The Disappearance of Mary Drake, McCalls magazine story illustration 1952

Tom Lovell created this illustration for a McCalls magazine story, "The Disappearance of Mary Drake," but we don't know exactly when. The woman is looking up at him; her hands rest on his chest and her hair is in pigtails. It's very much about touch; the layering of colour, of textures, and the tension between the figures in the foreground and the grey, disappearing figure at the back. You can imagine the back and forth Lovell must have had with this illustration as he was creating it. I wonder what it was like for Lovell to make this work. How many times did he have to rework the brushstrokes to get the faces just right? How did he decide on this slightly heightened colour palette? What was it like for him, as a man, to paint these women? Ultimately, painting is about feeling and intuition, and each artist approaches it in their own way. It's like we're all in a big, ongoing conversation, inspiring each other across time.