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John Coulthart

@johncoulthart.com

Artist, designer, occasional writer. • Words: https://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/ • Pictures: https://www.johncoulthart.com/ • Linktree: https://linktr.ee/johncoulthart No DMs. Contact me here: https://www.johncoulthart.com/contact.html

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John Coulthart@johncoulthart.com · 2d ago

Re: Barry Windsor-Smith in the 70s, this isn't in The Studio unfortunately. BWS did a series of Conan-related poster prints, of which this portrait of Thoth Amon is one. I've always enjoyed its incongruous appearance, the way it makes the Stygian sorcerer seem like a Hyborian antiques dealer.

A poster-sized fantasy illustration. The scene is a huge canopied atrium whose walls are a mass of disparate architectural forms receding into the background. In the foreground a stone staircase leads the viewer's eye up to the figure of Thoth Amon who is standing (he's actually floating) on a balcony looking down at the viewer. The sorcerer is wearing green robes and has a pair of prominent horns sprouting from his head. To either side of him in the background is a mass of antique clutter: statues, a small boat, a keyboard instrument, many less-identifiable objects.
John Coulthart@johncoulthart.com · 2d ago

I dug out this photo for the post since it's not in any of the Savoy books: the Gruesome Twosome in 1979, photographed in the Savoy office by the actual Kevin Cummins. Dave was never that morose but the interview was partly about the ongoing police harassment of the bookshops.

A black-and-white photo of two men looking towards the camera. One is standing, wearing glasses and a suit; the other is seated and dressed entirely in black. The wallpaper is patterned with an arrangement of illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley.
John Coulthart@johncoulthart.com · 2d ago

New blog post: Snaps: The Studio tour, 1979

Snaps: The Studio tour, 1979

I'd been hoping that Malcolm Whitehead's Snaps might be made public eventually, and here it is, a 25-minute film documenting the northern end of a British book-signing tour undertaken by three artists and their publisher in October 1979. Not only that, there's also this shorter compilation of footage that didn't make the final cut. The artists were three of the four whose work is showcased in the book known as…

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John Coulthart@johncoulthart.com · 2d ago

Today's blog post is one I've been wanting to write for years but had to wait until the items it concerns were freely available. All about the unlikely intersection between these four things. Stay tuned.

A black book page with coloured type: the title page of The Studio (1979), a book about the art of Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Mike Kaluta, Barry Windsor-Smith and Bernie Wrightson.A graded blue book page with a profile illustration of a red flying-machine: the title page of Views (1975), a book about the art and design of Roger Dean.The cover of a publishing catalogue for Savoy Books, 1980: "in association with New English Library Ltd." Red head and tail bands, black and white type, and a photo showing the Beardsley-papered wall of the Savoy office upon which a variety of book covers and flowers (roses and carnations) have been pinned.One of Peter Saville's logo designs for Factory Records showing a stylised factory building in profile with a curved red line positioned above it. This may be smoke from the factory chimney or something more abstract and symbolic.
John Coulthart@johncoulthart.com · 5d ago

#nowplaying Always preferred these mixes over the later ones, especially Ommadawn, but that's because they were the ones I'm most used to. A friend at school with a lot more pocket money than me had the original vinyl box.

The CD release of Boxed (1976) by Mike Oldfield: four albums--Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, Collaborations--on three compact discs.
John Coulthart@johncoulthart.com · 5d ago

Last night's Zatoichi was ZATOICHI GOES TO THE FIRE FESTIVAL, film no. 21 in the franchise. Made in 1970 so there's a little more blood and even nudity by this point. Poster art shows a set-piece scene where Ichi is ambushed in a bathhouse by sword-wielding yakuza assassins.

A Japanese poster for ZATOICHI GOES TO THE FIRE FESTIVAL showing Shintarō Katsu holding a sword in one hand and, in the other, a broken bucket that preserves his modesty. A couple of tattooed yakuza are unwisely attacking him. Near the foot of the sheet are head-shots of three other actors: Ryūnosuke Kaneda, Pîtâ and Tatsuya Nakadai.
John Coulthart@johncoulthart.com · 6d ago

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: The Complete BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisation. "Starring Ian Holm as Frodo, Michael Hordern as Gandalf, John Le Mesurier as Bilbo, Bill Nighy as Sam, and Robert Stephens as Aragorn...dramatised by Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell." burningshed.com/jrrtolkien_t...

The Lord of the Rings: The Complete BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisation

Limited edition deluxe 14CD boxset of the original 1981 BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

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