Book Illustration Magic: Fairytales Artist Scott Gustafson

In the Bookmarin gallery of book illustrators today, let’s see another great master with a world-known name and a huge portfolio. Meet Scott Gustafson, a famous American illustrator from Chicago, winner of the Spectrum Award for Grand Master in 2015, who has been delighting young and adult readers with vivid visual stories for many years. It is difficult to find a classic fairy tale or a traditional nursery rhyme that he would not illustrate: the tales of Mother Goose, Snow White and Cinderella, Puss in Boots and Alice in Wonderland, Arthur and Merlin, the Ugly Duckling and the Three Little Pigs, Dorothy and Toto, Santa Claus of absolutely incredible kindness and cuteness, even Don Quixote and Sancho Panza received new faces and visual personalities in the illustrations by this artist.

His style has been influenced by famous artists of the so-called Golden Age of American painting: Arthur Rackham, Norman Rockwell, Maxwell Parrish, and others. Scott Gustafson’s illustrations are always full of vibrant colors, energy, and lively emotions, each detail is to be looked at for a long time and with pleasure, and the style cannot be confused with someone else’s. However, with all the magic, there is a lot of realism here: children, animals, and objects are often photographically accurate, retain realistic proportions and depth, and do not conflict with the fictional “fairytale” part. It seems that in his drawings, you can hear the rustling of leaves and the breath of the wind, the sound of old papers and the singing of birds; you can feel the softness of cat fur and see the reflections of the sun on the smallest hairs.

I invite you to remember your favorite childhood fairy tales and enjoy the beauty of the illustrations by this fabulous artist.