An Oil On Canvas Still Life
(One of the first paintings I attempted before reaching my teens)...
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A Watercolor Still Life
(Another early attempt, this time with watercolor)
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Homage to Jon Gnagy...
Jon Gnagy, known to millions as America's first television art teacher, was born near Pretty Prairie, Kansas in 1907. At eleven, Jon began drawing and painting without instruction, winning prizes at the Kansas State Fair. Attention each year at the Fair brought him an offer from Tulsa, Oklahoma where at seventeen, he accepted a position of art director with a public relations firm. Then Jon moved his young family to Wichita. There he wrote and illustrated advertising for aircraft companies.
Determined to hit the "big time" or "bust" he left during the Depression for New York at age 24. The second day he landed a finished art contract for full page ads to run in the Saturday Evening Post and Fortune Magazine. During WW II, in Philadelphia, Jon served as Art Director for the War Service Committee. His experience in training led to lecture demonstrations at many colleges.
When television began broadcasting to the public, Jon was the first act on the first commercial television show ever, broadcast May 14, 1946. It was seen by about 200 viewers living within 80 miles of NBC's tower atop the Empire State Building. Later, Jon's show would reach millions. If you watched television during the 1940s, '50s or '60s, you likely recall Jon Gnagy, the engaging art teacher who assured folks that anyone could draw. "Ball....cube.....cylinder....cone." Jon would say "By using these four shapes, I can draw any picture I want. And so can you!"
Jon's trim Vandyke beard, smile and plaid shirt were his trademarks. Through syndication into the 60's, it was viewed by millions of folks across the U.S. and internationally. In the early 1960's Visual Art Industries, the company making Jon's art sets was merged with F. Weber Co. Jon continued to create new TV and video products, to teach, lecture and demonstrate at trade and consumer shows.
Jon died 1981, but today, his legacy lives on through countless artists and just plain folks who credit him with teaching them to 'Learn to Draw.' His sets are still featured in art, craft and hobby retailers, mail order catalogs and on the Internet, today.
One of only a few of my early attempts at using Tempera Paint, again at a young age. I used paints that my father brought home from the private school where he worked as a maintenance person. When the boys went home for summer, they often left things they were done with. This is how I was introduced to oil, acrylic, watercolor, and tempera paints.
