1940 Modern Illustrating & Cartooning Div. 12 ~ J. Leyendecker, Neysa McMein

Description: This is Workbook 12 (Division 12) of Modern Illustrating Including Cartooning, a correspondence course from the Federal School of Illustrating and Cartooning based in Minneapolis. Now doing business as the Art Instruction Schools, it's also known as the "DRAW ME" School because of their famous advertising campaigns that were found on matchbooks and in magazines.

Copyright 1940, compiled and edited by Charles L. Bartholomew and Joseph Almars. Softcover with 64 pages measuring 8½" x 11". Includes the separate 21¾" x 17" folded Chart Folio for Division 12 (Neysa McMein and Gibson Girl Heads—Leyendecker and Chas. M. Russell Figure and Animal Compositions—Gag Cartoons by Woggon).

Division 12 includes: Sketches for Cover Design; Pretty Girl Types; Pastel Covers; Gag Cartoons; Newspaper Illustrations for Magazine Section; Theater Sketches & Poster Work; and more.

With artwork and/or contributions by Joseph Leyendecker; Charles Dana Gibson; Neysa McMein; Charles M. Russell; A.B. Frost; and others.

Condition: The workbook is clean and in very good condition. The cover has a diagonal crease at bottom right corner. The accompanying chart is in good to very good condition with light wear.

A thoroughly interesting and informative article about the school can be found at the Design Observer website.

An excerpt from that article:

A standard correspondence course included a dozen or so text-lessons and workbooks that taught practical lessons in drawing, composition, lettering, typography and more. The Federal School and Art Instruction Inc. both offered a unique twelve lesson course ó what they called "divisions" ó presented in a series of surprisingly clear, entertaining and profusely illustrated booklets, illustrated with some of the most fashionable and award-winning work of the day. Each division included step-by-step introductions to a variety of skills, crafts and analyses, such as Federal's "blocking in" with pencil and crayon in Division One, lettering ó historical and modern ó in Division Four, retouching photographs in Division Seven, artistic covers and title pages for booklets, catalogs and circulars in Division Eleven and reproduction methods in Division Twelve. Schematic diagrams enabled the student to work start work immediately. And a foreword to each division booklet proposed methods for studying, such as how to acquire a firm understanding of the principles, how to do the practice exercises and ultimately how to prepare the work to be submitted for criticism.