Friday Finds

I'm loving Charli XCX's surge to the top of pop at the moment, and her terrific cover of I Want Candy is a great example as to why.

- These three TED talks on storytelling are all sorts of wonderful.

- We're getting a female-led superhero film in 2017? Yay? Just wish it wasn't Sony, not being a huge fan of The Amazing Spider Man reboot.

- Keke Palmer is Broadway's first black Cinderella! I am excite! I've loved Keke Palmer since The Longshots (pls don't judge me).

- This Harry Potter/Scott Pilgrim mash-up is basically the best though.

- How awesome are these photos of African wildlife by Will Burrard-Lucas?! And these ones of powerful moments captured in the wild.

- Studio Ghibli's closing <:O and the not closing?

- 18 books perfectly described using emojis.

- These high contrast illustrations by Polish artist, Patrycja Podkoscielny are awesome and basically the perfect thing to start your weekend with.

Friday Finds

- There's about a million movies I'm excited for coming out in the not too-distant future, including Guardians of the Galaxy which I've posted about a gazillion times, Horns , and The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears, Big Hero 6!

- On a similar note, what even our best summer blockbusters are still getting wrong about women.

- I'm tentatively excited for the Locke and Key movie. The graphic novel series is one of my favourites, and I live in a hope of an adaptation that does justice to it.

- Oscar-winning screenwriter, Dustin Lance Black, talking about his creative process is a fascinating watch.

- This broken down bungalow getting a makeover is basically my dream home.

- These harsh actor insults are mostly just hilarious.

- These redesigns of Austen book covers are lovely. As are these illustrations of mysterious islands by Yvan Duque.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Florence Minowa

Flo Minowa's work is where it is at this week. Whether original or fanart, her illustrations have such character and expression that it's hard not to fall a bit in love. Plus, I mean, anyone who does Jane Austen character fanart will always have a special place in my heart.

You can check out more of Florence Minowa's work over on her website.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Lily Padula

Treading that fine line between whimsical and outright creepy, Lily Padula's work is utterly inspired. Her sense of shadow and shape and colour and just limbs is so lovely and strange in the best ways.
Check out more of her work over on her tumblr.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: G. Grossman

All of G. Grossman's work is pretty great to be honest, deeply mythical and fantastical, with lots of compelling ladies (so right up my alley). Plus, the colouring is sublime. You can check out more of Grossman's work over on tumblr.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Hwei Lim

Ugh, Hwei Lim's artwork is just doing things to me today. Soft and fluid, it reminds me of the illustrations in some of my old books of fairytales growing up which, y'know, I'm always here for. It's all pretty aces.

You can check out more of Hwei's work over on tumblr.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Daniel Krall

How great is Daniel Krall's work? Totally inspired and coming across unlike anything I've seen before, it's stylistically and story-wise pretty unique. I'm a little obsessed with the picture above, the moment fantasy meets reality is always something I've loved, so to see it represented so creatively is, well, pretty awesome.

You can check out more of Daniel Krall's work over on his tumblr.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Julian Callos

Julian Callos' work is totally where it's at for me this week. Fantastical and surreal, his stuff really encompasses a sense of myth and character in a way that's pretty special. You can check out more of Julian's work over at his website.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Hannah Lee Stockdale

I'm pretty into Hannah Lee Stockdale's work this week. Vibrant, expressive and full of odd shapes and strange themes, it's pretty up my alley and, well, pretty wonderful. You can check out more of Hannah's work over on tumblr.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Yelena Bryksenkova

I sort of feel like I've been gettin' my fairytale on this month in many forms. Having read Angela Slatter's Sourdough & Other Stories and getting my oldschool Disney on (I know they're not really all that faithful, but come on. The Little Mermaid is a national treasure), I've been loving all things scaly and romantic. Yelena Bryksenkova's work isn't always fantastical, but there's always something magical about it. Between odd poses and duller palettes and, well, pretty extraordinary designs, her work doesn't leave so much to the imagination as it baits it. It's all pretty wonderful. You can check out more of Yelena's work over at her website.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Rebecca Mock

I'm really into gif illustrations at the moment and Rebecca Mocks is pretty awesome at it. The animated elements are always sort of unexpected, giving the work a lazy, summer feel. It maybe helps that her work so frequently operates as snapshots in time, forgettable moments in broader relationships. It's pretty special. You can check out the rest of Rebecca's work over on her website.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Victo Ngai

Victo Ngai is a Chinese-born, NY-based illustrator who's kind of blowing my mind right now. Surrealist and exciting and awesomely vivid, her illustrations are the sort of thing that inspires so poignantly. I particularly love all of her animal work, with these weird, giant things taking cities and civilians alike. You can check out more of Ngai's work over on her website.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Diplopia

Diplopia is a collaborative project between artists Eleanor Davis and Katherine Guillen. Beautifully compelling and illustrative of small town life, immigration and love, it combines beautiful design elements, strange characters and a degree of myth that elevates the narrative beyond a lot of other work. It's pretty wonderful. You can check out more of the collaboration over on The Fox is Black.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Koren Shadmi

Koren Shadmi's illustrations are beautifully detailed, delicate and evocative, with lovely twists on old myths and concepts that take it out of the norm and build something completely original. The picture above is one of my favourites. It just does things to me. Check out more of Koren's work here.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Sam Bosma

Oh man, Sam Bosma's illustrations are doing things to me. Worldly and intricate, his illustrations encompass so much reality and explores the fantastical. I'm just sighing and chin-handsing all over the place. The pic above was done in collaboration with last week's Mid-Week Art Break artist, Dilraj Mann. You can check out more of Sam Bosma's work over on his website.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Dilraj Mann

I'm really fascinated at the moment by the work of Dilraj Mann. His style is kind of awesome and unlike much I've seen before, with full figured, fuller lipped women who ooze sex appeal. It's pretty great. Check out his work over on tumblr.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Huan Tran

Man, there's something kind of magical about Canadian artist, Huan Tran's illustrations. At once imitative and completely original, he manages to work a serious sense of myth and fable into his drawings. I mean, a squid for hair, guys. Really nice stuff. You can check out more over on his deviantart page.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Jenny Clements

Jenny Clements' illustrations are so great. Whether it's fanart, elementals or selkies (particularly the selkies, just fyi) her work manages to encompass so much expression and tenderness. It's all pretty wonderful.  Check out her stuff over on DeviantArt here.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Kelly Bastow

Kelly Bastow's artwork is making me chinhands all over the place. Beautiful and billowy and feminine, her work manages to tell loving, cohesive stories in a few frames. Her comics in particular are lovely. You can check them out at her website.

Your Mid-Week Art Break: Lauren Carney

Lauren Carney's artwork is high on the whimsy, full of fantastical creatures and pastel colourings. They're all pretty great, and she harnesses this rather lovely sense of narrative across her work that speaks to my myth-loving heart. Just a heads up if you're at work, there is a fair bit of nudity with her work. Check out her website for more.