Andrew Loomis

Long after his death, Loomis's realistic style has continued to influence popular artists.

• Name — Andrew Loomis • Birth Name — William Andrew Loomis • Born — 15 June 1892 • Birthplace — Syracuse, New York, U.S. • Died — 25 May 1959 • Training — Art Students League of New York Art Institute of Chicago • Field — Painting, illustrator, author • Works — Figure Drawing for All It's Worth Fun With a Pencil

Loomis was born on June 15, 1892, in Syracuse, New York. Loomis grew up in Zanesville, Ohio, and spent much of his working life in Chicago, Illinois. He studied at the Art Students League of New York under George Bridgman and Frank DuMond when he was 19. Loomis then went back to Chicago to work at an art studio and study at the Art Institute of Chicago.

• Illustration — 1938 painting by Andrew Loomis, representing the Dionne quintuplets. • Illustration — 1930s painting by Andrew Loomis, representing Frances Herdlinger at the Mars Factory After military service in World War I, Loomis worked for a couple of advertising agencies before opening his own studio in downtown Chicago in 1922. From that time until the late 1930s Loomis produced advertising paintings for many large companies such as Coca-Cola, Studebaker, Palmolive, Quaker Oats, Munsingwear, and Kellogg's. He was the official portrait painter of the Dionne quintuplets, and he created Jack and Bingo for the cover of the Cracker Jack box. In 1932, Loomis created paintings for the advertisements that would introduce 3 Musketeers. One of those paintings was a portrait of a Mars chemist, Frances Herdlinger. Herdlinger was one of three women chemists working regularly with Forrest Mars Sr. on the development of the new candy bar. In the 1930s, he taught at the American Academy of Art. It was during this time that his teaching techniques were compiled for his first book, Fun With a Pencil (1939). Loomis would go on to release several more books in the coming decades, including one of his most popular, Figure Drawing for All It's Worth (1943). Many of the books exhibit his own personally crafted techniques – such as the "ball and plane" method of head drawing – guided by Loomis's humorous dialogue. Many of the titles gained strong appeal for their academic value and went through several printings during the 20th century. Loomis died in 1959, but his final book, The Eye of the Painter and the Elements of Beauty (1961), was printed posthumously.