Recently, I reviewed an excellent book entitled Arcane II . One of the things I liked about it right away was the cover art, which was done by Nihil .
I really dug the work and wanted to share some with you. There’s photography and some types of manipulation and perhaps painting, but it’s often difficult to tell what was actually there and what was added later. That blending makes the artwork stronger and gives the viewer more the think about. It’s really interesting work.
The Saints and Martyrs series is evocative. It looks fairly straightforward at first glance, but the more you look, the more there is to see. Some pieces are a combination of Hellraiser/BDSM and classical beauty. Perhaps for the person who is spiritual but accepting of the darker side of humanity, as well.
Whilst I have yet to work out what career I would find most fulfilling, there are certain career-paths I find somewhat interesting. Talking to people in those professions would involve, you know, talking to people, and, therefore is out of the question. Luckily, there are webcomics about geeks that illustrate the ins and outs of those professions so I can get an idea of what it’d be like to work in those fields without having to spend years working my way into the career only to discover I hated it.
Join me in a tour of the lives of:
Web designers: .net by Brad Colbow, Ah, the life of a web designer. You just want to be simultaneously geeky and creative and the people who will give you money to do those things are entirely lacking geekiness or creativity.
Software developers: Not Invented Here by Bill Barnes and Paul Southworth. Sort of like Dilbert but more tech and less misogyny. And there’s a Goth character.
Internet service providers: User Friendly [this is currently on hiatus, but if you start at the beginning there are daily strips from 1997 to 2009. Hopefully, Illiad will eventually return to us with regularly scheduled strips.]
Video game developers: The Trenches by Mike Krahulik, Jerry Holkins, Scott Kurtz. The comic itself is enlightening, but the blog posts beneath each comic are written by people in the video game industry and those are…eye-opening.
Librarians: Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum. Books! Books everywhere! And the general public! The general public everywhere!
Grad students: PHD by Jorge Cham. Sometimes I think that if I excelled at structured learning, I’d enjoy a life in academia. Then I realise I’d have to get through grad school…
fucknogradschool is a Tumblr account (page? blog?) rather than a comic, but it gives an excellent idea of what post-grads feel/think/experience.
On the other hand…
Bonus Content!
In a similar vein, Penny Arcade is about gamers and gaming, written by gamers. I have never played a first person shooter or MMORPG or…most other types of very popular games, but I enjoy learning about them and hearing people’s reactions to them. Their blog is also amusing and informative and helps me keep up with what my gamer friends are on about.
Also, PA is where I learned about 3-D printing, thanks to these strips:
Here is a video of 3-D printing:
Super Extra Bonus Content!
Shapeways is a site with lots of nifty products created by the general public…who happen to know how to design in three dimensions. You can also create your own designs and they’ll print them for you.
Thank you for joining me in this tour of careers-I-find-interesting-but-not-interesting-enough-to-pursue.
And if you know of any web comics about writers or bookshop employees, please leave a comment.
This page has Arthur Rackham’s illustrations to Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination. I’d only known Rackham as a delicate water-colour fairy-painter, so seeing his other types of illustrations was an eye-opener.
This plate for ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ has the feel I’d expect from Rackham.
This one, for ‘Premature Burial’, on the other hand, does not.
And this one from ‘Hop-Frog’ looks like an entirely different artist, as well.
Harry Clarke
Clarke’s illustrations of several Poe stories is here. While Clarke’s illustrations don’t always match the pictures in my head (see ‘Cask of Amontillado’ and ‘Pit and the Pendulum’), some perfectly complement the story (‘Tell Tale Heart’ and ‘Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar) while others are far more terrifying than what I’d imagined (‘Maelstrom’ and ‘Premature Burial’). Then there’s the WTF element of ‘Masque of the Red Death’. Did someone toilet paper the villain? Is that why he killed everyone? I don’t even…
At least you can move around pretty easily… until your horrible death…
If the titular pit were designed by the Marquis de Sade… or Gautier
This one really captures the supreme ‘sanity’ of the protagonist, don’t you think?
The earliest artistic rendering of accelerated putrefaction? mmm putrefaction
Holy jesus christ, make it stop!
NOPE
‘What is this shit?! The clock’s only barfed ticker tape on me! It’s *on* now.’
“Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore.”
“Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”
“Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door— Perched, and sat, and nothing more.”
“Wandering from the Nightly shore.”
“And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted—nevermore!”
Edmund Dulac
Encore Editions has quite a few (perhaps all?) of Dulac’s illustrations of some of Poe’s poetry. It was extremely difficult to choose what to post here, as every one deserves to be appreciated. But here are a few:
Today’s images are all Poe-centred. I only own one of these images (the one of the Raven and skull tattoo); if you know the artist of an unattributed piece, please leave a comment. Next Tuesday will be images of professional artists that illustrated Poe’s works. There are other images on the Poe Quotes page of this site.
Fan art
Edgar Allan Poe by Vixie79
Masque of the Red Death by tlmolly
The Fall of the House of Usher by Guided by Greed
The Fall of the House of Usher by Lilywhiteblack
Tattoos
I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people loved our man enough to get a tribute permanently inked into their skin.
This one is mine. It’s a double tribute to Poe (subject matter) and Tim Burton (style).
I’m fascinated by the concept of a folie a deux , which is when two people who’d otherwise by law-abiding citizens, become criminals when with one particular other person. See Juliet Hume and Pauline Parker, Leopold and Loeb, the Papin Sisters, etc.
So I really enjoyed these paintings by Kazuki Takamatsu, of a pair of girls that are clearly going to wreck someone’s day. Possibly yours.
Being me, I made up a little story to go with my favourites.
First, they meet and discover they have things in common. Ominous music plays in the background.
Curiosity
After discovering an affinity for weaponry…
Of New Friends I Could
They begin accessorizing and hovering above the ground.
Maybe a Good Friend
Then they take up playing with sharp things… in the fog.
We of Today
After a trip to the local BAMF shop they walk into town.
As evidenced by the gallery page of Vanitas paintings, I’m rather a fan of the macabre and beautiful still lifes. I find the warmth and depth of the paintings appealing.
Whilst building my gallery page, I came across some modern Vanitas art. For example, the person who did the piece above, Kevin Best , does amazing work .
Likewise lovely:
‘Vanitas Symbols’ Jose Picayo shot on 8″ x 10″ Polaroid film and printed as digital pigment photographs on canvas
I’ve always loved the woman’s posture in the painting above, as I often find myself in that posture when reading.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present, Lezende Vrouwen . The site is in Dutch, but it’s not difficult to navigate around and look at all of the great paintings of women reading from the 15th century to the present.
Unfortunately, they don’t have my all-time favourite painting:
For more paintings of Reading Women see this page .
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