A Path Through the Past

In moving our home, I've been going through more boxes of my mom's and dad's. It's a perilous journey, finding a path through the past, with sadness, anger, bewilderment . . . boredom. But once in a while something bright and cheerful pops up. Such as it is with this artifact from my past—a landscape on a masonite board with a thick cut-out (with applied felt) of ol' Pinocchio struttin' down the road, finding his own path.

The very earliest memories of my life include seeing this panel, framed on the wall above my bed (crib?). And here it is, just a little worse for wear.

And here I am, around the age that I first laid eyes on that cheerful Disney icon — me, these days, just a little worse for wear.

Thomas Haller Buchanan . . . age 2 (?) GPOY?

Yes, it's a hand-tinted photo—that's how old I am

Girl with Teapot

I don't know of an illustrative purpose for this Art Nouveau ink and watercolor rendering — it's probably 'just' a framable decorative.

Hans Christiansen —Girl with Teapot — 1893

Shadows of Lace

Excellent treatment of shadows of lace . . .

Edwin Georgi — Cosmopolitan illustration

Chapel of Mystic Horror

Of the early Weird Tales magazines, I feel that Hugh Rankin was the most interesting illustrator. I'd love to know more about the man.

Hugh Rankin — Weird Tales — December 1928

Ah

Ah, each evening, to surrender to sweet embraceable night.

Gustave Moreau — Night

Long Count

As a species of animal, the human race is born of, and rooted to, the earth—yet with our eyes fixed upon the stars.  

Still, many of us are limited in what we see and understand, still clouded by a shell of superstition and ignorance. The sciences should not stay elevated to the elite priests and shamans of technology, with jargon and techniques that leave the masses bewildered, or complacent in their short-sighted ignorance. Rather, we should promote the long count of knowledge with an eye to countering religious superstition and focus our energies to the benefit of our planet and its future.

The Mayan long count calendar has restarted. So should the calendar of humankind, starting a true age of enlightenment.

Above, Tullio Pericoli — Beneath the Stars — 1985

Nefertari

Pictorial photographer Victor Keppler worked for all the slick magazines and ad agencies in the '30s, '40s and '50s.

His illustrative photograph of Queen Nefertari was for a slick magazine in the '30s, and great care was taken to be as accurate as possible in historical detail — with one minor exception, according to Keppler. Her left breast should have been exposed, but it was felt that was a bit too daring for mainstream America in 1936.

I made a quick pictorial search to see if that was indeed the case, but have not yet found reference that indicates that was so for Nefertari.

Victor Keppler — Nefertari — 1936

Thomas Haller Buchanan — Nefertari — 1987

My connection with Queen Nefertari, for what it's worth, is that I created a facsimile of a famous bas relief of her for a 1987 museum exhibit of Ramesses the Great, sitting side by side with authentic ancient Egyptian artifacts (mine was labeled as a facsimile). It was full size to the original, which was not available, and I created it by making a thick slab of plaster of paris and then chiseling out the negative space, just as the original was made (from stone), and I then distressed and painted it. My fingers were so numb from chiseling that my hands were useless for weeks. One has to wonder how the artisans of ancient Egypt filed for workman's comp.

"Nefertari, also known as Nefertari Merymut, was one of the Great Royal Wives (or principal wives) of Ramesses the Great. Nefertari means 'Beautiful Companion' and Meritmut mean 'Beloved of [the Goddess] Mut'. She is one of the best known Egyptian queens, next to Cleopatra, Nefertiti and Hatshepsut. Her lavishly decorated tomb, QV66, is the larges and most spectacular in the Valley of the Queens. Ramesses also constructed a temple for her at Abu Simbel next to his colossal monument.

Nefertari held many different titles, including: Great of Praises, Sweet of Love, Lady of Grace, Great King's Wife, Lady of The Two Lands, Lady of All Lands, Wife of the Strong Bull, God's Wife, Mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt. Ramesses II also named her 'The One for Whom the Sun Shines'."

Sweetheart of the Rink

Jules Erbit — 1940s

Faux Military

I love the faux military designs of Ralph Lauren that he also brought to the 2012 US Olympic Team. This design is from earlier than that runway. The look is commanding.

Ralph Lauren — Ski Wear

No Better Cause

This is one of the drawings that I bought from Gil Kane himself, at the time he was creating a lot of Superman material for DC. It's an iconic pose, with iconic power auras like Kane was prone to draw at the time. This and some other stuff I've been hoarding for years is coming up for auction at Heritage Auctions. I'm loathe to let them go, but I have no better cause than to help our daughter to continue her college education.

Gil Kane — Superman — 1980s

Breath of Fresh Air

These three characters were ALways mistreating each other over many years, so it was a breath of fresh air to have the charm of music bring them together harmoniously. 

George Herriman — Krazy Kat — March 31, 1941

Ghostly Host on the March

This is a beautiful rendition of a ghostly host on the march. See, the idea here is that the lady in white can see the apparitions and they are in obeisance to her, while the warrior guy can't see any of the spooky stuff and — and — and there's a whole story here that you just need to go find. I'm not involved with this stuff, somebody out there is and can tell you about it (is this a book and a role playing game?)—I just really like the art, so it ended up in my image morgue.

Matt Stawicki — Dragons of a Lost Star — Dragon Lance

Showman of Science

For all his quirkiness, I really miss Carl Sagan — his enthusiasm, his optimism, his writing, his showmanship, his vision, his Cosmos.

And yes, his quirkiness.

Does anyone else miss Carl Sagan?

Time — October 20, 1980

The Enigma of the East

Last post, there was a comment from ToB that reminded me of one of my favorite character renderings by Nick Cardy, back at the tail end of the Silver Age of Comics. Lilith, an empathic clairvoyant who joined up with the original Teen Titans was drawn and written as a mysterious and caring teen wonder, and I, well, I sorta had a mid-teen crush on this paper doll, thanks to Cardy's drawing style.

Kid Robson wrote a post of this schoolboy phenomenon, here. 

I wonder, did girls have crushes for Superboy, or Brainiac 5, or Robin the Teen Wonder? Wally West? Hawk and Dove? AquaLad?

 Above and below, Nick Cardy — Lilith — The Teen Titans

The Daring & The Different

I have a genuine fondness for the DC comics of the 1967-74 years, a transition period of sorts between the Silver and Bronze Ages. The art and the stories were actually better in many ways than the Golden and Silver Ages, as the comics industry was starting into its 3rd generation of talent. Don't get me wrong though, the Golden and Silver years were raw, bold, colorful, and wonderful — with a huge nostalgic factor. 

Below is a tribute by Nick Cardy, one of the 2nd generation artists that was at the top of his game during this period. I have bittersweet memories of this time, as it bookended my high school years into my army years, when I was still collecting as I could, attending early comicons and such, and seeking out my favorite creators to shake their hands.

Nick Cardy — Comic Book Artist — 1999

And Now . . .

And now for something NOT controversial . . . but refreshing.

Marion Kavanagh Wachtel

Crystal Craig and Lake George

1925

No Happiness Like That Given by a Woman

The text sentiment regarding women is spot on in my little universe.

Art: Milo Manara — I think the text is by Fellini

(I've lost track of the book, except for a couple of scans)

Moving Ahead

Spammers be damned. Let's move ahead with alacrity. 

What a pleasant arrangement of color:

Helen Dryden — Vogue — January, 1918

Spammers Keep Coming

The spammers keep coming, no matter how fast I defeat delete them! Underscore_slash/THIS you hellish dogs!

Richard Corben — Infinity Four — 1972

Under Siege

Is anyone else under siege from spammers? I have been inundated with horrible gibberish and fake comments sneaking past my spam filter. It's like fighting off a goblin army!

© Frank Thorne — Ghita under siege