Tyler’s earliest practice in book illustration was for the book A Field guide to the Whales & Seals of the Gulf of Maine by Steven Katona, David Richardson, and Robin Hazard, published in 1975. Tyler had little experience but was asked to illustrate many of the drawings and also plan out the design and layout of the entire book.

More extensive illustration jobs required Tyler to create drawings with color separations. After receiving brief instruction from a friend also living in Maine, illustrator and painter Dahlov Ipcar, Tyler figured out the process as she worked on multiple book illustration projects throughout her career. Tyler worked extensively with Ada and Frank Graham and with other authors. This series includes process tracings, overlays, final drawings, as well as copies of many of the books themselves.

[The information for this Scope and Contents note came from materials located in MS 337.]