Mister PicassoHead and His Bucket of Art Parts!

Get your french-fried cubism on with Mr. PicassoHead! Click the post title to access the website, and or click here for my own personal "masterpiece."

The Mister Rogers of Astrophysics

I Still Love the Old World

In my eternal quest for WIS images available on the interwebs, I bear witness to what I believe to be the evolutionary progress of the art form. The golden age of WIS has clearly passed. This was an age of airbrushes, an age when evidence of the warm touch of the human hand was still felt, no matter how polished and realistic the pieces may have been. These days---though I must emphasize that it gives me infinite pleasure to see people still pursuing the genre---these days I see more photoshop job WIS than not.

Now, I majored in fine art. I mean, I am a purist. I built my own silkscreens and gleefully inhaled the aroma of linseed oil and turpentine. I wore my charcoal smudge warpaint with pride. It never crossed my mind to pursue digital photoshop whatnot, because...well, I'm a purist snob! And recently, I've reconsidered my thinking. It sure is a hellofalot easier to get what's in your head out and into existence with photoshop than struggling with the many varieties of technical difficulties involved in the old ways. Photoshop is cool, fine, yes. And worth pursuing...But...I still just like the old stuff better.

I heart Carl Sagan

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."


"The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."

-Carl Sagan

Green Moon Orcas and Roger Dean

Here we have a uniquely lovely WIS. When I first beheld this piece I was immediately reminded of the work of one of my favorite artists, the super-fantastic visionary Roger Dean. Though I'm nearly positive Dean has never ventured into the realm of WIS art, he is undeniably an influence for countless fantasy artists, likely including the perpetrators of WIS. A defining feature of Dean's works are his deliciously rich techniques of manipulating various inks, watercolors, and enamels. Though his work is highly detailed, it still retains a soft, speckly quality.








There are recurring themes of space, flying creatures (but not whales), and floating objects or land masses in Dean's work.

Nature's Majesty!

BEHOLD!!! The majestic Bald Eagle! The stealthy Mountain Lion! And the wise and noble Wolf! Imperial Nature! This post brings us to a popular genre somewhat related to WIS - Redneck T-Shirt Art.

Also a fantasy art sub-genre, Redneck T-Shirt Art often encompasses the themes of Wolves, Eagles, and Native Americans, and is usually set within the context of woods, mountains, tundra or sky. I believe the style developed as a result of the oxymoronic combination of patriotic sentiments with a reverence for Native American culture and mysticism. Also, redneck guys just love them some wolves.

More examples of Redneck T-Shirt Art:

Photoshop Ahoy!

The first Photoshop attempt at a WIS piece that I have seen. It lacks the usual atmosphere of most other works, but the content is not to be denied.