the hirsute hedgehog - meet john golden

copyright and by kindest permission of the artist

"Looking slightly disgruntled, as we all might with that much spiky hair," artist John Golden says of this belly-up hedgie, and it's great how with two fast lines across the eyes that's exactly what you see.
On his website Golden notes on one page,  "Vintage techniques made modern."  That's when the aha moment happened for me:  you see, his work is made with well honed skill (look at these fish!), all digitally - vintage made modern, thanks to his background in graphic design.  But to me, as I was looking over his jolly robots, dogs and cats, microscopes, and woodland creatures (look at this possum!) I kept flashing back to the imagery of my late Atomic Age childhood.  Those kind of minty midtone pastels, mixed with slender, deft line that shows lots and little - before I realized it I remembered and felt what it is to be a shiny new mind looking at a big world where everything was going to be just dandy.
John Golden's friendly work has appeared many places, not the least the Signals catalog, Garnet Hill Kids, Target, and World Market shops.  You may already have a piece or two of his, you lucky.  But if not, you can fix that at his Etsy shop.  And look at this King Charles spaniel!