Kingsport Art Club

While I've been off I've been able to tick off some of the 'someday' tasks in my GTD system. One of these 'someday' tasks was to set up a Tumblr that celebrates sci-fi and fantasy cover art ... especially from 'pulp' paperback novels.

The idea came from Cousin Silas and Kevin Lyons who both read voraciously and love their pulp sci-fi. They post pics of the books they are reading on Facebook and I love to see these pics ... so I decided to collate them in one place for future reference.

This place is the Tumblr of the "Kingsport Art Club" and can be found here >> link <<




If illustration is your thing then please bookmark the site. I will try, with the help of Cousin Silas and Kevin Lyons, to keep it fresh and updated regularly.

Tx

http://kingsportartclub.tumblr.com

Loving ... the illustrations of Neil Gower

I know you are not meant to judge a book by it's cover ... but this cover of William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" really caught my eye when I saw it on Saturday in one of our local charityshops.

The illustration is by graphic artist, Neil Gower ... whose portfolio is simply stunning and very inspirational.




His book covers are simply first class ... but then so are his other illustrations:



His Illustrated maps are vivid, fun and useful ... and travel-related graphics are eyecatchingly gorgeous.




I really like the cut of his artistic gib ... and will be on the look out for more of his work.

Tx

http://www.neilgower.com/index.html

"Silas & Friends volume 1 (waag_rel015)" including artwork by Basil & Adam Howie

This evening, over on weareallghosts, I just released a wonderful album from Cousin Silas & his friends. If you love ambient soundscapes as much as I do, you will love this album. 14 tracks of atmosphere! It doesn't get much better, in my honest opinion.



The whole theme of the album (and the series) is cooperation - Cousin Silas working with his friends in partnership. So followed suit and brought in two friends - Basil and Adam Howie - to assist with the artwork. In essence, Basil provided the clouds and Adam did the rest. I think he did splendidly considering my remit to him was ... "Something Yes ... something Roger Dean."

Included with the Bandcamp release are three wallpaper versions of the artwork ... in 1600x1200, 1900x1200 and 1920x1080.

Use the player below and take a wee listen. If you like what you hear ... and see ... then please download the album. It's 'pay what you want' and that does included £0. If you do take it for £0 then please, please tell your friends and display the wallpaper ... when someone asks about it and trust me, they will ... please send them our way!

Tx


PS ... Adam's artwork can be found here >> http://www.illusionaryconstructs.com/ >> if you like what you see then maybe you could support him by buying a print or a tee?

Scanned... the illustrations of Elena Odriozola in "The Story of Noah"

I found this book... The Story of Noah... in my local Poundland. I have a thing for beautifully illustrated Biblical stories and this is beautiful... in my opinion.

The illustrations are by Elena Odriozola and I haven't seen anything quite like them before. I can't find much on Ordiozola... other than a list of her books on Amazon.co.uk. She has a number of other books under her belt. I think I may be adding some of them to my collection.

Tx

Loving... the illustrations of Roy Petersen

My dear friend Roy Petersen is a talented film maker who is also an inspired illustrator. He shares his latest 'doodles' over on his tumblr :: http://orb-world.tumblr.com/ 

I thought I'd share some of my recent faves and encourage you all to bookmark his site... I think his work just gets better and better... and I'm glad to have been on the journey with him for a while now. I would love to see what he'd do if given the opportunity to illustrate a kid's storybook.

Enjoy.

Tx

http://orb-world.tumblr.com/

Scanned... the artwork of Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone

I found this book up in our attic when we were cleaning it out... Dean's Supreme Book of Bible Stories. It is illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone... and it is these illustrations that really make it something special.

According to Wikipedia... Janet Grahame Johnstone (1 June 1928 - 1979) and Anne Grahame Johnstone (1 Jun 1928 - 25 May 1998) were twin sisters and British children's book illustrators best known for their delicate, detailed prolific artwork and for illustrating Dodie Smith's classic book The Hundred and One Dalmatians.


Over the course of their career together, the sisters illustrated more than 100 books. These included classic fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, J. M. Barrie, Charles Kingsley, a series based on Biblical tales, Roger Lancelyn Green's Tales of the Greeks and Trojans (Purnell and Sons, London, 1963), as well as a large variety of rhyme and modern story-collections. Early commissions included Enid Blyton's Tales of Ancient Greece (1951), and new illustrations for a shocking old German children's morality book, Struwwelpeter (1950).


Janet and Anne also illustrated many company logos and advertisements, including a wine label designed by the twins for their own brand of wine (Chateau Badingham). Their work was also featured in the British children's magazine Finding Out.

From the work presented in this book... I will be on the look out for more of their work. It has a particular charm... and is indeed something special.

Tx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_and_Anne_Grahame_Johnstone

Scanned... old covers of 'Starblazer'

Does anyone remember 'Starblazer'?

According to Wikipedia... Starblazer - Space Fiction Adventure in Pictures was a British small-format comics anthology in black and white published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. from April 1971 to January 1991.

I found a bundle up the loft recently... and thought I'd share them. The artwork isn't brilliant by any means... but they do represent a period of my childhood... the period where I discovered sci-fi and dreamed dreams of space exploration.



















According to Wikipedia... "Partway through its run, from issue 168 onwards, the anthology changed format. Instead of a single front cover and a black and white subject on the back, a new all-colour 'wrap around' cover was instituted, most of the time showing a collage of subjects from that issue's storyline. The subject matters also appeared to have a more adult emphasis and there was a heavier focus on Fantasy storylines. The cover title also changed format slightly to Starblazer - Fantasy Fiction in Pictures, despite the title change, there were still a considerable number of Science Fiction storylines up till the final issue."






"The Starblazer issues suffered from poor distribution, being rare in parts of Scotland and almost unknown in the rest of the United Kingdom. Due to a downturn in the general comic market, many newsagents never stocked them, or later would only take subscriptions. This contrasts sharply with the Commando comics from the same publisher that have enjoyed countrywide widespread distribution since their origin in the 1960s."

For more on Starblazer, head of to britishcomics.

Tx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starblazer

Loving... the Johnny Cash Project

I'm a big fan of Johnny Cash's music... and it kind of surprises me to think I only found out about The Johnny Cash Project last week.



According to their 'about' section...

"The Johnny Cash Project is a global collective art project, and we would love for you to participate. Through this website, we invite you to share your vision of Johnny Cash, as he lives on in your mind’s eye. Working with a single image as a template, and using a custom drawing tool, you’ll create a unique and personal portrait of Johnny. Your work will then be combined with art from participants around the world, and integrated into a collective whole: a music video for "Ain’t No Grave", rising from a sea of one-of-a-kind portraits.

Strung together and played in sequence over the song, the portraits will create a moving, ever evolving homage to this beloved musical icon. What’s more, as new people discover and contribute to the project, this living portrait will continue to transform and grow, so it’s virtually never the same video twice."

And moving this video is. It's truly wonderful... poignant and emotional... it fits very nicely with the song itself... which is, by pure happenstance, one of my favourite Cash songs.



Some pictures are surreal... and others are very imaginative.



Look out for Jesus and the Loch Ness Monster.



All in... it's a fab video from a commendable project. Watch this video for more:



Enjoy...

Tx

Loving... the illustrations of Chris Achilleos

I love it when things like this happen! As I went to shut down my MacBook Pro, I took another look at the cover of 'Dr Who and the Loch Ness Monster' and noticed what appeared to be the illustrator's signature. I did a wee google search and budda-bing... I found the artwork of Chris Achilleos... the artist responsible for some of my favourite illustrations as a child.



I really do think his illustrations were fantastic and really captured the imagination of the stories as well as the imaginations of the readers... myself being one of the latter group.

Check out his Dr Who illustrations here :: http://chrisachilleos.co.uk/the-artist/dr-who-illustrations.html.



He has a number of book covers to his credit... most in the more vibrant yet 'traditional' sci-fi / fantasy style. Well worth having a wee browse :: http://chrisachilleos.co.uk/the-artist/bookcovers.html.


Achilleos has a number of album covers to his name too... would love to see him in action again, in this arena.

All in... a wonderfully serendipitous find.

Enjoy.

Tx