©2001 The Krigstein Archives Home Early Comics Painting
Illustration (1952-1965)
Ziff Davis Pulps (1953-54)

In between comic-book work for Atlas, DC, and EC, Krigstein did twelve freelance pen and ink pulp illustrations for Ziff Davis.

  1. Roller Coaster #1
  2. Roller Coaster #2
  3. Roller Coaster #3
  4. Wolf Pack
  5. Patrolman #1
  6. Patrolman #2
  7. Patrolman #3
  8. Small Town
  9. Music Masters #1
  10. Music Masters #2
  11. Music Masters #3
  12. Play Back
Rusty's Space Ship (1957)

Evelyn Sibley Lampman's charming science-fiction tale for Doubleday was his first illustration assignment after leaving comics in January 1957.

  1. Rusty, Cookie, and Susan
  2. Enter Tiphia
  3. Blast-Off
  4. Tiphia
  5. Landing
  6. Floating
  7. Weightless
  8. Martian Fish
  9. Purple Tendrils
  10. Venusian Flying Creatures
  11. Saving Cookie
  12. The Last of Tiphia
  13. Hypnotized
  14. Making Repairs
  15. Flying Ants
  16. Saturn Magic
  17. Return Home
  18. Time for Sandwiches
World Over Magazine (1957-60)

Krigstein's first work for World Over from 1957 is loud and vibrant, while the 1960 graphics evoke a mature richness reminiscent of Gustave Doré.

  1. Messer Benjamin #1
  2. Messer Benjamin #2
  3. Messer Benjamin #3
  4. Messer Benjamin #4
  5. Al Hadi #1
  6. Al Hadi #2
  7. Al Hadi #3
Book Covers (1957-61)

Most of Krigstein's jacket covers were done as simple two or three-color separations, though he would do a full painting if a more upscale printing department was involved.

  1. Rusty's Space Ship
  2. August Bondi
  3. Jedediah Smith
  4. Jubal and the Prophet
  5. Here Buster
  6. I.L. Peretz
  7. The Flagship Hope
  8. Fables
  9. Madame Bovary
  10. The Arena
  11. The Bitter Passion
  12. Love Affair
  13. Manchurian Candidate
  14. Buffalo Soldiers
  15. St. Helena
  16. Pegasus

Jedediah Smith (1958)

Krigstein's sixth book, Jedediah Smith: Trail Blazer of the West by Hal G. Evarts, is notable for its rugged graphics and skillful use of Zip-a-Tone, mechanical tonal sheets he first used in comics.

  1. Bucking
  2. Buffalo
  3. Falling
  4. Ambush
  5. Medicine Man
  6. Attack

Hi-Fi Jazz (1959)

In January 1959, Hi-Fi Magazine hired Krigstein to do illustrations for "The Jazz Panorama," by John S. Wilson, an overview of the history of jazz. He responded with these improvisatory ink drawings.

  1. Guitar
  2. Drums
  3. Bass
  4. Olympian
  5. Work
  6. Asylum
  7. Small Combo

LP Album Covers (1959-64)

Among Krigstein's high-profile assignments were his LP covers for Columbia/Epic Records. The artist welcomed the challenge to interpret classical music and produced some of his boldest color work.

  1. Serenade
  2. Serata Napoletana
  3. Descent from the Cross
  4. The Happy Prince
  5. Gewandhaus
  6. The Erinyes
  7. Tannhauser
  8. North and South
  9. Feast of Lights

The Life of I.L. Peretz (1959)

By his last hardcovers, the experiments with Zip-a-Tone had reached a fevered pitch. In Sylvia Rothschild's biography of the beloved Jewish poet and writer, he uses the device to evoke psychological states and urban conditions.

  1. Black Bread
  2. Studying
  3. The Driver Whistled
  4. Fire
  5. Police Chief
  6. An Odd Collection
  7. A Smothered Cry
Buffalo Soldiers (1959)

For each assignment Krigstein usually submitted a group of roughs to the art director, who gave the go-ahead to the composition he felt was most effective. These are the roughs for John Prebble's The Buffalo Soldiers.

  1. Rough #1
  2. Rough #2
  3. Rough #3
  4. Rough #4
  5. Rough #5
  6. Rough #6
Glacier Gold (1959)

Rejections, a part of any illustrator's life, were a major reason why Krigstein did not stay in the field. After this publisher passed on these roughs for Tom Clarke's Glacier Gold, he never went back there again.

  1. Rough #1
  2. Rough #2
  3. Rough #3
  4. Rough #4
Endpapers (1957-60)

A unique characteristic of the four Covenant hardcovers were these distinctive endpapers.

  1. Jubal and the Prophet
  2. Border Hawk
  3. I.L. Peretz
  4. Flagship Hope
Joyce Cary Novels (1958-64)

Always eager to express classic literature, Krigstein was given a rare opportunity with these six Joyce Cary novels for Grosset and Dunlap.

  1. The Horse's Mouth
  2. Herself Surprised
  3. To Be a Pilgrim
  4. Prisoner of Grace
  5. Except the Lord
  6. Not Honour More
Eo of the Caves (1959)

Krigstein continued experimenting with Zip-A-Tone in this prehistoric tale written by Florence Wightman Rowland.

  1. Eo and the Horse
  2. Horses Fleeing
  3. Torches
  4. Ottee Attacked
  5. Bear Attack
  6. Elephant Herd
  7. Duck Hunting
  8. Mountain Crest
  9. Cover Rough #1
  10. Cover Rough #2
  11. Cover Rough #3
  12. Rough #1
  13. Rough #2
Buccaneers (1960)

Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts by Frank R. Stockton was Krigstein's most ambitious commercial project. Along with Fables, it marks his high point as a book illustrator.

  1. Blackbeard
  2. A True Account
  3. A Soldier's Pity
  4. Oranges?
  5. Open Gates
  6. Level Heads
  7. Enslaved
  8. Revenge
  9. Marrow-Bones
  10. Slender Pattern
  11. Wary Natives
  12. Fire Ship
  13. Morgan's Escape
  14. Muskets
  15. Roc's Fall
  16. Climbers
  17. Typical Pirate
  18. Proper Captain
  19. The Crew
  20. They Needed Succor
  21. Enraged
  22. Hanging
  23. Blacksmith
  24. Trust Company
  25. The Queen
  26. Respecting Customs
  27. Highwayman/Thief
  28. Baby Boy
  29. Cannon Balls
  30. Number One
  31. The Cruel Rocks
  32. Divers
Fables (1960)

One of Krigstein's favorite assignments, Various Fables from Various Places gave free reign to his humorous and expressive gifts.

  1. The Tricked Elephant
  2. The Nut and Camponile
  3. Assembly and the Spider
  4. The Dancing Apes
  5. Of Women Who Betray
  6. Aesop and the Farmer
  7. Weasel and His Wife
  8. Lion and Mosquitoes
  9. Ass and Nightingale
  10. Lawrence the Fox
  11. Lawrence the Fox #2
  12. Fireworks and Pike
  13. Woman Transformed
  14. Parable of the World
  15. Horse and Wild Boar
  16. The Greedy Jackal
  17. Devil and Innkeeper
  18. Wolf, Sheep, and Lamb
  19. Cover rough #1
  20. Cover rough #2
  21. Cover rough #3
The Death of Jesus (1961)

These concept roughs for Joel Carmichels's account of the final hours of Jesus were rejected by Macmillan.

  1. Title Page
  2. The Last Supper #1
  3. The Last Supper #2
  4. Before Pilate
  5. Descent for the Cross
  6. Pieta
  7. Death of Jesus
  8. Internment
  9. Resurrection
  10. Ascension
Hawaii (1961)

Krigstein did eighteen roughs for this story for Reporter Magazine. Though one idea was accepted ("Mythic Warrier"), his 18 x 24 inch finished watercolor was rejected, on the grounds that Krigstein's colors would be too hard to reproduce. "It was the frightened reaction of an editor who doesn't know the resourses at his own disposal."

  1. Dancing Girls
  2. Supplies
  3. Fire
  4. Waterfall
  5. Rowing
  6. The Village
  7. Performance
  8. Kamehameha
  9. Queen and King
  10. Flowers and Hats
  11. The Coast
  12. Mythic Warrier
  13. Bouquet
  14. Fishing Nets
  15. Hawaii
  16. Chieftain

Boy's Life Magazine (1959-65)

Krigstein approached Boy's Life's cheap two-color process with ingenuity and diversity. The magazine finally upgraded to four-color with "The Bear Hunt," Krigstein's last commercial illustration.

  1. Telemetering
  2. The Indian Calumet
  3. Remarkable Red Ones
  4. The General Shut the Door
  5. Fog Letdown
  6. Shamrock in the Andes
  7. Johnny Came Marching Home
  8. Peril in the Gorge
  9. The Bear Hunt
His Father's Wife (1964)

By 1964 the full-time teacher accepted only a few commercial jobs during the summer months, preferring to work on his painting. One of his final assignments, "His Father's Wife," appeared in the Feb. 1966 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

  1. Late Return
  2. The Waterfront
  3. At the Pub
  4. The Laborers
  5. Leering
  6. Bread and Tea
  7. Hiking
  8. Dublin #1
  9. Dublin #2
  10. Too Much Drink
  11. His Father's Wife
Boy's Life Roughs (1959-65)

Krigstein's roughs for Boy's Life were done in vivid pastel, though the finishes were usually painted in casein tonal grays with a spot color.

  1. Shamrock in the Andes #1
  2. Shamrock in the Andes #2
  3. Shamrock in the Andes #3
  4. Shamrock in the Andes #4
  5. Shining Mountain #1
  6. Shining Mountain #2
  7. Shining Mountain #3
  8. Shining Mountain #4
  9. Shining Mountain #5

©2001 The Krigstein Archives Home Early Comics Illustration Painting