taschen are evil part 2

I went to the London Taschen shop last night. I behaved myself and didn't buy anything. Apparently they do a warehouse sale twice a year so I'm waiting for that. If anyone wants to queue up at stupid o'clock with me on the day feel free.

I did come across another book there that wowed me. Pancha Tantra, Beautiful Beasts: with savage and murderous intent.





Walton Ford is a genius. Here is why: He draws in the style of the great natural history illustrators such as Audubon and Lear, but with a twist. The animals are plotting horrible, selfish things at each other,sometimes in a darkly humourous way to the viewer. In a way, even though the animals are anthropomorphized, this is more true to life than the relatively tame pictures we are used to seeing of wildlife. Let's face it, nature can be brutal. Animals hunt, kill, set traps and can be generally selfish when it comes to food and other needs. Man isn't exempt from this observation. There are images of human hunters in the book.





What truly makes this book disturbing and special at the same time, is that it's a mirror image of the way people can act. Obviously people are capable of great kindness and selflessness as well, but this book is about the beast below the skin.

taschen are evil part 2

I went to the London Taschen shop last night. I behaved myself and didn't buy anything. Apparently they do a warehouse sale twice a year so I'm waiting for that. If anyone wants to queue up at stupid o'clock with me on the day feel free.

I did come across another book there that wowed me. Pancha Tantra, Beautiful Beasts: with savage and murderous intent.





Walton Ford is a genius. Here is why: He draws in the style of the great natural history illustrators such as Audubon and Lear, but with a twist. The animals are plotting horrible, selfish things at each other,sometimes in a darkly humourous way to the viewer. In a way, even though the animals are anthropomorphized, this is more true to life than the relatively tame pictures we are used to seeing of wildlife. Let's face it, nature can be brutal. Animals hunt, kill, set traps and can be generally selfish when it comes to food and other needs. Man isn't exempt from this observation. There are images of human hunters in the book.





What truly makes this book disturbing and special at the same time, is that it's a mirror image of the way people can act. Obviously people are capable of great kindness and selflessness as well, but this book is about the beast below the skin.