We Move Too Fast!

This was a sweet little graphic for a sweet little product, circa 1913. I sincerely wish that transportation had not progressed beyond this sort of conveyance (it's really similar to Grandma Duck's auto as rendered by Carl Barks). As a society we move too fast and have made things too complicated...and too reliable on non-renewable energy sources.

Looking at this image last night, as I was processing it, I suddenly wondered who the hell is driving here?  It's a hundred years too early for the Google Self-Driving Car!

Star Lore

Even for star lore and mythology, this piece seems rather enigmatic, which of course is part of its appeal.

Art by Julius Diez, circa 1915

Shape of the Clouds

"Daddy, daddy, look up there at the shape of the clouds! I see a ducky and a frog! What do YOU see?

"Well, I see, um, well...uh...hmm, that is, well—hmmmm..."

Franz Stassen — from a German edition of Faust

No Reason

Pretty much all of us first got to 'know' Superman in some manner from his many incarnations as envisioned in comic books, paintings, novels, games, movies, & TV shows. My very first introduction to the character was during the Eisenhower era, when I was just a little squirt waiting my turn in an Ohio barbershop, where dozens of coverless DC comics were strewn about. 

The artist was Wayne Boring, whose distinctive style many times showed Superman running through the air, rather than flying. Another element that Mr. Boring showed a lot was the city of Metropolis shining in the background, using vertical ink lines, giving the fictional city a distinctive personality. The panel showing here was from a puzzle page in a '50s comic that I remember as one of the first images I ever saw of the guy. 

No reason for posting this now, but when I look at this iconic drawing, I can vividly recall the smell of the barbershop with the Old Spice and other manly aromas. I loved being a kid.

Wayne Boring

Idyllic

This is an 1896 painting by Alfred East called Idyll of Spring.

You know what? I like idyllic paintings . . .

Hello Out There

It's been quite a while since I've been here on this site. I've been really busy. I could start posting again, if I thought anyone missed having me here...

Art by Richard Doyle — An Elfin Dance in Faerie Land 
middlish 1800s

Merry Christmas!

To All Our Friends

My card and wish for all of you, my Internet Friends!

Haunting Entities

Ghosts aren't the only haunting entities in our world. Faerie hosts have been thought, occasionally, to have breached the portal between realms and to have haunted our culture for centuries. 

One should be so lucky to see a sight such as this:

Johan August Malmstrom — Faerie Host — 1866

Them Witches

Gettin' them witches ready to RIDE . . .

William Mortensen — 1926

Graveyard Dancing

This uncommon Frazetta painting demonstrates the joy of graveyard dancing, especially when sky clad and witchy.

Frank Frazetta

Punkin Guts

O boy! Time to harvest those greasy grimy punkin guts!

Witches Come Forth

Witches come forth in many forms from an artist's vision.

Virgil Finlay 

Ghosts and Their Funny Ways

This is a Rackham that you don't often see . . .

Arthur Rackham — Ghosts and Their Funny Ways — 1902

That Painting

This fellow's portrait has my vote to be that painting in the massive frame in the dark cold hallway of a spooky castle, whose eyes follow you as you walk past.

Portrait of Willem II painted in the 1690s
by Godfried Schalcken

Hideous and Beautiful

Now this is what I expect a ghost to look like, hideous and beautiful.

Takato Yamamoto

Reading Such Books

And of course reading such books can heighten your imagination!

Both images: Anna & Elena Balbusso

Writer of Supernatural Fiction

Many a time, a writer of supernatural fiction will write most effectively so as to scare themselves. 

Many a time that works only too well.

Howard McCormick — Collier's Magazine cover 10-24-1908

This art published exactly 106 years ago 

(with the background color knocked out) 

Ghosts on Stairs

I've allus been afeared of ghosts on stairs. It's a phobia of mine.

A Little Halllowe'en-ish

Yep, it's always gotta be Sin mediating between Satan and Death...

William Hogarth — Satan, Sin & Death — somewhere in the 1700s

Actually, the story line here is a bit intriguing, as it emanates from Milton's Paradise Lost. Satan confronts the old guy, Death, who is blocking the way from Hell to Earth. Sin, in the middle here, reveals to Satan that she's his daughter...and get this...that Death is their incestuous child!

The engraving, below, is based on Hogarth's painting, losing in the translation, particularly in Satan's features. In the painting, Satan looks like he would if Peter Jackson were to film Milton's epic poem.