Details!

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 A little fellow--a tiny detail from The Wizard.

Helikon Gallery's director and fellow illustrator Cayce Goldberg suggested we produce a book to go along with my exhibition, and I was blown away by his creative approach to book design. Filled with full color paintings, the book features many close-ups and details!

http://www.tomsarmo.com/home

 Bringing the reader's attention to the details within the artworks was only one of his ideas--and it was a lot of fun! As we worked on the book, Cayce searched the paintings for small, interesting components, which he then added to individual pages.

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Here's a shot of one of the interior pages. The skull is a detail from the painting, The Hermit.

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This is the back cover of Innate Tapestries: The Endless Stage, with cut-out details from The Hermit, and other complete paintings within the book.

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 Detail crop of The Owl and the Pussycat.

For me, a great deal of the enjoyment came from revisiting my own paintings in a new way. Studying the details close-up is not what I'm used to--often, painting is a process that's sort of unconscious working, so I'm not always totally aware of what's going into the artwork. That sounds strange, but it's true.

 

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Detail from The Voyage of the Aeolus.

 

Combing the works for details led to some pleasant surprises about how my hand works with the media, too.

 

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Here is a blown-up detail of the cricket from the painting, Pinocchio...

 

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 ...and the complete painting in the book.

 

I hope you found checking out the details enjoyable--thank you for visiting and supporting my art!

 The signed, 96 page, limited edition book is available here:

The Art of Tom Sarmo

 

Thanks again!

 

Pinocchio Versions from 1883 to 2014

Roberto Innocenti, 1988

Pinocchio kills the talking cricket.

 

Yup, Pinocchio smashes the cricket with a mallet in the original tale by Carlo Collodi. I like Disney's version, but am pretty much enthralled by Collodi's book. Unlike Disney's interpretation of a naïve and gullible Pinocchio, Collodi's puppet is a saucy, selfish, woodenheaded brat throughout most of his horrific adventures, which include being stabbed and hung by the fox and cat.

 

Roberto Innocenti's illustrations remain favorites of mine. They are gorgeous, dramatic watercolors that don't shrink from the violence within the tale, and also celebrate the evolution and eventual redemption of Pinocchio. Check out the atmosphere in these:

 

Pinocchio meets the fox and the cat.

 





Pinocchio is hanged by the assassins

 

The magical piece of wood from whence came Pinocchio.

 

The book is tough to come by, but be sure to see more of  Roberto Innocenti's artwork at http://www.robertoinnocenti.com/

 

Many illustrators have tackled the irritating little puppet's story. Here are a few of my favorites, which range from early black and white engravings to lushly detailed paintings:

 

 



Enrico Mazzanti, 1883

 

Carlo Chiostri, 1901

 

Charles Copeland, 1904

 

 

Attilio Mussino, 1911

 

 

Luigi Cavalieri, 1924

 

Gianbattista Galizzi, 1942

 

And last, this inspiring, fresh illustration by Kayla Edgar, 2014.

It blew me away when I first saw it!

Please enjoy more of Ms. Edgar's amazing work at http://kaylaedgar.com/ 

 

Thanks, as always, for reading!

 

*Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi, compiled by Cooper Edens,

was my source for most of the illustrations in this post. You can buy it used at

 http://www.amazon.com/Pinocchio-Classic-Illustrated-Carlo-Collodi/dp/0811822834/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407873433&sr=1-1&keywords=Pinocchio+cooper+edens