Wallpaper

We don't really know how to use an iPhone, let alone an iPad, but these cute wallpapers you can install on either, created by a ton of different and extremely talented illustrators, make us want to learn. You can find a list of artists who have created them here, but you may not recognize many of their names, as illustrators tend to work behind the scenes. Still, we think they're pretty arty, from Santiago Uceda's Llama to Marco Recuero's playing-card pieces.

Art Around Athens

This is kind of a nontraditional fine-art event, but tonight (Wednesday, February 10) at 7:30 p.m. in the UGA Ecology Building (140 E. Green St.), Alaskan artist and author of "Rapture of the Deep," Ray Troll, will deliver an illustrated lecture entitled, "Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway: An Artist's View of the History of Life" as part of UGA's Darwin Days, a yearly celebration of the life and work of Charles Darwin. The lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception. Troll definitely seems to bridge the gap between scientific illustration and what we think of as higher art, and his colorful images are playful and interesting. Browse around on his Web site to see what you're in for.

Happy Birthday, Jack Davis!

Cartoonist Jack Davis doesn't often get mentioned by museums, but it's not just his UGA connection that inspires us to wish him a very happy 85th birthday today. Davis has produced some of the most recognizable Hairy Dawg-themed art around and worked for MAD magazine, EC Comics, Rankin-Bass and many, many more. Davis's sense of humor and beautiful, assured line can be seen in this collection of his images posted today by local artist Patrick Dean. The lecture series over at the Lamar Dodd School of Art devoted to professional illustrators (which has hosted Sergio Aragones, Chip Kidd, Ralph Steadman, Gary Baseman and more) bears his name, and he seems to be on campus fairly frequently, helping out young artists in their studio classes. Happy birthday, Jack. We tip our hat to you.