the tiny people suggested on the roof of the sky scraper?
little touches that sell it.
usually the cover has very little to do with the story inside.
the guys that invented most of the billion dollar characters in Marvel,
got very little recognition or cash. being paid scale rates.
Stan Lee pocketed it all. star wars could be traced back a Jack Kirby
sci-fi story or two. Steve Ditko made spiderman what he was.
I don't think the lawyers for marvel like to give them total recognition.
With so much money floating about today in the movies, I think they might
have paid retrograde bonuses to them now. Or not?
the movies make a billion at least - each film? mental amounts.

Jack 'King' Kirby - street scene in a kid's comic.

Here is a link to the image.

https://theidlewoman.net/2017/01/29/eric-terry-pratchett/eric/

Here is some digital art I really like. Imaginative and tongue in cheek. I'm posting the link rather than images as they are likely to be copyright.

https://9gag.com/gag/aZgxzNz?ref=pn

I based this painting of a busy, smoke filled French Café on photography by the brilliant Saul Leiter.
It reminds me of bygone years spent in that beautiful country. Gouache on A3 watercolour paper.

A good first episode, recorded at picturesque Knaresborough castle.
There was a varied range of talent and styles on show which made landscape painting interesting for a change.
I look forward to episode two.

I made this mono-print (based on a sketch by Valentin Serov) using black ink on thin wrapping paper.
The highlights were added with chalk. I've had to tape it to a piece of cardboard to stop it rolling up. Will paste it down later.
If you haven't a good eye for drawing, you might want to look into mono-printing as you can use a mix of tracing and craft techniques to construct interesting pictures.

I really like your "Sailing Boats" painting Foinavon.

You are welcome Foinavon, I've just sent you a p.m.

A couple of months ago, someone, maybe Akabula, posted some photos of the new bridge across the Forth estuary.
I liked the elegance of the structure and the way the cable stays formed a series of regular triangles with the roadway. I thought this could form the theme for an abstract painting so tried this out yesterday. OK, it's not a painting of the bridge, it's an abstract for its own sake.

Sky Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 is starting soon on Sky Arts.
Episode 1 to be broadcast on 16th January at 8:00 pm

The artists reaching the televised stages of this competition are of a pleasingly high standard and this is a must watch series for me. I hope some other forum contributors will be interested in watching too.

You might recognise this location even if you have never been there. It is sometimes used as a backdrop on politics shows when interviewing local MPs like Ken Clarke and Anna Soubry.
The neo-baroque style council house was opened in 1929 and the statue of Queen Victoria was there from 1905 to 1955 when it was moved to a new location on the banks of the river Trent.
I've tried to depict it at dawn on a foggy day a lifetime ago.

Certainly prefer the bloke's portrait.

Thanks for keeping the thread going Foinavon.  Always interested to see your art.

As the weather is warming up, I decided to have a go at a summery scene with my acrylics. Not entirely happy with it and could do a better job with watercolours.

Summer holidays are fast approaching. This beach scene was inspired by twenty-year-old holiday snaps of North Cornwall. (I left out the people).
It could be an alien landscape but it is real and out there for all to enjoy.

Thanks, MD. I find horses difficult to represent so I'm pleased you think it looks right.
The Cornish beach is Bedruthan Steps near Newquay and is only accessible at low tide. Most photographs you see of it are taken from the clifftops usually with sea surrounding the rocks. Unfortunately, my photo of the painting has some camera shake which I only noticed when reproduced on here, I took it on my mobile phone.

Did you watch "The Big Painting Challenge"? I thought there were some interesting subjects and good tips from the tutors. I hope they do another series.

Yes, so did I. Early on I picked him and Anil as the best with Tilly as the best of the women. Anil did some good work early on but lost the plot towards the end and wouldn't take advice from the tutors. The handsome bricklayer was quite good too and I expected him to progress. Some of the others really struggled and being in front of the cameras under time pressure probably unnerved them. It would me.

A barn owl hunting.
I based this painting on a wildlife photo I saw in an old calendar. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the photographer.

The celebrated Russian artist, Ilya Repin (born in Ukraine) is well known for his realist portraiture, my favourite being of the composer Modest Mussorgsky which you will find here with a sensitive write up.
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2012/08/repin-paints-mussorgsky.html

One day in 1908 he painted a picture of his faithful old dog standing on a beach in the Gulf of Finland where he lived. He called it "Man's Best Friend (dog)". I love this painting which was done in a slightly more impressionistic style than his usual realism. Unfortunately it is in a private collection so cannot be viewed. I decided to try and paint my impression of it (impression of impression of a dog, hmm) for my own use.

Lovely paintings, Foinavon