Lee Judah Ames, creator of the popularDraw 50 series of howtodraw books, was born in New York City on January 8, 1921. Ames sometimes wrote under the pseudonym "Jonathan David. " In the immediate postwar years Ames tried his hand at several occupations, all of which involved art or design. During 194748 he ran a oneman advertising agency, while moonlighting as an instructor of vocational art. His jobs always took him into the area of illustration or design, but it was only while teaching at a school for visual arts that an editor contacted him about providing illustrations for Shannon Garst'sThree Conquistadors (1948). A few years later, he illustrated Samuel Adams Hopkins'The Pony Express, which exposed Ames to other prominent illustrators and led to over onehundred and fifty titles running the gamut from biographies and Golden Books to Girl Scout books and textbooks. From 1956 through 1961 he also served as Doubleday camp; Company's artistinresidence and since 1948 has been a tireless illustrator of children's books. In one particularly slow year, Doubleday's editors encouraged Ames to strike out on his own; the result wasDraw, Draw, Draw Ames' first solo success. Years later Ames suggested a stepbystep howtodraw book to Doubleday's editors with plans to cover many subjects, entitled Draw 175 People, Places, Things and More....Out of this emergedDraw 50 Animals, the first in the enormously popularDraw 50 series. Although Ames has continued to publish, he prefers to spend his time with his family: Jocelyn, their two kids and their spouses, and especially his three grandchi... See more
Lee Judah Ames, creator of the popularDraw 50 series of howtodraw books, was born in New York City on January 8, 1921. Ames sometimes wrote under the pseudonym "Jonathan David. " In the immediate postwar years Ames tried his hand at several occupations, all of which involved art or design. During 194748 he ran a oneman advertising agency, while moonlighting as an instructor of vocational art. His jobs always took him into the area of illustration or design, but it was only while teaching at a school for visual arts that an editor contacted him about providing illustrations for Shannon Garst'sThree Conquistadors (1948). A few years later, he illustrated Samuel Adams Hopkins'The Pony Express, which exposed Ames to other prominent illustrators and led to over onehundred and fifty titles running the gamut from biographies and Golden Books to Girl Scout books and textbooks. From 1956 through 1961 he also served as Doubleday camp; Company's artistinresidence and since 1948 has been a tireless illustrator of children's books. In one particularly slow year, Doubleday's editors encouraged Ames to strike out on his own; the result wasDraw, Draw, Draw Ames' first solo success. Years later Ames suggested a stepbystep howtodraw book to Doubleday's editors with plans to cover many subjects, entitled Draw 175 People, Places, Things and More....Out of this emergedDraw 50 Animals, the first in the enormously popularDraw 50 series. Although Ames has continued to publish, he prefers to spend his time with his family: Jocelyn, their two kids and their spouses, and especially his three grandchildren.
