Frosted Fairytales
Sweet and happy stories set in lollypop land are boring. Who wants those? Oh hang on, except for the lollypop land bit. That part is good.
From donuts that fly to lolly-men that lob raspberries, the creatures of Nicoletta Ceccoli’s (a fairytale name in itself if ever I heard one) inhabit strange and sinister landscapes that are coated in sweet candy colours and dipped in frosting; in which sugar seems to be the dark lord, and where very bad things happen to cakes.
sugar seems to be the dark lord, and … very bad things happen to cakes
Ceccoli is an Italian artist, born and bred in San Marino. She studied animation in the Institute of Art in Urbino, Italy but afterwards moved on to illustrating books, the most recent of which is Cinderella. Her work has been exhibited internationally and won her many awards. Ceccoli’s fantastical world is populated by hybrid creatures that – were it not for her subdued but sweet colour palette – could easily dwell in a dark netherworld.
Look at these pictures late at night and maybe, if you’re lucky, you might step into one in your dreams.
These are a few of my favourites. See more of her mouth-watering work on her website.
March in Line
March illustration from the Frankie calendar, by Anke WeckmannHello March! The first day of the month is almost over, and it did not quite come in like a lion – apparently Melbourne enjoyed a ‘fresh breeze’ with occasional gusts resembling a ‘high wind’ or a ‘moderate gale’. If you’re wondering what on earth I am talking about, I refer to that saying ‘if March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb’. (So is a fresh breeze a really big cat I wonder?)
But I digress. March also blew in this charming folksy illustration by Anke Weckmann. I do like a bit of embroidery on cosy clothes for autumn. Anke is originally from Germany but now makes her home in London, illustrating for a number of publications. Her naïve style is playful and fresh with an appealing muted colour palette; it’s enjoyable seeing her sketchbooks with characters drawn in pencil. She says drawing is her favourite thing to do, although she also likes cups of tea, very long walks and blossoming trees.
See more of her work here.
Do you like this sweater? … The perfect thought for autumn.
Grisly and Gorey
From The Gashlycrumb Tinies
Edward GoreyThis might seem shocking to some, but until last week, I had never heard of eccentric American illustrator Edward Gorey (1925–2000). I don’t know if it’s simply because he wasn’t popular in Australia during my childhood, or somehow I just missed his work. This year, my sister gave me a mini calendar of his The Gashlycrumb Tinies, a rhyming alphabet of children who die in all sorts of grisly ways, first published in 1963. And today I learned on Abebooks’ Facebook page that yesterday was his birthday.
From The Gashlycrumb TiniesDuring his career, Gorey illustrated many books, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula and HG Wells’ The War of the Worlds, as well as creating his own books, many of which were wordless. With strange and evocative titles such as The Sinking Spell, The Inanimate Tragedy, The Glorious Nosebleed, The Sopping Thursday and The Abandoned Sock, Gorey's stories are delightfully sinister, drawn with a Victorian or Edwardian flavour and are equally appealing to adults as well as children … Or perhaps that should be written the other way around, for although Gorey’s books were popular with children he did not in fact associate with any, nor indulge in any particular fondness for them!
From the Donald book series
In response to being called gothic, he stated, “If you're doing nonsense it has to be rather awful, because there’d be no point. I'm trying to think if there’s sunny nonsense. Sunny, funny nonsense for children — oh, how boring, boring, boring. As Schubert said, there is no happy music. And that’s true, there really isn’t. And there’s probably no happy nonsense, either.” [Wikipedia]
I don’t know that I agree with that – you just have to look at Roald Dahl for some happy nonsense, or even Dr Seuss. Gorey also reminds me very much of Lemony Snicket, whose children’s books I have read (as an adult, after ostensibly purchasing the first of his A Series of Unfortunate Events for my niece Rosiecheeks) and enjoyed very much.
Read more about Edward Gorey at Abebook’s story.
The Deranged Cousins
The Osbick Bird
Seeing Spots
When I was a little girl I really loved freckles and was sad I didn’t have any. Just a small scattering across my nose would have been perfect. Of course, it was not until much later that I discovered freckled girls often viewed their sunkissed spots as blemishes that needed to be blotted out at all costs.
My February calendar page features a very cute illustration by Nancy Mungcal of Pretty Little Thieves. This freckled girl looks sad, although many of Nancy’s characters are rather pensive. This melancholic look is offset however by the casual lines and brushwork. The artist works with ink, marker and graphite, an appealing combination of mediums that together with a contemporary colour palette and repetitive symbols or patterns suggest a fresh, modern approach.
Happy February.
Lillian and Licorice
I was so excited to put up my new calendar last night – practically on the stroke of midnight – and get rid of the old one. I was sick of Steinweiss record covers long before December rolled around. This time, I was a little more organised and sought out a calendar well ahead of schedule (instead of mid-January like last year). Published by Frankie magazine, this lovely calendar features the illustrations of 12 artists from around the world.
Straight off the bat is this winsome painting of Lillian and Licorice, by The Black Apple. Artist Emily Winfield Martin said of this picture, “I wanted to make two little licorice-haired friends with green eyes...I can't deny that I like it when people resemble their pets.” You can see more of her work here.