Mahlon Blaine had a 50-year bumpy career as an artist. From newspaper cartoons, to menus, to Hollywood set design, to a 5-year award-winning vocation in New York book and magazine illustration, he was rarely without a pencil, pen, or brush in his hand. His subjects ranged from history to literature, adventure to anthropology, politics to humor, and children's books to erotica. His best friends included John Steinbeck, Joseph Dunninger, and John Carradine. He grew up in Albany, Oregon and died, forgotten and destitute, in midtown Manhattan, New York. Best known for his extraordinary pen-and-ink line work on the published pages of over 200 books and magazines, he also maintained another life as a painter of gouaches and oils, landscapes and portraits, and mythological creatures interacting with mere humans. His sense of humor always underlay his imagery.
