Los Angeles native Mike Stilkey has always been attracted to painting and drawing not only on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, but on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery. (Photo by Mike Stilkey)

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China on November 10, 2017. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

People look at a Christmas tree decorated with colourful lights at a residential compound in Beijing on December 8, 2017. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)

Katy Perry poses backstage during rehearsals for the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 25, 2017 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for MTV)

English fashion model Daisy Lowe seen at Christopher Kane at Tate Britain on Day 4 of London Fashion Week February 2017 on February 20, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by SAV/GC Images)

Sunset on Brighton beach on February 24, 2019 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Andrew Hasson/Getty Images)

Tamta of Cyprus arrives at the 64th Eurovision Song Contest held at Tel Aviv Fairgrounds on May 12, 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)

A devotee of Hindu goddess Kali performs a ritual during the “Bonalu” festival in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, July 28, 2019. Bonalu is a month-long Hindu folk festival of the Telangana region dedicated to Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP Photo)