A MidSummer-Night's Dream—part 3

Some more William Heath Robinson ink illustrations from probably my favorite book ever, A MidSummer Night's Dream.

Hermia. Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet.

WW

With all the hoo-roar regarding Wonder Woman's outfit, it's nice to look back to this 1994 iconic pinup of WW by Ty Templeton.

Check in on Ty Templeton here.

Message to Murmansk

Ah, the great team-ups of visual story-telling history. From William Shakespeare and William Robinson (albeit a few hundred years apart), to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

There's just something about Simon and Kirby that defines the golden age of comix. And here, the Boy Commandos report for duty in World's Finest Comics for a while.

A MidSummer-Night's Dream—part 2

Another folio of illustrations by W.H. Robinson from maybe my favorite illustrated book ever, A MidSummer Night's Dream. More to come.

Hippolyta: "Four days will quickly steep themselves in night."

Egeus: "This man hath bewitch'd the bosom of my child."

Advice for the Image Morgue

I remember, years ago, one of those Walter Foster books on cartooning, gave advice for collecting pictures for the image morgue. The guy said, y'know, collect pictures of everything you might need — lawnmowers and lampposts, buckets and barstools—not just the things you have a weakness for, like (in his case) pretty girls and streamlined trains.

My picture morgue has diversity alright, but I too have a weakness—for pretty girls and galaxies as seen from other worlds. I hardly ever find the two subjects together, but here at least I get double the galaxy— a cool painting by David A. Hardy of colliding galaxies seen over a civilization influenced by their privileged view. Hardy's website can be found here.

A MidSummer-Night's Dream—part 1

William Heath Robinson is my favorite of the Robinson brothers, illustrators of the golden age of book illustration. And the 1914 A MidSummer-Night's Dream is my favorite book of his, and maybe of all time. I am so enamored of this book and the beautiful use of negative space with perfectly rendered ink drawings. There are many illustrations in this book, and my time is limited, so I'm going to post only ten images at a time over the next couple of weeks.

Oberon. And make him with fair Ægle break his faith

(frontispiece)

The Nile Hunt

Before I forget —(blush) actually I DID forget—to also show one more amazing 1876 painting of Hans Makart, The Nile Hunt of Cleopatra, I'm posting it now, better late than never. Maybe you've seen it on the web or in a book, but for those who haven't . . .

Art of the Pin-Up

Jim Silke has such a talent for bringing a designerly illustrative quality to the comix. It's fitting that he, being a life-long aficionado of the pin-up, should make everything he creates a loving tribute to that art.

The character Arwyn, from the CrossGeneration comic series Sojourn

Hans' Studio

One day I came across this old etching showing the artist Hans Makart in his studio around 1880. I had not heard of the fellow prior to that, but it looked like an interesting studio, especially so for some of the paintings hanging around. In particular the one in the upper left corner really caught my fancy, and I got to wondering if it was a true painting or just a flight of fancy for this image.

Well, lo and mighty, it truly is a Makart painting, and it's a beauty:

The Triumph of Ariadne

As well, a true painting of Cleopatra represented in the etching:

The Death of Cleopatra