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)

Attnedees dressed in Zombie outfits walk down the Gaslamp Quarter outside of the 2015 Comic-Con International in San Diego, California July 8, 2015. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Reuters)

Two girls dressed up for a night out in Newcastle, United Kingdom on November 01, 2020 – just hours after Boris Johnson's announcement. Johnson says the new measures will begin on Thursday and last until second of December. (Photo by North News and Pictures/The Sun)

A woman walks in the stairs of the Hotel Martinez in Cannes as the French Riviera prepares for the 2021 edition of the Cannes Film Festival which will take place next July, in France, June 3, 2021. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

“Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise is an amusement park consisting of an aquarium, shopping mall, hotel, marina and amusement rides. It is located in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It opened for business on May 8, 1993”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Shoal of sardines and sharks swim in a tank at Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise on March 19, 2009 in Yokohama, Japan. (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

Bonbibi, Treehouse Point, Fall City, WA. The Bonbibi is balanced on two steel yokes. The yokes spread out the load and allow for tree growth and movement in the wind. A small deck hangs from the beams below and uses the treehouse itself to shelter guests. (Photo by Pete Nelson)

A musician plays his violin next to a depiction of La Santa Muerte (Saint Death) at a shrine during Day of the Dead celebrations in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, November 2, 2015. (Photo by Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters)

Amateur honorable mention | Common raven at Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Colleen Gara/Audubon Photography Awards)