Carlos Valenzuela is a professional illustrator and comicbook cover artist from Chile. He has worked with companies in the entertainment field like Fantasy Flight Games, SQP Publishing, Comics Buyer’s Guide, Pyranha Bytes, Avatar Press, Overcast Studios, Arcana Comics, etc. Working on projects from book cover illustrations, posters, interior book art through artwork for collective card games.

A huge fan of the sci-fi and horror movie genre from the 40′s and 50′s, Carlos is heavily influenced by master illustrators Frazetta, Corben, Wrightson and Elvgren plus the classic publications from EC and Warren.

So ladies and gents please regard me as I present you with this vintage and retro feature, enjoy! (And don’t forget to share!)

Retro and Vintage

Terror from Outer Space

The Curse of Dracula

The Curse of the Vampire Queen

Sleep Well, Sleep Forever

Queen Amidala

The Huntress

Jessica Rabbit

Late Edition

The Visitor

A Bat-Note

Super Heroes and Villains

Heroes Attack

Gotham Girls

Fantastic Four

Enter the Green Goblin

The Usual Suspects

Batman

Gotham Babes

DC Heroes

M.O.D.O.K.

Marvel Heroes 3

Horror and Fantasy

Homage to Lovecraft

Red Sonja II

John Carter of Mars

Classic Monsters

The Mummy Rises

Do not enter

Soulrender

Waiting in the Dark

The Barbarian

Princess of Mars

If you’ve enjoyed Carlos Valenzuela’s master pieces you can have the chance be a proud owner of his prints or why not commission him to incorporate you in a classic rendition of a horror or crime noir movie poster, just head on over to his portfolio site to find out more. (Don’t forget to share this article with your friends.)

Where to find Carlos Valenzuela on the web

Portfolio: @artworkfolio.com, @deviantart.com

Social Networks: Google+

Jeremy Saunders has 9 years worth of Key Art experience under his belt and I would like to take this opportunity to share some of them with all of you. But first what is “Key Art”?

A little bit of history

Movie posters have been and still is a big part of the industry since the earliest public exhibitions of films. What began as placards listing the programme of (short) films to be shown inside the hall or movie theater in the early 1900s evolved to featuring illustrations of scenes from each individual film or an array of overlaid images from several scenes. Other movie posters have used artistic interpretations of a scene or even the theme of the film, represented in a wide variety of artistic styles.

What is KEY ART?

Key art is a film poster used to advertise a film. It will be what the viewer remembers about the film long after the film’s original release date. There may also be several versions for one film, with variations in regards to size, content and country of production of the poster. It usually contains an image, or multiple images, composed to tell the story of the film. The titles are often designed to go with the artwork and often the names of the main actors are designed, as well. It might also include a tag line, billing block and contractual logos.

Key art can also be used to advertise a television show. Much of network advertising’s main artwork is known as key art and is used for advertising on web sites, billboards, magazines, city buses, bus shelters and banners. (Source – joseph-rey.com)

And now without further ado, here’s Johnny!

Burning Man

BURNING MAN is the reckless, sexy, funny, moving and ultimately life-affirming story of Tom, a British chef in a Bondi restaurant, who seems to have decided there are no longer any rules he needs to obey. Whatever Tom is up to, his actions seem to be tolerated by those around him.

As Tom descends into darkness, fragments of a different story begin to emerge. All the women in his world are trying in their own, very different ways to help put him back together.

Starring: Matthew Goode, Bojana Novakovic, Essie Davis, Kerry Fox, Rachel Griffiths (Source)

Che

Che is a two-part 2008 biopic about Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio del Toro. Rather than follow a standard chronological order, the films offer an oblique series of interspersed moments along the overall timeline. Part One is entitled The Argentine and focuses on the Cuban revolution from the landing of Fidel Castro, Guevara, and other revolutionaries on Cuba to their successful toppling of the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista two years later. Part Two is entitled Guerrilla and focuses on Guevara’s attempt to bring revolution to Bolivia and his demise. Both parts are shot in a cinéma vérité style, but each has different approaches to linear narrative, camerawork, and the visual look. (Source)

We Don’t Live Here Anymore

We Don’t Live Here Anymore is a 2004 drama film directed by John Curran. It is based on the short stories We Don’t Live Here Anymore and Adultery by Andre Dubus. (Source)

Here I Am

Karen is a beautiful woman with a dark past, but she’s got potential and she knows it. Upon her release from prison she realises the hardest person to forgive is herself. (Source)

Animal Kingdom

ANIMAL KINGDOM is a powerful crime drama exploring the tense battle between a criminal family and the police, and the ordinary lives caught in the middle.

Starring BEN MENDELSOHN, JOEL EDGERTON and GUY PEARCE, LUKE FORD, JACKI WEAVER, SULLIVAN STAPLETON and introducing JAMES FRECHEVILLE. (Source)

Antichrist

A grieving couple retreat to ’Eden’, their isolated cabin in the woods, where they hope to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse…

Starring: Willem Dafoe & Charlotte Gainsbourg (Source)

Beautiful

Searing and luscious, BEAUTIFUL tells the story of Daniel, a shy and introverted 14 year old boy residing in Sunshine Hills, a suburb living in the grip of fear following the rumoured abductions of three teenage girls. Daniel’s two main obsessions are photography and Suzy, a 17 year old Lolita, a dangerous combination of youth and sexuality. But what starts out as an innocent summer holiday becomes anything but, and they’re drawn into a web of seduction, murder and deceit, from childhood fantasy and into the harsh reality of the real world… (Source)

Lucky Country

1902….the Australian Federation is a year old. Twelve year-old Tom’s beloved father, Nat, has dragged him and his sister, Sarah, to an isolated farm at the edge of the woods. But Nat’s dream of living off the land has died and he is losing his grip on sanity. When three ex-soldiers arrive at their cabin one night Tom, like his father, believes they are providence. But their presence becomes more menacing when one of them reveals a secret: he’s found gold. As the lure of gold infects everyone around him the cabin becomes a psychological battleground in which Tom’s loyalty is put to the ultimate test. (Source)

The White Ribbon

A village in Protestant northern Germany. 1913-1914. On the eve of World War I. The story of the children and teenagers of the choir run by the village schoolteacher, and their families: the baron, the steward, the pastor, the doctor, the midwife, the tenant farmers. Strange accidents occur and gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual. Who is behind it all? (Source)

Candy

A poet named Dan (Heath Ledger) falls in love with an art student named Candy (Abbie Cornish) who gravitates to his bohemian lifestyle – and his love of heroin. Hooked as much on one another as they are on the drug, their relationship alternates between states of oblivion, self-destruction, and despair. (Source)

Suburban Mayhem

Katrina (Emily Barclay) is a 19-year-old single mum who’s planning to get away with murder. Katrina lives in a world of petty crime, fast cars, manicures and blow-jobs. A master manipulator of men living at home with her father in suburban Golden Grove, Katrina will stop at nothing to get what she wants – even murder. When her father threatens to contact social services and take away her child, Katrina sets in motion a plan to wreak suburban mayhem that will leave a community in shock and make Katrina infamous in a way even she never dreamed of. (Source)

Good Night, and Good Luck

Good Night, and Good Luck. is set in 1953, during the early days of television broadcast journalism. Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and his dedicated staff—headed by his co-producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) and reporter Joseph Wershba (Robert Downey, Jr.) in the CBS newsroom—defy corporate and sponsorship pressures, and discredit the tactics used by Joseph McCarthy during his crusade to root out Communist elements within the government. (Source)

The Motorcycle Diaries

In 1952, a semester before Ernesto “Fuser” Guevara is due to complete his medical degree, he and his older friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, leave Buenos Aires in order to travel across South America. While there is a goal at the end of their journey – they intend to work in a leper colony in Peru – the main purpose is initially fun and adventure. They desire to see as much of Latin America as they can, more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) in just four and a half months, while Granado’s purpose is also to court as many women as will fall for his pick-up lines. Their initial method of transport is Granado’s dilapidated Norton 500 motorcycle christened La Poderosa (“The Mighty One”). (Source)

Related readings:

Key Art – The Art of The Process

50 Beautiful Movie Posters

Movie Poster Gallery

Key Art Designs

Where to find Jeremy Saunders on the web

Website: jeremysaunders.com

Blog: Jeremy’s Blog

Social Networks: Twitter, Facebook

He was cool enough to sit down with Prodigal Concepts over digital coffee and it’s a treat I’m sharing with all of you a short Q&A with Jirka Väätäinen.

Q: Can you give us a brief bio of how you got into design?

Ever since I was a little kid, I have always done a lot of arts related stuff. Being creative and designing is what I am most passionate about, so it was a natural choice for me to get a higher education degree in design and turn my interests into a career.

Q: And who were your inspirations if you have any? People you look up to for inspiration?

There are so many talented people, and so much inspiring stuff out there that I don’t think I can just name a few people! Different people have inspired me at different times.

Snow White – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Q: Aside from your creative imagination where do you go to or what do use to stimulate creativity?

I draw inspiration from all areas of design and visual culture, whether it is movies, fashion, photography, graphic design or so on. So give me anything visual really, and I am good to go!

Princess Aurora – The Sleeping Beauty

Cinderella

Ariel – The Little Mermaid

Q: What was your creative design process while working on the Disney characters?

The design process has been very casual, since the project was self-initiated and it was just something I explored for fun. Being familiar with all the characters and having a clear idea on what I was looking to portray, the process has simply involved finding appropriate inspiration from real life people and photos, and then just working towards achieving my vision in photoshop!

Ursula the Sea Witch – The Little Mermaid

Belle – Beauty and the Beast

Meg – Hercules

Q: Can you share with us (*aspiring creatives) some words of wisdom on how we could harness our creativity and standout from the multitudes of creatives out there?

I would just suggest everyone to have fun and find out what the things are that you genuinely enjoy doing – since after all, standing out will require you to do your own thing!

Jasmine – Aladdin

Esmeralda – The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Pocahontas

Mulan

Rapunzel – Tangled

Tiana – Princess and the Frog

I hope you guys enjoyed this post as I have enjoyed working on it, be sure to share it with your friends. And I would like to thank Mr. Jirka Väätäinen who has been generous enough to share his time and his work with us today.

Where to find Jirka Väätäinen on the web

Portfolio: @Behance.net

Blog: Jirka’s Blog

Social Networks: Twitter, LinkedIn

The Ideal Beauty of the Human Body in Art

The idea of the perfect human body is a result of culture: religious functions, economy, advertisement and other factors.

The definition of beauty is not an immanent and objective quality of things, since every age, place and social class formed its own ideal of it, ideal beauty is corresponding with the aesthetic feeling of people of a respecting period.

“History of art” as a relatively young science earlier was called subjectively “aesthetics”. Art was supposed to evoke religious contemplation and/or sensuos and mental delight., as the ancient poet Heliodor postulated.

However according to the great historian Ranke the task of an historian is plainly “to tell as it really was..”, and not his own opinions or feelings.

Actually nowadays we are not any more allowed to call something objectively beautiful, only “to me it is beautiful” or “I like it”, especially since art expresse the disorder and confusion of mankind.

It seem, that there is no more ideals and “anything goes”…

- A Short Introduction to European History of Culture

I have always been fascinated by the “Death’s-head Hawkmoth” used in the “Silence of the Lambs” poster ever since the movie came out way back when. For those who are not familiar with it, these moths are easily distinguishable by the vaguely human skull-shaped pattern of markings on the thorax. But if you look closer, the image used in the movie poster incorporated an original sketch by Salvador Dali which he later collaborated with Philippe Halsman called In Voluptas Mors (1951) where he used actual women to form a large skull.

It is by some creative chance that I’ve stumbled upon a similar imaginative individual who celebrates the human body in all it’s glory, manipulating stock images to create a totally new concept. Let me introduce you to the dreamlike but artistically talented works of…

Cecelia Webber

Our featured artist for today once questioned why we are made to feel so ashamed of the human body especially in the Western culture and so much of the rest of the world? “Isn’t the body a beautiful, wonderful thing, deserving nothing less than to be celebrated?” Cecelia alighted upon a petal in her mind, a new-found platform from which she could quietly challenge the status quo: she created a digital image of a flower constructed entirely from photographs of the naked human body.

Caterpillars and Butterflies

Traveler

Reach

Chrysalis

Cerulean

Monarch

Fuchsia

Vivid

Flowers

White Dandelion

Sunflower

Sunflower (blown)

Blue Bell

Blue Lilac

Cherry Blossom

Jungle Pink

Dragon Flower

Note: Cecelia also dabbles in paintings as a medium, you can get a taste of her works of surreal cityscapes in black and white by heading over and viewing them all from her updated website.

Where to find Cecelia Webber on the web

Website: ceceliawebber.com

Blog: Cecelia Webber’s thoughts (NA)

Social Networks: Twitter, Facebook

Visit other prodigalconcepts.com features…

Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features.

Art Deco is based on mathematical geometric shapes. It was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, being influenced by a variety of sources.

Michael Myer’s (a.k.a. drawsgood) illustration’s falls nothing short of awesome. I first got a whiff of his genius when he did an illustrated series of the characters from the T.V. series “LOST”, immediately I became an instant fan and I’ve been stalking him ever since.

Today I bring to you his rendition of DC heroes and villains (note: actually it’s just one villain but I’m looking forward to more and will update this post when Michael is ready with them. ) He creates them in the styles of modern art deco minimalists which caught my fancy this last couple of years. I’ve been seeing them around a lot lately, mostly cult classics of movies or TV and comic book characters. The layout is simple, the color is flat, the font is classic, the texture is vintage or grunge the impact is jaw dropping, well at least for me it is. But I’m hoping to convert some of you today with the help “drawsgood” himself.

Check them out and enjoy! And may you find inspiration in these masterful works of art by Michael Myers!

DC Heroes

Superman

Batman

Robin

Wonder Woman

Aquaman

Flash

Green Lantern

“as featured in Green Lantern in 30 graphic inspirations”

Green Arrow

DC Villains

This is the only DC villain Michael has illustrated so far, but I’m sure he’s working on something and when he’s done we’ll post them here. Besides Lex Luthor is all the super villain you need! He’s a genius, unforgiving, conniving, sneaky, rich, no one knows what he’ll be up to next.

Lex Luthor

One day I will have one of this framed and adorn the walls of my personal office, but for now I’m happy just to be able to check them out from time to time.

If you like Michael Myers creations you may purchase a print copy at imagekind.com or make a statement with his wearable artwork as shirts at threadless.com

Find Michael Myers on the web

Website: www.drawsgood.com

Blog: Drawsgood Illustration and Design Blog

Portfolio: Deviantart, Bēhance, Society6

Social Network: Twitter, Facebook, Linked

Visit other prodigalconcepts.com inspirations…

Our featured artist and expert photographer today is the Montreal, Canada based Ken Kaminesky. Ken is a freelance lifestyle and travel photographer for stock photography agencies such as Picture Arts, Jupiterimages, Corbis and Getty Images. He loves to travel and has more than 15 years experience looking through the lens.

We are all lucky to have Ken with us today as I throw at him a few questions about his passion and his art of photography and Ken is even generous enough to share with us some of his master pieces for your inspiration and viewing pleasure. Scroll down and enjoy this rare and very educational one on one with Mr. Ken Kaminesky.

Florence-Via-Costa-dei-Magnoli

Q: I guess we would all like to know a brief background or perhaps a short bio of Ken Kaminesky. Like how and when did it all start for you? And what attracted you to photography in the first place?

I never had a camera as a kid, so I donʼt have one of those stories about me discovering my passion for photography at a young age like so many other photographers.

I kind of fell into this by chance. In fact in high school, art class was an optional class and when I signed up for it the teacher refused to let me take her course. She said that I had no artistic aptitude.

Come to think of it, I donʼt remember her showing us any of her work.

So my first experience with photography was when I took a course in my first year at college. After developing my first roll of film myself and working on my first darkroom photo, I was pretty much hooked. But even then I didnʼt think much of photography as a career. My plan was to get into cinema and I thought that photography would be a good base to help me develop an eye for composition, and being behind the lens.

After 2 years of school, I started working for some local photographers in Montreal and found that I was learning more from them, than I ever would in school.

I was really enjoying shooting my own work on the side while still assisting. At this time I was mostly working for fashion photographers and that was a fun situation to be in for a young guy. Pretty models, fun work atmosphere, and some travel all made me more certain that this is what I wanted to really do. 20 years later, here I am.

Q: Doing travel photography takes you all over the world, when I travel I hate lugging around any heavy luggage so my question is, aside from your personal choice of DSLR which gear canʼt you leave behind and can you tell us its importance to the work you do?

Other than the camera and lenses, I would be lost without my tripod and ball head, Macbook Pro, travel hard drives, rain cover for my camera, and my new camera backpack from F-stop.

In terms of non photo gear things, I would say that good walking shoes and socks are vital, since I can walk 20 to 30 km in a day easily. My iPod touch with maps, travel guides, subway apps, my portfolio, my music, translation apps and language tutorials is an awesome travel tool. Iʼm hoping that soon the iPad will be able to replace both the iPod and laptop when I travel. Iʼll get one when it can do all that I need it to do when Iʼm on the road.

Q: What do you usually look for in a subject or a scene to make a jaw dropping photo composition?

Iʼd like to think that itʼs a blend of intuition and experience that allows me to know when I have the right subject matter in front of me. To be honest though, I think that I can always do better. Iʼm often reminded of the quote by Samuel Butler:

“Think of and look at your work as though it were done by your enemy. If you look at it to admire it,
you are lost”

The scene will speak to me as Iʼm there taking the photo. Each scene has itʼs own story to tell, so there is no one true constant that I look for. Itʼs more of a feeling.

Jasper Maligne Lake Boathouse at Dusk

Q: How important is post processing to your final images?

Very! I can spend hours working on a single photo in Lightroom and Photoshop. I was doing the same thing in the darkroom well before I ever owned a computer. There is no image that has not been worked on in post in the history of photography. Everything that is done in the taking and developing of an image is processing or manipulating of some kind. Exposure, camera settings, lens choice, development of film, printing and computer work are all forms of processing. So I get a kick out of some people who call themselves “purists” and say that they donʼt use photoshop because itʼs cheating. To me they are just too lazy to learn how to use all the wonderful tools that we now have at our disposal. This is a golden age of photography and Iʼm loving it.

Quebec-City-St.-Jean-Baptiste-Church

Q: Can you share with us some tips of how to achieve the same quality of photography you end up with?

I could, but then Iʼd have to kill you.

Seriously though, Iʼd say passion, patience, practice and photoshop are my 4 Ps of perfect photography.

There is no simple method to get great images, itʼs hard work and experience that gets you there.

Q: And lastly how about some profound inspirational words of wisdom to the rest of us who could only dream of producing amazing photos like yours.

Believe in yourself, work hard, be nice.

Find out what you love to shoot and shoot the hell out of it.

When possible, walk, donʼt ride.

Embrace the tools that we now have at our disposal and learn to use them well. But always remember that itʼs photographers that take photographs, not cameras.

Stop, look up and around every once in a while. Youʼll be amazed at all the beautiful things that youʼve
been missing.

Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.

“This is really a great day for us here at prodigalconcepts.com and on behalf of our friends and followers we would like to thank Ken Kaminesky for indulging us with this insightful interview, the experience is overwhelming. We wish you all the best, more power – stay cool.”

More high dynamic images from Ken Kaminesky

Here are some of the images Ken generously shared with prodigalconcepts.com, this is just something to wet your appetite be sure to visit his website or his newly updated blog for the image back stories, hi-res versions and more great photography from around the globe by Ken Kaminesky.

NYC Times Square

Rome Colloseum

Paris L'Ombre de Notre Dame

Paris La Defense KPMG

Ottawa Maman sculpture by Louise Bourgeois

Montreal Olympic Stadium

Milano Centrale Train Station

Barcelona Telefonica tower Olympic garden

Banff Lake Moraine

Badlands Hoodoo Rock formations

Where to find Ken Kaminesky on the web

Website: kenkaminesky.com

Blog: blog.kenkaminesky.com/

Social Networks: Twitter, Facebook

With baby photography one name stands out for me among the crowd and that would be no other than Anne Geddes, she’s well renowned for her baby portraits usually dressed up in fantasy styled outfits and garden settings. I was introduced to her work a while back (some time in the late 90′s) when I received copies of them printed as postcards and greeting cards, I fell in love with her concepts. Anne has an eye that can see babies from a very surreal perspective and presents them mostly during their earliest days of innocence, when one couldn’t help but be awed as the babies look serene and magical.

I’ve decided for this post to celebrate the birth of Iñigo and make a compilation of creatively portrayed babies in photography. Babies in different poses and scenes shot by Anne herself as well as some images by other photographers I stumbled upon along the way. I hope you all enjoy and get enough dose of inspiration to grab that camera and immortalize the little tykes at their age of innocence.

Anne Geddes and her Surreal Babies

Anne Geddes style of children’s portraiture broke some fresh ground in the early 90′s. She has a few published work and some awards in photography excellence to back her years of experience in the industry she has grown to love. And if being interviewed by Oprah doesn’t count as an achievement, then let her work speak for her talent.

Carrie Sandoval and her Babies in B&W

Carrie Sandoval was always into anything that has to do with arts even as a young girl. She worked as an Art Director for an advertising agency before she had her first baby, a boy who gave her a new career direction. “Becoming a mother was the catalyst that caused her love of photography to blossom.

Adele Enersen and Mila’s Daydreams

Adele Enersen is from Finland, I believe Helsinki to be exact. She’s not a professional photographer but makes this list because of her creativity. A copywriter and a concept designer by profession who took time off from work to have her baby “Mila”. To avoid disturbing Mila’s sleep Adele just takes a few minutes to create a concept and take a snapshot using a point and shoot Canon IXUS 750, then it’s back to the crib for the little angel. Adele Enersen will have a daydream-book out soon, inspired by her blog Mila’s Daydreams where she portray’s her daughter in a wide array of dream like poses and settings, using anything readily available at home she can get her hands on as props which is planned to be published sometime in 2012 by Balzer + Bray.

Related Articles

6 Baby Photography Tips for Beginners

Baby Photography 101

Baby Photography:21 Cute and Meaningful Black&White Baby Photos

30 Adorable Examples of Baby Photography

On a personal note Iñigo finally arrived around 11:50 am on October 25, 2010. He’s a handful but manageable and it’s really something else to hold him, it’s like magic.

Enter the young up and comer Ian Jasper Reyes from Tarlac City, Philippines. Fresh out of college, he pursued his love of challenges for creating surreal photo manipulations with very impressive results. His humble beginnings started out by playing around with small scale TAGS and SIGS just for his personal amusement. He eventually started joining contests which helped secure his confidence with his work while he gradually pushed the envelop for a larger work canvas. Ian Jasper *slash Vinc found inspiration from the works of other artists on deviantart.com and wowmagz.com to name a few.

Currently focusing his artistry on his brand new passion for large dimension digital canvasses he proved time and time again that he can overcome it’s downside, like how frustrating it can sometime gets to fill it up with elements that would mesh nicely together. But Vinc seems to be doing this pretty well. And we are featuring him here at prodigalconcepts.com because we acknowledge that skills and talent knows no age, and if you happen to have found your calling early you will just keep getting better and better. Ian Jasper or Vinc clearly proves this to be true.

Enjoy “the Vinc’s” imaginative renditions

Wandering

Somewhat

Sky High II

Replace

In the Air

Mountaincold

Habitat

The Floating Idea

Approaching

Derived

Clouds

Close Enough

Where to find Ian Jasper Reyes on the web

Website: vincgfx

Social Network: facebook

Affiliations: DistortedPixel, pinoyrepublic.org

Ian Jasper Reyes also works as a design and technical freelancer if you find yourself in need of his services you may get in touch with him directly at his website. Thank you!

Annie’s style of lighting combined with the use of bold colors and poses in the 80′s got her a position with “Vanity Fair” where she photographed celebrities for the American Express ad campaign that won her a Clio Award which is given to reward individuals for creative excellence in advertising and design. We all could learn a lot from Ms. Leibovitz’s style of photography or just be inspired by what she has already done. In this post I would like to share some of her work from 2007 when the Walt Disney Company hired her to do a series of photographs with celebrities in various roles and scenes for Disney Parks “Year of a Million Dreams” campaign.

So drop everything for awhile and let’s bring out the inner child in all of us, during the time when anything seems possible and worries are a million miles away. Let’s all just sit back and find inspiration in the photos of Annie Leibovitz.

Alladin

Jennifer Lopez as Princess Jasmin and real life hubby Marc Anthony as Alladin, this is obviously “A whole new world”.

Whoopi Goldberg as the playful Genie, is there still time for my three wishes Genie? There is? Whoppi! Hehehe, I couldn’t help it!

Alice in Wonderland

We have here Beyonce as Alice, then Grammy winner country crooner Lyle Lovett as the March Hare then last but not the least Mr. Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter.

Cinderella

Scarlett Johansson accidentally left a glass slipper or is it a shoe in Cinderella.

King Arthur

Roger Federer traded his tennis racket for a sharper “Excalibur” as King Arthur.

The Little Mermaid

Julianne Moore dreams of feet as Princess Ariel while Michael Phelps practices his Olympic lungs in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

Peter Pan

Mikhail Baryshnikov the Russian dancer daintily flies into the room as Peter Pan, while Gisele Bündchen looks ravishing as Wendy, and although she’s too small to be recognized at first glance Tina Fey spreads some magic dust as Tinkerbell.

Pinocchio

Julie Andrews poses as the Blue Fairy while looking at Abigail Breslin “Little Miss Sunshine” herself as the apprentice fairy in Pinocchio

Pocahontas

Run Forrest ruuuun, seriously it’s Jessica Biel and her obviously strong legs running through the forrest as Pocahontas.

Snow White

Rachel Weisz rolls around with some forest critters as Snow White.

And of course Snow White’s friend Princess Aurora better known as Sleeping Beauty wouldn’t be awake if it wasn’t for Prince Charming *slash Prince Phillip and who better to pose as a prince than David Becham.

And they lived happily ever after…

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this post, now I want to share with you my first wish to the Genie, I wish that if people likes this article that they share it with their friends using the social bookmark buttons and leave comments. Does that count as 2 wishes already?

Find Annie Leibovitz on the web

Vanity Fair Profile: Annie Leibovitz

PBS Photo Gallery: American Masters

Andrew Smith Gallery: American Music

A very Special Thanks goes to thedisneyblog.com and milliondreamphotos blog for the hi-res images I used in this post, you guys are awesome!

Now what if you are like our featured artist of the week, he doesn’t visit toy shops simply to purchase someone else’s work, although I’m sure he has quite the collection. He also goes inside the magical emporiums to be inspired and probably to get some raw materials because Jim Faustino makes his own toys, yup he’s a toy maker of sorts he’s a regular Geppetto. He’s also an Illustrator, Painter, Comic book and Action figure enthusiast and the skill that brought him to our attention, a Sculptor. Another talented Filipino doing what he loves and being good at what he does Jim is a world class act and an inspiration to all of us.

Aside from his day job Jim Faustino is also a part of an eclectic team of artists at www.glasshousegraphics.com which is a professional service firm who collaborates and brings together individuals from different areas of expertise.

Now it’s time to hold on to your seats because we’re taking a ride to the candy store of sculpted goodies… and other stuff by Jim Faustino.

Toy Sculptures

Mark / Dirk Daring (G-Force)

Lobo (D.C.)

The Terminator

Betty Boop

Mico Jacko

Monster

Another Monster

Elf or Fairy or Dwarf

Compilation of early works

Darna

Wolf

Viktor

Druid

Other works

Wristbeads feat. Slipknot (accesories)

A Christmas (wall mural)

Archies (fan art)

Inhuman Royal Family (fan art)

Pinhead from Hellraiser (fan art)

Find Jim Faustino on the web

To know the back story of each creation visit Jim Faustino’s gallery at deviant art. As “the Joker” from Tim Burton’s Batman said “Where does he get those wonderful toys?”

Portfolio: deviantart.com | glasshousegraphics.com

Trivia: Jim together with his brother Jeremiah won the Philippine Graphic Fiction Peoples Choice Awards 2010 early this year for the comics category with their official entry “Hunger”. You may view the results at the Neil Gaiman interview. View the results here