Maxfield Parrish was born July 25, 1870 and died in his 91st year on March 30, 1966. He was a very popular American painter and illustrator and his works are included in many books and publications over this period.

He was educated at Haverford College and the Pennsylvania Academy Of Fine Arts. His career covered three distinct phases of discovery and production.

He completed all of his work at his New Hampshire home and studio, known locally as The Oaks.

Maxfield Parrish was first given a commission to illustrate Mother Goose In Prose in 1897. Other books that he worked on included Arabian Nights, Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Treasury Of Songs And Lyrics and The Knave Of Hearts, all of which are popular in the collectors marketplace.

Branching out from book publishing, he expanded his products to include magazines, calendars and advertising materials. I particularly like some of the illustrations which were submitted to Life and Colliers Magazines. Maxfield Parrish also produced many great calendar prints, which are still in demand today.

During this period, he also created many nude paintings, while living of of the proceeds of his earlier calendar and poster work.

In 1931, he switched to landscapes, and reportedly told the press that he was done with girls on rocks!

His landscapes paintings were never as popular as his calendars, nudes and advertising posters however he was able to profit from them. He spent a lot of time actually creating models of the layout before actually painting began.

Maxfield Parrish and his works are becoming more and more popular as time goes on, and many are sought after by major art collectors and galleries.

View Framed and Natural Maxfield Parrish Prints at http://MaxfieldParrishPrints.org.

Childrens book illustrator?

I’m 15 yrs old and love to draw. People say I have a gift and should try to become a children’s book illustrator. What’s the first step in this process?
How can I find an author to pair up with, get my art publisized, and all that from just working at home?
Please give me the first step! Thanx!

go buy the illustrator market book of 2008. You might want to go through book publishers and they can connect you to authors. go to websites that are for writers of children’s book like writersnet.com and join it and put what you are looking for. Just search the ads for children’s writers resource links. Its all about exposing your name to the business. It takes marketing and exposure. Also an art agent would not be a bad idea for they only work if you work. I hope this helps and good luck! I have drawn two children books that I wrote as well, and it is a fun and great thing to do. Cathy K

Maurice Sendak on what being an illustrator means