Dave McKean Designs Shakespeare and Mythical Creatures UK Stamps

British artist Dave McKean above does a short film of one of Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets. Below is a sneak peek at the new line of postage stamps that bear his illustrations, due out this summer in the UK.

The Mythical Creatures stamp series by Dave McKean

Mythical Creatures – 16 June 2009

A set of six stamps depicting Mythical Creatures will be issued by Royal Mail this summer.

Fantasy and myth are popular subjects for both films and books. Here Fantasy artist Dave McKean (who worked on the Harry Potter movies) takes a look at some of the most popular and unusual creatures from legend. The UK has a rich and diverse folklore around mythical creatures: some famous nationally and others regionally. This set features: unicorn, mermaid – legends very common around UK coast inc northern isles of Scotland), Giant (inspired by Finn McCool associated with the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland), Fairy queen (in a chariot pulled by birds), Pixie (which feature in Cornish folklore), and Dragon (emblem of Wales).

While he was, as noted above, a production artist on Harry Potter, that is a well-paid footnote to his work as an illustrator and artist of comic books and graphic novels. Best known are McKean’s collaborations with writer Neil Gaiman, including covers for the The Sandman comic series, full book collaborations like Mr Punch, as well as children’s books, and their feature film project Mirrormask.

McKean’s other comic work includes solo publications like Cages, the Batman/Joker tale Arkham Asylum with Grant Morrison, and covers for the Hellblazer series.

He has additionally designed covers of numerous books and album covers for the likes of Frontline Assembly, Skinny Puppy, and Counting Crows. Last year he had an art show in LA.

While Dave’s own website is under construction as it undergoes a redesign, an excellent fan site gives thorough coverage of his work and also includes recent news. Finally, an article on collecting Dave McKean’s work.

Below Mckean speaks briefly about the film Mirrormask followed by the trailer for the movie.

image via Norvic Philatelics

mikl-em
Mikl-em

Actor, nerd, poet, producer, writer mikl-em made his name short so you wouldn't have to. In addition to his blog you can find his writing in "Hi Fructose" magazine and witness him almost life-sized in various plays at The Dark Room Theater in SF's Mission district.

He tends to write about theater, humor, San Francisco culture and history, and stuff that's just plain weird. He thanks Scott for sharing the keys to the Laughing Squid virtual HQ and promises to uphold whatever it is that the mirthful cephalopod would prefer to be uplifted.

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