PERFECT ILLUSTRATIONS

Perfect Illustrations A PORTFOLIO BY LARRY TOSCHIK

In March 1967, Arizona Highways featured some paintings by an unknown artist named Larry Toschik. They were included in a story titled Larry Toschik's Wonderful World of Birds, and the response was overwhelming. Almost overnight, Mr. Toschik went from obscurity to international recognition as one of the world's greatest wildlife artists. Over the next two decades, we published nearly 100 of his paintings. What follows are some of our favorites.

Editor's Note: Larry Toschik passed away on July 2, 2012, at his home in Peoria, Arizona. On that day, Arizona Highways lost one of its most esteemed alumni. On behalf of everyone at this magazine, I'd like to express our deepest sympathies to Mrs. Toschik, her family and her friends. Your husband's work will live forever in the memories of our readers and in the archives of Arizona Highways.

PRECEDING PAGE: We asked photographer Bruce Taubert, a wildlife expert, to share his thoughts on these illustrations. "This one may be a stylized version of a red-tailed hawk," Taubert says, "but it could also be a white-tailed hawk, which no longer is found in great numbers in Arizona."

ABOVE, RIGHT: Two black bears move through an aspen grove. "I like the detail of the pines in the background," Taubert says.

RIGHT: Taubert says this mountain lion's stance indicates it's stalking its prey. "People think cougars are dangerous animals," he says, "but they're really not."

ABOVE: “Adult barn owls would never group together this way,” Taubert says, so these owls are most likely juveniles. “The winter scene outside, with the saguaro, is unexpected.” ABOVE, RIGHT: Toschik painted this pronghorn in mid-stride. “The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in North America,” Taubert says.

RIGHT: “The snow makes me think this isn’t a desert cottontail,” Taubert says. “It’s probably an Eastern cottontail. And those are manzanita bushes around it.”