Ward Jenkins

Often I think that I'd make a decent art director, but it's the experience that I'd need to obtain - and I'm not entirely sure how to go about getting that.

Oh whenever I see someone hiring for an art director I get a little excited but then I read the qualifications/requirements and my high hopes are suddenly dashed. I've never worked "in" the publishing industry, just as an illustrator; nor learned InDesign, etc. *sigh* oh well

Photo of four books on a coffee table: Currently reading and/or read: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, Lucas Wars, The Mythmakers by John Hendrix, and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Leguin.

Currently reading and/or read: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers (IYKYK), Lucas Wars (holy cow what a great GN), The Mythmakers by John Hendrix (amazing GN given to me for Christmas by Andrea ❤️), and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Leguin (again, IYKYK - so good).

Oh his work is iconic - such a great influence

Thank you, Eliza! I really enjoy doing this. I've got an IG account devoted to the Morgue File, plus, I've been posting a lot of my midcentury illustration collection for years (blog, Flickr, etc.) Never have lost the desire to share!

Illustration of a man singing with a guitar, while a young boy listens. They're outside with rolling hills and the countryside around them.

Illustration of Robin, man with a guitar, tipping his hat as he walks away.

From When I Met Robin, illustrated by Aurelius Battaglia (1968).

#wardsmorguefile

Illustrated cover of the book When I Met Robin with a man in a cowboy hat, singing and strumming a guitar, while a young boy listens on.

When I Met Robin - illustrated by Aurelius Battaglia. A song book dated 1968.

#wardsmorguefile

Photo of the book Character Animation Crash Course! by Eric Goldberg.

Essential animation books from my bookshelf part 6:

A somewhat newer entry is Character Animation Crash Course! by Eric Goldberg. Some of Eric's notes and sketches for this book were passed around amongst us animators long before the book was ever published. It's a great book.

Photo of the book Don Bluth's The Art of Animation Drawing.

Essential animation books from my bookshelf part 5:

Don Bluth's The Art of Animation Drawing. Ngl, never thought that this book would be worth as much as it's going for in some bookseller circles (it's a modest softcover tbh), but Bluth's drawings are always worth it, I'm guessing.

I do have that copy, but it’s currently packed away in some box in my garage, sadly. However, I have some good news: Taylor is also here on BS! @sidfudd.bsky.social

Photo of the book The Animator's Survival Kit, by Richard Williams.

Essential animation books from my bookshelf part 4:

The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams. Pure nuts n' bolts, breaking down movements and really getting into the nitty gritty stuff. I attended Dick's Animation Masterclass in NYC (at Tribeca Film Center!) when he was doing a tour.

Photo of the book Batman: Animated by Paul Dini and Chip Kidd.

Essential animation books from my bookshelf part 3:

Batman: Animated by Paul Dini and Chip Kidd. This hard-to-find book was finally released digitally for the masses. It's full of incredible work. Bruce Timm FTW

Photo of the book Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair.

Essential animation books from my bookshelf part 2:

Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair. This book is a combo of the two books from the Walter T. Foster series that Preston did and is in a more concise size for studying.

Photo of the big animation book, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

Essential animation books from my bookshelf part 1:

Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. I also have the softcover version that happens to be signed by them.

Black & white illustration of a 50s teenager looking at himself older in the mirror.

Black & white illustration of a teen boy giving a present to a teen girl.

Black & white illustration of a mother reading a book on child care at the dinner table with a young child sitting next to her.

Black & white illustration of two women talking on a sofa while a young boy sits in a chair nearby.

More interior illustrations for When Children Start Dating, 1951. Artist is Janet La Salle.

#wardsmorguefile

Black and white illustration of a teenage couple, skating.

Teenage boy from the 50s tinkering with a radio.

Black and white illustration of a teenage girl from the 50s talking with her mother.

Black and white illustration of a teenage girl from the 50s talking with her father on an old fashioned couch.

More interior illustrations for When Children Start Dating, 1951. Artist is Janet La Salle.

Some of the descriptions below the illustrations are priceless.

#wardsmorguefile

Haha i love this!

She's one of the best

Black and white illustration of four teenager girls from the 50s, hangin' and chillin' on a couch.

Black and white illustration of a teenage boy from the 50s being reprimanded by his mother.

Black and white illustration of a teenage boy ringing the doorbell while a teenage girl awaits on the other side of the door.

Black and white illustration of 1950s teenagers hanging out.

Janet La Salle is one of my favorite midcentury illustrators. Here, her earlier work is more angular with a certain stiffness to it, but still works for me. Love these poses and expressions.

#wardsmorguefile

Black and white illustration of a young teenage couple from the early-1950s.

Cover illustration to When Children Start Dating, by Edith G. Neisser. Illustrated by Janet La Salle. 1951. # 17 booklet in a series called "Better Living." This is from my own collection.

#wardsmorguefile

In my local library, unfortunately (I love my library and go there all the time to work)

So, my feeling is that the top byline, "adapted for the modern reader, etc..." is put on all the books, and so for this book, it wouldn't make sense. There's no translation done - it's all exact wording from the original text. I checked to see if there were any other typos, but didn't see any.

I wish it was fake, but it's not - found it in my local library.

I drew storyboards for André 3000 one time

Truly 😩😭

YES - and i'm reluctant to say it's at my local library, which kinda hits me hard ngl

I mean, “translated”?

Close up of the cover with a U.S. seal but looks suspiciously like ai.

This looks sus ai

Photo of a book of the constitution of the United States but they misspelled “united” as “unided” on the cover.

Guys I can’t even

Great! It's a nice balance to the fiction series, giving a spotlight to the real spies - and this'll be a series, too!