I was lucky to be asked to contribute my illustration, “Power Animal” to Black Hill Press’s anthology, “The Cost of Paper: vol. 2.” !
Category: books
Snow White by Camille Rose Garcia
Unf- I love Camille Rose Garcia. Her art reminds me of lost Fleischer cartoons. I have her version of Alice in Wonderland (so incredibly acid pastel that it hurts my eyes) but the colors in Snow White are more to my taste. I love when books have details like this- the cloth bound cover is…
Favorite Doll Books
These were the 3 books I used quite a bit during my doll making journey: The Complete Book of Dollmaking by Pamela Peake. It’s a really simple introduction I picked up years ago at Half Price Books in Berkeley. It’s a great book for beginners who just want to make a cloth doll to get…
Happy Birthday Wes Anderson!
I received the Wes Anderson Collection by Matt Zoller Seitz for my birthday. The book is beautiful. However I found the interior art serviceable, it didn’t knock my socks off. But the book design more than makes up for it. Each movie chapter consists of an essay by the author and an interview with Wes…
Tove Jansson’s Moomin Comic Strip, vol 1.
Tove’s commentary on modern art ;D And her thoughts on being an artist. The beauteous Snorkmaiden, beloved of Moomin. The Moomins go to The Riviera. Snorkmaiden meets “The Great Little Audrey Glamour,” (Audrey Hepburn). Snorkmaiden tries her first lipstick and bikini. And meets a Riveria rake. The Mymble and Snorkmaiden encounter adorable pirates and promptly…
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda, and Gerald and Sara Murphy
September 24th is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday. I have to admit, one of the joys of reading Fitzgerald are his abhorrent characters. Everyone is so rich, so pithy, so good looking, and above all else so fucking blond that they make me sick. And then Fitzgerald lets them have it. All of their darling vices…
Isaac Mizrahi’s Sandee the Supermodel with paper dolls
I bought this waaaaaay back when it came out in 1997. Between the adorable paper dolls and Isaac Mizrahi (I was/am quite a fan) I was in love. It’s definitely a slice of pop culture which even now, only 16 years later, seems incredibly naive. Mizrahi pokes fun at fashion and modeling, from ageism (Sandee…
Moebius~ Arzach and Big Wow Comic Con
So in love with my Moebius Arzach. I can usually only find “Blueberry” here in the US, so I was pretty stoked to find a guy selling a bunch of Euro comics. This is all in Italian, but I’m primarily interested in the art. And of course some awesome Cosplayers! This is Anthony Misiano and…
Japanese Sewing~ Formal and Little Black Dress Book
Saturday Mikael, Karl, and I went to Big Wow, the San Jose Comic Con. I’ll blog about tomorrow. On the way home we stopped by Kinokuniya and I found this beautiful sewing pattern book. I freely admit, I bought it for the gorgeous William Morris wallpaper behind the model, as much as the simple, lovely…
Gatsby
I just saw The Great Gatsby, and it was fantastic. Those reviewers are obviously a bunch Tom Buchanans First of all, I saw the movie in 2D because I don’t care for 3D. There’s something incredibly freeing about Lurhmann adapting a work. Lurhmann is a unicorn who dreams in celluloid. There’s none of that disappointment, that-…
The Flight of Dragons by Peter Dickinson, illustrated by Wayne Anderson
Published in 1979, this book is amazing. Click on pictures to enlarge (totally worth it)~ Terrible confession (where the terrible person is me): I stole this book from my Junior High School library. I loved it, absolutely loved it & one day I noticed that someone had started to deface the book and draw over…
DIY Couture by Rosie Martin
Ok, so I’m super into this. For Valentine’s Day I asked Mikael for “DIY Couture” by Rosie Martin. I’d been looking at the amazon preview for a while, but I already have so many sewing books that it was going to take something special to entice me to buy. I’ve been hit with sewing book…
Anderson Brothers love fest
I realized today that I never blogged about these. For our Anniversary Mikael gave me “Chuck Dugan is Awol” and the Criterion edition of “Darjeeling Limited.” The Darjeeling Limited is my least favorite Anderson film, but even a weak Anderson film is better than many other films by lesser mortals. Plus, I really wanted to watch “Hotel…
lovely new Lone Wolf Magazine!
My copy of Lone Wolf Magazine‘s Winter Issue arrived! The design of this magazine is also just lovely! I kind of couldn’t resist this one because it starts with a quote from “The Wolf Man,” which is a movie near and dear to my heart. I think I’m one of those people who always sympathises with…
Colette Patterns
Yesterday I went to the Colette Patterns Fall 2012 Launch at A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland. My husband, son, and I started off next door at James and the Giant Cupcake. Yeah, delicious cupcakes and an awesome low key atmosphere. They even had a table with paper and markers for kids to sit…
Lord of the Rings by Cor Blok
Cor Blok painted a series of images illustrating LOTR from 1958-1961. Inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, his simple style conveys a wealth of narrative and emotional information. Few know that Tolkien did not want LOTR illustrated but he admired Blok’s work and purchased two paintings.
Book Love~ books and Betty sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens may actually be some of my favorite things, but these books definitely are! i wanted to do a quick post about some of the books i keep closest to me and frequently use for inspiration. There are boxes more still unpacked and i’ll post an update when i get…
patrick nagel~ snow white’s revenge
I first became aware of Patrick Nagel at the local poster art shop. I was 13. Tall, slim, and brunette with small eyes and skin like paper, i was considered plain and borderline ugly in my southern california town. I despaired of ever being thought attractive. But then i saw her. What was she? 8″x10″?…
christina rossetti illustrated by florence harrison
Christina Rossetti, the younger sister of renowned Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was a talented and accomplished poet. Deeply religious, she also suffered from depression. Her first recorded nervous breakdown occurred at 14, forcing her to leave school. For the rest of her life the cycle of anxiety over her financial situation, depression, breakdown, and…
fashion~ tintin style for ladies and tramps
herge, how do i love your creations? Tintin, Milou/Snowy, Captain Haddock, Thompson and Thomson, Professor Calculous, and of course Loch Lomand whiskey! Herge’s beautiful style, known as ligne claire {the clear line}, is instantly recognizable. I plan to post and discuss Herge and his work at a later point, but today we have fashion inspired…
new year, knights, and fortune’s fools
“You and the land are one… drink from the chalice and you will be reborn and the land with you.” “Ready my knights for battle. They will ride with their king once more. I have lived through others for far too long. Lancelot carried my honor, and Guenevere, my guilt. Mordred bore my sins….
arthur rackham’s poe~ living maelstroms and undead loves
beautiful rainy day in socal so it’s time for some E. A. Poe illustrated by the endlessly talented Arthur Rackham. These are from 1935. Rachkham shows that his use of line is more beautiful than most other artist’s command of color, as well as his mastery of large areas of black and a skillful employment…
$5 helga
last week we picked up andrew wyeth’s “helga pictures” for $5 at the local friends of the library bookstore. i’ve been wanting it for a while but it’s expensive so finding it for so little was a dream come true. why am i fascinated with wyeth’s helga? how could i not be? she was his…
charles addams’ mother goose part 1
charles addams’ macabre whimsy on display in his version of “mother goose,” from 1967. {click to enlarge} humpty dumpty 3 blind mice one misty, moisty morning {starring wednesday addams} i do not like thee dr. fell c. “the rat that ate the malt.” d. “the cat that killed the rat.”
edward gorey~ the deranged cousins
literary nonsense from the delightful mr. edward gorey. i don’t think i could pick a favorite story, but this one has been on my desk for a while 🙂 click to enlarge and study mr. gorey’s exquisite line work at your leisure. perpetual collegiate style. i love how aimless yet self conscious they are. as though they…
stormy weather- arthur rackham’s tempest
it’s raining today. not quite as rare an occurrence in southern california as you might think. but it made me think of “the tempest.” neither a tragedy nor a comedy, it’s considered a romance, in the old way. weird and wonderful, it’s Shakespeare’s last complete play and considered by many, his farewell to theatre. i present arthur…
kwaidan illustrated
if you love japanese ghost stories, you cannot live without Kwaidan {kaidan}.from the beautiful Yuki-onna, spirit of snow, to the bewitched Hoichi singing for a ghostly emperor and his court, these tales enchant as much today as they did over a century ago.the volume features stunningly dark ukiyo-e set in gilded backgrounds these storeies inspired…
making of "fantastic mr. fox" part 2
rushmore academy has mr. fox faux fur ties for sale here, modeled by jason schwartzman.click pictures to enlarge~ badger concept art by felicie haymoz. cuss with bill murray at your own peril. i love agnes’ freckles!coach skip and agnes concept art by felicie haymoz and an explanation of “hot box!”“Basically, there’s three grabbers, three taggers, five twig runners, and…
the making of "fantastic mr. fox." part 1
Turkeys, apples, and psychotic farmers! It must be november! what better movie to usher in this lovely month than “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” with its richly designed autumn palette. initially, i was very excited to hear wes anderson was directing this. while i wasn’t fond of the “Darjeeling Limited,” his other films rank among my favorites. “Mr. Fox”…
paper dolls ~english country murder prologue
i love mysteries~ human, eleusian, and literary. agatha christie’s miss marple was my introduction to the genre. at 12ish years old somehow, someone one left a volume of her short stories at our house. desperate for reading matierial i picked it and fell under their spell. however, dame agatha was soon replaced in my heart by…
coco chanel: legend and liar
“you could search forever for the whole truth about gabrielle chanel, and never find the last of the missing pieces; for when she cut up her history, she scattered it all around, losing some details, hiding others, covering her trail.”-coco chanel: the legend and the lifejustine picardie justine picardie’s excellent biography is heavily illustrated, as…
shirley jackson’s "the lottery: or the adventures of james harris."
the short stories comprising “the lottery” concern evil. not grandiose evil or glamorous evil, but mundane, petty evil- a distinctly human evil despite the ivy trails of the supernatural twisting through her writing. taking the ballad, “the daemon lover” for her inspiration, she explores marriage, fidelity, domesticity, hypocrisy, and the nuances of small town living and…
nouvellegamine 