Seen as a lot of my own work often has an educational aspect to it, it’s always great to come across work by other artists that happens to have a particularly educational bent (the Super Dictionary being one such, albeit strange, example). I was excited, therefore, to stumble across this great set of animal-automobile-themed alphabet flash cards by Mike Yamada, a visual development artist at Dreamworks. I originally discovered these on Yamada’s blog, Extracurricular Activities, but also found that you can purchase them at Gallery Nucleus.
The Blog
Stephan Pastis’ Peals before Swine
I really love the Pearls Before Swine comic strips, by Stephan Pastis. I came across them online a few years ago, and have several of the books. I really enjoy reading them when I get a chance, although it has been a while, I have to admit! They’re certainly great for a laugh though! Here’s one I picked fairly randomly to feature on here, but, according to Pastis himself, this is actually the strip that is probably most closely identified with the Pearls series. Must get one of the more recent books soon, so I can stay up to date with it!
Tintin car art
Just to continue the car art theme… my wife took this picture, of a mini with a scene from Tintin applied to the side of it, for me when she was away in California recently, and I thought, with the new Tintin movie being released (in some parts of the world anyway) this week, now would be quite an opportune time to post it. Although I can’t say that I’ve actually read many of the Tintin comics, I love HergĂ©’s illustration style, and I’m actually quite excited about seeing the film when I get the chance! The fact that it’s animated (albeit in Motion Capture) adds even more appeal to it for me. I’ve actually been reading a biography of HergĂ© off and on for a year or so now, so perhaps I should set myself the target of completing the book before I go and see the film!
Romero Britto car art
As a big fan of Romero Britto’s artwork, and also a big car fan, I was really excited to come across this picture recently of Britto’s artwork applied to a Volvo! This is actually something I would love to have the opportunity to do some day with my own artwork. I used to own a vintage three wheeled van (will maybe feature it on here at some point, since it was a source of inspiration for a particular series of illustrations I produced a while ago), and this is something I would have really liked to have done with that. A missed opportunity I guess!
The Super Dictionary
I recently came across this bizarre, and quite frankly pretty hilarious dictionary on Scans Daily. It’s a full length superhero-themed dictionary for children, published in 1978 by Warner Educational Services. Here’s a few samples from it. Enjoy!
The Lion King 3D
I went to see The Lion King 3D on Friday. Had forgotten what a fantastic film it was! Was great to see it on the big screen, and to have the opportunity to see it in 3D was particularly exciting! I felt the quality of the 3D itself was pretty mixed really – it parts it was very impressive, and at other moments I hardly noticed it – but, more than anything else, was just really good to see it again, and to be transported back to my teenage years!
Pencilwood Barn
The very first post in my new blog! Am going to keep this one pretty short and sweet, but just wanted to post a photo of the new sign for an office complex, based in an historic barn in Essex, in the UK. My parents own the complex, and they decided to name it after Pencilwood Studios, so I thought it would be quite nice to feature it on here! Will maybe post some photo’s of the barn itself if I get a chance at some point.
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