Zombies in Art: Fan Art Edition

Zombie fans can be extremely creative and talented. Here are some of the best pieces I could find.

* Shaun of the Dead Art Jam by pipin

* The Walking Dead by Patrick Brown

* Bruce Campbell vs. Zombie Muppets by Laurent Canniccioni

* Deadpool Zombies by musane

* Resident Evil inspired sculpture by wigz411

More zombies coming up!

Zombies in Art: Magic the Gathering Edition

The San Diego Comic Con exclusive planeswalker set for Magic the Gathering featured 5 planeswalkers and 4 of them were zombies. Eric Deschamp's art is gorgeous, quirky, and macabre. Each zombie is themed towards that planeswalker's power except for Liliana who controls the zombies. This never actually happened in the Magic stories, but it's an interesting fantasy set that asks what if the other planeswalkers were Liliana's zombie puppets.

Nissa Revane wields nature's power, but as a zombie, she acts as fertilizer for flowers.

Jace Beleran has great power of the mind, including creating illusions, telepathy, and clairvoyance. Zombie Jace eats his own powerful brain.

Chandra Naalar is imbued with fire magic. Unfortunately, zombies don't react well to fire...

Gideon Jura has great strength and valor in battle. His severed arm, once used to save others, strangles his own neck,

And leading them all is well dressed necromancer Liliana Vess, happy that her rivals are gone and puppets for her to command.

Too bad for her this didn't really happen, but it makes a great collectible product that I knew I had to own. I love when two things I love work together. If you'd like prints of any of these works, go to Eric Deschamp's website and there are lots of size options plus you can check out his other works.

Zombies in Art

* Feast and Famine by Chase Stone

This is an art from a Magic: the Gathering card. I love the style because it looks like you can almost feel the texture of the zombie. The expressions are amazing.

* Optical illusion

I'm not sure what it's called or who make it or where it came from, but this photo is awesome. The more you look at it, the more zombies you see in the fog. It has a spooky atmosphere and I would hate to be there during a zombie apocalypse. View it in it's full-sized glory here.

* Zombie engagement photos

I know that we've seen a lot of these and it's getting a little overdone, but this is the best I've seen. This adorable couple decided to make their engagement photos into a concise zombie story. Their whole wedding party becomes zombies and tries to eat them! Go here to see it in its entirety.

Share your own favorite pieces of zombie art!

Zombies in Art

Zombie art in all different mediums!

* Student Body by ~namesjames

I could totally see myself being the oblivious person listening to music until my brains get eaten by my zombified school mates. I love the serenity of her little world contrasting with the chaos and ookiness of the zombies about to strike.

* Zombie Alice in Wonderland by ~Zosomoto

This adorably creepy doll version of Alice as a zombie. I wonder of the book Alice in Zombieland will look anything like this? The amount of detail on this doll is amazing, from the blood splatters to the drink me tag to her jewelry.

* Appetite for Brains by Michael C. Hayes

This is the art for a Magic the Gathering card that is such a nice, simple depiction of the phrase. Just a zombie nomming on some brains, as it should be.

* Zombie-corns 2 by ~misscoffee

These creepicute plushies are just perfect for Halloween. Zombism mixed with sugary goodness can only be awesome. Their little bloodthirsty eyes and sickly color are just perfect.

* White Zombie by *tolagunesro

If you love fairy tales, this artwork brings the zombie apocalypse to the fairy tale world. I wonder if she's eating the prince's brain? The dwarves seem to want some too.

Do you have favorite zombie themed artworks or have you made any?

Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art

It's the year 1890 and the art world in France is still reeling from the apparent suicide of Vincent Van Gogh. He shot himself in the chest and went to a doctor for help shortly afterwards, which seems counterintuitive. He didn't actually kill himself. He was murdered by a small man who calls himself the Colorman and sells quality paints to artists. He is always flanked by a donkey and a woman he calls Bleu. That woman's name is also Juliette and she has her sights set on Lucien Lassard, a baker who aspires to be a painter. Lucien and his best friend, Henri Marie Raymond de Talouse-Lautrec-Monfa, are investigating Van Gogh's death and see similarities to other painter's live that have ended tragically. Can they put together the puzzle before any other artists die? How is Juliette connected to the Colorman and who is the Colorman really? Will she prevent Lucien from solving the mystery and condemn him to a tragic death?

I will read pretty much anything that Christopher Moore writes, but I was particularly excited about Sacre Bleu because it's about art history and mostly the French Impressionist artists. I have always liked that era in art, but I never really thought that much about how the people painting these masterpieces would be in their day to day lives. Sacre Bleu portrays them as normal men in an irreverent, funny manner. Whenever I've heard about these artists at museums or in art history classes, I think of their lives as epic and eventful and more interesting than a normal person's, but Christopher Moore's story probably falls closer to the truth. They were simply men, many with torrid love affairs, venereal diseases, and substance abuse problems. These artists revered by historians and art critics were just people and not always pleasant or sober or even sane.

Bleu/Juliette is my favorite character in Sacre Bleu. She's the only major female character and she holds her own with all these famous and powerful men around her. She acts as a muse for the artists she manipulates and a goddess figure in this comic novel. That inspiration causes the artists to create faster and more intensely and better than they ever thought possible, but it comes at a price. I loved the reveal of her connection to the Colorman and of how far their influence in art history actually goes. I can't really talk any more about her character without spewing spoilers, so I'll stop here. Just trust me that she's awesome.

Sacre Bleu is a fun novel that blends art history and irreverent humor. This narrative is full of bawdy jokes, drinking, whores, drugs, and sex and it's incredible fun. There are paintings printed throughout the novel that help the reader visualize each artists' style and see some of the paintings described. I would recommend this to fans of art history not afraid to laugh a little or fans of Christopher Moore's work in general.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Zombies in Art 3

Last edition of zombies in art!

1) Zombies by KAL1MAR1

A classic face nomming picture with very realistic special effects.

2) WWZ - The Battle of Yonkers by `adonihs

The Battle of Yonkers is one of the most memorable scenes of Max Brooks

' World War Z. It was a disastrous and horrible battle between the US military and the undead which is beautifully rendered in this work of art.

3) Zombie by ~uncherished

I have seen this photo all over the internet and I'm glad I finally found the original source. It's such a simple imagine, but very powerful and well put together.

4) Rex and Ashley's Fido Moment by ~Speed-Over

This photo is a very cute, 50's style photo. It's a homage to the film Fido (which you should totally see if you haven't) about a 50's zombie apocalypse situation where zombies have been enslaved to do menial tasks. A romance develops between a neglected housewife and her zombie butler, Fido.

Zombies in Magic

Magic the Gathering has always featured zombies as one of the main creature types for the color black. Who doesn't like shambling masses of zombies at their disposal to vanquish their enemies? Sometimes they get less or more popular, depending on the focus of the given set, but they are always there. Here are some older zombies:

Headless Horseman (later classified as a zombie)

Fleshbag Maurader

Grave Titan

Bog Raiders

Geth, Lord of the Vault

Korlash, Heir to the Blackblade

Thraximundar

Since the Unglued set (which featured non-tournament legal cards for fun) in 1998, there have been full art token cards to show regular zombies with no special abilities that are usually produced through a creature, like Grave Titan, or a spell of some sort. These all have the same strength and toughness (2/2), but I like how the artists imagine them differently, depending on the set. Here are a few of the zombie tokens used throughout the years.

Unglued

10th Edition

Shards of Alara

M10

New Phyrexia

Innistrad

Innistrad is the newest set that features classic monsters in new and different ways. Instead ow werewolves, vampire, and zombies all being black creatures, they are all over the color spectrum except white (which is reserved for humans, spirits, and angels). Here are some of the new zombies and zombie cards that are a bit different than their earlier counterparts:

Skaab Ruinator

Endless Ranks of the Undead

Grimgrin the Corpse Born

Unbreathing Horde

I hope zombies will always be a main creature type in Magic and I can't wait to build myself an awesome zombie deck with these new Innistrad cards!

SDCC 2011: Artists

I had the privilege of meeting many artists at Comic-Con. There are literally hundreds of artists featured there through the Artists' Alley, the Fantasy Illustrators area, and through individual booths. Here are a few of my favorites and their amazing work.

1) Todd Lockwood is at Comic-Con every year. He has his own booth and sells prints of his original work as well as his art for Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering. He's happy to talk to fans of his work and even give advice to aspiring artists. My boyfriend and I buy a print from him every year. Here are some of his works:

an epic portrait of Stephen Colbert

Phyrexian Obliterator from Magic the Gathering

2) Rebecca Guay is a wonderful artist who I've seen as synonymous with Magic since I started playing. Her style is much different than typically used in Magic today, but I love her work and still use many of her cards in my deck. She typically uses watercolors and has such a beautiful and delicate style. Two graphic novels are coming out soon that she has illustrated.

The first is The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen. Here's the synopsis from Dark Horse Comics: "Two hundred years ago, humans drove the last of the dragons from the islands of May. For two hundred years, they have gone about their lives, fishing and farming, never expecting the great wyrms to return. But now, the last of the dragons has risen, and the islanders must once again band together in the face of a threat greater than any their peaceful lives have prepared them to battle." The plot sounds intriguing and I know the art will be gorgeous.

The second release is A Flight of Angels. Here's the synopsis from Amazon: "The diverse mythology of angels is explored in this lushly painted graphic novel from high-profile fantasy authors including Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles) and Bill Willingham (FABLES).

Deep in the woods outside of a magical kingdom, a strange group of faeries and forest creatures discover a nearly dead angel, bleeding and unconscious with a sword by his side. They call a tribunal to decide his fate, each telling stories that delve into different interpretations of these winged, celestial beings: tales of dangerous angels, all-powerful angels, guardian angels and death angels, that range from the mystical to the mysterious to the macabre.

This original graphic novel spotlights the painted work of award-winning artist Rebecca Guay, whose other workds include the Vertigo titles VEILS and DESTINY: A CHRONICLE OF DEATHS FORETOLD, as well as World of Warcraft, Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons."

This sounds amazing! Angels, especially in YA literature of late, are kind of annoying and there isn't a lot of range. I really want to read this for a different take on angels AND Holly Black and Bill Willingham are two of my favorite fantasy authors.

3) Steve Argyle is one of my favorite Magic artists. He draws a lot of angels and vampires, both of which I use extensively in my various decks. His work is always incredibly detailed with different textures. He's also really nice and not averse to altering his own artwork in funny ways. Here are some of my favorite works by him.

The new Liliana Vess

Admonition Angel

Panels tomorrow and then I'll be having a giveaway!!!

Unexpected Fanart

I found a few unexpected style or mediums of nerdy fanart and I wanted to share them with you!

1) I randomly found this Doctor Hoo shirt on random searching through the internet. I desperately want it, but sadly it's been sold out since I found it. It depicts all the Doctors as owls and the artist eerily captures their look and personality.

2) I love this photograph. The lyrics on her shoulder are from the awesome Firefly theme song. I love the vivid colors. The entire thing is just beautiful. This was featured on deviantArt and taken by ~Kaylasaur.

3) This fanart is of the 4 main companions of the last 5 seasons of Doctor Who in an Art Nouveau style but with a slightly modern twist. Each companion is given a flower and symbol that coincides with their personality. This was found on deviantArt by ~strawberrygina.

4) This one takes Monet's painting Woman with Parasol and inserts Darth Vadar instead. It's just made of awesome. This work is from deviantArt by ~limpfish.

Well, that's it for now. I won't be posting anything until Saturday when I come back from San Diego. :D