The beaver is a proud and noble animal
Notes from a bemused canuck
Photographer Sacha Goldberger has reimagined comic-book heroes and Star Wars characters in the style of old masters, in his photo series ‘Super Flamands’
Language of the Heart: What the heart wants and the heart needs can be found in a Fabio Napoleoni painting. Nostalgia, sorrow and elation; all are there for the world to see and experience. His vivid use of color and the captivating characters he has created welcome you to an emotional experience that affects not only your mind but deeply touches your heart. Although Napoleoni has been influenced by some of the world’s great artists, he has taken that influence and imbued his work with its essence, creating masterpieces that are uniquely his. Napoleoni’s simple landscapes set the stage for dramatic emotional revelations that speak to our common humanity.
Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1972, Napoleoni suffered from an extreme form of asthma that all but left him bed-ridden for most of his childhood. Many days and weeks were spent on the family sofa surrounded by art supplies given to him by his mother. An artist herself, she noticed that creating art came easily to her son, his imagination his escape from his illness. So, during the times that asthma overwhelmed him, she supplied his creative side with the tools to create.
Many events influenced Fabio’s artwork but none more than the traumatic events that followed the birth of his second child. His daughter, born with severe heart abnormalities, had to face several surgeries to correct issues that could have prevented her from having a future. Overwhelmed with his daughter’s poor health and surrounded by an emotional sea of sorrow from other parents in the same situation, Fabio grew. While his wife and daughter slept, Fabio wandered the halls of the Children’s Care Unit looking for a spot where he could sketch out his personal thoughts. From these thoughts a new form of creativity was born. The doors to Fabio Napoleoni’s Heart were now opened for the world to experience.
With his vibrant, bold use of color along with the child-like characters he has created, Fabio has managed to imbue his canvases with an emotional value that had been missing before his revelation at his daughter’s bedside. His paintings could have a thousand titles and every one would be fitting of the image he has created; but one thing is for sure, you will always find a beautiful Heart in every piece of his work. A symbol of his love for his daughter . . . she lives today and will forever in his work.
Created exclusively for the Chuck Jones Gallery to coincide with Comic Con International, July 23 – 27, in San Diego, is “Serious” a new fine art reproduction on paper from the art star, Fabio Napoleoni. Two world-famous characters, Marcenivo by Fabio Napoleoni, America’s amazing art star, and Marvin Martian by Chuck Jones, arguably the most influential American animation director of the last 100 years, come together for the first time. There’s no time for destroying the earth when Marcenivo grabs a hold of your heart, his love even quells Marvin’s more ambitious plans for world domination, seriously.
Most of these pictures came from /r/ColorizedHistory, which is a Reddit subforum dedicated to high quality colorizations of historical black and white images, and discussions of a historical nature.
Written by Edward Gorey, the book was first published in 1963. In it. Gorey tells the tale of 26 children (each representing a letter of the alphabet) and their untimely deaths in rhyming dactylic couplets, accompanied by the author’s distinctive black and white illustrations. It is one of Edward Gorey’s best-known books, and is the most notorious amongst his roughly half-dozen mock alphabets. It has been described as a “sarcastic rebellion against a view of childhood that is sunny, idyllic, and instructive”. The morbid humor of the book comes in part from the mundane ways in which children die. Far from illustrating the dramatic and fantastical childhood nightmares, these scenarios instead poke fun at the banal paranoias that come as a part of parenting. Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American writer and artist noted for his illustrated books. His characteristic pen-and-ink drawings often depict vaguely unsettling narrative scenes in Victorian and Edwardian settings.
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A is for AMY who fell down the stairs |
| B is for BASIL assaulted by bears |  |
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C is for CLARA who wasted away |
| D is for DESMOND thrown out of a sleigh |  |
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E is for ERNEST who choked on a peach |
| F is for FANNY sucked dry by a leech |  |
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G is for GEORGE smothered under a rug |
| H is for HECTOR done in by a thug |  |
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I is for IDA who drowned in a lake |
| J is for JAMES who took lye by mistake |  |
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K is for KATE who was struck by an axe |
| L is for Leo who swallowed some tacks |  |
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M is for MAUDE who was swept out to sea |
| N is for NEVILLE who died of ennui |  |
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O is for OLIVE run through with an awl |
| P is for PRUE trampled flat in a brawl |  |
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Q is for QUENTIN who sank in the mire |
| R is for RHODA consumed by a fire |  |
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S is for SUSAN who perished of fits |
| T is for TITUS who flew into bits |  |
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U is for UNA who slipped down a drain |
| V is for VICTOR squashed by a train |  |
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W is for WINNIE embedded in ice |
| X is for XERXES devoured by mice |  |
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Y is for YORRICK whose head was knocked in |
| Z is for ZILLAH who drank too much gin |  |
At the Columbus College of Art and Design, two rogue college students are creating quite a stir… but not by any normal means. They aren’t cheating or stealing, they are causing a creative riot. The anonymous duo, who go by the name Dangerdust, sneak into a classroom each week and create a masterpiece out of nothing but chalk. The pair are both seniors in Advertising & Graphic Design, and they are probably busy with a larger than life course-load, but they still remain passionate about their weekly chalk art. These two create some of the most beautiful (and inspiring) art you’ll ever see.
Artist godohelp made this awesome series of Disney Princesses/ladies wearing their Princes/male characters clothes! She resized the clothing to fit the females but didn’t change the outfits other than that. She made the costume selections on what suited the girls best and the results are amazing!
Covered from head-to-toe in body paint, these brave models blend in perfectly alongside a succession of wild animals. After seven-hours in make-up over four days, they look completely at home whether tangling with a 12ft-long python, staring down cheetahs, or riding on the back of an elephant. The bizarre images were taken by wildlife photographer Lennette Newell and form part of her ‘Ani-Human’ series of portraits.
Growing up the daughter of a vet in San Francisco, her childhood dream was to become one of the animals her father used to treat. Some four decades later, the 52-year-old artist has finally realised her ambition – with the help of models who have nerves of steel. Ms Newell said: “I wanted to show humans and their animal brothers in a new light that we maybe hadn’t been seen before.”
A great amount of care was taken to ensure that the animals were treated humanely during the shoot. Ms Newell said: “Each of the animals came with their trainers and every second they were observed and watched whenever the models came in contact with the animals. Some like Susie the elephant were fine to work with, the only problem she posed was how to get the model Kaela on top. In the end we used a long ladder and then we set about photographing inside the mammoth studios. For another model, Jasmina, and the cheetah and tigers it was bit different. We had to make sure that they were comfortable around her and that she had ample time to make a getaway should they become uncomfortable.”
But the fun project had a serious side as it is meant to remind viewers that man is an animal himself. “I think that we forget our origins as animals ourselves,” Ms Newell said. “We need to reconnect with nature and we should be closer to the animals that live on this world. We should look on these pictures as something more natural and not as odd as they might first seem. I used to fantasise about being the animals that my father used to treat and now with this project I am a little closer.”
Working with 75lb snakes and playful tigers proved difficult for the thin female models. Ms Newell said: “The tigers just wanted to play, but with their claws and the fact that Jasmina was naked, it was a problem for her obviously. But that aside, the cats were watched at all times and everyone had a great time during the shoot.”
Word art like this is a form of graphic design that I love.
Also, look at these. I’ve just been recently reminded of them, and they’re still kick-ass!
Jenny Parks is a scientific illustrator that also happens to be a shameless nerd, with a penchant for drawing animals, dinosaurs, imaginary creatures… and occasionally, people as cats. Somehow, she found herself with a bit of internet fame with the illustration ‘Doctor Mew’, and has been baffled ever since. With a BFA in illustration from the California College of the Arts, and a graduate degree in Science Illustration from UC Santa Cruz, she now resides in San Francisco as a freelance illustrator, fulfilling her destiny to make a living drawing cute, fuzzy things. She has most recently done variant covers for a few Marvel comics for their Animal Variant series.
