Saturday, October 01, 2005


With apologies to Mary Blair....

I know it doesn't say I can float but lets just say she's in floating mode. I Was working on this earliar and it seemed to resonably fit the bill.I've re-written the book but I'm not to sure Golden Books would go for it.
I'm a big Mary Blair fan , love all her books, and sadly I Can Fly is the only one still in print. If you don't own it i encourage you to get
a copy, preferably the original 1950's edition. I picked up a couple of the later printings before I got the original and as far as I know the only the 1950's one has the complete illustrations. There could be a later edition I dont know about it.

21 comments:

MikeS said...

Nice one Draz! I don't have the original version of I Can Fly(though I would love to see it!), but I have one copy framed and hanging on my wall in my studio! Always an inspiration!

Mr. Dot.

Steve Daye said...

Haha! So macabre! So you! Fangtastic work Draz!

Kactiguy said...

I'm feeling sorry for the head-seperated-from-his-body guy. Looks like he tried his best. Great illo.

carla said...

This is so wonderful. The vampire lady looks like a lot of people I see walking around every day:> I wonder... hmmmm... The decapitated guy's a great touch, and the background color gives this that perfect retro look. I just love your work!!!

Anonymous said...

I particularly like the blood, and also love Devo. I hope my skull is as attractive as those on the hill. Love this illo :)

milanrubio said...

Hi draz! love the picture, love Mary blair.
Great Homage.
I've recently bought another book of Blair: Up and down book
Thanks also for all the info about other master like Hirschfeld ( I boought the swiss family perelman too!)

Patrick said...

I really wish I could come up with something original to say but all I can come up with is...I LOVE IT!!! I'd buy your book for this illusrtation alone! Great work!

Unknown said...

V interesting illustration!! It's Oct - Halloween season!! Great job!

Gregory Turner-Rahman said...

Mary Blair's goth side!

Hey, I have the 1951 edition and I think there is a 1979 printing. Last year I "liberated" the book from my daughters' bookshelf and hid it in my closet because not only was it my favorite as a kid but I am so enamored of the illustrations now.

Thank you for your version. I had a good laugh. Furthermore, I look forward to seeing what you post each week.

Take care.

rosetravale said...

This is fantastic! I really love it. Thank you for sharing it!

Ellen said...

I like this illo. Great interpretation of the theme.

Jeope said...

Kickass-as-ever, Drazen. I think somebody's stoked about the onset of Halloween...

noah's dad said...

This is so flippin' awesome Drazen! I have the Mary Blair book you are parodying. It's spot on!

Anonymous said...

Aha! I love it. I'm really getting into a Halloween mood for some reason this year. I look forward to seeing more from you each week. It's quite inspiring.

the doodlers said...

Great stuff Drazen! We have an edition that is recent re-issued on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Golden Books and it looks complete.

Do you mean to say you've rewritten the book and redone ALL the illustrations..? If so -Wow! Let's see some more!

Drazen said...

Thanks Smook, Steve Guy,Carla, anonymous,!
Thanks for reminding me about the Up and Down book rubio2d.
Thanks Greg, Alina, Patrick,Rosemary, Ellen, noah's dad,dennis!
Thanks doodlers- I have 3 versions of I can Fly so heres my take [general number I didn't count exactly] just from those.
The 1979 edition put out for the 50th anniversary is missing
about 8 spreads or so.The hard cardboard and smaller edition that I think you can still order is missing more, but it has about 4 of the spreads that are not in the 1979 reprint.
The original 50's edition has about 4 spreads that are not reprinted in these two.. There might be another later edition that has the complete book, I'm just comparing these two.

I've re written the book for fun but not done all the illustration, that might take a bit of time and I'm working on my own stories. But hopefull I can do one herea and there.

Eren said...

Haahhaa...this is great! I think it's wonderful for "float." Oh I wish I had the original 1950's edition...I do have Baby's House though and it's fantastic!

Nicolás said...

Wow great illo i love it

Anonymous said...

Great stuff Drazen! They tried to stop her - they tried...

Drazen said...

They sure did, thanks guys!

John Coulter said...

This is awesome!
I did a ghost version loosley based on it a few weeks ago:

http://johncoulter.blogspot.com/2006/10/illustration-friday-ghost.html