Meet Batman's Furry Sidekicks: the Bat Dogs!

Batman is a DC Comics character that was created in the late 1930s by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. Batman is also referred to as 'The Caped Crusader' and 'The Dark Knight'. Although Batman has many human companions, he doesn't have any pets. If Batman ever did decide to keep pets, what would his dogs look like?

Bat Dogs in The 'Bark' Night
Combining their excellent sense of smell, loyalty and dog breath with the flying and hearing powers of bats, bat dogs make excellent slobbering sidekicks. Using their bark as sonar, bat dogs can follow their nemesis (usually Cat Woman) through busy streets, either on the ground or from the air. Dogs make excellent superhero sidekicks, as they are very loyal and are generally of a good height to bite baddies in the bum.

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Bat Dogs Defeat Kitty Criminals

Batdogs have one nemesis, the cat. before becoming bat dogs, many ordinary dogs were often outsmarted by these hissing creatures that could climb out of reach. But now, endowed with the powers of bat flight, batdogs can follow their feline enemies no matter how high they climb.

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Batdogs make a Halloween Appearance

Not all Batdogs wear their uniforms year-round. Some only don their costumes at Halloween, using the festivities and dress up traditions of Halloween to disguise their true natures as Bat Dogs. This way, they can hide in plain sight and still show allegiance to Batman and Robin.

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Funny Pictures of Dogs Shaking off Water

Dogs make hilarious subjects for photographs. Unlike humans, they are unhindered by shyness, modesty or fear of embarrassment. Dogs enjoy life from moment to moment, turning every activity into a fun pastime. One thing that dogs love to do is have a good shake, to rid their coat of water or simply to loosen up their fur and skin. The pictures below show what happens when a photographer captures a single moment of a dog's shake.

Davidson's Dogs Do the Shake
Carli Davidson is an award-winning photographer who creates artistic images of wild and domestic animals. Her pet photography is among the most appealing in the world, as her images perfectly capture an animal's ability to live in the moment. Some of her most popular art works are photographs of dogs shaking off water.
Davidson has worked with animals for years in animal shelters, zoos and nature reserves. Her experience with all sorts of animals, from chimpanzees to rats, allows her to communicate with the animals that she uses as subjects in her photographs. Davidson says that she spends large amounts of time rolling around on the floor with the animals, encouraging them to "open up" to the camera. As a result of this interaction, the pictures show animals who look relaxed and comfortable, able to simply be cats and dogs doing what comes naturally to them.
Carli Davidson's pictures of dogs shaking off water have a humorous appeal to them. Dogs can be quite goofy and silly at times, and these pictures capture this doggy essence perfectly. Davidson uses a variety of dog breeds as subjects. Dogs with long hair such as border collies and Labradors shake off water in a way that creates a spiraling spray of water droplets. Dogs with short hair but loose skin such as bull dogs and bloodhounds create less spray but the skin on their faces twist into funny expressions, perfect subject matter for funny dog pictures.

Above: A funny picture of a border collie shaking, by photographer Carli Davidson. The sheep dog's long hair creates a wonderful swirl around the centre of the picture, drawing the viewer's eye to the focal point; the dog's eyes. [source]

Above: This funny picture shows a bloodhound shaking off water. The dog's loose skin flops and flaps, creating a series of hilarious facial expressions for Carli Davidson to photograph. [source]

Above: A boxer dog shakes off water, sending his lips and ears flying to create a hilarious pet portrait. Perhaps dogs need to degauss too. [source]

A Comedy of Dogs and Water

Most dogs love water. They love to jump in and out of waves at the beach, swim in lakes and dams and run through rivers. And after all that running and jumping, dogs love to shake off the water. When viewed by the naked human eye, a dog's shaking seems to be a blur of movement concealed by a spray of water droplets. With the help of a high-speed camera, we can see exactly what's going on underneath all that spray; a funny comedy combo of dog and water.

Above: A golden Labrador retriever shakes off water after a swim in a river. The directions of the water droplets show how the dog shakes its head from side to side. [source]

Above: Pulling faces, blowing raspberries and shaking off water. This funny border collie is a multitasking sheep dog. [source]

Above: A beagle shakes off water after a bath, stretching one side of her face and squashing the other. Beagles are often used in comedy shots of animals because they have a lighthearted and fun personality. [source]

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This article has been improved upon and moved to RattaTattoo, Art-Sci's sister site. Click this link to see the newer, better version: http://rattatattoo.com/jesse-smith-creates-cartoon-graffiti-tattoos/

Real People who Look Like Cartoon Characters

Cartoon character designers generally start designing a character based on a single personality attribute that the character will portray throughout the animation. For example, if the character has a dorky personality, the character designer will try to portray this by creating a dorky-looking character. For villains and heroes, the character designer will give the character's physical appearance the appropriate attributes. 

Sometimes character designers need inspiration, and so they'll look around and observe people, finding facial shapes and physical characteristics that incorporate the essence of the character they are creating. These attributes of real people find their way not only into the character design, but into the animation, personifying the characters and making it easy for audiences to empathize with them.

People who Look Like Pixar Characters
Pixar animations are known for having lovable, believable characters, and now people are discovering that Pixar artists have a knack for creating characters that resemble living people. These people have taken pictures of themselves with their look-alike characters and posted the pictures online.

Above: Carl Fredricksen, a Pixar character from the movie "Up" is shown on the left, and on the right, a real live old guy who looks just like his animated counterpart. [source]

Above: This Asian kid looks identical to the cartoon character Russell from Pixar's lovable animated movie "Up". The only difference is the color of the kid's boy scout scarf. [source]

Above: On the left is the character Linguini from the Pixar animated film "Ratatouille". The real guy on the right looks just like his cartoon doppelganger, right down to the sweet-hearted smile. [source]

Beavis and Butthead in Real Life

Beavis and Butthead are two cartoon characters that were created by Mike Judge in 1992. The characters found a home on MTV, which popularized the duo. Within weeks, Beavis and Butthead had found their way into the hearts and homes of millions of people. Their dorky laughs and dumbass catch phrases could be heard in school and college campuses across the world.

The characters are essentially caricatures of two below-average American teenagers who constantly get themselves into trouble with teachers, law keepers, criminals and pretty much every person they come across. The characters are so highly stylized that it's almost impossible to visualize them as real human beings, but here they are, in the flesh:

Above: One of Beavis's signature character attributes is the size of his head. Although Chris Kemp's nostrils could use some stretching, he totally looks like Beavis in many other ways. [source]

Above: Zach from "Little People, Big World" looks just like the cartoon character Butthead. [source]

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Wear Art on your Eyelids with Eye Shadow Paintings

Eye shadow is a cosmetic that is applied to the lids of the eyes to create shadows or highlights to define the shape of the eye. Generally, eye shadow is applied in smooth gradients, with two or more colors subtly blended into one another to create a natural effect. But what if a girl wants her eyes to tell a tale? Enter the art of eyelid painting...

I See the City and the City Sees Me
The colorful gradient of a city-lit sky makes a stunning background for the subject of this body art; a city skyline. The tiny lit windows in the buildings give the cosmetic artist an opportunity to bring out her metallic body paints.

Above: The full art work is only visible when the wearer has her eyes closed. [source]

The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow
Based on a prism design, this body painting piece uses the eye as the focus of the art work. The make-up artist has applied paint to not just the upper eyelid, but the areas surrounding the eye.

Above: False eyelashes and tiny diamante accents add to the beauty of this cosmetic art work. [source]

Playing Super Mario with Your Eyes Closed
Super Mario is a Nintendo game that was first released in the 1980s. The game became so popular that the characters are often used in video game fan art works. In the picture below, make-up artist Katie Alves has used body paint in place of eye shadow powder. This allows her to create tiny details of the game, such as bricks and coins.

Above: This Super Mario body art uses just the eyelid as the canvas for the fan art work. The eyelashes and eyebrows frame the painting. The cosmetic artist has used tiny brushes to add details such as outlines and spots on the characters. [source]

Eyes on Fire

Using metallic and glitter body paints and eye shadows powders, this cosmetic artist has created fiery eyes, including a decorative flower design at the edge of the eyes.

Above: The contrast between the vivid golds and the darker charcoal areas give interest to the body painting. [source]

Be a Jungle Queen with the Lion King
The Lion King is one of Disney's most popular animated films, with many memorable scenes. In the body art work below, one of these famous scenes is painted onto the girl's eyelids. The tiny silhouettes of the animals are painted onto the background with the tip of a fine paint brush.

Above: It's fairly common for make up artists to use two different colors; one on the edge of the eyelid, and the other for the area below the eyebrow. In this case, green and blue have been used to create an effect of grass and sky. [source]

Eat With Your Eyes
The shape of the eye is similar to the shape of the mouth. This cosmetic artist has used the similarity in shape to create lips around the eyelids, so the wearer can "eat" with her eyes.

Above: The finished effect is a bit strange, but these lippy eyes are still pretty funny. [source]

The View from the Little Mermaid's Bedroom
The make-up artist has used a base of blue body paint for this under-the-sea scene. Gold paint has been used to highlight the fronds of seaweed. To complete the painting, the artist has extended the gold paint onto the eyelashes of the model, giving her lashes black and gold stripes.

Above: Another eyelid painting by Katie Alves. These fun designs are great ideas for dress up parties and music festivals.

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10 Exquisite Photographs of Wild Animals

Nature holds a wealth of beauty and wonder that every once in a while, a photographer manages to capture in a single frame. Wild animals are a source of fascination for human beings - their lives may be harsher in some ways, but in many ways they embody a sense of freedom that people crave.

Above: "Zen Fox" by thrumyeye. Such a peaceful moment is rare in wild animals, who are generally alert and wary of danger. The features of the fox's face are sharper than the background areas, a technique that draws the eye to the focal point - the face. [source]

Above: Flamingos sleep while standing, tucking their heads under a wing for protection from the elements. In the nature photograph above, the photographer has captured the sleeping flamingo beautifully. By emphasizing the yin yang nature of the pose, the photographer has added a sense of balance and peace to the picture. [source]

Above: This photographer has caught this tiger in an almost human pose, as though the tiger is pulling a face, not just simply licking his paw. By personifying the animal subject, the photographer encourages empathy in the viewer. [source]

Above: This white lion is rare, but isn't a true albino. Most big cat species have a genetic strain that once in a while produces a pure white animal. If this lion was an albino, its eyes would be pink. [source]

Above: Photographers are often so focused on their animal subjects that they ignore the animal's natural habitat. This photographer has chosen to exhibit the polar bear as part of its environment. The unusual shape of the ice combined with the beautiful colors add to the natural beauty of the polar bear. [source]

Above: This photographer is aware of the value of space within an image, giving the cute squirrel plenty of room to own this photograph. [source]

Above: An octopus in its aquatic environment, lit naturally by rays of sunlight shining through the water. The semi-translucent nature of the octopus's tentacles add to the feeling that the octopus is glowing. [source]

Above: Nature photography isn't always just a way to capture an amazing moment in time. Sometimes, the most effective photographs reveal a relationship between the animals and the photographer. In the picture above, the swans are angry to discover the photographer in their territory. The photographer has expressed his fear of the swans by capturing them with an upward angle, which makes the birds seem much larger than they actually are. [source]

Above: Young elephants are very playful, often running about while waving their trunks in the air. This photograph is an example of personification - humans recognize the open-mouthed expression on the animal's face as a smile. [source]

Above: One of nature's rarities, the glass winged butterfly. This beautiful creature is beautiful when set in contrast to colorful flowers, as in the photograph above. [source]

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Antique Lolcats Photographs make Kitteh Historeh

The word 'lolcat' is created from the abbreviation 'lol' and 'cat', and is used as a label for any funny photograph of a cat. Often the photo is captioned with 'lolspeak', a misspelled language that was formed during the rise in popularity of lolcat pictures.

A Kitteh Historeh of lolcats
In the 1870s a British photographer called Harry Pointer created a series of photographs of cats. To add to the humor of the cat pictures Pointer would often add a funny caption, and thus the first lolcat pictures were born. Soon other photographers were using cats and other animals as subjects in photographs, often dressing the animals in human clothing and personifying them by posing them in human situations. Harry Whittier Frees is another notable antique lolcat photographer who created dozens of animal pictures that were a parody of human life.

Above: Antique lolcat photograph by Harry Pointer, with the caption "Bring up the dinner Betsy" [source]

Above: An antique lolcat postcard from 1905. The photograph was taken by Harry Whittier Frees, who added the caption "What's delaying my dinner?" In modern lolspeak, the caption would probably be along the lines of the classic; "I can has cheezburger?" [source]

Postcards of pets in costumes with captions were a novel concept in the early 20th century and became a popular way to communicate with loved ones who lived far away, as postcards included a picture and were cheaper to send than letters. Often the lolcat postcards were sent in place of birthday cards, to the delight of the children who received them. Even a century ago, lolcats were a popular form of humor.

Makin da Kittehs seem Hooman

Anthropomorphism is the act of giving animals or objects human characteristics and personalities. Harry Whittier Frees was a master of anthropomorphism who didn't just pose his animal subjects in human situations, but waited for a seemingly human expression to pass across the animals' faces before he took a photograph. Often the facial expressions were ones of resignation or exhaustion as it must have been tiring for the animals to sit for the camera in uncomfortable positions for what could be hours. 

Above: A Frees photograph of a feline teacher and her pupils. Lolspeak hadn't yet been invented, so antique lolcat photographs often implied that cats were as intelligent as humans. If this were a modern lolcat picture, the alphabet would probably be jumbled and the title of the teachers book would be something along the lines of "spalling book". [source]

Above: Another of Harry Whittier Frees's antique lolcat pictures. Part of the appeal of Frees's images was the fact that props had to be made to size. At the time doll collecting was becoming a popular hobby which meant the doll-like effect of these antique lolcat pictures was well-received by the public.

Lolcats as an Antique Art Form

Before the art of photography was created, humorous pictures were either painted or illustrated. A notable cat illustrator of the late 19th century was Louis Wain. Wain's drawings of cats in human situations captured the imaginations of the people at the time and were published in newspapers as a form of entertainment. 

Above: Like the lolcat photographers of the time, Wain chose to pose his feline subjects in human situations, personifying them with human emotions such as humor, frustration and surprise. [source]

Above: Louis Wain's cat characters were often cartoonish in nature, sporting caricature facial expressions that made them seem more human. [source]

Although websites like lolcats.com and icanhascheezburger.com are modern inventions, the art of funny cat pictures has existed for over a century. Over time lolcats have been given their own language and their own attitude toward life.

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The Funny Photoshop Animal Hybrids of the Digital Zoo

Digital artists work in image editing programs like Photoshop that allow them to genetically modify photographs to create funny animal hybrids. Photo manipulation artists are the zoo keepers of the digital zoo, adding animals at whim.

Bellowing Gorilla Bird
This Photoshop artist has created the missing link. If only scientists had known that it could fly too.

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Spitting Llama Dodo

The Llama Dodo is reputed to be able to survive at enormous heights above sea level, with the ability to spit and peck at its enemies.

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The World's Tiniest Kitten

Foregoing years of breeding, this digital artist instead spent a few hours in Photoshop to create the world's tiniest kitten. 

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Rooster Cat for a Purring Alarm Clock

It purrs, it crows, it's the rooster cat! This fluffy, feathery creature is infamous for clawing the furniture and waking you up on time.

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Chick-huahua

Why did the Easter dog chirp? He was a little chicken!

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Hippo Crustacean's a bit Crabby

Known for charging cars and waving it's claws around, the hippo crab is unaware that he is being bred as an African Photoshop delicacy.

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Fan Art Character Hybrids

Fan art works are artists' renditions of their favorite celebrities or media characters. The aim of fan art is to show what it is about their idol that they appreciate, such as beauty, strength or humor. Fan art combinations merge two subjects to form an entirely new character. The tricky part is to express what it is about both of those characters that the artist appreciates.

Fan Art Spoofs
Character combinations are spoofs or parodies of popular characters, created with the intention of forming a humorous hybrid. The majority of character spoofs are non-official art works, though occasionally they are created on an official level by TV series producers as a means to entertain viewers.

Above: A combination of pikachu, a magical animal character from the anime series Pokemon, and a cthulhu, a fantasy character first introduced in literature by HP Lovecraft in the 1920s. The resulting character combination is a cthulhuachu. [source]

Above: Family Guy's dynamic duo, Brian the Dog and Stewie, transform into a parody of DC Comics' Batman and Robin. This is an official transformation created by the artists of Family Guy for use in an episode. [source]

Above: Mario Bros vs Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. Children of the 80s will recognize both sets of famous friends that have been used in this character combination.The transformation that the four characters have undergone reflects the transformations that the Mario games and the Pooh series have experienced over the last three decades. [source]

Above: Wolverine Mouse? Mickerine? Wolvermickey? The usually light-hearted and lovable character of Mickey Mouse has been combined with the intense, angry persona of Wolverine from the X Men. The artist has combined elements from each character, such as Mickey's gloves and Wolverine's blades to create a balanced hybrid character. [source]

Above: A Photoshop hybrid of Rowan Atkinson's Mr Bean character and a na'vi alien character from the movie Avatar. Although the resulting hybrid character has mostly na'vi characteristics, such as the hair style, blue skin and wide, flat nose, Mr Bean's character traits shine through. [source]

Above: A Muppet X Men spoof. Jim Henson's popular Muppet characters have appeared in a number of fan art hybrids. [source]

Above: The Simpsons parody the famous photograph of The Beatles crossing Abbey Road, with Homer Simpson as John Lennon. The zebra crossing used in the original photograph of the pop group is now a popular tourist destination. [source]

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