Artist Quotes: N.C. Wyeth
“I find the earliest years of my life are the source of my best inspiration.” —N.C. Wyeth
Wyeth painted this illustration to grace the end papers of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel Treasure Island. The book remains one of my favorites to this very day, and Stevenson remains one of my favorite fictional authors. How true, therefore, Wyeth’s quote resonates with me! I vividly remember reading this and other seafaring novels as a boy (Captain’s Courageous was another big one). The books absolutely transported me in my imagination to the burning sun of the Spanish Main and the rolling swells of the mighty Atlantic. I truly pity children nowadays as they stare slavishly into the abyss of their screens. Many will never experience the thrill, heartbreak, triumph, or any of the other hundred emotions that come viscerally through the simple black text and old, grayed paper of a secondhand book.
Follow this link to learn more about N.C. Wyeth, one of America’s all-time greatest illustrators.
Like you, I always enjoyed N.C. Wyeth’s paintings… If you still want that childhood thrill as you get older, try reading Howard Pyle’s “The Book of Pirates”… as you know N.C. was a student of Pyle. It is about 10 bucks at Dover Books… the stories are also public domain, downloadable and free, but you don’t get the pictures…
Hey thanks for that info Art: I’ll definitely have to try to find The Book of Pirates! Howard Pyle is definitely another of the all-time greatest illustrators. And even more so as the mentor to such a cadre of other exceptional artists and illustrators as N.C. Wyeth, Dean Cornwell, etc. And yes…absolutely have to get the book WITH pictures! Haha!
I completely agree! I’m grateful my parents encouraged me to venture outdoors, use my imagination, and share good times with neighborhood friends. Side note: I wonder why only one pirate has shoes? Perhaps he stole them from some poor, murdered soul. Hmmmm……
Haha, perhaps his motivation is far less sinister: maybe he’s one of those people that just hates the feel of beach sand between his toes. 😉 I do imagine that your explanation is the more probable one, however!