Keep up the great work. Your site is very much appreciated.

Thanks. I agree. These artists become so familiar we can’t really see them unless we find a way to change context and look at them freshly.

Parrish laid down a primer of Permalba White (F.W. Weber), did a monochromatic underpainting in monastral or ultramarine blue and painted his colors over that in layers of transparent oil color.

He would apply a layer of varnish between layers of color, each layer of paint and varnish having to dry completely before the application of the next, a painstaking process that could take weeks. Like the old masters who invented this technique, he would of necessity work on several paintings at once, leaving the inactive ones to dry in the sun, or under heat lamps in the winter. He also worked with a stipple brush, applying tiny dots of pure color in graded tones like pen and ink stipple. This was insanely time-intensive and methodical. Needless to say, he was not working under tight deadlines.

Much of my knowledge of his techniques is from a very good description in America’s Great Illustrators by Susan E. Meyer.

Thanks for the comments. I think his super-intense colors were intended to simply be bright in reproduction, which was more limited at the time. A bit of overcompensation. The unique choice of hue was decidedly intentional, and I think laid the groundwork for much of the color intensity found in modern day science fiction and fantasy illustration and movie production design.

Dream Garden is just inside the lobby as you enter. The city almost lost it. There were plans to sell it to a private collector somewhere, but the city declared it a landmark to keep it here.

Thanks for the comment. I became a fan in high school as well, and continue to be impressed.