From Sketch Man to Certified Star

Until this afternoon, I thought Canadian commercial artist Leif Peng’s excellent blog, Today’s Inspiration, had been mothballed after this posting in 2016, replaced by a private-group Facebook page of that same name. However, Peng is suddenly back, putting up a four-part interview today with Portland, Oregon-born illustrator-painter Shannon Stirnweis. Now that I think about it, this might actually be a rerun of their exchange from some while back, as Stirnweis died in January 2019, just shy of his 88th birthday.

No matter, the pieces are still worth your attention, for they display a wide breadth of Stirnweis’ work, from book fronts and magazine spreads to greeting cards and advertisements. Plus, Stirnweis provides insights into what it was like creating and selling paperback cover art and magazine illustrations during the mid-20th century, a transitional period for both fields. Use the following links to find Peng’s series: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.