john clymer (1907-1989)
John Clymer was born in Ellensburg, Washington and developed an interest in art in his early years. Although he was talented in art, it became apparent that he was not a scholar. Long hours in the classroom bored him, and other than building a complete human skeleton of plasticene clay over a wire framework for a biology class his school record was an undistinguished one. With youthful determination, John Clymer set about achieving his ambition.
His initial training was through a correspondence course. While still in high school, he produced a promotional illustration for the Ellensburg Rodeo and an unsolicited advertisement for Colt Firearms Company that appeared in several major magazines. After graduation, Clymer worked and studied in Vancouver, British Columbia. As a young illustrator, he painted signs and billboards during the day, attended art school in the evening and worked on his own freelance art and illustrations until the early hours of the morning.
In 1927, he signed on as a deck hand on a steamer on the Yukon River. Alaska's scenery, the characters who inhabited the river posts and mining camps and the local Indians left Clymer with a wealth of memories and experiences. In later years he was to comment that trip guided and shaped the rest of his life. In the decade following the trip to Alaska, Clymer moved to the front rank of North America's illustrators.
He held memberships in the Ontario Society of Artists and an Associate Membership in the Royal Canadian Academy. His illustrations have appeared on the cover or interior of almost every major magazine from 1930 to 1960. In 1964 John Clymer left behind a long and distinguished career in commercial illustration to devote all his time to rendering the subjects he loved most: the people, animals and history of the Pacific Northwest. What followed was an extraordinary series of paintings depicting the history of that region in meticulous detail, a superb visual record which won him every major award in the field of western Art.
His initial training was through a correspondence course. While still in high school, he produced a promotional illustration for the Ellensburg Rodeo and an unsolicited advertisement for Colt Firearms Company that appeared in several major magazines. After graduation, Clymer worked and studied in Vancouver, British Columbia. As a young illustrator, he painted signs and billboards during the day, attended art school in the evening and worked on his own freelance art and illustrations until the early hours of the morning.
In 1927, he signed on as a deck hand on a steamer on the Yukon River. Alaska's scenery, the characters who inhabited the river posts and mining camps and the local Indians left Clymer with a wealth of memories and experiences. In later years he was to comment that trip guided and shaped the rest of his life. In the decade following the trip to Alaska, Clymer moved to the front rank of North America's illustrators.
He held memberships in the Ontario Society of Artists and an Associate Membership in the Royal Canadian Academy. His illustrations have appeared on the cover or interior of almost every major magazine from 1930 to 1960. In 1964 John Clymer left behind a long and distinguished career in commercial illustration to devote all his time to rendering the subjects he loved most: the people, animals and history of the Pacific Northwest. What followed was an extraordinary series of paintings depicting the history of that region in meticulous detail, a superb visual record which won him every major award in the field of western Art.
