ODYSSEUS IN HADES

... by William Russell Flint (1880 - 1969).

Nice use of black and white on a neutral background.

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BATWOMAN

So, Batwoman was a shitty character that was created in the 50's, then clumsily reinvented a few years ago and forgotten about. Last year, proving the adage that there are no small roles, only small actors, the creative team of Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III got ahold of her and made something awesome. Their run won a grip of awards and landed the book on the New York Times bestseller list earlier this summer. I finally got around to picking up the hardcover collecting their first 7 issues (below, left) and it's really good. Check this:

Oh, man. The book is in amazing color by Dave Stewart, but the above black and white images are J.H. Williams' original art (sans word balloons). You can click on all the above for a larger image (you have to see Williams' art up close), but if you go to his Flickr page you can see huge versions - I'm talking 6000 pixels (also, a bit of his process). Gorgeous. As well, the story is pretty compelling, delving into her childhood and her expulsion from the military due to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The comic book industry is like, 90% superhero books, and 90% of those are unreadable. This is a gem. Buy it or take it out from the library.

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HALF FULL GLASS OF WINE

... by Tame Impala.

I think this might be my official summer 2010 jam.
Be sure to fullscreen!

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MAILER

I did this for a postcard type mailer. I composed it to accommodate some text and things, but this is the image sans whatnot. 

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YOUR FRIEND THE RAT

Featuring Patton Oswalt. There's a funny shout-out to Alberta in there, too.

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WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?

It isn't. Not according to 1950's Hanna Barbera cartoons, anyway. They were cheaply made, with very limited animation and quickly painted backgrounds. Making up for those limitations was a mad strong design sense and unique color choices.

click to enlarge 

Gorge on eye candy at the mind-bogglingly researched Yowp.

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SORCERY

Julie Taymor (responsible for visual feasts like Frida and Across the Univese) is directing Shakespeare's the Tempest, starring Helen Mirren as Prospera (rather than Prospero). How awesome is this picture? Can't wait for this one!

It reminded me of Waterhouse's the Magic Circle (l).

And, while we're tangentially on the subject, check out Departure of the Witches by Luis Ricardo Faléro (r). There's a great in-depth article about it here.

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BOK CHOY

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CHUCK JONES

I found this Chuck Jones documentary in 9 parts on YouTube. If you're an animator, illustrator or designer, there's some valuable stuff to learn here. Plus, funny.

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WAYFINDING

Calgary is basically set up as a grid. To find most addresses you need to remember 2 things; 1) the city is divided into 4 quadrants, and 2) avenues run east-west and streets run north-south. For example, to find 1201 1st street SW, go to the southwest quadrant (lower left on a map) and find the intersection of 12th avenue and 1st street. Easy.

With so many people I know spending time in New York, it reminded me of one of the only frustrating things about navigating Manhattan; trying to find a specific address.

click to enlarge:

it's just that simple!

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