By Nancy Young

 In the post-Christmas and early January days of eating, shopping, and watching bowl games and parades, two films are well worth chancing after your favorite team has been knocked out of contention or the computation of how many daisies, roses, and gardenias went into making barge-sized parade floats just doesn't hold your interest. Both films are holiday-ish, without being overtly so, and therefore tuck very neatly into the after-Christmas days—particularly since they're all about happiness being more important than money (something it's good to remember when all the funds vanished under the Christmas tree)... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Christmas, Forgotten Films, Holidays, Recommended viewing

By Al R. Young Angels Of Peace is the newest oil painting to be added to the line of original artworks from Al Young Studios.

Click here to see a larger image of the new painting, read the artist's commentary, and look at the selection of prints--if any are available.... Read more »

Tags: Angels Of Peace, 2013, Elspeth C. Young, Legacy, News, Oil paintings and prints, Pioneer Art Collection

By Al R. Young The A Visit From St. Nicholas issue of The Storybook Home Journal is now available from Al Young Studios.  This issue features these regular sections:Decorating - All Through The House (6 pages)Hearth - The Stockings Were Hung (3 pages)Kitchen - Visions Of Sugar Plums (4 pages)Garden - The New Fallen Snow (3 pages)Workshops - A Miniature Sleigh (4 pages)Bookshelf - A Christmas Reading List (1 page)Garret - Lobelia's Rocking Chair (2 pages)A Visit From St... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 14 No. 1, 2013, News, The Storybook Home Journal issues

By Al R. Young
My husband Al's two years in Scandinavia when a young man provided him, among other things, with three imperishable predilections: a love of  light, of warmth and of cardamom.  So St. Lucia's Day, when light wins out over darkness and the warmth of flame re-emerges--and almost as important, when there's cardamom-spiked bread for breakfast--we like to take advantage of the concept.

When Elspeth was young (pictured right), we dressed her in full Lucia regalia and made the more traditional saffron-scented "Lucia Cats," sometimes even taking them about the neighborhood; but now we observe the tradition by making loaf-sized Lucias, use the slightly less traditional cardamom flavoring, and gobble them up all day long... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 14 No. 1, 2013, Beauty and home, Bread making, Christmas, Holidays

By Al R. Young I Will Send Their Words Forth, by Elspeth Young, was featured on the cover of the Journal of the Book of Mormon and other Restoration Scripture, published by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.  The painting is part of Al Young Studios' Heroes of the Book of Mormon Fine Art Collection.... Read more »

Tags: I Will Send Their Words Forth, 3rd-party Publications, 2013, News

By Nancy Young
We liked this Victorian summation of Christmas shopping, above, from an 1876 etching reflecting the fact that nothing much about the urge for bouts of seasonal spending has changed in 137 years.  The poem that originally accompanied it, spoke of  "shopping, shop, shop, shopping," until everyone was "dropping, drop, drop, dropping."  And that was even before "shop, shop, shopping" already commenced as soon as the pumpkin pie had been served up on Thanksgiving Day, and Black Friday became a synonym for a make-or-break Holiday business season... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 14 No. 1, 2013, Christmas, Holidays, Recipes by Nancy Young

By Al R. Young Two artworks by the artists of Al Young Studios are featured in the 28th Annual Spiritual and Religious Art of Utah Exhibition.

Elspeth's painting of Lois, from the New Testament, received an Honorable Mention.

Unto the City of David by Ashton was among the artworks accepted for the annual exhibition hosted by the Springville Museum of Art.

Frames for the artworks were prepared by Al Young Studios.

The two artworks:And He Shall Direct Thy PathsUnto The City Of David... Read more »

Tags: Unto The City Of David, And He Shall Direct Thy Paths, 2013, Exhibits, News

Browse a gallery of Fine Art Photography taken during October 2013.... Read more »

Tags: Cathedral Aisle, Into the Chapel, 2013, Fine art photography, News, Tanner M. Young

By Al R. Young The Little Dorrit issue of The Storybook Home Journal is now available from Al Young Studios.  This issue features these regular sections:Decorating - Usefulness and Happiness (5 pages)Hearth - Learning Needlework (1 page)Kitchen - The Mystery Of Alchemists (6 pages)Garden - This Gorgeous Abundance (4 pages)Workshops - Her Favourite Station (4 pages)Garret - The Answers We Live In (2 pages)Little Dorrit is the 84th issue of the Journal, published bi-monthly since November 2000... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 13 No. 6, 2013, News, The Storybook Home Journal issues

By Al R. Young Whither Thou Goest I Will Go is the newest oil painting to be added to the line of original artworks from Al Young Studios.

Click here to see a larger image of the new painting, read the artist's commentary, and look at the selection of prints--if any are available.... Read more »

Tags: Whither Thou Goest I Will Go, 2013, Elspeth C. Young, Legacy, News, Oil paintings and prints, Women of the Bible Art Collection

By Al R. Young The Divinity of Women by Heather Moore and Kent Brown, published by Covenant Communications, featured five paintings by Elspeth Young.  The artworks are part of Al Young Studios' Women of the Bible Fine Art Collection as well as its Heroes of the Book of Mormon Fine Art Collection.... Read more »

Tags: Waiting For The Promise, The Substance Of Hope, Is Anything Too Hard For The Lord, The Promised Land, For This Child I Prayed, 3rd-party Publications, 2013, News

By Al R. Young Till We Meet Again is the newest oil painting to be added to the line of original artworks from Al Young Studios.

Click here to see a larger image of the new painting, read the artist's commentary, and look at the selection of prints--if any are available.... Read more »

Tags: Till We Meet Again, 2013, Elspeth C. Young, Legacy, News, Oil paintings and prints, Pioneer Art Collection

By Nancy Young
Bartlett pears are early, inviting, and sweet. Good recommendations, but they do have one flaw--they mature with something of the propensities of lemmings--one leaps over the ripeness rampart and all the others immediately follow. One day they're hard and green, and a few days later they're speckled and squishy. But another fiat in their favor, of course, is that when ripe they can be made into so many other commendable comestibles--the pear jams and "Davy's Cake" from Anne at School, for example... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Recipes by Nancy Young

By Nancy Young
 Our Twain issue steamboated itself out to subscribers last week, a little slow due to a stem-to-stern overhaul of The Journal's working space (the second, and hopefully, final one this year!)
So this week we're already deeply entrenched in Dickens' Little Dorrit in order to make up for lost time; and since all sorts of make-up work is heavy on our minds, we wanted to take a moment to share a few things here on this very neglected Newsroom section.
First, we had no opportunity to use two beloved Winslow Homer paintings in Mississippi Summer, but since they're perfect for back-to-school days and particularly for staying in from recess or staying after school to do do make-up work, we've shared them here... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 12 No. 6, Vol. 13 No. 5, 2013, Music, Recipes by Nancy Young

By Al R. Young The Mark Twain's Mississippi Summer issue of The Storybook Home Journal is now available from Al Young Studios.  This issue features these regular sections:Decorating - Brisken Up (4 pages)Hearth - I'll Learn You (4 pages)Kitchen - What The Quality Eat (4 pages)Garden - Tomato Vines and Jimpson Weeds (4 pages)Workshops - (3 pages)Garret - Bobbins and Books (3 pages)Mark Twain's Mississippi Summer is the 83rd issue of the Journal, published bi-monthly since November 2000... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 13 No. 5, 2013, News, The Storybook Home Journal issues

By Al R. Young This article presents the transcription of a document, from The Wainscott Collection, entitled Personal Memorandum: A Brief Description Of The Six Square Cipher. As the memorandum itself declares, the original document was created by Seymore Wainscott as a personal reminder of how the cipher works.

The folio in which the memorandum was found also contained two sheets of paper, later identified as some of Seymore's worksheets prepared in creating and refining the cipher. Those worksheets are presented here with scant annotation... Read more »

Tags: 2013

By Al R. Young Originally, this kit was purchased as a field laboratory for performing soil tests, but that was a very long time ago.  It now serves our plein air needs as well as site-visits required in addressing issues that cannot come to the studio.

A    This gesso-coated piece of Masonite is a palette, which is one reason it has a beveled thumb-hole in it (just in front of K).  A small hole on each long-side of the palette matches the threaded bolts mounted into the wood blocks at B and E... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young
By Al R. Young
The commission to paint two scenic focal points for the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference center renovation included both the original oil painting and its gilded frame.

Dimensions (width x height)
69.5 in. x 48 in. (unframed)

Support
Panel

Milestones
Research begins - November 2012
Composition begins - January 2013
Brushwork begins - January 2013
Frame completed - May 2013

Equipment
Creating a painting often involves creating or modifying tools or making improvements to the studio itself... Read more »

Tags: Den Kommende Vinteren, 2013, Project commentaries, Tips and techniques

By Al R. Young By Al R. Young
The commission to paint two scenic focal points for the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference center renovation included both the original oil painting and its gilded frame.

Dimensions (width x height)
69.5 in. x 48 in. (unframed)

Support
Panel

Milestones
Research begins - November 2012
Composition begins - January 2013
Brushwork begins - January 2013
Frame completed - May 2013

Equipment
Creating a painting often involves creating or modifying tools or making improvements to the studio itself... Read more »

Tags: Den Kommende Våren, 2013, Project commentaries, Tips and techniques

By Ashton R. Young

Al Young Studios engages in a broad range of specializations surrounding the creation, presentation, and care of the fine art media in which the Artists of Al Young Studios areengaged.  Custom framing is among the oldest of these services.
The commission to create two original oil paintings, as part of the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference center renovation, included the creation of custom frames for the artworks.  Accordingly, we chose to frame them in our gilded and antiqued Corinthian style moulding with ornamented corners... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Framing, Project commentaries

By Al R. Young The commission to create a scenic tetraptych painting for four pilasters as part of the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference center renovation project presented a most interesting compositional challenge.  This polyptych painting was to consist of scenic images measuring 13.5 in. wide x 186.5 in. high.  The only other requirement was that the subject be suitable to the halcyon alpine setting of the lodge itself.

Dimensions (width x height)
Four images, each measuring 13... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Project commentaries

By Al R. Young Elspeth's artistic virtuosity spans a broad spectrum of media, styles, and techniques.  The commission to complete a major rosemalling project provided an opportunity to devote attention to a form of artistic expression with which she has a long and rewarding involvement.

The commission in connection with the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference center renovation was rewarding in many ways, but particularly so because of the design opportunity of reconciling the aesthetic of a centuries-old folk art with the architectural and interior design style, materials, and other characteristics of a world-class, state-of-art conference center and resort... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Project commentaries

By Elspeth C. Young
One of my favorite things about creating The Storybook Home is the need we have to choose the subject for each article. Each issue becomes a treasure hunt for us—combing through each book, deciding what topics we'll be burrowing into during the months of research and creation. Sense and Sensibility was no whit behind in tantalizing our historic and creative curiosities. From down-sizing from Norland Estate, to the mulberry trees at Delaford, to Elinor's painted firescreens to the dainties Mrs... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 13 No. 4, 2013, Music, Recommended reading

By Elspeth C. Young
For the rosemalling to be executed on the ornamental panels for the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference room renovation project, we proposed the following design criteria:
Avoid a visually dense design (i.e., horror vacui).

Create a design that balances boldness, strength, and sinuousness with traditional colors and contours of stylized botanical subjects.

Create botanical motifs from local flora instead of merely using traditional design elements... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Tips and techniques, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young Production of rosemalling panels for the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference center renovation project involved the following general steps, for which Ashton was primarily responsible.  Much of Ashton's involvement in this part of the project revolved around the spray tent set up in the studio shop for the project.

The rosemalling panels moved through the following process in batches of about a dozen.

    Quality assurance (QA) review of each rough-cut panel
    Fine-cut each panel to architect's specifications
    Scuff-sand display-surface of each panel
    Vacuum and rag each panel
    Label panel-back for tracking during production
    Spray with two coats of interior latex-and-primer
    Stencil-spray ornamental liner
    Hand touch-up ornamental liner
    Dry-brush and rag acrylic glazes to antique the image
    Apply spatters and drips

The rosemalling panels were then turned over to Elspeth for hand painting in her studio... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Tools supplies and operations

By Ashton R. Young
Preventing paint-bleeds when using a stencil is almost always a problem and there are almost as many recommendations for dealing with it.  The following method suited the parameters of our particular project, which included such considerations as paint viscosity, under-layer absorption, the line quality of the image to be sprayed, the scale of the image, and the time available for completing the work.

The following series of photos shows the main steps in using the stencil and hand-press... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Tips and techniques, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young When we received a commission to paint two fairly large, horizontal landscape paintings for the renovation of the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference center renovation, I decided to construct a framework that could be clamped, horizontally, to the $10 easel and provide backing for the panels while I worked on them.  I might have painted the two landscapes on the landscape easel, but glare is a perennial problem with that easel and I needed it as a drying rack so that I could work on both paintings simultaneously... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Inspiration and creativity, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young The work flow and space involved in creating ornamental panels for the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference center renovation project required that we create a free-standing rack on which painted panels might dry in the studio where they were painted.  This rack temporarily increased the drying-shelf capacity of that studio.  The goal was to uncouple the rosemalling from the spray tent so that rosemalling could be completed simultaneously with work under way in the tent.

The following photographs show the rack built for the purpose... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young The simple shelving in the following photograph of the spray-tent in the shop, is anchored at the top to the ceiling joists and, at the base, to the 1x2 to which the plastic sheeting of the partition is anchored.  The 1x2 running through the top brace of the vertical bracket-support is part of the diptych easel.  The 1x3 on which the small piece of insulation rests is part of a ceiling track permanently mounted to the ceiling.  Neither the track nor the easel component has anything to do with supporting the tent... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young It's usually a really super project if completing it involves creating more of the studio just to be able to create the artwork.  That was the case with the commission to produce rosemalling panels and a scenic tetraptych for the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley conference center renovation project.

Having reviewed the requirements for those facets of the project for which we were responsible, and having formulated design specifications for the deliverables, the next major step was to finalize space and equipment configuration at the Studios for completing the work... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young As A Sparrow Alone is the newest oil painting to be added to the line of original artworks from Al Young Studios.

Click here to see a larger image of the new painting, read the artist's commentary, and look at the selection of prints--if any are available.... Read more »

Tags: As A Sparrow Alone, 2013, Elspeth C. Young, Legacy, News, Oil paintings and prints, Pioneer Art Collection

By Al R. Young The Sense and Sensibility issue of The Storybook Home Journal is now available from Al Young Studios.  This issue features these regular sections:Decorating - A Very Snug Little Cottage (5 pages)Hearth - Going To Copy (2 pages)Kitchen - Every Delicacy In The House (6 pages)Music - Marianne's Theme (1 page)Garden - A Nice Old Place (4 pages)Workshops - Just Mounted and Brought Home (2 pages)Garret - A Few Hours in the Company of Greatness (2 pages)Sense and Sensibility is the 82nd issue of the Journal, published bi-monthly since November 2000... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 13 No. 4, 2013, News, The Storybook Home Journal issues

By Nancy Young
 As the school year ends, we suggest three lovable films that suit the summery move from homework to housework and sweaters to shorts. Though any of them are worth a watch any day, there's something about each of them that feels a little like the liberty of packing away the algebra and geography texts and packing up for a lazily-sweet three-months of vacation. They all possess something of a university setting--"just around the corner from Columbia" in the first instance, and two fictitious colleges to run away from or back to in the second and third... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Forgotten Films, Recommended viewing

By Al R. Young The Old Testament Made Easy by David Ridges, published by Cedar Fort Publishing and Media, featured nine paintings by Elspeth Young.  The paintings are part of Al Young Studios' Women of the Bible Fine Art Collection.... Read more »

Tags: The Protector, By The River's Brink, Waiting For The Promise, Charity Never Faileth, Is Anything Too Hard For The Lord, Treasure The Word, The Daughters Of Zelophehad, I Arose A Mother In Israel, Many Sorrows, 3rd-party Publications, 2013, News

By Al R. Young Den Kommende Våren is the newest oil painting to be added to the line of original artworks from Al Young Studios.

Click here to see a larger image of the new painting, read the artist's commentary, and look at the selection of prints--if any are available.... Read more »

Tags: Den Kommende Våren, 2013, Al R. Young, High Valley Art Collection, Legacy, News, Oil paintings and prints

By Al R. Young Den Kommende Vinteren is the newest oil painting to be added to the line of original artworks from Al Young Studios.

Click here to see a larger image of the new painting, read the artist's commentary, and look at the selection of prints--if any are available.... Read more »

Tags: Den Kommende Vinteren, 2013, Al R. Young, High Valley Art Collection, Legacy, News, Oil paintings and prints

By Al R. Young Prepare Your Minds For the Morrow is the newest oil painting to be added to the line of original artworks from Al Young Studios.

Click here to see a larger image of the new painting, read the artist's commentary, and look at the selection of prints--if any are available.... Read more »

Tags: Prepare Your Minds For the Morrow, 2013, Elspeth C. Young, Heroes of the Book of Mormon Art Collection, Legacy, News, Oil paintings and prints

By Al R. Young Two 2x6 scraps were glued together and then holes were drilled on a drill press to make this brush and tool holder.


Earlier brush holders, such as the pedestal and spindle brush holders, worked well enough, but took up a good deal of space for the number of brushes they could hold, and required hitting a target of two separate holes for the brush handle.  Consequently, I have switched to using brush holders that provide greater brush density and a single shaft in which the brush handle rests... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Inspiration and creativity, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young For the third year straight, we received another delightful bouquet from our angelic, anonymous May Day benefactress.  
While thinking of angels, we remembered this under-quoted piece of verse from the rather angelic Godey's Lady's Book editor, Sarah Hale (most famed as the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb--and speaking of under-quoted, we've always loved the fifth verses best:  "What makes the lamb love Mary so?" /The little children cry-/ "O Mary loves the lamb, you know," / The teacher did reply:")... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Floral arrangements, Flowers and garden, Holidays

By Al R. Young Esther the Queen, published by Covenant Communications, featured For Such A Time As This, by Elspeth Young.  The painting is part of Al Young Studios' Women of the Bible Fine Art Collection.... Read more »

Tags: For Such A Time As This, 3rd-party Publications, 2013, News

By Nancy Young
Though we missed Easter, we were able to get the Doctor Thorne and Framley Parsonage issue of theJournal mailed out—quite fittingly—today on the 198thanniversary of Anthony Trollope's birth. Significant to posting today, as well, is the fact that Trollope is one of the British postal system's most celebrated sons. Split across two professions—postal employee and popular novelist—he managed to leave his mark on Victorian society through both. His most prominent contribution to the post, of course, are the iconic red pillar boxes which gave Victorians their first-ever opportunity to post their letters without having to enter the post office, wait in queues and have postal workers quiz them on their letter's contents—a sure boon to an increase in love letters... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 13 No. 3, 2013, Recommended reading

By Al R. Young The Doctor Thorne & Framley Parsonage issue of The Storybook Home Journal is now available from Al Young Studios.  This issue features these regular sections:Decorating - A Perfect Paradise (5 pages)Hearth - A Basket of Eggs (2 pages)Kitchen - My Own Nest (7 pages)Garden - Sweet and Pleasant (5 pages)Workshops - The Big Stone Steps (1 page)Glass - Hair, Which Was Copious (1 page)Attic - Living Richly Without Being Rich (1 page)Doctor Thorne & Framley Parsonage is the 81st issue of the Journal, published bi-monthly since November 2000... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 13 No. 3, 2013, News, The Storybook Home Journal issues

By Nancy Young Cocoa is the powder derived from the cocoa bean. The bean is derived from the cocoa tree. The cocoa tree was apparently derived from the Garden of Eden virtually unscathed, but obviously lonely. It waited patiently, however, for its derived powder to be joined with some pleasing fat, so it could again become a celestial food—which is now known as chocolate, and which I indulge in whenever I get the chance.
This bread resulted a few days ago from a combination of the need to use up an aging orange coupled with the need to devour chocolate... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Recipes by Nancy Young

By Al R. Young The plight of Richard III during the Battle of Bosworth Field applies equally to the creation of original artwork (probably to the creation of anything original) when that creation occurs on the frontier of available equipment and funds.  And perhaps nothing on the studio frontier--at least in my experience--is more diverse and ubiquitous in its uses than the clamp.  C-clamps, bar clamps, pipe clamps, spring clamps, binder clamps, film clips, even clothespins are so important that I suspect trying to be a studio artist without them would be almost as difficult as trying to paint without brushes... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young First, the story problem:

In the fall of 2012, the Studios was commissioned to paint a tetraptych consisting of individual images measuring 13.5 in. wide x 186.5 in. high.  The tetraptych was supposed to present a scenic image, not necessarily a continuous image, as though the entire image could be assembled by a contiguous arrangement of the panels, but coherent in the sense that windows onto a particular scene present portions of the same.

We decided to use Masonite as the support... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Inspiration and creativity, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young The palette cart is one of three unassembled, metal-frame trolleys that came to the Studios several years ago from a furniture liquidation sale.  The cart remodeling described in this post results from the intervening years of its use -- usually an excellent source of the best ideas.

In the following photograph, the bottom shelf of the trolley stores accessories like brush holders, wooden blocks, and easel attachments.  The middle shelf is home to a basket of clean rags and a wastebasket with a lid (oiled and waxed)... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Tools supplies and operations

By Nancy Young


For the first time ever the spring issue of the journal didn't make it out before Easter.  We blame the demise of two computers and their attendant files for the delay--luckily Tanner, our resident computer whiz, saved the work, but a new computer and reconfiguration ate up too many of the days of March.  (Of course, the issue will still be appearing in mailboxes soon!) 

By way of a modest apology, we're sending out a couple of easy, but scrumptious Eastertide baking ideas--Brioche a Tweets and Almond Bouchons as well as our wishes for a lovely and memorable Easter Sunday... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 7 No. 4, Vol. 13 No. 2, 2013, Bread making, Brioche a tete, Easter, Holidays, Recipes by Nancy Young

By Al R. Young Anyone interested in the 340 images of POW messages currently available at the Internet site for The BenHaven Archives will benefit greatly from reading "POWMonitoring and the Messages of Alfred R. Young" by historian and author Jerry Berg. His review evaluates the Archives' collection in terms of such topics as demographics, message-relay formats used by shortwave listeners, message content, Radio Tokyo's presentation of the messages, and message recordings.

Mr. Berg's review is part of the many research aids available at Ontheshortwaves... Read more »

Tags: 2013, BenHaven Archives, News, Shortwave radio POW messages

By Al R. Young
High-resolution digital copies are available from the Studios for use as illustrations.  Use the serial number—appearing below the thumbnail—in requesting permission from the Studios (see links at the bottom of this page for detail).


The correct form of attribution when publishing an image is specified in the license agreement issued to the publisher by Al Young Studios.Guidelines for requests to copy or publish artworks created by the Artists of Al Young Studios

Guidelines for commissioning Al Young Studios to create illustrations
Return to this portfolio
Browse all portfolios
Browse Newsroom articles about Illustration
The original image is available for sale, please contact us for details... Read more »

Tags: This My Son, 2013, Book of Mormon characters

By Al R. Young
High-resolution digital copies are available from the Studios for use as illustrations.  Use the serial number—appearing below the thumbnail—in requesting permission from the Studios (see links at the bottom of this page for detail).


The correct form of attribution when publishing an image is specified in the license agreement issued to the publisher by Al Young Studios.Guidelines for requests to copy or publish artworks created by the Artists of Al Young Studios

Guidelines for commissioning Al Young Studios to create illustrations
Return to this portfolio
Browse all portfolios
Browse Newsroom articles about Illustration
The original image is available for sale, please contact us for details... Read more »

Tags: I Will Go Before Your Face, 2013, Book of Mormon characters

By Al R. Young
One of the increasingly amazing aspects of World War II is the extent to which not only the nation but its allies coalesced during the conflict. For the parents of Alfred R. Young, for example, an important facet of their home-front ordeal was the community of encouragement and commiseration that voluntarily sprang up around them.

Perhaps nowhere is this more evident or susceptible of study and understanding than in the letters, post cards, telegrams, and notes from telephone calls they received in connection with shortwave radio messages purportedly originating with their son... Read more »

Tags: 2013, BenHaven Archives, Shortwave radio POW messages

By Al R. Young I Will Go Before Your Face is the newest oil painting to be added to the line of original artworks from Al Young Studios.

Click here to see a larger image of the new painting, read the artist's commentary, and look at the selection of prints--if any are available.... Read more »

Tags: I Will Go Before Your Face, 2013, Elspeth C. Young, Heroes of the Book of Mormon Art Collection, Legacy, News, Oil paintings and prints

By Al R. Young
 "Probably the most exasperating thing about the Fashion is its elusiveness.  Even the word has a dozen definitions, and when it is pinned down and qualified, as "the Fashion in woman's dress," it becomes ridiculous and stilted and is gone again.  

To catch at its skirts is the safest to say that it is a kind of miracle, a familiar phenomenon.  Why is it that a garment which is honestly attractive, in, say 1910 should be honestly ridiculous a few years later and honestly charming again a few years later still is one of those things which are not satisfactorily to be explained and therefore are jolly and exciting and in addition to the perennial interest of life... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 13 No. 2, 2013

By Al R. Young Sometimes the creative process seems to backfire, even though no signs of difficulty appear along the way.  One such occurrence involved my desire to create a brush holder out of an old black piano leg and two wall plaques.

When I stepped into the shop to embark on the project, I simply wanted to make a brush holder that would accommodate as many brushes as I might use during a long and demanding painting session, and I had nothing more than a hunch that the piano leg--that had been in one of the scrap buckets long enough for me to despair of finding a good use for it--would be a good place to start... Read more »

Tags: 2013, Inspiration and creativity, Tools supplies and operations

By Al R. Young The The Painted Garden issue of The Storybook Home Journal is now available from Al Young Studios.  This issue features these regular sections:Decorating - The Best Game (5 pages)Hearth - It's As If He Was Here (4 pages)Kitchen - Too Good To Be Eaten In A Hurry (5 pages)Music - Better Than Any Other Piano (1 page)Garden - Bowers Of Flowers (3 pages)Workshops - A Table As A Desk (3 pages)Attic - Living Richly Without Being Rich (1 page)Garret - Some Of My Favorite Haunts (2 pages)The Painted Garden is the 80th issue of the Journal, published bi-monthly since November 2000... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 13 No. 2, 2013, News, The Storybook Home Journal issues

By Al R. Young Reviewed by Elspeth Young

When Elizabeth Gaskell first subtitled Wives and Daughters "An Everyday Story," she was, I believe, laughing at (or perhaps with) society and her readers.  At first meeting, little twelve-year-old Molly Gibson — daughter of the village surgeon in a bygone era — is, indeed "everyday." She is a young slip of a girl fretting over and eagerly anticipating her first visit to the Towers — the local seat of political power and fashion. She looks quaint in her plain white frock and straw bonnet, only to find out how disappointing society life can be... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 5 No. 6, 2013, Book reviews

By Al R. Young Reviewed by Elspeth Young

Doctor Thorne, Anthony Trollope's third novel in the Barchester series, is the story of devoted fatherhood. The innovative Greshamsbury physician, Henry Thorne, has always done the right and decent thing since his youth; no more so than when, despite his bachelorhood, he offers to take in the unwanted, illegitimate offspring of his older brother, to raise as his own child. At once, little Mary's hopes are his hopes, her dreams his dreams. Her sorrow is his sorrow, her triumph his own... Read more »

Tags: Vol. 13 No. 3, 2013, Book reviews