Category: Art

Cosplay: A History by Andrew Liptak

Wow, what a comprehensive look this is at the past and present of cosplay! I’ve always loved dressing up, ever since my parents bought me a gorgeous Snow White dress that I was forbidden to wear except on Special Occasions, so I maybe got to wear it twice before outgrowing it as a child (which …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/06/29/cosplay-a-history-by-andrew-liptak/

Eggs From Red Hen Farm: Farm To Table With Mazes And Maps by Monica Wellington

I am just wildly in love with Monica Wellington’s American folk art style throughout the pages of this wonderfully interactive children’s book. It can sometimes be a struggle to get my younger kids to sit with me for the duration of an entire tome, but my youngest especially was thoroughly engaged by the clever art …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/03/01/eggs-from-red-hen-farm-farm-to-table-with-mazes-and-maps-by-monica-wellington/

Shapes & Patterns in Nature by Magdalena Konečná, Jana Sedlackova & Štěpánka Sekaninová

This gorgeous picture book is a riot of color and shape, feeling just as much art book as nature guide. While ostensibly aimed at children, there’s so much for readers and art aficionados of all ages to savor in Magdalena Konečná’s dazzling illustrations, pleasingly arranged by shape and color around various biological/geological themes. The organization …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/05/shapes-patterns-in-nature-by-magdalena-konecna-jana-sedlackova-stepanka-sekaninova/

The Field Guide To Dumb Birds Of The Whole Stupid World by Matt Kracht

Matt Kracht loves birds enough to be perfectly blunt about what jerks they can be, to massively entertaining effect. In this follow-up to his initial The Field Guide To Dumb Birds Of North America, he expands his reporting on birds to cover avians of the entire world, gaining a significantly wider range for his mockery. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/21/the-field-guide-to-dumb-birds-of-the-whole-stupid-world-by-matt-kracht/

Madly Marvelous: The Costumes Of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel by Donna Zakowska

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel has long been on the list of shows I’d watch if I had more time in my life, so I was immensely grateful to receive this book so I could make the time to watch at least the pilot episode. Even as someone unfamiliar with the show, I’ve long been a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/30/madly-marvelous-the-costumes-of-the-marvelous-mrs-maisel-by-donna-zakowska/

The Bird: The Great Age Of Avian Illustration by Philip Kennedy

So for real, I spent every few pages of this gorgeous, luxe volume either exclaiming or sighing, “So beautiful!” I hardly expected anything less from a book billing (ha) itself as a retrospective of the golden age of avian illustration, but I honestly did not expect a volume so hefty and extraordinary, and for only …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/23/the-bird-the-great-age-of-avian-illustration-by-philip-kennedy/

Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History by Michael Witwer et al.

D&D Art & Arcana

For a certain kind of person, this book is a source of great joy. Fortunately, I am that kind of person, and I have kept coming back to it since I bought it in February. I first became aware of Art & Arcana when I flipped through an electronic version that came as part of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/11/06/dungeons-dragons-art-arcana-a-visual-history-by-michael-witwer-et-al/

Men To Avoid In Art And Life by Nicole Tersigni

One of the most fun things about owning a Sharing Library (which is the un-trademarked name of the more ubiquitous Little Free Libraries) is finding treasures like these generously popped in by an anonymous donor. I’m so glad I decided to peek in to mine when I did, so I could snag this before anyone …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/13/men-to-avoid-in-art-and-life-by-nicole-tersigni/

Turning To Wallpaper: Poems And Art by Heidi Wong

Wow, this book is a gut punch, in several very excellent ways. First, ofc, there’s the art, all by Heidi Wong, which is primarily dark to macabre. My review copy was a black and white Kindle version, so there’s only so much I can say about something I can’t observe in its full glory, but …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/06/turning-to-wallpaper-poems-and-art-by-heidi-wong/

Fletcher and Zenobia by Victoria Chess and Edward Gorey

Fletcher, alone

I don’t have all that much to say about Fletcher and Zenobia except that reading it makes me very happy, every time. It hits just the right note of whimsy without being twee. It’s mildly melancholy at the beginning, then enlivened, then worrisome again, and then everything is pleasantly resolved at the end. What more …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/18/fletcher-and-zenobia-by-victoria-chess-and-edward-gorey/