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)

Blue, white and red brassieres, the colours of the French national flag, hang from a balcony in Marseille, France, November 27, 2015 as the French President called on all French citizens to hang the tricolour national flag from their windows on Friday to pay tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks during a national day of homage. (Photo by Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)

A woman dressed up for Halloween travels on a Metro train in São Paulo, Brazil on October 30, 2017. (Photo by Cris Faga/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Pusha the cat, which adopted four bereaved baby squirrels and currently feeds and lives with them, lies at a local park of miniatures in Bakhchisaray, Crimea on April 25, 2019. (Photo by Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters)

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)

Dua Lipa seen at Glastonbury Festival 2019 on June 27, 2019 in Glastonbury, England. (Photo by GC Images/GC Images)

Canadian actress Nina Kamenova Dobreva, credited professionally as Nina Dobrev puts her long stems on display in the first decade of June 2023. (Photo by nina/Instagram)

American actress Vanessa Hudgens attends Beyoncé's “Renaissance” concert in Los Angeles on September 4, 2023. (Photo by vanessahudgens/Instagram)