Remember, remember, the 5th of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I see no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot! And to commemorate Guy Fawkes Day this year, I’m posting some of the most amazing V for Vendetta art I could scrounge up. Now V for Vendetta-themed artworks on the web are about a dime a dozen, but there are some really fantastic pieces out there, and here are just a few.
First, here is art from the original source, David Lloyd. This is cover art for the collected miniseries (graphic novel) created and written by the brilliant Alan Moore:
David Lloyd – V for Vendetta (graphic novel cover)
There were several official posters released for the film, but I quite like this one, which has a classic political propaganda poster feel to it. Actually, a lot of these posters do, which makes perfect sense.
Artist Unknown – V for Vendetta (2006) (1)
Another sweet poster design for the film. This one emphasizes the mysterious nature of V himself.
Artist Unknown – V for Vendetta (2006) (2)
Alejandro Fernandez’s poster again utilizes old political propaganda art to great effect. You can really see the influence of Constructivism here.
Alejandro Fernandez – V for VendettaCésar Moreno – V for Vendetta
This poster by Marko Manev may possibly be my favorite. I say possibly because there are so many good ones I just can’t decide. But this is seriously gorgeous and definitely in my top five.
Finally, this piece by Shepard Fairey, the king of Neo-Constructivism, is not about V for Vendetta itself, but it uses the V mask to excellent effect nonetheless while riffing on Obama’s famous “Hope” presidential campaign artwork.
Yes, folks, it’s my favorite holiday again–the one where everything gets spooky! And in honor of this most diabolical of holidays, here’s some badass Bernie Wrightson art featuring the walking head horror from the John Carpenter film The Thing. Enjoy! Mwah ha ha ha . . .
Bernie Wrightson – The Thing
And also, here’s your Halloween song, possibly the creepiest song in creation. Let’s just say, Annabelle has nothing on the doll in Christine. Nothing at all.
I love bookplates and will be featuring a lot of them in upcoming posts. I am kicking off this series with work from Edward Penkov, a contemporary Bulgarian artist. His illustration tends toward the darkly humorous and surreal. Some of it even reminds me a bit of H. R. Giger.
And so we come to the third and final installment of the Best of ‘The Snow Queen’ Art, and we definitely are going out with a bang.
Our first featured artist is Adrienne Ségur, a French illustrator most active in the mid-20th century and best known for her work on The Golden Book of Fairy Tales. Speaking of which, Terri Windling has a lovely tribute to that book (and Ségur herself) here. Although she came onto the scene during the tail end of illustration’s Golden Age, Ségur’s art feels fresh and contemporary.
Adrienne Ségur – The Snow Queen (1)Adrienne Ségur – The Snow Queen (2)Adrienne Ségur – The Snow Queen (3)
Anastasia Arkhipova is a Russian illustrator, and that’s all I know about her.
Anastasia Arkhipova – The Snow Queen (1)
Edmund Dulac, like Arthur Rackham, really needs no introduction, but I’ll provide one anyway. A French and English Golden Age artist, he was a prolific book and magazine illustrator and even designed paper currency and postage stamps during World War II.
Edmund Dulac – The Snow Queen (1)Edmund Dulac – The Snow Queen (2)Edmund Dulac – The Snow Queen (3)Edmund Dulac – The Snow Queen (4)Edmund Dulac – The Snow Queen (5)Edmund Dulac – The Snow Queen (6)
Emily Balivet is a contemporary painter and illustrator with a focus on feminine spirituality and divinity.
Emily Balivet – The Snow Queen
Esther Simpson is largely a mystery to me, but she seems to have been an exemplar of the late Art Deco style. I’m not sure where I first encountered this piece, but it really struck me for its unusual choice of depicting the Snow Queen as nude (or nearly nude anyway); moreover, I do not believe it was ever used as a book illustration and appears to have been a stand-alone piece. Whatever the case, it is an elegantly beautiful representation of these characters.
Esther Simpson – The Snow Queen
Tomislav Tomić is a Croatian artist noted for his contributions to the popular Ologies series of children’s books, as well as covers and interior artwork for many other books.
Tomislav Tomić – The Snow Queen (1)Tomislav Tomić – The Snow Queen (2)
Anne Anderson was another Golden Age illustrator, albeit a minor one. Her artwork is reminiscent of Charles Robinson and especially Jessie M. King.
Anne Anderson – The Snow Queen
Polina Yakovleva (a.k.a. Smokepaint) is a contemporary Russian illustrator who works in both traditional and digital media.
Polina Yakovleva – The Snow Queen
New York City native Julia Griffin has a heavy but nicely textured style, but what I really like about her art is her tendency to present the scenes she depicts from odd angles, lending dramatic effect to her illustrations. The following piece is a prime example.
Julia Griffin – The Snow Queen
Jérémie Fleury’s work can be seen most prominently at DeviantArt, where he operates under the name Trefle-Rouge. I think this illustration may be the most spot-on in terms of capturing the loneliness and desolation of Kai’s predicament.
Jérémie Fleury – The Snow Queen
Arthur Szyk is another star of the Golden Age of illustration. A Polish-born Jew, Szyk was a sensitive, socio-politically conscious artist who escaped Nazi Germany by emigrating to England during the start of WWII. He later moved to the United States, where he remained for most of his life.
Arthur Szyk – The Snow Queen (1)Arthur Szyk – The Snow Queen (2)
Yvonne Gilbert has won awards for her design and illustration, including The World’s Most Beautiful Stamp and the Golden Stamp Award for her Nativity-themed stamp designs of the mid 1980s. The following example, a theatrical poster, is a nice throwback to those classic Art Nouveau posters.
Yvonne Gilbert – The Snow Queen (theatrical poster)
And at last we arrive at my absolute favorite illustrations for this story, those of Estonian artist Vladislav Erko (or Yerko, as I’ve sometimes seen it spelled). Despite the cold, grim promise of a story set almost entirely during a Scandinavian winter, Erko fills his drawings with vibrant colors and luxurious textures, making for a joyous and inviting set of images.
Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (1)Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (2)
This next image was my computer wallpaper for awhile.
Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (3)Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (4)Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (5)Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (6)Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (7)Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (8)Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (9)Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (10)Vladislav Erko – The Snow Queen (11)
And the final image–to bring it round full circle–is by Charles Robinson.
In our continuation of the best art from the various editions of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, we look at contributions from a Golden Age great, an Art Deco master, and two contemporary artists working in the realist style.
Arthur Rackham hardly needs much of an introduction. If you don’t know his work, then I dare say you aren’t the type to be interested in illustration at all. He is widely regarded as the King of the Golden Age illustrators, and that reputation was well earned.
Arthur Rackham – The Snow Queen (1)Arthur Rackham – The Snow Queen (2)Arthur Rackham – The Snow Queen (3)Arthur Rackham – The Snow Queen (4)Arthur Rackham – The Snow Queen (5)Arthur Rackham – The Snow Queen (6)Arthur Rackham – The Snow Queen (7)Arthur Rackham – The Snow Queen (8)
Errol Le Cain was another British illustrator, though he came a bit later than Rackham, doing the bulk of his work from the late 1960s through the 1980s. Many people are aware of Le Cain through his involvement with the notoriously studio-hacked animated film project The Thief and the Cobbler. He worked mainly in a highly polished and sumptuous Art Deco style.
Errol Le Cain – The Snow Queen (1)Errol Le Cain – The Snow Queen (2)Errol Le Cain – The Snow Queen (3)Errol Le Cain – The Snow Queen (4)Errol Le Cain – The Snow Queen (5)Errol Le Cain – The Snow Queen (6)Errol Le Cain – The Snow Queen (7)Errol Le Cain – The Snow Queen (7) (detail)Errol Le Cain – The Snow Queen (8)
Bagram Ibatoulline is yet another Russian illustrator who has done a version of The Snow Queen, as well as several other beautiful children’s books like The Matchbox Diary, The Tinderbox and Crow Call. He has also illustrated many book covers.
Bagram Ibatoulline – The Snow Queen (1)Bagram Ibatoulline – The Snow Queen (2)Bagram Ibatoulline – The Snow Queen (3)Bagram Ibatoulline – The Snow Queen (4)Bagram Ibatoulline – The Snow Queen (5)
Our final series of images comes from the pen and brush of PJ Lynch, an artist who has been illustrating children’s books since the mid 1980s and has won tons of awards for his work, including the Kate Greenaway Medal.
PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (1)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (2)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (3)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (4)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (5)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (6)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (7)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (8)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (9)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (10)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (11)PJ Lynch – The Snow Queen (12)
I do have more Charles Robinson art to post, but I thought I would take a break from that to feature some work from something a bit more seasonally appropriate.
Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales are among my favorite childhood stories, and of all of them The Snow Queen is at the top of the heap for me. It is among Andersen’s longer stories and thus feels more fleshed out than his shorter, more allegorical works. The Snow Queen, first published in 1845, has clearly influenced a great many works since its publication, some more than others. I mean, in case no one noticed, a major plot point of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (not to mention the main villain) was pretty much ripped off whole-cloth from it.
There are a lot of cool things about this story. It’s one of the few fairy tales where almost all of the major heroes and the central villain are female. In fact, it is an outright reversal of the damsel in distress motif: the abducted/imprisoned victim, Kai (spelled Kay in some versions but pronounced like ‘pie’), in this case is a boy while his rescuer, Gerda, is a girl. Andersen really paid attention to the nuances of his female characters too; for example, the little robber girl who assists Gerda on her quest is one of the original tomboys of literature, a true little bad-ass who never combs her hair and sleeps with a dagger under her pillow. This is also a sweet romantic tale of first love between children, and even though it is a fairy tale–and an old one–the children rarely ring false, which, if you’ve read my earlier posts, you’ll know is a huge gripe of mine.
At any rate, many artists have tackled this work, and some of the art created for it is simply astounding. Here are several pieces from various editions of the story featuring some of the best illustrators of yesterday and today.
Henry Justice (H.J.) Ford was a British painter and Art Nouveau illustrator best known for his work on Andrew Lang’s color-coded Fairy Bookseries; trade paperback versions of these are available at Dover for a pretty reasonable price. If you don’t want to buy them, however, most of them are available as e-books at my favorite online reading spot, Open Library. I believe these illustrations came from The Pink Fairy Book.
Henry Justice Ford – The Snow Queen (1)Henry Justice Ford – The Snow Queen (2)Henry Justice Ford – The Snow Queen (3)Henry Justice Ford – The Snow Queen (4)Henry Justice Ford – The Snow Queen (5)
This next batch of lovely Art Deco flavored illustrations was created by Russian artist (one of several whose work will be seen in the Snow Queen posts–Russian children apparently adore this story, which makes sense if you think about it) who began her career not as an illustrator but as a painter and sculptor, but her father having died young, she was forced to hire out her talent in ways that provided more immediate gains so that her family could make ends meet. Yep, the history of art is full of stories like that, folks.
Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (1)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (2)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (3)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (4)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (5)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (6)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (7)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (8)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (9)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (10)Nika Goltz – The Snow Queen (11)
Contemporary British artist Christian Birmingham has illustrated prize-winning children’s books such as The Wreck of the Zanzibar and The Butterfly Lion, but seems to prefer the ones with winter settings, making The Snow Queen an ideal match-up for him. Note: some of these images are cropped from double-page spreads, so you will see some distortions due to the folding caused by the book’s spine.
Christian Birmingham – The Snow Queen (1)Christian Birmingham – The Snow Queen (2)Christian Birmingham – The Snow Queen (3)Christian Birmingham – The Snow Queen (4)Christian Birmingham – The Snow Queen (5)Christian Birmingham – The Snow Queen (6)Christian Birmingham – The Snow Queen (7)
Our final artist for the first part of our Snow Queen series is another one of those Russian illustrators I mentioned earlier. Boris Diodorov is beloved in Russia not only for his work on the traditional fairy tales and the works of Leo Tolstoy, but also for introducing a Ruskie-fied rendition of Winnie the Pooh during the Cold War, assuring millions of Russian children would grow up adoring the ticklish, honey-loving Anglo icon too. Things like that probably did way more to thaw the ice between America and the Soviet Union than the likes of Reagan and Bush Sr. anyway. But this isn’t about politics, so let’s save that for another post and just enjoy the wonderful pictures, eh? Diodorov’s work here is a little darker than that of the other artists, but it is a pretty dark story about a kidnapped boy, so it isn’t inappropriate. And I think there’s an ambiance of Rackham and Dulac (both of whom have illustrated this story as well, incidentally) here. What do you think?
Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (1)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (2)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (3)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (4)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (5)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (6)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (7)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (8)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (9)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (10)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (11)Boris Diodorov – The Snow Queen (12)
Greetings! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, Yule or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year. Not to be a downer but it’s been a tough one for some people. A good friend of mine, for example, lost his home and most of his belongings to a fire a couple of weeks back, including all of the Christmas presents he’d already bought. Luckily he made it out of the house unscathed. To make matters worse though, his 13-year-old granddaughter was staying with him at the time, though she was out of the house (next door) at the time it happened. She called me–upset and in tears–to tell me her grandpa’s house was in flames. I live less than a mile away from him so I rushed right over to comfort her and see if I could be of any assistance. By the time I arrived the house was already engulfed and the fire trucks were arriving; about all I could do by then was stay out of everyone’s way and offer moral support to the family. When all was said and done there was almost nothing left but the charred house frame.
Things like this, even when they don’t affect one directly, serve to remind him or her that the universe can be capricious and that life and livelihood are sometimes fragile things, so take that how you will. Sure, there have been setbacks for me this year too, some pretty big ones in fact, but nothing like losing my home and everything I own and for that I am ever grateful. Also, I am cherishing my friends and family just a bit more than usual these days because you never know when you might lose them forever. People do perish even on or near holidays. Which reminds me, my heart goes out to the family of little Delaney Brown–I can’t even imagine what it must be like to lose a child on Christmas day. Wow. But I am glad that her suffering is over at least.
In less depressing news, I’ve been drawing again. I’m currently working on a piece for a good friend based on Clive Barker’s Nightbreed/Cabal mythos, and I am taking inspiration from Art Nouveau, Jugenstil, Secessionism, or whichever of its dozens of names you choose to call it by, as I have been perusing the issues of Gustav Klimt’s Ver Sacrum magazine at Heidelberg University’s online library. They have most of the run of Jugendstil magazine as well if you’re interested. Even though the piece I’m doing isn’t strictly Art Nouveau, it has a definite Art Nouveau flavor and I am quite excited about the way it is turning out. I’m currently in the pencil stage, which is the most time consuming of the drawing process for these kinds of pieces; the inking stage generally goes a bit quicker because the lines are already laid down and it’s mostly a matter of tracing over them at that point. When the piece is finished I will scan it and post it here for everyone to see.
Speaking of Nightbreed, I am quite thrilled about the news that the legendary Cabal Cut of Barker’s film is finally being released to the public. I was moderately obsessed with the Cabal novel as a teenager; its story of the persecution of those who are different really resonated with me. Actually, Nightbreed was the first prerecorded VHS film I ever bought for myself, way back in the early nineties. Hard to believe it’s been over twenty years since I purchased that film, or since Kurt Cobain died by self-inflicted gunshot wound, or since the first Addams Family film hit theaters, or . . .
The second part of our artistic homage to the human skeleton brings us to a variety of pieces ranging in date from the Victorian era up to the contemporary period. This first piece is a stunning 19th century Russian rocking chair. I don’t know the artist, so I am just going to put it up sans identifying info. This falls into what is commonly called fantasy furniture, which we will take a look at properly sometime in the future. God, I would soooooo love to have this . . .
Nikolai Kalmakov was an outsider artist of Russian heritage who spent much of his life in Paris, France. Once an aristocrat, he later became a recluse, living alone and producing his work quietly in his cramped little room; it remained completely undiscovered until his death in 1955. You can peruse a nice selection of his incredible Symbolist-inflected work at this site. I really encourage you to take a look.
Nikolai Konstantinovich Kalmakov – Death and the Maiden
Noriyoshi Ohrai is a Japanese illustrator best known for his Star Wars posters and book covers, as well as a variety of other science fiction work. This piece dates from circa late 1970s and seems to be a commentary on the Vietnam War, but don’t quote me on that.
Noriyoshi Ohrai
Sam Weber is an illustrator and graphic designer based in NYC. That’s about all I know of him.
Sam Weber
Painter Chris Peters has opted to work in the long tradition of the Vanitas painting, which, if you don’t know, is an artwork in which a skull or other representation of death is incorporated to remind the viewer of his or her own mortality, although Peters takes it in a much different direction than usual by using full skeletons in common poses as the central figures.
Chris Peters – Leave the Shame BehindChris Peters – To Have and to Hold
Mathias Lopes Castro (a.k.a. Mathiole) is another recent discovery. His work is a wonderful fusion of old and new styles and reminds me a bit of the incredible James Jean.
Mathiole – Terror Vincit Omnia
Michael Whelan is one of the most recognized names in the illustration biz today, and for good reason. This piece was used as one of the covers for the DAW anthology series The Year’s Best Horror Stories.
Michael Whelan – Smiler
I have no identifying information on this final piece, but it was too beautiful not to include. If someone knows the pertinent info and/or has a larger and higher quality version of this they wouldn’t mind shooting my way, I’d very much appreciate it.
Keeping with our Halloween theme this month, let’s look at some skeleton art. We’ll focus on early illustration for the first of these posts and then diversify on the next go-round. Some of these are anatomical illustrations, others symbolic representations of death, and still others used simply for their decorative appeal. But they’re all creepy in their own way.
Étienne de la Rivière – La dissection des parties du corps humain (Paris, 1546)
There’s nothing like an arrangement of infants’ skeletons to really give one the heebie-jeebies.
Frederik Ruysch – Alle de Ontleed, Genees, en Heelkundige Werken (Amsterdam, 1744)Jacques Gamelin – Nouveau recueil d’ostéologie et de myologie (1779)Mary S. Gove (after Wm. Cheselden) – From ‘Lectures to ladies on anatomy and physiology’ (1842)
This next image you’ve probably seen in some form or other but didn’t know who the artist was or what it was called. Well, if you’ve ever wondered, here is the relevant info. Rethel actually did a few of these images of Death, including the drawing directly following the one below, but this is the most famous of them. This piece was so powerful it is said to have caused his friends nightmares, no kidding.
Alfred Rethel – Death the AvengerAlfred Rethel – Death the Friend
The following drawing was part of a series of anatomical illustrations created as an artist’s reference by anatomist Francesco Bertinatti and illustrator Mecco Leone. By the mid 1800s, with the explosion of art in the Victorian world and an increasingly realistic understanding of anatomy, these sorts of references became quite popular. This one, as is evident from the size of the skull in relation to the rest of the skeleton, is of a young child.
Francesco Bertinatti, Mecco Leone – Elementi di anatomia fisiologica applicata alle belle arti figurative (1837-39)
With the Industrial Revolution at full tilt in the early 20th century, there were dangers aplenty in factories and warehouses, and with many workers at the time being barely literate, posters like these were often much more effective at getting the point across than simple text-only signs. This poster carries the same words in Czech and German: “Be careful of hanging loads!”
Artist Unknown – Střež se visících břemen!
Similar posters were also used to warn drivers and pedestrians to be careful around those new high-speed machines that were becoming more and more ubiquitous. I really like the overall design of this poster. It is somewhat cartoonish, but that doesn’t diminish its elegance or its power at all, I think, and the lovely Art Deco touches elevate this to something more than just a public service message.
“Beware of traffic on all roads whether coming or going” reads the text of this Dutch poster, arranged into a little rhyme for extra memorability.
Artist Unknown – Veilig VerkeerPierre Giffart – VanityAbraham S. Clara – Mercks Wienn (1680)
Incidentally, the majority of these came from the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s morbidly beautiful Dream Anatomy exhibit. Each of the images is accompanied by a brief description of its history, and the series is placed in historical context. It’s well worth checking out if you are intrigued by such things.
Here are a handful of artists that are perfect for admiring while you wait for the creeping approach of All Hallow’s Eve. I’ve actually chosen pieces that are relatively mild for some of these guys, so if you have the stomach for the more gruesome stuff, I’ll lead you in the right direction and the rest is up to you . . .
John Abrahamson happens to be one of the first artists I discovered when I got my internet connection lo these many years ago. His work often incorporates the sort of religious iconography that flourished in the Middle Ages, only turned to darker ends. While at first these appear to be little more than overtly Satanic paintings, in reality they are sensitive meditations on individual suffering, guilt and frustration that use occult semiotics to that end.
Kris Kuksi is a sculptor who takes the concept of model kit-bashing in whole new, completely spectacular directions. His finely detailed pieces call to mind (and frequently reference) Gothic cathedral ornamentation, rococo design and Indian Hindu temple decorations, matching these with military weaponry for an interesting take on modern international warfare. The muted or monotone colors lend the false impression of age and weight to the pieces.
Kris Kuksi – A New DivinityKris Kuksi – Sanctuary of the Bewildered
Maciej Swieszewski was a recent discovery. His disturbing, intricate brand of surrealism seems to draw a good deal of inspiration from the likes of the phenomenal Ian Miller, among others. I particularly like the first painting here, with its many shades of green and yellow. For me it calls to mind Fleetwood Mac’s “The Green Manalishi“, a song about the mental breakdown caused by frequent use of LSD.
Maciej Swieszewski – Ecce HomoMaciej Swieszewski – Smietnisko
And last but not least, what would this post be without a couple of pieces from the dark art granddaddy of them all, H. R. Giger? What can be said about Giger that hasn’t already been said?
Indigo Xix 