American Illustration

17/12/2020

Bob Peak
Known as one of the great Illustrators in America during the 1970’s Bob Peak was an influential Illustrator who brought a new meaning in the way of advertising posters, magazine covers but most importantly his creative outlook on designing Film posters.
Bob Peak was born in Denver Colorado in 1927, he had strong artistic talents from a young age even though he did not fully utilize his skills until he studied at the Art Center College of Design in L.A. where he graduated in 1951. By 1953 Peak moved to New York with his wife as an Illustrator. During this time, he did not feel like his work stood out and it was quite mundane, from this he reinvented his illustrative style and enhanced his skills by incorporating striking contrasts, bright saturation, and vibrant drawings. This led him to land his first big break advertising for Old Hickory Whiskey, and from here his career rapidly grew.
Bob Peak designed posters and magazine spreads for companies such as Sports Illustrators and posters for Cocoa-cola, but his design of West Side Story poster set him on another path. After the success of West Side Story Peak went on to design posters for some of the biggest film names in Hollywood during the 1970’s from Camelot to James Bond. Peak’s work throughout the years transformed movie posters into vibrant and innovating illustrations, from his work artists were heavily influenced by the realistic and bold designs that he was creating, this is apparent in the works of John Alvin and Richard Amsel.

https://illustrationage.com/2018/08/07/turn-back-the-pages-bernie-fuchs/
https://www.richardamselmovie.com/single-post/2017/05/28/the-life-and-legacy-of-bob-peak
https://bobpeak.com/about/
https://forcesofgeek.com/2013/06/bob-peak-american-illustrator-superstar.html
http://linesandcolors.com/2009/06/12/bob-peak/

Bob Peak Work

Bob Peak

Richard Amsel

John Alvin

Bernie Fuchs

Bernie Fuchs
Another highly successful illustrator for the time was Bernie Fuchs, he specialized in magazine spreads and worldwide campaign advertisements. His work stood out from the rest, working for magazines such as Good House Keeping, Sports Illustrated and Cosmopolitan to name a few. He changed the direction of Illustration and adapted a new style by painting with a light oil wash rather than the usual acrylic, this gave his work a much looser style.
From his artwork collection he has a specific eye for using unusual viewpoints, from this he could create a different narrative and show the reader a new perspective. When mocking up illustrations he would colour sketch the idea from different viewpoints until he reached the right ‘look’ this way of viewing the subject from a different eye level or with obstacles in the way was incredibly innovative in the world of Illustration in the 1970’s.