Wednesday, April 25, 2012

1969 Plymouth catalog art

Sometime ago I posted black and white versions of artwork that I had done for the 1969 Plymouth catalog as I had no color copies. I found the color versions and have decided to post them today. These illustrations were probably the last automotive catalog art that I produced as the industry was going more and more photographic, gradually eliminating this area from the Detroit commercial art market. It was a fun project and I combined some photos with the art. Plymouth1969 catalog cov The model in the foreground was one of my art students, Cathy Baylough, I was teaching commercial art classes and was head of the Advertising Department at the Art School of the Society of arts and Crafts, now the Center for Creative Studies. Teaching full time and handling tough advertising deadlines was a tricky situation at times. Plymouth196902F That's Jeanne, my wife, who was a busy model in town, she passed away several years ago. Plymouth196903F Plymouth196904F Plymouth196906F Plymouth196907F Plymouth196908F Plymouth196909F Automotive catalog work was always done under a great deal of pressure as the art had to go through several stages of approval, but it was a great opportunity to display one's work. Competition for these assignments was fierce as Detroit was full of competent artists ready to tackle these jobs as the monetary rewards were very good.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are handsome. Thanks for posting them. --Bob Cosgrove

Trey said...

I think this is some of my most favorite work Harry.You really created a feeling of sophistication with these pages, well done!
I'm guessing the media was probably gouache, was most of the imagery photo referenced? I think you did a great job of integrating it.

Harry Borgman said...

Thanks Bob and Trey,
This was a fun assignment with the usual brutal deadline. The art was done using gouache and I did shoot photos for most of the reference material. It's the last automotive catalog that I illustrated as photography was taking over. I began doing more storyboard work after this period.