JOHNNY CRAIG EC HORROR LIBRARY ORIGINAL ART

A great example of original art by one of the original EC Comics artists. The description of the Lot #13029 explains Craig's technique and how he achieved his illustration effects.

Johnny Craig Horror Library with the EC Comics' Vault Keeper and Drusilla Original Preliminary Art (1990s). Long after the demise in 1954 of EC's horror titles, Craig and his fellow artists stayed in touch with the characters. Craig's specialty lay in the Vault Keeper (host of The Vault of Horror), who appears in this large-scale study with his black-widow companion, Drusilla. Extremely detailed for a conceptual piece, this graphite-on-vellum gem is as representative of that clean-but-creepy Craig style as any of his ink-finished compositions -- rich in texture, too. The principal tool is a broad-point carpenter's pencil (varying pressure), enhanced and smoothed with a blending stump. (Craig often used a Q-Tip cotton swab in lieu of a blending stump, sometimes moistening the cotton fibres.) Image area, 18" x 14". Natural off-white/yellowish toning, caused by heat-activated dry-mounting on matte-board. Excellent condition.