If I Had Three Wishes...

Julian Hector's "Mythlandia" would soon be a theme park. His beautiful 4x8' poster, which combines Greek mythology, literary figures of mythological stature, and both early (Paul Bunyan) and late (Superman, Blind Justice) American folk legends, can be explored on his website. [Via Drawn.]


On his own website, Hector credits Jaro Hess' "Land of Make Believe" as the inspiration for his own scene. Hess' painting, which features 60 scenes from children's stories, won an award at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933 in the Children's Literature Division. You can view a full (but small) picture of that painting here and purchase a reproduction, and can view detailed (but incomplete) images here.

There are at least a few direct nods in Hector's work to Hess' - the beanstalk from Jack and the Beanstalk travels up and off the page in both, for example. The two images make for interesting comparisons both in style and in tone.