The Beginning Years

John Ford Clymer was born in Ellensburg, Washington in January of 1907 to Elmira and John P. Clymer.

At an early age John's parents were aware of his special talent for art. At the young age of five, John saw his first circus parade and upon his return home, John sat down and reproduced the whole circus with nothing more than brown paper and a pair of scissors. Each circus animal including elephants, wagons, horses with decorative plumes, circus band members and the calliope were cut out and the silhouettes placed around the baseboard of the Clymer family living room. Even into his early teens John found himself doodling and sketching when ever he had the opportunity. While attending church one Sunday young Clymer sat quietly a few pews behind his parents. It was during the sermon that the minister thundered "Junior Clymer, stop drawing in the back of the hymnal this instant! Furthermore, you have until next week to erase your drawings for all the other hymn books we have found defaced!" This would prove to be the first public notice of John's blossoming art.

When John entered high school his vague hope of becoming an artist was swayed by his strong love for the outdoors. John spent every free moment outside camping, hiking, exploring mountain sides and local forests. With his great interest in both art and the outdoors John's future was without true direction and focus, it wasn't until a magazine salesman visited the Clymer family home that John truly knew that he was going to become, an illustrator.

"I grew up with love of the hills and the out of doors. I early began to wonder,
'How can I make a living and stay in the mountains when I grow up?' "

As he flipped though the magazine pages, he realized that he had never seen pictures like this, it was a world he never knew existed. What John did realize, was that without any training he would never reach his dream. The local high school did not offer art classes and there were no local artists in the Ellensburg area, so John enrolled in a Federal School correspondence course. Through the art course, John learned to polish his artwork and recognize his artistic potential.

While in high school, John was able to illustrate for his school yearbook, the Klahiam, and draw advertisements for local businesses.

John's first printed work came in 1923 when one of his pen and ink drawings were chosen to celebrate the first Ellensburg Rodeo. In conjunction with the rodeo John was asked also to make poster art for local businesses that depicted cowboys, Indians, bucking horses and the western spirit.

It wasn't until 1924 before John's work was published again. This time it was for nationally recognized company, the Colt Firearms Company. With youthful optimism, John did two precise pen and ink drawings and submitted them by mail. Colt Firearms promptly bought them and reproduced them in several sporting magazines. This was John's debut as a professional artist, he was only 17 years old. This would prove to be the beginning of his career as a illustrator.