completely stupid for-profit tech business is how young people are learning about Leyendecker, instead of in school which is where people *should* be learning about him (thanks to years of Republicans decimating budgets for public schools and education generally), but it's wonderful that you are now familiar with his work, and I'm really glad that you are, and that you appreciate it, and if it takes something as annoying and self important as Pinterest to show people some great work that they would otherwise not have discovered, so be it, and to that extent it is actually a very good thing. Thank you for making this video, too. If people learn about Leyendecker from your video and others like it, that too is a good thing.
On a college class trip, I was in an old gallery in NYC which was mainly used for storage anymore. There were STACKS of classic illustrators' work piled everywhere. The owner allowed us to look around and I found a practice board of Leyendecker's hiding in a stack. It was a painting of a few gloved hands and part of a horse. I HELD IT IN MY OWN TWO HANDS. It was a surreal experience and I continue to wonder why we were allowed to hold them! There was also an amazing Vargas pin-up we didn't touch but I got some close-up shots. I coulda sworn I took a photo of the Leyendecker piece but I can't find the photo anywhere. I can't remember where the gallery was, or the name either. It was one of the best moments of my life. Lol
Hey I'm so sorry about your uncle....with Leyendecker painting all those WW1 soldiers, another lost generation. It's interesting that people consider he paints his women in an unsympathetic manner but I don't think it's quite that. I just think the way he paints his men is so stunning they upstaged the ladies, as gorgeous as they are.
All that nicely shined silk is gorgeous.
Its also my complaint with bad contemporary gradated digital coloring. Often I have to tell colorists that they are making wool and cotton and denim look like it is silk or rubber.
Okay,I'm over forty,so give me brush work every time.
Your friend,the crotchety cartoonist.
I have that book, and several others. I learned about Leyendecker many years ago from my teacher, an old guy from the academic area. Chicago Art Institute, Winner of Grand Prix de Rome 1919, etc. Those old school artists knew STRUCTURE. And everything else that comes after and along with it.
There is good and then there is great. This guy was great
Absolute Grand Master! I think Quesada was the first to turn me onto him in 99 or so, and I'm still as amazed. My favorite of the post raphealite stylization.
thanks for posting this man, his stuff is amazing
When I first saw J Cs work, I was struck by the choice of color, as well as his boldness, which was immensely helpful with the textures of the clothing he had to render. If I had been living back there, i would have bought a ton of that clothing just because of the artwork.
Thanks for the introduction. Now I need this book! Love this stuff!
very good thanks great job
Absolutely delicious book and great review! I have this beautiful book and I never get tired of flipping through the pages, such gorgeous figures Mr. J.C Leyendecker made!
I look at J.C.'s work and I wonder if Jerome Opena is influenced by him.
thank you very much for sharing greetings from Argentina
Thank you thank you so much keep going with these incredible videos !
Leyendecker painted 322 Saturday Evening Post covers.
Rockwell painted 323 Saturday Evening Post covers.
Wow this is awesome....real classy! there is also some pin up artist... gil elvgreen.
As a longtime Leyendecker fan, I was tickled to run across your post. And if you want to see the Mucha influence, check out the mermaid at 1:15.
Do you know how i can see him full tecninque or someone that explain very good how he draw, the process, the method, the colors?
Nice video... again! @7:56 looks a lot like young Marlon Brando. I think Alex Ross likes this painting too... (cough Harley and Joker)
Leyendecker threw the kind of parties F. Scott Fitzgerald would write about!
I just brought this book a few months ago
Excellent coverage here, thanks!
Just look at how much sheer artistry went into an Ivory Soap ad, so very posh...makes me wonder if society has actually progressed or regressed.
I've read that Norman Rockwell lived in the same neighborhood, and you can see some of the the same models popping up in both of their works. Beyond that, I'm not that well versed in Leyendecker, although I do know that Rockwell put an extraordinary amount of time and effort and research into setting up his very particular reference shots. He famously had an extensive historical costume collection and would physically act out various poses to instruct his models; it was a highly theatrical production. And I imagine that by association and just looking at his masterful work that J.C. did the same.
And so for all those comic book artist purists who somehow have been artistically condemned with the strange strangling notion that using reference is a weakness or even cheating...this clearly demonstrates that they are out of their silly fucking impoverished minds. Andrew Loomis in his Opening Chats would strongly urge every aspiring illustrator to find and use the very best copy possible rather than attempt to invent characters and fashion from imagination. So obviously it isn't a matter of using reference, and as much as you possibly can, but of how you use it. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule that's governed the most masterful works of representational art since classical antiquity...Jim Lee definitely comes to mind - but Jim's heroically idealized stylization is highly accomplished despite the lack of it, not because of it. Of course that's my own opinion, however informed, but at the end of the day that's what a truly creative
artist really needs, that is, their own opinion and not to be cowered into compliance by a tyrannical mob mentality led by brute villainous unreasoning animals or simply blindly following the herd of swine, going along to get along.
If comics were produced with this classic level of artistic excellence with its accompanying criteria and values, maybe the comic book industry wouldn't seem to be a sinking ship in a growing economy....or so that's what I'm betting on - on feeding a famine that's been perpetuated with an unhealthy diet of junk art reflecting junk values. And I see you Rich as being one of the select few exceptions with your high esteem for the Golden Age of Illustration being at the core of substantially good taste making for a solid foundation of lasting work and of remarkable character.
there's a joke that goes something like this...comics is the "slums" or the art world...and then you have a snobbery within that. It's a pretty funny observation. :)
Comics are definately looked down on by "fine artists." But I challenge them to try to tell a convincing story through sequential art. I bet they can't. Comic creation is the culmination of not just artistic practices but also all those practices that go into film making as well. Comic artists have to set scenes, direct actions, direct the viewers' eye movement, and tell a story visually. In my opinion, effective comic pages are way more difficult to create than effective "one off" pieces.
Also, sorry for the essay, but I've watched dozens of art streams, and Jim Lee uses references constantly. In fact, I haven't seen an artist who doesn't EVER use reference. It's not "cheating." It's just smart.
His Bro. Was equally as talented.
thanks rich uwu
at 6:48 I refer to that as Charles Beach in the photo of the man admiring a painting. I didn't double check but watching this back...I remembered that is actually an actor from that era (Neil Hamilton) and he modeled for that particular painting...that said...he does look a lot like Beach...not a big deal but I hate to give misinformation on these videos. so that is correct. I double checked while typing this./
Neil Hamilton as in Commissioner Gordon from the 60s Batman tv show?
wow that would be trippy./ I honestly don't know!!! wow great catch. I am JUST walking out the door so I'll have to look into it when I get back/ see we are always learning here! hahaha The time frame matches up...because just guessing that photo was probably from about 20 years before the show was filmed so the age matches up.
damn dude...you are spot on!! AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (it is him!!) wow//// that is super cool!!
Before football helmets, players wore nose guards, that strapped on their heads. They weren't worried about their noggins, just their noses.
J. C. Leyendecker worked in oils, his drawings were made with either pencils or charcoals.
His style reminds me a bit of Dave Johnson's.
There’s this book and then the book by Michael Schau -J. C. Leyendecker.
Which do you prefer in terms of having more images or better quality images?
Lol it was Rockwell himself who said Leyendecker “could never paint a woman with any sympathy.”
Hey Rich, do you review portfolios?
not currently. I will down the road possibly. I have a lot going on here...and that's it's own universe or rabbit hole to go down honestly. :)
What a generous response, haha.
I would never ever ever ask for a portfolio review in a comment on a Leyendecker video, tough act to follow to say the least. :p
But such a bold move might suggest that you're among the best that's ever been...maybe you are?
Check out Gabe Leonard's work. It is without a doubt influenced by Leyendecker.
I believe many of his women were based on his sister Augusta.
Lyndecker is totally in my top 5 too, he is definitely one of the best to study from, too bad people focus mainly on his sexuality rather than his artistic style and achievements, literally every article or biography I read is “ lyndecker was one of the most influential gay artists” when it should be “ lyndecker was one of the of the most influential artists who just happened to be gay”
I posit his sexuality doesn't even need to be mentioned at all.
Absolutely. As a gay man, my sexuality (or lack thereof) is the least interesting thing about me. I would detest being labeled a gay artist.
I usually restrain myself from making multiple comments on one video... but geez... @10:19 looks like he stole DNA from Flash Gordon and Cable. Sorry... I can't unsee that. (Gustav Klimt is one of my favorite old school painters/ Illustrators)
Norman Rockwell did one MORE Saturday Evening Post cover than Leyendecker! NOT the magnanimous student you make him sound.