The Elements of the Periodic Table, Personified as Illustrated Heroes. By Maria Popova An irreverent take on chemistry from Japanese artist Bunpei Yorifuji.
As a lover of children’s books, especially illustrated science-inspired and nonfiction children’s books, I was instantly smitten with Wonderful Life with the Elements: The Periodic Table Personified (public library) by Japanese artist Bunpei Yorifuji, whose ingenious subway etiquette posters you might recall.
Lively and irreverent, this comic-inspired take on the Periodic Table gives each of the 118 known elements a distinctive character, with attitude and style reflective of the element’s respective chemical properties, era of discovery, and natural states. From Carbon’s ancient beard to the Nitrogen family’s rebellious mohawks to Hydrogen’s boastful might, the charming micro-vignettes nudge the young reader towards that ever-marvelous space where science and whimsy intersect.
Inside, there’s even a beautiful large-format poster of the entire personified Periodic Table: ↬ It’s Okay To Be Smart. Kay Nielsen's Stunning 1914 Illustrations of Scandinavian Fairy Tales. By Maria Popova As a lover of illustrated fairy tales and having just returned from Sweden, I was delighted to discover, thanks to the relentlessly wonderful 50 Watts, East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North (public library; public domain) — a collection of Scandinavian fairy tales, illustrated by Danish artist Kay Rasmus Nielsen (1886-1957), whose work you might recall from the all-time greatest illustrations of Brothers Grimm and the fantastic visual history of Arabian Nights.
Originally published in 1914, this magnificent tome of 15 stories was recently reissued by Calla Editions, the same Dover imprint that revived Harry Clarke’s magnificent illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe, and features 25 color illustrations, along with a slew of black-and-white ones, in Nielsen’s singular style of haunting whimsy. ↬ 50 Watts. 5 Art and Design Projects Inspired by Literary Classics. By Maria Popova From James Joyce to Jonah, or what the Brontë Sisters’ objectification of men has to do with Holden Caulfield.
Art inspires art, often crossing boundary lines in magnificent cross-disciplinary manifestations. As a lover of remix culture and a hopeless bookworm, I revel in the cross-pollination of visual art and literature. Here are five wonderful art and design projects, inspired by literary classics. In February of 2010, Paris-based designer and illustrator Stephen Crowe set out on an ambitious project — to not only read James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, considered one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language, but to also illustrate it. First Line Page 22 Page 25 Page 75 Page 76 Page 79: Kate Strong, a widow Nothing that appears in Finnegans Wake is ever just one thing. A number of the illustrations are available as prints. '...Jonah feels the heralding presentiment of that stifling hour, when the whale shall hold him in the smallest of his bowel's wards.' Mr.
The Old Man and the Sea, Animated in Hand-Drawn Stop-Motion. Donating = loving Brain Pickings remains ad-free and takes hundreds of hours a month to research and write, and thousands of dollars to sustain.
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