David Wright (artist)
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
who drew a series of "lovelies" that epitomised female glamour
Glamour (presentation)
Glamour originally was a magical-occult spell cast on somebody to make them believe that something or somebody was attractive. In the late 19th century terminology a non magical item used to help create a more attractive appearance gradually became 'a glamour'...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He also created the "Carol Day" cartoon strip for the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
in 1956, creating a soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
style of comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
that paralleled similar work in the USA.
However, it is his series of 169 illustrations for The Sketch
The Sketch
The Sketch was a British illustrated newspaper weekly, which focused on high society and the aristocracy. It ran for 2,989 issues between February 1, 1893 and June 17, 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on royalty...
magazine (from 1941 to 1951) that became most popular. In the 1950s he continued drawing in a similar style for Men Only
Men Only
Men Only is a British soft-core pornographic magazine published by Paul Raymond since 1971. However, the title goes back to 1935 when it was founded by C. Arthur Pearson Ltd as a pocket magazine . It set out its editorial stall in the first issue:'We don't want women readers. We won't have women...
.
Wright started work at his uncle's studio after leaving school, later becoming the fashion illustrator for a number of women's magazines. He was commissioned in 1941 to draw a series of glamorous women for The Sketch, most of whom were modelled on his wife Esme. The illustrations established him as one of the most popular pin-up artists during World War II. During the war he worked as a driving instructor for the armed forces in Abersoch
Abersoch
Abersoch is a large village in the community of Llanengan in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a popular coastal seaside resort with approximately 1,000 inhabitants, on the east-facing south coast of the Llŷn Peninsula at the southern terminus of the A499. It is about south-west of Pwllheli and south-west of...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, which left him plenty of time to continue his illustration work.