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Show (Advertisement) Nov they're helping others do the same By REX TAYLOR ALBERT DORNE was a kid of the slums who loved to draw. He never got past the seventh grade. Before he was 13. he had to quit school to support his family. But he never gave up his dream of becoming an artist. Although he was working 12 hours a day, he began to study art at home in his spare time. Soon he discovered that people were willing to pay good money for his drawings. At 19 he was well launched in the field of commercial art. By 22 he was earning $500 a week. Dome rose higher and higher until he became probably the most in the history fabulous money-make- r of advertising art. Dome's "rags to riches" story is not unique. Norman Rockwell left school when he was 15. Stevan Dohanos. famous cover artist, drove a truck and worked in a mill before turning to art. Harold Von Schmidt was an orphan at 5. Robert Fawcett, known as the "illustrators' illustrator." left school at 14. Austin Briggs, who struggled to flat support his family in a when he first broke into art, today lives in a magnificent contemporary home, over 100 feet long. Qertrude Vander Ppel had never ' drawn a thing until she enrolled In the A cold-wat- School. Now a fashionable New York Gallery exhibits her paintings for sale. John Busketta Is another. He was a helper with a big gas comhe enrolled in the school. until pany He still works for the same company but now he Is an artist in the advertising department, at a big increase in pay. A in Ohio decided to study painting in her spare pipe-fitter- 's ' great-grandmoth- er time. Recently, she had her first "show" where she sold thirty water colors and five oil paintings. Don Oolemba of Detroit stepped up irom rauroaa worcer to tne siyiing y department of a big automobile on the basis of his work with the school. Now he helps design new : com-pan- car models. er A plan to help others: Nearly ten years ago, these men gathered in Dome's luxurious New York studio for a fateful meetingWith them were six other Al Parker. equally famous artists Jon Whitcomb, Fred Ludekens, Ben Stahl, Peter Helck, John Atherton. . Almost all had similar "rags to riches" backgrounds. Dome outlined to them a plan for sharing their good fortune with others. Dome pointed out that artists were needed all over the country. And thousands of men and women wanted very much to become artists. What these people needed most was a convenient and effective way to master the trade" secrets and professional know-hothat the famous artists themselves had learned only by long, successful ex- w 1 well-traine- en of the grot meny-mak- tr ttvdio high abovt Now York, Dornt can ALBERT DORNE hi Iwxwriowt perience. "Why can't we," asked Dome, "develop some way to bring this kind of art training to anyone with talent no matter where they live or what their personal schedules may be?" "The idea met with great enthusiasm. In fact, the twelve famous artists quickly buckled down to work taking time off from their busy careers. Look-in- g for a way to explain drawing niques to students who would be thousands of miles away, they turned to the war-bomethods of modern visual training. What better way could you, teach the art of making pictures, they reasoned, than through pictures? They made over 5.000 drawings for the school's magnificent home study lessons. And after they had cov?red the fundamentals of art, each man contributed to the course his own special 'hallmark" of greatness. For example, Norman Rockwell devised a simple way to explain and the secrets of color. Jon Whitcomb showed how to draw the "glamour girls" for which he is Dome showed to achieve animation and ways r. humor. Finally, the meift spent three years working out a revolutionary, new wray top-draw- er ... spe-ciall- char-0yacterizati- world-famou- bott-lov- od Amor, Sm vV m NORMAN ROCKWELl-th- U icon artist loft school at IS. "Where art the famous artists of tomorrow?" Dome is not surprised at all by the success of his students. "Opportunities open to trained artists today are enormous," he says. "We continually get calls and letters from art buyers all over the U.S. They ask us for practical, students . . i t. i liui gciuusca wiiu tut su;p ui i.u iuiutime or part-tim- e jobs. "I'm firmly 'convinced,' Dome goes on, "that many men and women are missing an exciting career in art simply because they hesitate to think that they have talent. Many of them do have talent. These are the people we want to train for success in art . . .. if we can only find them." s. step-by-ste- p y in commrcial art. From th window of tho slum ttnomont whor h one livtd. to correct a student's work. For each drawing the student sent in, he would receive in return a iong personal let- ter of criticism and advice. Along with the letter, on a transparent "overlay," the instructor would actually draw, in detail, his corrections of the student's work. Thus there could be no And the student would have a permanent recoird to refer to misun-derstandin- g. as often as he liked. School is launched; students quickly succeed: Thus was born the Famous whose campus is Artists Schools the U. S. mail, whose classrooms are the students' own homes and whose the most fabulous ever assembled in the history of art teaching. The school's activities started in a converted old barn in Westport, faculty is Conn. It grew rapidly. Today it its own modem building and has 5.000 active students in 32 countries. The twelve famous artists who started the school as a labor of love still own it, run it, and are fiercely proud of what it has done for its students. Don Smith is a good example. When he became a student three years ago, Don knew nothing about art. even doubted if he had talent. Today, he is an illustrator with a leading advertising agency in New Orleans. occu-pie- s d - Unique art talent test: To discover people with talent worth developing, the twelve famous artists created a re- Talent markable, revealing Test. Originally they charged $1 for the test. But now the school offers it free and grades it free. Men and women who reveal natural talent through the test are eligible for training by the school. Would you like to know if you have valuable hidden art talent? Simply mail coupon below. The Famous Art-ist- s Talent Test will be sent to you without cost or obligation. And it might lead you to become one of the "famous artists of tomorrow." 12-pa- I I ge FAMOUS ARTISTS SCHOOLS 1 I I I want to And out. it I have art talent worth I I develop! ns Please tend me without obligation I - your Famou Artlata Talent Tet. I I I Studio Mr Mr MlM FAMW-t- Wottport, Comm. 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