All Shapes and Sizes

Faeries come in all shapes and sizes . . .

from Johnny Gruelle's My Very Own Fairy Stories, 1917

Always a Pleasure

It's always a pleasure to see work by Johnny Gruelle, he of Raggedy Ann and Andy fame — wonderful fairy tale author and illustrator of the early 20th century, he had a nice range of style.

Johnny Gruelle — illustration from Grimm's Fairy Tales — 1918

Troubles

You and me pal, we think WE got troubles . . .

Lancelot Speed — from The Red Fairy Book

That Flaming Chariot

1930s

One night there appeared in the sky above the Duke's castle a flaming chariot drawn by fiery dragons. And the next morning the lovely daughter of the Duke was nowhere to be found. So everyone knew that some evil creature, having the powers of enchantment, had carried her off in that flaming chariot.

Luminous Life

Scott Gustafson is a painter/illustrator that gives luminous life to fairy tales, legends and nursery rhymes, successfully making the work sweet, without pouring on tons of sugar. Visit his website here.

Scott Gustafson — The Maiden and the Unicorn

Russian Art & Design

Golden age Russian art and design make me feel warm and cozy.

Ivan Bilibin — The Feast — 1905

Ivan Bilibin — Fairy Tales — 1899

Wally's World

I've fallen behind in gearing up the premier of my new blog, because I'm still tied up with overwhelming deadlines. But I don't want you to give up on me and our mutual love of the pictorial arts. So every few days for a while I'll try to give you some reasons to keep coming back to this blog.

Herein are some illustrative graphics by the beloved Wally Wood, from his pet project, The World of the Wizard King, a foray into adult fairy tales, as Wood was wont to do.

All art this post ©1968 Wallace Wood

la Belle Melusine

I'm determined to relate this image to those of the last two posts, as being part of the same enchanted realm. A 14th century tale tells of la Belle Melusine, daughter of a mortal king and the faerie Elinas Pressine, here in a wedding procession near the Forest Coulombiers.

Jessie Bayes — The Marriage of la Belle Melusine

The Wizard and the Child

An odd, but interesting little graphic by Rose O'Neill, originator of the Kewpie . . . with an odd, but interesting little story . . .

Rose O'Neill — The Wizard and the Child —1920s

Rescue

Oh, hurry, hurry, HURRY!! . . . SAVE him!!!

Arthur Rackham — The Rescue — 1905

Early Days

In his early days, this guy lasted but 6 months as a Cincinnati local editorial cartoonist, and among various jobs here and there, he created some illustrations for the Mark Twain Journal (looking a great deal like Pat Oliphant's world-renowned cartooning style).

And then he became pretty world-renowned himself:

© Bill Watterson

The Go-To Man

Scott Gustafson is the go-to man to bring fairy tales to life. These images are from a telling of Tom Thumb, but the Gandalfesque one directly below makes you wonder how amazing his rendition of Middle Earth might be.

Scott Gustafson — Tom Thumb

Scott Gustafson — Tom Thumb

Scott Gustafson — Tom Thumb