Frank C. McCarthy is one of America's most prolific and proficient illustrators. For a quarter of a century he plied those skills in the New York commercial art industry, rising to the upper echelons of its ranks.

Frank was born March 30, 1924, in New York City. He remembers painting since he was five or six years old. It was only at about that time that the McCarthy family moved to the suburb of Scarsdale where he attended art classes through high school.

Frank describes some experiences in that school system which made very lasting impressions on him relating to art: "The progressive education offered at the grammar school level allowed me to develop my talent in painting. In the third grade, I had literally drawn my class into a corner of the room. My pictures had started as drawings on paper but soon the challenge of the large floor area took over and dinosaur drawings spread out farther and farther into the classroom forcing the teacher and fellow pupils to move more and more towards the corner of the room." It was a rather auspicious beginning for an eight-year-old aspiring artist. His teachers and family continued to encourage him and supported his summer studies at the Art Students League during high school years. His classes exposed him to the teachings of some very remarkable art talents.

Frank tells of the experience: "At the age of fourteen, I was studying under George Bridgeman, a dynamic and renowned anatomy teacher who had written several books on the subject. Later I studied under Reginald Marsh, a very well-known and still highly prized painter of the Depression Era."

After high school Frank completed an illustration degree at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. All that training did not guarantee immediate, or even quick, success. Difficult, slowly moving months followed. "Working as an apprentice in a large studio in New York City was a start. I mounted and delivered photographs and drawings and, after a period, was elevated to doing mechanicals — laying out type and photos, pasting them down in a prescribed position on the page from which they were reproduced. But my interest soon lagged at this job and only after a staff artist resigned and I was catapulted into the position of artist did I begin to find the satisfaction I was looking for. During this period, a matter of a few years, a lasting friendship was started with a fellow artist, Charles Dorsa. Indeed, it was Charlie who in 1969 was instrumental in placing my work in a prominent New York gallery."

Frank did western book cover illustrations as early as 1950, and as he said, he was painting for a gallery beginning in 1969. He continued his commercial art work for two more years, doing paintings for gallery sales in between jobs. The successful sales being generated through the galleries encouraged him to leave commercial art behind in 1971.

Although home for Frank had been New York or Connecticut for fifty years, 1974 brought a move to Arizona. Frank and his wife, Mary, had, during the many trips out West for research and background material, found a beautiful canyon in northern Arizona, which on first sight, they hoped would eventually be their home. In 1974 their dream was fulfilled. Beneath the dramatic canyon walls he works, and for three seasons of the year he can be seen after lunch, walking miles up his favorite canyon.

The same year as the move Ballantine Books published The Western Paintings of Frank McCarthy. For years readers of western books have seen his illustrations but probably had no idea who created them. The publication of the new book allowed them to.

(This text originally appeared in "Ten years with the Cowboy Artists of America: a complete history and exhibition record", Northland Press, 1976).

More articles:

August 1950 - "Introducing A New Junior Literary Guild Artist"
May 27, 1955 - "Collier's Credits" (by Jerome Beatty, Jr.)
circa 1972 - "With A Paint Brush Instead Of A Gun"
1974 - "Frank C. McCarthy" (by Frank C. McCarthy)
October 1976 - "Frank C. McCarthy" (by James K. Howard)
May 1981 - "A Visit With Frank McCarthy" (by Kay Mayer)
July 1981 - "Frank C. McCarthy" (by Piet Schreuders)
June 10, 1982 - "Cowboy Art" (by Stewart McBride)
July 1983 - "The Verde Valley - A Personal Profile" (by Frank Brothers)
July 1989 - "The 007' Files: Selling Bond" (by Stephen Rebello)
November 1989 - "Illustrators - Part 1: Movie Posters" (by Franz L. Brown)
October 17, 1990 - "McCarthy Paints For Visual Impact" (by Gail Arnold)
2001 - "The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000" (by Walt Reed)