Monday 10 December 2018

The Boozy Art of Diving

The last Art of Diving featured Russian divers in the old brass helmets and, at the risk of stereotyping, I'm sure they'd approve of the theme of this post!

Here's a selection of diving-themed ads for various alcoholic products. As ever, the Art of Diving recommends that you do not drink and dive!

1910. Artist unknown but the poster was produced by the famous printer and lithographer F. Champenois.



1938. Artist unknown.



1950. Artist unknown.



1954. Painted by Robert Smullyan Sloan.



Just to show it wasn't just "Deep Sea Divers" who liked a tipple! 1956. Painted by Richard Deane Taylor.



1957. Artist unknown.



1968. Artist unknown.



Saturday 8 December 2018

The Comrades' Art of Diving - Underwater Masters

This post features another Russian book that I saw on eBay - Underwater Masters by K. Zolotovsky. This is what the seller had to say about the 1958 publication: "This book is about the work of Soviet divers during the war and in the days of peaceful construction. The author - a diver in the past - tells about various cases from the life of "underwater masters", sometimes funny, and sometimes tragic."  












Friday 7 December 2018

The Persuasive Art of Diving

Today's blog features a comic-strip based on the TV series The Persuaders! It appeared in the pages of  Polystyle Publications' TV Action (formerly Countdown) in 1973. The Persuaders!, perhaps best remembered for John Barry's atmospheric theme tune, was one of the long line of  ITC adventure series and began its 24-week run in September 1971. It starred Roger Moore as Lord Brett Sinclair and Tony Curtis as oil millionaire Danny Wilde, two playboys who, reluctantly at first, become partners in a series of adventures. Moore's casting as James Bond prevented a second series being made.

Deadly Treasure only features diving in the first two instalments before taking a slightly barmy turn. However, I felt it would be unfair not to let you read the whole story and our heroes do remain in their wetsuits and fins for the duration of the tale!

The artwork is by Spanish artist José Ortiz (1932-2013) who worked for publishers in Spain, Italy, the UK (Fleetway/IPC) and the US (Warren). You can read more about him and see more samples of his work over at the Lambiek Comiclopedia.

And now, on with our tale! (Click for larger images).















Sunday 2 December 2018

The Wide World of Diving - W.C. Nicolson

Just a quickie today - two very nice covers from The Wide World magazine by W.C. Nicolson. I haven't been able to find out anything about the artist apart from the fact that he also produced a number of Scottish-themed posters for British Railways.