This week I am going to highlight a young woman I met before we moved. She has an amazing talent for drawing not only by hand, but using a computer. Her name is Karsha and she has a blog and a Deviant Art account.
Her love of art began at a young age, although she was discouraged after being told her art was ugly. She didn't really enjoy drawing much after that, until she was about 14 and learned about anime. Karsha felt that she needed to write a book with art and that ignited a new passion within her, for drawing. She finds her inspiration through many things, God being her number one, the sky, people, music and other anime artists. As you will see, it really shows in her art. Enjoy and feel free to visit Karsha and check out her art.
She truly has a heart for others.
I love the cool backgrounds she adds to her art.
She does pictures of people she knows, this one she did of my son and his girlfriend.
I thought it appropriate to couple Karsha's beautiful anime with the amazing works of Hayao Miyazaki.
As I've mentioned before, I not only love his artistic style, but his creative and whimsical story telling, as well. To see the world through his eyes is absolutely fascinating. If you've not ever seen one of his movies, I highly recommend you do.
Hayao is a manga artist, an animator and a film director. His father was director of Miyazaki Airplane, which made rudders for fighter planes during WWII. This is where Hayao began drawing airplanes and developed his fascination for aviation, which is a huge part of his movies. You can look him up, to find a list of his works.
My Neighbor Totoro...I like watching this one in Japanese.
Howl's Moving Castle, great movie based on a book by the same name, by Diana Wynne Jones.
Great book too.
Spirited Away. Interesting story, love it.
Hayao Miyazaki
Love the dimples, he looks so happy!
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiki's Delivery Service (one of my all time faves)
Castle in the Sky
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (love the flying machines)
My Neighbor Totoro
I had to add this, so you could see the original sketch. Awesome!!
I have to add, that if you are at all a romantic,
then Whisper of the Heart would be a great movie for you to check out.
There are many others that I didn't mention, watch them all if you get a chance.
They're like magic!!
In the spirit of this Halloween day, here are some fun pictures for you to enjoy.
Edvard Munch
Arthur Rackham
Brom
Hayao Miyazaki
Joseph Mugnaini
Matthew Kirscht
Norman Rockwell
Rado Javor
Will Moses
Tim Burton
My kids, pumpkin carving artists.
"The wind came by. It rocked all the dark smoking pumpkins on the vast and beautiful Halloween Tree. The wind seized a thousand dark leaves and blew them away up over the sky and down over the earth toward the sun that must surely rise. Like the town, the Tree turned off its embered smiles and slept. At two in the morning, the wind came back for more leaves." The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
This week I was busy and out of town, so I'm not as organized as I'd hoped to be.
With Halloween coming up next week, I thought I'd highlight two artists that have a bit more macabre style. Both of these artists have inspired me over the years, with their very interesting perspectives.
Edward Gorey was an illustrator, writer, an amazing artist. His style and sense of humor was a bit twisted, which is what I love about him. I first fell in love with his art when I would watch the PBS Mystery Theatre.
He wrote and illustrated over 100 books. He was brilliant and very talented.
“Life is intrinsically, well, boring and dangerous at the same time. At any given moment the floor may open up. Of course, it almost never does; that's what makes it so boring. ”
― Edward Gorey
Salvador Dali: Was multi-talented in painting,drawing, photography, sculpture, writing and film. His art work was interesting, surreal, bizarre, beautiful...I could go on, but instead I will just show you.
I have always loved this picture, as I'm sure many others do too. Melting clocks, very cool.
A sample of his brilliance.
He was also great with optical illusions.
I happened upon his art when I was about 15 years old and fell in love with his bizarre style. It was very inspiring to see someone who could truly think outside the box.
This week I am excited to once again share with you the beautiful art of another fellow blog artist. Her name is Marjorie and her lovely blog is My Cozy Little Whimsy Nook. Her art is inspired by her love of nature, animals, folk art, 18th & 19th century fashion and art, novels, poetry and old children's book illustrations, as well as her love of music. In her art she tries to capture a sense of awkward beauty, stillness, solitude and whimsy. I think she captures all of that, very well. She grew up always loving to draw and paint, indoors and out, setting up her easel & watercolours, pretending to be an artist. I don't think she needs to pretend, she is a wonderful artist. Enjoy her lovely paintings and if you're interested in owning one of these lovelies or looking at many others, she has an Etsy.
To compliment Marjorie's very gorgeous art and love of nature, this week, I will also be highlighting one of my long time favorite artists, Beatrix Potter.
She lived in the 1800's, adored nature and became a very wonderful farm woman, as well as, buying properties so that she could later preserve them. She had many children's books, that she wrote and illustrated and was fairly successful. Her art and her stories are touching and whimsical and full of life and beauty.
In addition to loving her art and life, there is a wonderful series of books I've read called Cottage Tales by Susan Wittig Albert. They're about Beatrix Potter, but are fictional and quite lovely. Enjoy the pictures.
"A good painting to me has always been like a friend. It keeps me company, comforts and inspires." Hedy Lamarr
