“The Drawing Board” highlights illustrative information from Sara Light-Waller, publisher, writer, pulp archaeologist, and illustrator.

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From the Illustrator

Flying Pony Studios is the illustrative arm of Lucina Press, a small publishing house that continues a nearly forgotten tradition from the golden age of American publishing.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Street & Smith — the powerhouse behind The Shadow and Doc Savage — operated Chelsea House, an ambitious hardcover imprint that published everything from pulse-pounding adventures to cookbooks and etiquette guides.

Through bold advertisements in magazines like Picture Play, they used striking original pen-and-ink artwork from their top illustrators to bridge the gap between the newsstand pulps and the respectable bookstore shelf. This was a time when great publishing houses maintained a cohesive vision — magazines, advertisements, and books working together as part of a single, vibrant ecosystem.

Lucina Press revives that spirit. These works are not nostalgic pastiches. They are living successors — written with the same vigor, sense of adventure, and page-turning energy that once kept millions of readers enthralled under dim lamplight.

The Drawing Board highlights contemporary pulp-inspired art: initial inspirations, illustrations, book design, artist materials, and techniques.