Check out the beautiful vintage whimsy of



EVALINE NESS

illustrator 

1911–1986 

Evaline Ness's works are masterfully drawn combining wonderful printmaking textures and overlaying shapes. Her compositions are always unexpected and unique.

- E.L.










ABOUT 

Evaline Ness (1911–1986) used woodcuts, mixed media, and experimental materials and methods to push the boundaries of the printed page, interweaving text and pictures to capture the reader’s attention and imagination. From the time she was young she was interested in recording stories, and she searched through magazines to find pictures to go with them. But it wasn’t until after she’d established a career as a commercial artist and instructor at Parsons School of Design that she turned to children’s book illustration. In creating them, she reported, “I realized the same kind of peace and enjoyment that comes when I paint for myself. . . . I was hooked.”

Three titles she illustrated, published three years in a row, were named Caldecott Honor Books: All in the Morning Early by Sorche Nic Leodhas, A Pocketful of Cricket by Rebecca Caudill (both Holt), and Tom Tit Tot, a folk tale that she retold (Scribner’s). In 1967, she won the Caldecott Medal for Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine(Holt), which she wrote as well as illustrated, and in 1972, she was the US nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award. Another major artistic contribution was her creation of visually arresting book jackets. The first was for The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). It was followed by the colorful covers and the interior maps for The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander (Holt). The last book she illustrated was The Hand-Me-Down Doll by Steven Kroll (Holiday House), published in 1983.


https://www.societyillustrators.org/evaline-ness



















































FUN FACT : 

SHE WAS MARRIED TO ELIOT NESS! 


Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to bring down Al Capone and enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois, and the leader of a famous team of law enforcement agents from Chicago, nicknamed The Untouchables.