Category Archives: Illustrations

Without this knowledge – you would be a Heath-en

To be a Heath-en you need to know about this English cartoonist and  illustrator, Heath Robinson  who is best known for his drawings of eccentric machines. As a concept, the term “Heath Robinson” is often used to describe unnecessarily complex … Continue reading

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Go into the Darklore Manor and see how the just dies

“Along a dark forsaken road, There stands a stark and grim abode – An old manor house looms black and tall To cast a grave and deathly pall – Beyond the ancient wrought iron gate, A thousand nightmares lie in … Continue reading

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Manet examples of great Impressionistic art

The famous French artist, Édouard Manet was born into an upper class household with strong political connections, on 23rd January 1832. As an artist, Manet rejected the future originally envisioned for him, and became engrossed in the world of painting. He … Continue reading

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Kit Williams is the bees-knees in puzzles and masquerades

Christopher ‘Kit’ Williams was born on 28th April 1946, in the English County of Kent. He is an artist, illustrator and author and best known for his book Masquerade (1979); a pictorial storybook which contained clues to the location of … Continue reading

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Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band

Believe it or not, there is a tambourine featured within this image. (see left). Can you detect who is holding it? Regardless of whether you notice it or not this illustration by Thomas Rowlandson is entitled:  “The Tambourine“.  Rowlandson, an English … Continue reading

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Milton’s Male Call mischief with Miss Lace

American cartoonist and comic strip artist, Milton Arthur Paul Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio on February 28, 1907. He became famous for two particular comic strips:  Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon and perhaps more infamously with Male Call, … Continue reading

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Timely advice from a Caterpillar?

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll  is celebrating its 150th anniversary of publication. The depictions shown here are from an edition which was illustrated by  A.H. Watson, aka Alice Helena Watson who was born … Continue reading

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when you’ve lived like I have, you’ve done it all

Australian bohemian, visionary artist, dancer, and muse of the 1950s and 1960s, Vali Myers was born in Canterbury, Sydney, on 2nd August, 1930.  Her mother was a violinist and her father was a marine wireless operator.  Vali’s penchant for art … Continue reading

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Every gallery tells me to quit illustration

Marshall Arisman was born in Jamestown, New York, on December 21, 1937. After growing up on a dairy farm, Arisman studied advertising art at the Pratt Institute, graduating in 1960 where he also received an Ida Gaskell Grant to travel … Continue reading

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Make sure you halter to see the Kiev Psalter

The Kiev Psalter aka the Spiridon Psalter, is one of the most famous East Slavic illuminated manuscripts, containing over 300 miniatures. It was written and scribed in 1397 by Archdeacon Spiridon in Kiev. which followed a Byzantine style from an … Continue reading

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Beware of the nightly Tengu

The Tengu – are Japanese mythological human sized, bird-like creatures who are alleged to be dangerous but not always ill-willed spirits of the wilderness, who fly mostly at night. There are two kinds of Tengu: Karasu-Tengu with a short thick bird’s … Continue reading

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Just say – Cixi!

The Empress Dowager Cixi (akaTzu-Hsi) was born into the Manchurian  Yehenara clan, on the 29th November 1835.  She became a powerful and charismatic woman who unofficially, but effectively, controlled the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years, from 1861 until her death … Continue reading

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M Toulouse-Lautrec – Joyeux anniversaire!

Henri-Marie-Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa was born 150 years ago on 24 November, 1864. He was a Post-Impressionist French painter, printmaker, draughtsman and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the late 1800s yielded a collection of exciting, … Continue reading

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Anything but Jarre-ing

I love 70s electronica music. In particular, I love the first two Jean-Michel Jarre albums, Oxygene and Equinoxe. The artwork for these two albums was by French artist, Michel Granger who was born in Roanne on 13th October, 1946.  It … Continue reading

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Ooh la la! Such a Scandale

Here we have, Herve Morvan’s Scandale  (aka “Scandalous ca. 1950 poster) of an embarrassed sandwich man who, by wearing the sandwich board, looks as though he is wearing women’s underwear. Ooh la la! Herve Morvan (1917-1980) was a great French … Continue reading

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