The artist has also been credited with influencing the greeting card business by employing humor that bordered on the rude, rather than writing the usual sweet and endearing messages.

These drawings were later incorporated into merchandise ranging from cocktail napkins to playing cards. More milestones occurred in 1936 for Steig, including his abandonment of one-liner cartoons and his exploration into wood sculpting (he had his first exhibition in 1939) and a series of what he called 'symbolic drawings,' which were his attempts to express emotions and states of mind visually. Steig was unique in that he emphasized the drawings over the writing, something that ran counter to what cartoonists had been doing until then. He did single-panel cartoons featuring his characteristic squiggly-lined drawings and clever one-liners. However, Steig found early success as an artist and was able to easily support his parents and siblings in his first year as a professional after being hiredbythe New Yorker in 1930. But he was not the most enthusiastic of students his time at Yale University lasted only six days. The son of European immigrants who encouraged their son to be an artist, Steig attended City College (now of the City University of New York) in the early 1920s and the National Academy of Design in New York City from 1925 to 1929. Steig was best known as an award-winning cartoonist for the New Yorker and as the author of children's books such as Abel's Island and Shrek. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne Steig, and four children.OBITUARY NOTICE-See index for SATA sketch: Born November 14, 1907, in New York, NY died October 3, 2003, in Boston, MA. He was also the US nominee for both of the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Awards as an illustrator in 1982, and then as an author in 1988. Steig also received the Christopher Award, the Irma Simonton Black Award, the William Allen White Children’s Book Award, the America Book Award, and Society of Illustrators Lifetime Achievement Award. Steig is also the creator of Shrek! which inspired the Dreamworks films. Most notably Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, for which he received the Caldecott Medal The Amazing Bone, a Caldecott Honor book Amos & Boris, a National Book Award Finalist and Abel’s Island and Doctor De Soto, both Newbery Honor books. William Steig (1907–2003) was a cartoonist, illustrator, and author of award-winning books for children.

Cdb steig