Ross Cousins [car]
John Killmaster [background ]
1961 Ford Galaxy - Artists' Sample
LaDriere Studios
Gouache

John H. Killmaster specialized in children's books as well as automotive advertising. Cousins came from a line of artists. His father, Garnet, was also a top-flight car illustrator. His later work may be recognized by science fiction and toy fans: he illustrated the packaging for Star Wars figurines.

Several familiar Detroit landmarks are featured in the background of this painting: Cobo Hall; Fort Street Presbyterian Church; Michigan Consolidated Gas Building (now One Woodward).

Jimmy Crabb
mid-1950s Pontiac - Artist's Sample
Ferd Prucher Studios
oil on masonboard

Crabb's rendering of this mid-1950s Pontiac is unusual--rather than using the favored media of the time, gouache, Crabb used oil paint. Oil paint dries slowly and requires ventilation for fumes. Such requirements would hinder an advertising project that needed to be finished quickly.

Illustrators created sample work to display their artistic expertise, whether their specialty was illustrating the automobile itself, the background or the figures. Though artists’ samples were not intended for publication, the level of quality was rigorous and detailed.

An artist’s sample was a link between the illustration studio and the advertising agency. They functioned as an advertisement for the artist and his or her studio. These sample works were often photographed and reproduced in smaller format so a studio salesperson could easily present a high caliber portfolio to advertising agencies. The quality and style of an artist’s samples might have meant the difference between being hired by the ad agency, or not.