tales of terror from the black ship

Recently I was browsing the shelves of Box Hill Library, looking for possible manga to read when I came across this book:



I thoroughly enjoyed these short stories and flicked through it eagerly, each story keeping me on the edge of my seat, the scratchy illustrations by David Roberts suiting the morbid atmosphere perfectly. Even though it's marketed as a kids' book, the book is fine for adults to read too; in fact it's probably too creepy and the writing too sophisticated for kids under 12, and the storytelling is definitely compelling enough to draw in those of all ages. I particularly enjoyed the stories 'Irezumi' and 'The Boy in the Boat'. So if you're after something dark and haunting but really fascinating and quick to read, then I recommend this book. Apparently the author Chris Priestley has 2 other 'Tales of Terror' books as well...I should get around to reading those. The website for these books is pretty entertaining: http://talesofterror.co.uk

pimpin' my stuff

(sorry for the blurriness)
I've been making some of my old artwork and doodles into badges lately. These will be sold at Fashion Incubator at Melbourne Central as of tomorrow! I'm pretty pleased with how the display turned out.

don't know what this illustration style is called, but:

I love it. Some examples:

by http://iamlocksin.blogspot.com



by http://mazakii.deviantart.com/



by http://jupiex7.deviantart.com/

It never fails to amaze.

music videos, #1

This video for the 90s classic 'To the Moon and Back' by Savage Garden is awesome, shot in grainy black and white and with a cyberpunk, futuristic sci-fi theme. I don't actually remember seeing this video back when the song first came out, but rediscovered it on Singstar and was impressed by the intriguing costuming and spacey quirkiness.



Another visually interesting and futuristic looking (though more minimalist) music video that caught my eye when I first saw it was the one for 'It's Not Over Yet' by the Klaxons:



who also have another conceptual and very eye-candy-for-females (and perhaps gay men) video for their song Golden Skans, which features ribbons in a way often seen in anime imagery:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYKfX6 (embedding was disabled, so you'll have to click ze link)

Ponyo

Recently I had the chance to see a free screening of the new Hayao Miyazaki film, Ponyo, at Cinema Nova in Carlton.


What can I say, it was fantastic. A sweet and simple story, but filled with rich, detailed and surreal imagery. Think of 'The Little Mermaid', but with a child protagonist and beautifully rendered backgrounds similar to childrens book illustration, happy colours, and just all-round cuteness, sweetness and light. The plot is dream-like and not totally linear, but it gels enough to work, and I really recommend this film.

Minus webcomic and mnem

MINUS http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus.html is a webcomic written and drawn by artist Ryan Armand, aka Rezo.

It's a beautifully illustrated series of vignettes involving a special little girl and her ability to make anything happen, limited only by her imagination. She doesn't shy away from being cheeky and even a little naughty at times, but the pretty watercolour pictures keep it light, providing a whimsical and day-dreamy atmosphere, reminiscent of breezy yet sunny childhood days.

In related territory, while going on a slight Harry Potter binge after seeing the recent film, I came across mnem's art while browsing a HP wiki. Her art can be found here: http://community.livejournal.com/mnem_art/

Although it's fanart, it strays away from the more typical anime-esque or stylised cartoon styles commonly drawn in this fandom, and instead provides warm and enchanting homages to the books, delicately rendered, like Minus, in watercolour, and has a similarly escapist quality to it. Like the comic, it takes you to a different place; this time the fantasy world of Hogwarts. The endearing little illustrations look like they could be used for future editions of the book; in fact at first I even wondered whether her illustrations had been used for foreign editions of the book. But no, just a humble fan doing it for free. Her blog is totally sweet as well.