I'm a magpie in regards to art that inspires me, particularly fairy tale art. I love uncovering artists I'm not familiar with, as in my previous post about Warick Goble Today, let's look at John Bauer.

This is the artist behind some works I have seen before, but I assumed they were by Brian Froud. It turns out that Froud was heavily influenced by Bauer, as we can clearly see if we look at any of the characters in The Dark Crystal. Was Froud involved in the production design of The Labyrinth also? Hard to tell where Jim Henson ends and Froud begins on some of those movies.

But I digress. Lets look at some art!

First of all ^ *points to icon* Most of his art is in very muted colors - I love the aqua hair and purple wrap around the troll's hips. Like much of his art, the human figure is very small and pale. The background is intricate, however, as befits his place in the romantic/art nouveau style. Here's full-size-ish:


This next one is also fairly bright in comparison to most of his art:


Here we clearly see where Froud got his ideas for The Dark Crystal. I would say that Amy Brown also uses this language for her trolls, but she might be getting is secondhand through Froud. She mentions Froud in her books, but not Bauer.


Unfortunately, Bauer died fairly young, but his works have influenced several illustrators and interestingly enough, video game design. Like this on for instance - all the characters are on the same flat plane.


A couple more.


On second thought, I'm sure Amy Brown must be aware of this artist, because the woman by the water is very reminiscent of many of Amy Brown's works in both composition and subject matter. Also, her creatures have this same sort of quirky energy.

Here are some links for more information and art:
https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-bauer
https://x.com/culturaltutor/status/1778076683527918032?s=46&t=bVibkbvwfVnApfBqwVT6_Q
https://wonderlit.com/about-john-bauer/

This is what I aspire to in my art - fantastical creatures that are odd and weird, but with amazing backgrounds that place them firmly in their own world.