Spirit of Delight

Don't give up on this blog, just been busy. Great stuff yet to come.

Meanwhile, look, 'frigerator magnet! Straight off the fridge, just 'cause it is delightful in its own small way. Now I gotta go put it back before the fam misses it.

Sacred

I love sacred pools, groves and grottos . . .

© Gilbert Williams — The Offering

Make Themselves at Home

I received a really nice email from Michael McC, who recently discovered the beautiful work of Golden Age great John Bauer. Michael noticed I didn't have any posts with him listed and thought he would be at home on this blog. Well, I'm certainly aware of Bauer and greatly admire his work, I just didn't want to compete with Mr. Door Tree's site where he has shown a slew of Bauer's work here.

But to honor Michael's opinion, I've opened the door and invited a couple of Bauer's pieces to make themselves at home.

Thanks for thinking of this blog, Michael!

 John Bauer — Freja

John Bauer — Winter Tales About the Yule Goat — 1912

Once Upon a High Place

You never know what you may see once upon a high place . . .

Kees Van Dongen — Tango of the Archangel — circa 1930

Two Versions and a Sketch

This is a pretty powerful composition that seems almost Frazetta-like in its sweep and execution, even though it was painted nearly a hundred years before the fantasy master. It was interesting to find two versions and a sketch and assemble them together here.

Évariste Vital Luminais — Flight of King Gradlon — circa 1884

 Luminais

Luminais

They've Got Pictures in Them? Oo!

Somewhere in this little graphic fable is a lesson to learn well. Choose it wisely. This fellow chose . . . poorly.

©1983 Joost Swarte — Complete Your Collection 

Golden Dream

My posts are a little spotty lately because I've been spending so much time on the new Pictorial Arts Journal that will soon be rolling out its premier prototype. I will be posting about the Journal soon, and looking for a little advice about website formatting. 

In the meantime I'll keep posting when I can, such as this dreamy (literally) image from the Golden Age of Illustration.

Jessie M. King — Love's Golden Dream — 1913

Mysterious and Strangely Inviting

Bertha Lum — Goblin Dance

Curatives for the Soul

Can't you just feel the gentle warmth, the fragrant breeze, the peace and tranquility? Meditating on infused images like this can be curatives for the soul.

Harold Knight — The Morning Sun — circa 1912

Magnificent Big Cat

A magnificent portrait of a magnificent big cat . . .

Jack Murray — The Saturday Evening Post — August 29, 1931

The Wizard Prince of Arabia — WOW

I'm not really fond of circuses as we generally know them, with clowns and acrobats and such. But  THE WIZARDRY, WONDERS & MAGIC of THE ORIENT in A NEW WORDLESS PLAY of OPULENT GRANDEUR, with 1250 Actors and Actresses, 300 Dancing Girls, 350 Persons Playing Musical Intruments, 250 Singers in Weird Oriental Choruses and 3250 Costly Costumes is gonna pique my interest and I'll be back to see this show every day it's in town, you betcha!

Barnum & Bailey — The Wizard Prince of Arabia — 1914

Faraway Places

Yes boys, even girls have dreams of adventure in faraway places . . .

The American Girl — November 1930

Ever Fabulous

Here's another one of those seldom seen preliminary studies by the ever fabulous Mucha from the ever fabulous Art Nouveau period.

Alphonse Mucha — preliminary study for an illustration — 1898

Lovely Texture

There is a lovely texture to this landscape image . . .

Ludwig Jungnickel — stencil landscape — circa 1905

Poetic but Fearsome

 The last post showed a late 19th century vision of a young faun. Here is a an early 21st century vision of a mature faun, of course from Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. Fauns are poetic but fearsome (unpredictable) creatures.

Doug Jones as the Faun — Pan's Labyrinth — 2006

Der Fliegenfänger

I'm posting this image of an interesting sculpture if nothing more than because I like typing and saying its name, and interestingly enough seems to translate as 'The Flypaper'.

Karl Seffner — Der Fliegenfänger — circa 1898

Don't Let Yourself Be Trapped

Women, don't let yourself be trapped into a relationship with a pig, no matter how handsome or charming he may be . . .

Wilhelm Volz — 1902

Wonderfullly Soft, Strictly Natural

I have a deep thirst.

Noyer — Source Brault — 1938

Special Representative

Mike Deodato — Wonder Woman — © DC Comics

Thank you Diana, your help would be most welcome!

Wunderhorn

This boy is having entirely too much fun with his magical horn.

after Moritz von Schwind — Des Knaben Wunderhorn — 1879