Category Archives: Friday Favorites

Art/Photography, Book Reviews, Friday Favorites, Nonfiction

Friday Favorites: Robert A. Maguire

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(All images in this post are pictures taken by me of the books that I am reviewing, unless otherwise noted.)

Well before I began budgeting my book purchases I had ordered a number of things through my local comic shop. Back around May, this book, Dames Dolls and Gun Molls: The Art of Robert A. Maguire, serendipitously arrived as I was smack dab in the middle of reading crime/noir/pulp fiction. I wasted no time in reading it, after all it was a beautiful collection of art from an artist whose work I admire. In an effort to catch up on book reviews, it seemed like a splendid idea to wrap this book review around a Friday Favorites post, thus giving you more bang for your buck.

Please join me in paying homage to one of the the true masters in paperback book cover illustration, Robert A. Maguire.

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Art/Photography, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites: Brandi Milne

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(The Saddest Lullaby, click on image for larger version)

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?”

~Alice, from Alice in Wonderland

While I certainly wouldn’t characterize the work of artist Brandi Milne (pronounced ‘mill-nee’) as ‘nonsense’, it is safe to say that her unique visual expressions have a degree of ‘nothing [being] what it is’ and ‘everything [being] what it isn’t’. In other words, rich symbolism is combined with visually delightful imagery that is more than what it first appears to be.

Brandi Milne has graciously allowed me the opportunity to feature her work here today and for that I am very grateful, for her work is exactly the kind of art that makes my heart skip a beat and it compels me to share it with as many people as I can.

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Friday Favorites, Young Adult

Friday Favorites: Shaun Tan

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It is a special thing to immerse oneself in the work of a creator of illustrated stories when that creator is highly skilled at both aspects of the work: the art AND the story. I have discussed just such an artist on Monday, David Mack. It seemed perfectly fitting to end the work week with another creative individual, who for years has inspired that same kind of excitement for me: Australian artist/storyteller Shaun Tan.

Rather than displaying examples of Tan’s work from a variety of sources, I am going to bookend the week by mimicking my David Mack discussion and discuss the wonder of Shaun Tan’s work by reviewing his latest book, which I read for the first time (and again a second time) this week:

Tales from Outer Suburbia.

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Book Reviews, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites: Tara McPherson, part two

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(photo of cover by Carl V.)

Lost Constellations: The Art of Tara McPherson, Volume II*

-2009, Dark Horse Books
-112 pages
-4.75/5 stars

3 years ago, on St. Patty’s Day, I did a Friday Favorites post which included a brief overview of the work of Tara McPherson. You can find that post here. How apropos that Tara McPherson’s latest art collection, Lost Constellations: The Art of Tara McPherson, Volume II, should come out mere days before St. Patty’s Day. Having perused this wonderful collection twice now, I felt it was only appropriate to combine the book review with Friday Favorites and share it with you today.

From the back cover:

Loss, love, and loneliness. Altered forms and transfigured ideas. Power and vulnerability. Parallel universes of the heart and mind. Space and Time. In a few brief years, the stunning visual oeuvre of Tara McPherson has grown and evolved at thrilling speed. Expanding beyond the limits of rock poster art into the worlds of commercial illustration and fine art, her paintings, drawings, toys, sculptures, and installations have pushed her influence and authority across the breadth of creative expression and helped redefine the boundaries of pop surrealism.

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Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites: 2008 Sci Fi Book Covers

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Whoever coined the phrase, “You can’t judge a book by its cover” certainly never saw the incredible science fiction and fantasy book cover images from illustrators who capture our imaginations and hold our wallets hostage each and every time we enter a bookstore.

Recently I recalled that there was a site that posted all of the science fiction and fantasy book and magazine covers each year. My limited research was turning up dead ends so I turned to a couple of science fiction bloggers who I thought might have the answer. Within a very short space of time John DeNardo of SFSignal had my answer: Locus Magazine! He promptly sent me the link, which was exactly the site I had in mind from the previous year.

As we are into the second week of the Sci Fi Experience I thought it might be a great idea to point you over to the Locus Online 2008 Cover Art Gallery as well as to show you some of the examples of book covers from last year that certainly caught my eye.

I have limited this to a handful of the science fiction covers that came out last year. I strongly encourage you to visit the Locus link yourself to view all of the remaining science fiction covers as well as the fantasy covers. There is a treasure trove of great illustration there and it is a wonderful place to get inspired about your next science fiction or fantasy read.

All images are copyright of the artists listed. I decided, with a couple of exceptions, to show you the cover illustrations sans graphics. However, if you click on those images, a separate window or tab will open to show you what the book cover itself looks like.

And away we go…

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