Ralph Steadman’s Wonderland

If you’ve read Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo classic Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, you’ve encountered the art of British illustrator Ralph Steadman. Steadman’s trippy, drugged out drawings provided a fitting complement to Thompson’s tale of Sin City debauchery and the death of the American Dream. Prior to collaborating with Thompson, Steadman used his signature drawing style to illustrate another psychedelic literary masterpiece. In 1967, Steadman released a newly illustrated edition of Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland.

Steadman’s illustrations are like a wonderful bad trip with workman-like Card Guards, a White Rabbit dressed like a London businessman and an almost formless and Jabba the Huttesque Queen of Hearts. The drawings are fantastic and really worth checking out.

Head over to io9 for more drawings from Steadman’s visit to Wonderland.

More Mushroom Kingdom Propaganda

Last year, we introduced you to the Mushroom Kingdom propaganda posters designed by Fernando Reza and the Fro Design Co:

For countless years, Bowser and his minions have been fighting against Mario as he seeks to liberate the Mushroom Kingdom from the Koopa King’s grip. Now, when you consider the massive troop loss that Bowser’s forces experience every time they invade the Mushroom Kingdom, you might wonder how Bowser recruits new creatures to his army.

Well, artist Fernando Reza has created four Koopa propaganda posters inspired by World War II and the NES that will rally more Goombas and Koopas to Bowser’s cause. The posters depict a threatening Mario and warnings to keep power ups out of the hands of “the enemy.”

Since we last checked in, Reza has created five more wonderful posters including tributes to Piranha Plant victory gardens, brave Lakitu and Bullet Bill air forces, and the overall cause of smashing the “Red Menace.”

Check out all five of the second wave of Koopa Troopa posters, plus the original four, over at the Fro Design Co Store website. Each limited edition poster is available for purchase for $30, and all nine are available for $150.

SuperMath

In the first issue of the All Star Superman comic book mini-series, Grant Morrison famously reduced the Man Of Steel’s origin to a simple eight words. Well, artist Matt Cowan has taken Morrison’s minimalist superhero story idea and stripped it down to pure pictograms. Cowan’s series of “superhero math” prints take basic superhero elements, like Superman’s weakness to Kryptonite or Batman’s secret origin, and explains them through simple mathematical equations.

Head over to Cowan’s deviantART page for all the superhero math equations, plus a bonus set of figures explaining the difference between three of Harrison Ford’s most famous roles.

Ali vs. Ryu

Who would win, the Greatest Of All Time, Mr. Muhammad Ali or Street Fighter‘s master of the Hadouken, Ryu? That’s the question posed by pop culture street artist COMBO in a mural he painted last year in Paris depicting the end result of a fight between the two legendary fighters. Do you agree with how COMBO imagined this match would end?

Head over to COMBO’s Flickr page for more art. A tip of the hat to Twisted Sifter for this story.

Yao Ming Basketball Portrait

In tribute to the semi-recent retirement of basketball player Yao Ming, Hong Yi decided to paint a portrait of him. Rather than use a paint brush or other traditional material, Hong Yi used a decided to paint Yao’s portrait using a basketball. Watch as Hong Yi dribbles and rolls the ball to create this detailed portrait of the Chinese basketball star.

The Sandwich Artist

Brittany Powell thinks food is an art form. Well, more specifically, she creates sandwiches based on the works of famous artists. Powell’s playful sandwiches feature works inspired by Piet Mondrian, Georgia O’Keefe and other legends of modern art. Personally, I think my favorite is the Christo and Jeann-Claude sandwich. Check them all out over at Powell’s blog, Low-Commitment Projects.

Molly Raush’s Postage Stamp Paintings

The postage stamp is perhaps the most commonly available, and cheapest, work of art known to humanity. For just under fifty cents, you can acquire your very own miniature masterpiece. Well, New York artist Molly Raush has taken the idea of postage stamp art and literally expanded on it. For her clever paintings, Raush affixes old stamps to paper and then paints a watercolor scene that expands upon the image seen on the stamp. Raush’s scenes include an expanded Monopoly board (right), a Washington DC garden near the Capitol Building. or a tribute to Laura Ingles Wilder’s Little House On The Prarie.

Check out all of Raush’s paintings over at her website.

2011 in Legos

As 2011 draws to a close, it’s time for the media to reflect on the past twelve months. While most news organizations are preparing serious retrospectives of the year that was, the L. A. Weekly has decided to take a slightly different approach. The Weekly teamed up with photographer L. J. Williamson to take an irreverent Lego look back at 2011. Check out Lego Steve Jobs and nine other photos over at the L. A. Weekly website.

Godzilla Christmas Tree

What you see here is a Christmas tree that once stood in Tokyo, Japan’s Aqua City Odaiba mall.This smoke spewing Godzilla Christmas tree was erected in 2000 as part of a cross-promotion with the release of Godzilla X Megaguirus, in which Aqua City appears during the movie’s climax. For more pictures and information on the tree, head over to InventorSpot.com.

What the Muppets Were Up To Between Movies

It’s been a dozen years since the last Muppet movie, so Jim Henson’s band of merry weirdos have had a lot of time off. Cartoonist Steve Murray likes to think that the Muppets used this break to audition for some of the more iconic roles of the last decade. In a cartoon for Canada’s National Post, Murray has created a collage of photos of the Muppets auditioning for some of these roles. Personally, my favorites are Statler and Waldorf trying out for X-Men, Skeeter as Harry Potter and the Swedish Chef in what would surely be an Oscar winning performance.

Check out Murray’s Muppets drawing here.