(Mercury)
Thank God its Friday! And that means it is time for yours truly to share another artists’ work that fills me with Thrills! Chills! and Excitement! It is positively Phantasmagorical! It is the work of Ryan Heshka.
(Chicaco c. 1939…reminds me fondly of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow)
I don’t even have to explain why I like Ryan’s art, do I? Robots, pretty girls, rocket ships, mosters…it is all pretty self explanatory!
(Ice)
Ryan Heshka’s work has that steampunk retro vibe that excites me whenever I come across it in art, literature, or film.
(Bride of Science…this one has a Mignola/Hellboy feel to it with the giant ape)
The use of words like Thrill, See, Ape-o-Vision and the prices like 25 cents give his pieces the essence of advertisements for 1940’s and 50’s matinee science fiction films.
Heshka’s extremely rich color palette reminds me somewhat of the work of Jeff Soto with a slightly less pastel hue. I love the retro greens and reds and blues.
(Miss Universe)
Another thing that I enjoy about Ryan’s art is that much of it is painted on old boards and that texture comes through adding to the illusion that these are decades old advertisements that have somehow stood the test of time. I can almost imagine someone stumbling across these in the attic of an ancestral home. The wood and the painting style give the pieces a slightly aged look.
(Boy’s Wonder Suit…this one posted especially for you Tom)
And of course these pieces are just so much fun. The whimsy and imagination of each piece is palatable.
(Thermo Woman vs. the Electric Eye)
From the ray-guns to the robots each piece carries its own excitement for me. I like the representation of the women in the good girl art style of the old pulp fiction science fiction tales…heroines and femme fatales with sexy but outlandishly impractical outfits.
(For Look!)
In the end Ryan Heshka’s work is just good clean fun for the whole family. I mean what says togetherness more than octopi and mermaids and monkeys in space helmuts.
(Marinda of Neptune)
You can see much more of Ryan Heshka’s artwork as well as visit his store for originals and prints and his new book at his main site here. There are some additional paintings to be seen at this site. Go visit as I have barely scratched the surface of his work in this Friday Favorite.
Enjoy the weekend everyone. I am suddenly in the mood for some 50’s sci-fi goodness…and a large milkshake. Meet me at the malt shop?
For my little-dog-owning family and friends I leave you with this:
great stuff.
Love this stuff! Especially Miss Universe, she is extreme groove. You may, (or may not) have noticed that my blogger profile pic is from a Good Girl comic, in honour of my name. Not very many people know that. Then again, not very many people care.
I did notice GG and was actually trying to figure out where I had seen it when I did the post about you and the other blogs the other day because I was hoping to find the whole image to put up instead of the cropped part you are using. Its great!
I was quite sad I had to crop it (cus of blogger regulations), because although I can’t remember exactly what the comic was, I remeber it being quite cool. I actually have a selection, and meant to change them occasionally, but never got around to it. Maybe I will soon.
I like the pictures. Very cool. Michele sent me over 😉
Oh Carl… Here is the cover my picture is from:
http://www.samuelsdesign.com/comics/pages/goodgirl-romance/gangsters_molls3.htm
GG
That’s fantastic, thanks GG! Glad you found it. I look forward to a possible regular rotation of your Good Girl avatars. I need to get James to show me how to change my site so people’s avatars show up.
I absolutely love the Mercury and Bride of Science pics. The latter is just fabulous!
Isn’t Bride of Science great? I went to the site and got the bigger image of this one and made it my desktop wallpaper.
Just wanted to say – looking at the website – I *love* the “G is for Goblin” picture. Brilliant!!
absolutely love the colors…my faves without a doubt.
I love stopping by here, Carl. Always something to cheer me up and bring some color into my life. Thanks for all that you share!
Anytime VW, thanks. Wish I was the one actually doing the work, but its fun to live vicariously through the other artists and I really enjoy passing on stuff that I like.
thanks for sharing this! his work is amazing! i want them all. this is right up my alley. thanks again….
Great, aren’t they Paige? I’d love to have some of his original work, it is amazing.