Natural History Art and Illustration by D. D. Tyler
Overview
The collection consists of the archives of natural history art and illustration projects executed by D. D. (Diane Dee McAbee) Tyler from 1971 through 2014. She is known for illustrating children's books and for creating internationally marketed T-shirt designs for Liberty Graphics. The many animals, plants, landscapes, and other subjects she has depicted are represented in this collection through all stages of production, ranging from initial sketches to final products. The collection includes periodical and book illustrations, posters, postcards, notecards, bookmarks, and T-shirts, reflecting that her graphic art has been reproduced as a diverse array of end products, large and small, black and white and colored, and readable, displayable, and wearable.
Dates
- Creation: 1971 - 2015
Creator
- Tyler, D. D. (Person)
- Tyler Publishing (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
No access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.
Biography of D. D. Tyler
Diana Dee (McAbee) Tyler was born in 1947 in Salina, Kansas. Her family has deep Kansas roots: her great-grandfather hunted buffalo before settling in Kansas. Her grandfather, born in a sod house in Mitchell County, Kansas in 1878, earned a degree from the Kansas State Normal School (later Emporia State University) and ran 16 small newspapers in the Emporia area. He also studied art in New York City, taught school in the Philippines, and traveled to China.
Although Tyler spent her early childhood years in Salina and Emporia, her home from 1952-1970 was in Topeka, where she attended Washburn University for two years following her 1965 graduation from Shawnee Heights High School. After transferring to the University of Kansas in 1966, she received her bachelor of fine arts degree in 1970.
The adventurous spirit of her Kansas forebears is reflected in the manner Tyler pursued her lifelong interests in nature, art, and world cultures. Early jobs at the Seamammal Motivational Institute (1970-1971) and as staff artist of the Maine Times (1971-1972) were followed by horizon-broadening, low-budget backpacking travel around the world (1972-1974 trips to Europe, North Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand).
After marrying in Bali, Indonesia in 1973, she and Harry R. (Hank) Tyler, Jr. settled in his native state of Maine. While living on Westport Island (1974-1979), D. D. illustrated newspaper center spreads about nature, some written by Hank Tyler, for the Maine Times. She began producing illustrations for books and also created limited-edition prints and commissioned paintings, mainly depicting the wildlife of the region.
Subsequently Tyler diversified her artistic output while living in Augusta from 1979-1983 and Hallowell from 1983-2014 with her husband and two children. In addition to her illustrations for children's books, Tyler Publishing (established 1977) has produced natural-history prints, posters, cards and, from 1989-2014, designs for T-shirts for Liberty Graphics. Tyler Publishing maintained a booth at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Annual Common Ground Fair for 29 years. Tyler's Liberty Graphics T-shirts were marketed in museums, aquaria, zoos, catalogues, and shops in the United States and also internationally in Japan, Germany, England, France (one outlet in the Louvre), and other countries. She also exclusively designed for Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Diego Zoo, the Smithsonian, the Nature Company, the Discovery Channel, and others.
Over the years the continuing desire to travel was satisfied by trips to Japan, France, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and China. During the 1990s Tyler led natural history tours in Costa Rica and Ecuador (Galapagos). After retiring in 2014 and spending several years in Topeka, the Tylers moved to Australia.
Extent
2.75 Linear Feet (6 document cases + 25 oversize boxes, 11 oversize folders)
Language of Materials
English
Scope and Contents
The collection constitutes the archives of natural history art and illustration projects executed by D. D. Tyler for Tyler Publishing and various clients from 1971 through 2014. While not comprehensive, it consists of representative material from the start to finish of the bulk of her graphic-art projects.
The graphic art in this collection was created with tools, materials, and techniques representative of the second half of the 20th century, before digital methods became the norm. The component artwork was mostly created manually for photolithographic or silkscreen reproduction, and it provides a record of how such work was done. The material in the collection includes reference sketches, concept drawings, tracings, layout drawings, final drawings, proofs, and published works. Media employed include pencil and pen and ink line work and stipple on drawing paper, tracing paper, and Kimdura Synthetic Paper, as well as grease pencil/lithographic crayon on coquille paper, but that method did not allow the needed level of detail and did not reduce well. It was later replaced by more time-consuming pen-and-ink stipple drawing on smooth-surfaced paper or synthetic paper, a technique yielding beautiful shading effects and that reproduced well on products ranging from large wall posters to small postcards.
While many of the images were produced in black-and-white, work intended for color printing in books and on posters, stationery, and T-shirts required the manual creation of registered separations for the different colors. Tyler made the book color separations. Liberty Graphics staff made their own color separations for silk screening. Watercolor and colored pencil were employed primarily in the design stage of production. The "color maps" Tyler provided to the Liberty Graphics color separators were nearly all done in colored pencil. Commercial color charts aided the selection of printing colors.
Several mock-ups of children's natural history books are present in the collection. The published images were printed lithographically on paper, while the T-shirts were silk-screened.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into five main series: Works, Book Illustrations, Magazines and Newspapers, Printed Products, and Professional Documents and Materials. Each series is organized according to the characteristics of the contents and its materials.
The Works series is arranged based on animal species classification, and its sub-series are ordered alphabetically. It includes initial sketches, research material, color experimentations, and final drawings by D.D. Tyler for a wide variety of products, including posters and T-shirts.
Book illustrations includes sketches, mock-up books, and final drawings and is organized alphabetically by book title.
Magazines and newspapers includes sketches, layout sheets, final drawings, and final publications. It is organized alphabetically by respective publication titles; files within each sub-series are arranged chronologically.
Printed products includes calendars, bookmarks, notecards, and postcards published by Tyler Publishing, as well as T-shirts produced through Tyler Publishing. This series, like the Works series, is organized according to animal species classification with its sub-series organized alphabetically.
Professional documents and materials include correspondence, contracts, objects used in the design process by Tyler, materials related to awards and reviews for publications Tyler illustrated, and other related textual materials.
Physical Location
MS 337
Physical Location
MS Q72
Physical Location
MS Qa22
Physical Location
MS R19
Custodial History
This archive was created and maintained by D. D. and Hank Tyler, who established Tyler Publishing in 1977 and operated it until their retirement in 2014.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gifts, D.D. Tyler, 2014, 2017, 2019.
Bibliography
- Katona, Steven, David Richardson, and Robin Hazard. A Field Guide to the Whales & Seals of the Gulf of Maine. 2nd ed. Bar Harbor, Maine: College of the Atlantic, 1977. Available through KU Libraries at QL737 .C4 K27 1977.
- Katona, Steven K., Valerie Rough, and David T. Richardson. A Field Guide to the Whales, Porpoises, and Seals from Cape Code to Newfoundland. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993. Available through KU Libraries at QL737 .C4 K275 1993.
Source
- Tyler, D. D. (Donor, Person)
- Title
- Guide to the D. D. Tyler Collection
- Subtitle
- Natural History Art and Illustration by D. D. Tyler
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by ksc, 2016 and fi, 2017. Finding aid encoded by fi, 2017. Finding aid revised by nw, 2020; mmj, 2022.
- Date
- 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Finding aid written in English.
- Finding aid permalink
- http://hdl.handle.net/10407/5324232124
- Preferred citation
-
Natural History Art and Illustration by D. D. Tyler, MS 337, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas
Repository Details
Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository