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)

This bat gives a cheeky smile as he gobbles down his food at Singapore Zoo, on September 10, 2013. (Photo by Benny Iskander/HotSpot Media)

A baby rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) looks up as it plays with a tiger cub at a zoo in Hefei, Anhui province, August 2, 2012. (Photo by Jianan Yu/Reuters)

Dolly the Chihuahua dog dressed as Alice in Wonderland is photographed during an Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory themed Furbabies Dog Pageant at Jodhpurs Riding School in Tockwith, North Yorkshire, Sunday September 6, 2020. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Wire via AP Photo)

Aerial view of contestants attending the opening ceremony of a dragon boat race on the Rongjiang River at Rong'an County on October 10, 2020 in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. (Photo by Tan Kaixing/VCG via Getty Images)

Nicki Minaj happily gives her to her loyal fans following her very emotional tribute speech to late rapper Juice Wrld at the Billboard Women in Music Awards in Hollywood, Thursday, December 12, 2019. In her speech, Minaj stated, “I know this is a Women In Music night and I'm so honored to be in the presence of all of these great women. It doesn't feel comfortable for me to talk about me when someone so important to our culture just died. I recently had the pleasure of working and touring with Juice Wrld...I felt like he was a kindred spirit”. (Photo by Perez/X17/SIPA Press)

A visitor tries the Segway “S-Pod” motorized chair on the manufacturer's booth during the 2020 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 08 January 2020. (Photo by Etienne Laurent/EPA/EFE)

A model (R) wearing a dress adorned with chocolate stands backstage prior to a fashion show during the annual “Salon du Chocolat” expo in Seoul, South Korea on January 10, 2020. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)