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Today is Working Naked Day. While Tom doesn’t choose to work naked, his creation Anna the Cave Girl does work naked. Here she is working on her study of gravity, using the scientific method. #tomkidd #drawing #comics #humor #workingnakedday

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On this date in 1852 the first British mens’ public toilet opened on Fleet Street in London. Public toilets first came to London the year before, during the Great Exhibition of 1851 when a plumber named George Jennings installed “Monkey Closets” in the Crystal Palace. For 1 penny, visitors got “a clean seat, a towel, a comb, and a shoeshine.” After the exhibition closed, Jennings persuaded the organizers to keep them open. Due to their success, a year later toilets were opened at 95 Fleet Street. Tom’s painting “Oughthaus,” part of his Gnemo project, shows one of the public bathrooms in McCay City which was inspired by the proclamation of a prominent scientist that she got her greatest inspirations while in the bathroom. Soon after her statement, a series of artful public toiled were placed throughout the city in hopes of stimulating the creative minds of the citizenry. #tomkidd #gnemo #publictoilet

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Today is National Serpent Day. The serpent has been used as a symbol of evil, medicine, fertility, wisdom, and power. Tom did this drawing “Serpent Alley” as part of his Gnemo project. One serpent can be seen in the plateau lake at the top left hand corner of the picture, and another can be seen in the lake in the middle right. #tomkidd #gnemo #nationalserpentday

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Today is the birthday of pulp fiction author Robert E. Howard, born on this day in 1906 in Peaster, Texas. Most famous for his Conan character, he also created Kull and Solomon Kane. One of his lesser known characters was Cormac Fitzgeoffrey, a half French, half Irish warrior who lived during the Crusades. Tom did this painting of Cormac Fitzgeoffrey for "The illustrated World of Robert E Howard," a poster book which was published by Wandering Star in 2004. #tomkidd #robertehoward

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Today is the birthday of Felix Hoffmann, the chemist who invented aspirin. He was born in Germany in 1868. While working as a researcher at Bayer and Company, he worked to find a pain reliever for his father’s chronic rheumatism to replace the use of salicylic acid, which tasted bad and caused stomach. By acetylating salicylic acid with acetic acid, he created acetylsalicylic acid. In this cover Tom did for the book “1636: The Chronicles of Dr. Gribbleflotz,” by Kerryn Offord and Rick Boatright, shows Dr. Gribbleflotz’s traveling medicine wagon selling “The Little Blue Pill of Happiness,” aspirin, sold more than 250 years before it was actually invented. In this alternate history novel, a town from late 20th century West Virginia is transported to Germany in 1632. In exchange for helping them create baking soda and baking powder Dr. Gribbleflotz, with the help of the “uptimers” is able to create aspirin. #tomkidd #1632 #baenbooks #aspirin

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Today is Artist as Outlaw Day. According to Tom, his sketch, “Them vs Me,” shows the proverbial “Me” flipping off the proverbial “Them,” making him something of an outlaw. #tomkidd #cartoon #artistasoutlawday

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On this date in 1733 the first polar bear, a nine-month old cub captured in Greenland, was exhibited in America in Boston, Massachusetts. Tom did this watercolor interior illustration “ Kane vs. Polar Bear" for the book "Dark Crusade" by Karl Edward Wagner, published by Centipede Press in 2016. The original piece is available for purchase at our Etsy site, Tom Kidd Art Cellar https://www.etsy.com/listing/257712559/kane-vs-polar-bear-watercolor-fantasy #tomkidd #polarbear #karledwardwagner #kane

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Today is the birthday of Benjamin Franklin, born on this date in 1706. One of America’s Founding Fathers, one of the men who drafted the Declaration of Independence. He was a statesman, scientist, inventor, diplomat, author, printer and publisher. Among his inventions include the lightening rod, the Franklin stove, and bifocals. He also helped to establish community institutions such as the post office (he was the first U.S. Postmaster General) as fire departments, libraries, insurance companies and hospitals. Tom did this pen and ink sketch as a parody of the famous scene from "2001: A Space Odyssey," with Benjamin Franklin as one of the protohumans. It was done for the PhilCon science fiction convention committee, although was never used. #tomkidd #benjaminfranklin #2001aspaceodyssey

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Today is Appreciate a Dragon Day. Here’s a pen & Ink Tom did titled “Tickling the Dragon’s Tail” which shows him using the tip of a dragon’s tail to ink a drawing. #tomkidd #penandink #dragon

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Today is National Hat Day, commemorating the day in 1797 when the top hat was first worn in England by haberdasher James Hetherington, nearly causing a riot. When he left his shop wearing the unusual headgear, crowds gathered, following him around, and some of the onlookers began to push and shove. He was issued a fine for “going about in a manner that frightened timid people.” Tom drew this sketch of a woman wearing the extremely unusual headgear of an actual living creature, “Lizard Head,” as part of his Gnemo project. #tomkidd #gnemo #nationalhatday

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Today is the birthday of American artist and illustrator Howard Chandler Christy, born in 1872. He was a popular portrait painter, painting Lt Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Presidents Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt and Truman, as well as William Randolph Heart, Eddie Rickenbacker, Benito Mussolini and Amelia Earhart. He also gained fame for his “Christy Girl” images used as recruitment posters for the US Navy in World War I. This drawing of “Christy Capitol” is part of Tom’s Gnemo project. It is a Capitol building carved out of a mountain. The architect artist who designed it saw a hollow in a mountainside and envisioned an immense Capitol building, which took hundreds of years to complete. #tomkidd #gnemo #howardchandlerchristy

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Today is Play God Day. Marking this holiday was easy, because authors and artists, especially fantasy ones, are always playing God with their art by creating worlds and people to populate their stories. This is a cover Tom did for the book “The Blackgod” by J. Gregory Keyes, published in 1999 by Del Rey. #tomkidd #delrey #gregorykeyes

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Today is the birthday of American landscape painter Albert Bierstadt, born on this date in 1830 in Germany. He moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts with his parents at the age of one, and returned to Germany to study landscape painting in his 20s. After returning to America, he became part of the Hudson River School group of landscape painters, and later traveled to the American West to paint the Rocky Mountains, Yosemite Valley, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, becoming one of the most popular and successful artists of his time. Tom’s painting “Leaving Terrain,” part of his Gnemo project, shows an airship going over the Bierstadt Mountains, on an expedition to explore their world of Lenoria. #tomkidd #gnemo #albertbierstadt

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On this date in 1681, the first recorded boxing match was held in England between the butler and butcher of Christopher Monck, the Duke of Albermarle. The butcher won the match. In this book cover Tom did for “1636: The Devil’s Opera” by Eric Flint and David Carrico, published by Baen Books in 2014. A German poster for a boxing match can be seen behind the figure of a man holding a modern gun, dressed in 17th century garments. In this alternate history, boxing is among the modern things (as well as posters) introduced by a group of time travelers 20th century America. #tomkidd #1632 #ericflint #boxing

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Today is the birthday of King C. Gillette, the inventor of the safety razor. He thought he would be remembered as a social and economic reformer, but the world remembered him only for his invention of the safety razor. He produced the first crude version in 1895, after six years of work he refined his invention and was issued a patent in 1904 and founded the Gillette Safety Razor Company. He sold only 168 blades in 1903, but the next year he sold 90,000 razors and over 12 million blades. He retired as a millionaire in 1913 (although he remained president of the company) and wrote books about his Utopian vision of society. This is a fake ad for Gillette razors Tom did just for fun. #tomkidd #gillette #drawing

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Today is the birthday of James Bond, the real American ornithologist, not the fictional British spy, born in 1900. He was a curator of ornithology at the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia, and a leading expert on birds of the West Indies. His book, “Birds of the West Indies” was seen by author Ian Fleming, who was an avid bird watcher. He decided to name his character “James Bond” because, as he told Bond’s wife, the name struck hi as ordinary, but masculine-sounding. Tom did this sketch of a red-tailed hawk as an illustration of how drawing real creatures can help you invent imaginary creatures, giving them verisimilitude. #tomkidd #jamesbond #birds

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Today is the birthday of J. R. R. Tolkien, famed author of fantasy novels The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. He was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien in South Africa in 1892, and moved to England at the age of three. In addition to his work as a writer, he was a university professor and a philologist (studier of written languages). Tom did this painting he titled “My Precious” of Gollum, one of the characters in "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings”. It was used as part of a card game for Ice Crown Enterprises. #tomkidd #jrrtolkien #hobbit #lordoftherings #gollum