What do I like about what I keep callling “classic” prints? Black and white which focuses on the shapes, and lots of detail and texture. I recently came across an Edward Gorey pen-and-ink drawing and was reminded that his style is very similar to those “classic” prints. His style when illustrating his own books or creating for himself is quite distinctive. He also did book covers and illustrations for others and it’s remarkable how differently he could draw under those circumstances.
His own books tended towards the bizarre and macabre (e.g. The Gashlycrumb Tinies, a rhyming alphabet poem with each letter presenting a child who died in an unusual fashion). One of his most recognizable products was the opening sequence for the PBS Mystery series starting in 1980. (Gorey drew pictures and a sequence, but it ran for too long, so PBS turned it over to an animator to take Gorey’s drawings and animate them. There have been many versions over the years.)
I’ve chosen a couple of drawings that I like, as well as a few from the Mystery opening sequence.
Miscellaneous Edward Gorey pen-and-ink drawings
