Brahma's Golden Egg

'Brahma,

says Hindu tradition,

created the Universe from a golden egg.

First he made the waters and in them put a seed.

It grew into an egg, which Brahma split open.

From the golden half came the heavens,

from the silver half, Earth.

From the egg came all creation.'

If I were given the above passage as an assignment for an illustration, I don't know that I'd feel it could be captured in a small rendering . Yet it was, in an elegant solution from an artist that, I'm sorry to say, I haven't yet identified—since the image was floating around in my image morgue.

Fireside Fairytales

This is a fanciful image that can weave seductive daydreams for me.

Imagine a vast library and this might be but one chamber, and these are the world's greatest illustrated volumes of faerie lore (with perhaps some special volumes from 'the other side').

© 1992 Randal Spangler — Fireside Fairytales

This is what it says on the advertisement for the print:

Join the wizard Ladnar and his wife Eleanor by the fireside as they tell of their adventures in the magical land of Ohm. Their listeners come from both sides of the magic mirror, and include the chocolate-loving Draglings™ (small house-dragons), Dagmar and Dewey.

If this catches your fancy, you probably will want to click here to go to Randal Spangler's Fantastic Art Realm, where you can purchase any number of fanciful prints of his work. He's got some other really cool views of the expansive library and some houses you'll probably want to live in.

Soonish or Later

It's been 6 months since I told Joe that I'd post more Bob Peak work 'soonish'. Well . . . you know how it goes sometimes. Joe, I have a bit more of Peak that'll come up more soonish than 6 months—you'll see.

Bob Peak — used for a self-promo

By Georges

Georges Jules Victor Clairin was a French painter and illustrator, working in the heady days of the Art Nouveau movement. Like Mucha, Clairin was drawn to Sarah Bernhardt, in more ways than one.

Poster of Sarah Bernhardt as Theodora by Georges Clairin

Theatrical setting of Bernhardt as Theodora by Georges Clairin

Theatrical setting of La Vierge d'Avila (The Virgin of Avila)

by Georges Clairin

Rescuing Some Images

This is another case of rescuing some images from a book that was falling apart and had been thrown away: Willy Pogany's Watercolor Lessons. © 1950 by Willy Pogany.

Checklist

Frank Frazetta and Roy Krenkel are forever linked through their decades of work and friendship, inspiring each other on to create their best.

Frank Frazetta — 1950s sketches

Roy Krenkel — Sorcery

As well, they are forever linked to the Edgar Rice Burroughs' oeuvre of work, exciting the imagination more with their paint and ink, than perhaps ERB's words do (though don't get me wrong—they are ripping yarns).

A question came in from one of our good friends, regarding the ERB Ace John Carter books. He was having trouble figuring out just where they originally appeared and how many total there were. He's got four of them, but he can't find an image of a paperback with the universally famous artwork of the A Princess of Mars, and he's wondering what exactly to look for.

Well, first off, there ARE only four John Carter Ace paperbacks from the 60s, and A Princess of Mars is, inexplicably, not one of them. And when the new Ace series, with new Frazetta art, rolled out, none of the John Carter novels were among them. Instead, the hardback editions, published by Nelson Doubleday, presented Frazetta's mature paintings on dust covers and interior pen and inks. And that is where we find maybe the finest interpretations ever of the Barsoom series.

For any help it might provide, I'm posting below a checklist of ERB Ace paperbacks by Frazetta and Krenkel, gathered by Bruce Brenner in the lovely Fanzine Qua Brot, published some years ago. Disclosure: I did some editing to present only the information pertinent to this post.

Pool Party

To quote from a previous post of mine:

Have you ever seen the Teenie Weenies, the tribe of little people created by William Donahey several generations ago? They are these really little people that coexist with our normal size objects. Over the years, Donahey drew and painted many many of these images for newspapers, magazines, books and advertisements—all for the amusement of children.

Here it is Saturday morning and I just stumbled across one of the Teenie Weenies images, and I had a flashback to when I was a kid. On some Saturday mornings I would barricade myself into the bathroom with my shoebox full of army men, cowboys, pirates and knights; and have a pool party. I'm bettin' some of you did that too?

Gosh, I've always loved Saturday mornings.

Lots of Inspiration

No matter how dated Rolf Armstrong's subjects may look, I still get lots of inspiration from his technique to bring to my pastel drawings.

Rolf Armstrong — Puck — March 27, 1915

Artaxerxes

I'm tied up all day Friday in a meeting, so I'll upload tomorrow's post tonite.

Two posts ago, an anonymous commenter asked (I think he was asking) if I know of Gustave Doré, the outrageously prolific illustrator of the 19th century. Well, yes of course, most of us know and appreciate his amazing illustrations for some of the great classic books, including the Christian Bible. And of course I knew that he teamed with various engravers to bring his art to reproduction in the early days of mass printing, line work being necessary to create mood and atmosphere.

But I sort of thought Dore pencilled it in loosely, and the engravers took over, like modern comic book pencillers and inkers. But actually, I guess, for the most part, the engraver slavishly translated Dore's finished paintings to line work. But his paintings are rarely published.

However, here's a painting that we can line up with its engraved result. It's fascinating to compare them, to see how the engraver was faithful, and where he altered little things—including adding different little figures across the way on the far steps.

I would pay dearly for a coffee table book of Dore's full color paintings that we're so familiar with in black and white.

Gustave Doré — Artaxerxes Granting Liberty to the Jews

"I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel . . . which are minded . . . to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee . . .

(Ezra 7:13)

Really Old Days

In the really old days of the early 20th century, kids didn't have comic books. Sure they had dime novels and such, but they also had real books to capture their imagination.

Eh, pardon an old fart as he waxes nostalgic for the days well before his time.

Tales from the Mahabharata

Some golden age illustrators dwell in the moon-lit shadows of appreciation rather than the rosy sunshine bask of others. Frank Papé (pronounced pawPAY) is one such. Much of his work is intriguing and satisfying, but he's on the teetering edge of obscurity.

I have several more of his books, but let's start with this little number, Tales from the Mahabharata, a 1924 edition.

To read a short but interesting bio about Papé, click here.

Full of Wonder Illustrators

This is one of the most wonderful illustrations of the 1970s, by the most full of wonder illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon—created with pastel, watercolor, acrylic and marbleized paper.

Leo & Diane Dillon — Child of the Morning — 1977

artwork above and below © 1981 Leo and Diane Dillon

for the Dell book Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge

pencil preliminary sketch

Life is Actually Very Peaceful

A new category! 'Stuff that's been hanging on the fridge . . .'

Kevin Fagan — Drabble — 1995-10-28

Saucy

A couple of saucy enchantresses by Norman Lindsay:

From the Ah, If Only Dept.

These 2 pages, drawn by Curt Swan, helped usher the Silver Age of DC into the Bronze Age. There's a lot of nostalgia for Gold and Silver Ages, but a lot of that stuff was pretty lame and silly. The Bronze Age of the super heroes was pretty good stuff, still a little silly, but not so obviously.

Ah, if only I could go back to '71, the things I'd do differently. For one thing I would appreciate that time more than I did the first time around. Also I'd spend a little more dough, collecting stuff—and hanging on to it!

Love All of the Days

Looking a bit like an Engelbreit card, this page was part of a set of pages from a 1903 children's magazine by Sarah Stilwell.

If I were the sort of person to make a New Year's resolution, I think it might be somewhat along this sentiment.

Sarah S. Stilwell — 1903

January 1 — Stop This Theme

Below, another gritty Lady in the Red Dress Winter Fiction cover. And with this group I think I'll stop this theme of New Yorker holiday covers that you've had to put up with for almost a month. I could go on for several more days with New Year covers, but really, I think we've had enough for now. That doesn't mean I won't return to my New Yorker stash every now and then, cuz there are bee-you-tiful covers throughout the year.

Anyway, once again, I'm wishing for a year we can all feel good about, but let's compare notes in 365.