Travis Louie - 2

Travis Louie just posted a few new pieces on his Flickr page and that to me is as good a reason as any to post an update on this unique artist. I first posted some of his work in June, 2009. Each of his exquisitely drawn portraits comes with a short narrative written by the artist. The general idea is that these are actually photographs of odd characters from a century or more ago and the narratives are brief bios of their peculiar lives. It is an easy thing to let an hour or more slip by looking through these extraordinary portraits and their accompanying stories.
His website (www.travislouie.com) is as good a place to start as any but for the most complete and up to date collection look through the aforementioned Flickr page. You can also keep track of all things Louie on his blog www.travislouie.blogspot.com.
I'm including a couple of the narratives below to whet your appetite for more.






















"The Myth of Floaters"
"The best stories about this myth come from North Dakota, where the hairiest floaters reside. In those stories the floaters are said to hover over people’s heads and sprinkle seeds which germinate and sprout herbs and foliage. One man claimed to have grown a full head of ferns atop his mostly bald head."






















"The Toad Prince"
"After years of approaching young women with the promise that a kiss would turn him into a prince, he finally convinced a young lady with strange hair to kiss him on his moist lips. Unfortunately, she was afflicted with the “bad hair” and the toad merely turned into a larger human-size toad. He became much smellier and developed a taste for single malt scotch and sausages. His dreams to be a prince dashed, he became a criminal lawyer, croaking his way through court room trials for the next 40 years."























"Monster Man"






















"Pals"


And here is an unusual look at an unfinished piece, a prequel of sorts to the piece directly above.






















"Pals before the bet"