Tuesday, December 7, 2010

'Retro-Renaissance'

I love Diane and Leo Dillon, as artists and as people. I can't believe it's been nearly 18 months since I posted about them, but here's what I said then, that still holds true now:

Husbands and wives rarely work together well, or so I've heard. But Leo and Diane Dillon are so good together, they literally work on top of each other's work. My wife and I aspire to work similarly, but we have found how difficult that is.


My wife and I are working on a book project together right now where we literally blend our efforts together. We are constantly inspired by the Dillon's work and lives.

Here is a lovely group of 'retro-renaissance' works by the Dillons:

Armadillo Woman

Sketch for Armadillo Woman

Owl Woman

Sketch for Owl Woman

Cricket Woman

Grasshopper Woman

These are all © Leo and Diane Dillon.
Don't forget everything on this Blog is copyrighted by somebody!

4 comments:

Drax said...

Oh, too cool. I love these two and I miss them. Thanks.

Annie said...

Hi Thom,
I enjoy all quality children's book illustration. It's one of the joys of being a youth services librarian, though I collected children's book before I became one, and even before my son was born. I love their picture books, and the cover art they did for a young adult fantasy series by Garth Nix: The Abhorsen Trilogy. I heard James Ransome speak once at a library conference. His paintings are realistic, and I was impressed learning about his working methods. I wrote about his talk at my site. He also collaborates sometimes with his wife, illustrating books she's written, with her input.

Glen Story said...

Thomas,
I've been a fan of the Dillons ever since I saw one of their drawings in an old issue of Wally Wood's wonderful Witzend. As I used to do with Frazetta, I've often bought books just because the cover was by Leo and Diane. I have many of their gorgeous children's books. (Why is it assumed that, once we're no longer children, we have no interest in such profusely illustrated visual feasts?) I enjoy their rich patterning even more than I do that of Klimt.

Glen

kat said...

Have you seen the work of Olga Dugina and Andrej Dugin? They are an utterly astounding husband and wife team from Russia working in Germany that have illustrated a number of books. Dugina and Dugin do work that is truly beyond belief.