FeatureClassic 1950s Science Textbooks Get a 21st-Century Update
Diagram of clouds from Exploring the Weather by Roy A. Gallant, Illustrated by Lowell Hess. Doubleday & Company, Inc. Click for full-size image.
Diagram of weather fronts from Exploring the Weather by Roy A. Gallant, Illustrated by Lowell Hess. Doubleday & Company, Inc. Click for full-size image.
How to read a weather map from Exploring the Weather by Roy A. Gallant, Illustrated by Lowell Hess. Doubleday & Company, Inc. Click for full-size image.
The work of Lowell Hess hasn't graced the pages of a magazine in quite a while, but there was a time when his illustrations could be found on magazine covers all over newsstands.
In his heyday, he was a contributing artist to publications such as Woman's Home Companion, Reader's Digest, Colliers, and Boys' Life, to name just a few. And it was at Boys' Life in the mid-1950s that he was introduced to fellow contributor Roy A. Gallant. Gallant's science writing and Hess's technical illustrations made a perfect match and together developed into a series of children's books on science and exploration.
"The books were completely Roy's idea," Hess explains. "I was only responsible for the illustrations and the design." Although this is true, Hess is far too modest. Each of the four exploring-themed books illustrated by Hess contains dozens of drawings all painstakingly done by hand in a time when computers were the size of a car.
Hess was a natural. He knew early on that he wanted to be an artist, but like so many young men of his time, his plans changed when he was drafted into the Army. It was toward the end of WWII, and for the next four years he held the rank of lieutenant in artillery. The Army recognized Hess's gift for explanation and instruction, so he spent most of his service instructing new recruits in basic training. This was, as Lowell explains, a bad time.
After returning from the war, Hess hit the ground running and soon found himself in New York City. He did a quick stint at Pratt before taking a staff art position at an advertising firm, where he drew illustrations for ladies products. His skills improved and his aspirations grew, and he moved from advertising to editorial, which is where he has spent the majority of his 30-plus year career as an illustrator.
The iconic appeal of Hess's editorial illustration is in direct contrast to the technical nature of his books. He was never formally trained in technical illustration, but visual explanation clearly comes naturally to Hess.
Each book would take at least three months to illustrate. Hess explains that he would first receive a manuscript written by Gallant that was void of any visual direction and that he was responsible for all the research needed to compose the various charts, diagrams, and infographics. He would then spend the first month researching the content before he ever put pencil to paper.
The installments in the Exploring series were meant to be inexpensive and accessible to the masses. This meant low production budgets, which forced Hess to employ low-quality methods to produce the art. Although Hess regrets this fact, it was in many ways his mastering of these techniques that gave his books such a unique and lasting quality.
