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)

Armed police officers and soldiers strengthen their training in seawater in Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Province, China on July 24, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A graffiti by urban artist TVBoy depicts President of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales kissing Spanish player Jenni Hermoso, in Barcelona, Spain, 01 September 2023. Suspended RFEF President Luis Rubiales announced on 25 August that he would not resign over the kiss on the lips he gave to Spanish player Jenni Hermoso during celebrations of the FIFA Women's World Cup final. (Photo by Quique Garcia/EPA)

Icelandic horses play on a stud farm in Wehrheim Frankfurt, Germany, as the sun rises on Thursday, May 21, 2020. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Festival volunteer Aisling Wilson jumps into the Jump Trump art installation created by artists Erik Kessels and Thomas Mailaender, which is on display at the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast as part of the 2019 Belfast Photo Festival on June 6, 2019. The exhibition includes the Jump Trump installation on display for the first time in the UK and Ireland. (Photo by Justin Kernoghan/PA Images via Getty Images)

Tourists photograph a red dear stag visiting a car park near Glen Coe on December 1, 2017 in Glen Coe,Scotland. On the first day of the meteorological calendar, the UK was experiencing slightly warmer temperatures today with weather forecasters indicating that the recent cold spell is almost over. Yesterday's snow across eastern parts of England is expected to melt away over the course Friday as temperatures start to rise. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

A Lord Krishna devotee is made up before the start of the Festival of Chariots, Ratha-yatra, held by the community of the Krishna Consciousness to honour Jagannatha, the Lord of the Universe, in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, June 29, 2019. (Photo by Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP Photo)

A young female demonstrator is arrested by police during clashes in the Causeway Bay area of Hong Kong, China on October 6, 2019. Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through the city's streets in defiance of the new “no-mask” law, which was introduced two days ago as demonstrations roll into a 14th week. (Photo by Rick Findler/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)