Definitely solidifying his place in the Hall of Fame of Amazing Fathers, David LaFerriere has been drawing illustrations on his kids’ clear, plastic sandwich bags since 2008. Basically a fun surprise when they popped open their lunchboxes at school each day, the creative graphic designer used a Sharpie to draw robots, food, animals, fun objects and a ridiculous number of monster variations that put the Pixar team who worked on Monsters University to shame.

In an interview with Mashable, LaFerriere said, “I used to work nights at a newspaper, and I’d be up early in the morning making my kids sandwiches. I started drawing on the baggies, sort of as a way to channel my creative juices in the morning, and it just ended up sticking.” LaFerriere started his illustrations when both of his boys were in elementary school, but has continued since both sons still enjoy checking out the illustrations each day in middle school and high school.

You can check out over 1,000 of the sandwich bag art designs on LaFerriere’s Flickr account. We have also picked out a handful of some of our favorites that you can check out below.

Our Top Ten Sandwich Bag Art Illustrations

Amazing Dad Draws Sandwich Bag Art Every Day For Five Years

Developed by Evan Daniels of Atlanta, Georgia, this collection of stained glass artwork will be very familiar with anyone who grew up with an old-school Nintendo. Up for sale on the Etsy store MartainGlasswork with prices reaching up to $5,000, Daniels creates stained glass pieces of popular video game characters such as Master Chief, Samus Aran from Metroid, Mario and Mega-Man.

He also creates pieces using iconic symbols from games like Portal, Half Life, Warhammer, Pokemon and Legend of Zelda. In addition, there are a couple movie pieces in the collection that make reference to the Iron Man and Star Wars series of films. If you are interested in how Daniels creates these items, take a look at this Reddit thread he created as well as some more pictures of his work in action.

If you are interested in purchasing one of the pieces, here’s the Esty store. Check out some of our favorite stained glass pieces below:

Half-Life

Halo

The Legend of Zelda

Super Mario Brothers

Mega-Man X

Metroid

Star Wars

Iron Man

Pokemon

Portal

Warhammer

Stained Glass + A Love of Gaming =

If nothing else, The Checkout is known for its class. We’re a sophisticated consumer goods blog. We appreciate the finer things. We watch movies with subtitles. Our distinguished palettes can detect the subtle differences between wine and “wine product.”

That’s why we want to share one of our favorite acquired tastes, classic art. Unfortunately, the generation today can’t appreciate the nuances of aesthetics without writing misspelled, grammatically tragic quips all over it. So, the best we can do is offer you classic art memes.

For months, our art history department has been pouring through archives in the Louvre, the Met, and Tumblr. We’re now proud to present our gift to the world: the 13 Best Classic Art Memes.

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13 Best Classic Art Memes

How pandering is it that artists think they can just pump out picture after picture of our beloved comic book characters with some quirky twist… like for example reinterpreting them as sharks… and then expect us to fawn all over it?

How sad is it that it works! I keep looking at these Batman villains turned into sharks over and over again.

Animator/illustrator and all around cool dude Jeff Victor, of the blog Wicked Crispy, really captures the essence of these Batman baddies while adding a goofy, cartoonish charm… not to mention fins.  The Caper’d Crusader is gonna need a bigger boat.

Two-Face

 Mr. Freeze

 Harley Quinn

 Clayface

 The Riddler

 Catwoman

 Poison Ivy

 The Penguin

 Bane

 The Joker

Batman Villains Turned into Sharks… They’re Aquaman’s Problem Now

We could watch a double feature of Schindler’s List and Requiem for a Dream without feeling a thing… but thanks to the Marvel Super Families Series, seeing the way baby Cyclops looks up at Xavier with love and admiration… it’s just so… like, Scott Summers had a rough childhood, and… excuse me, I need a moment…

We never heard of French artist Andry Rajoelina until we published his DC Super Families Series in May. But clearly the man is one of the greatest artistic geniuses of our time! Not only are his Super Families Series creative concepts executed with originality, but the man knows his comics. The best part is the little nuances he threw in (Galactus holds hands with no one).

Andry Rajoelina, also known as El Shango, is currently at work on a third super family series. To see more of El Shango’s amazing work, check out his blog.

Marvel Super Families Series Will Unfreeze Your Jaded Nerd Heart

It had to happen at some point, right? Forget the Disney Princesses as fierce Jedi warriors. Combining Grumpy Cat with classic scenes in Disney animated films is just brilliant. Developed by digital artist Eric Proctor (otherwise known as TsaoShin on DeviantArt), this collection of artwork inserts everyone’s favorite disgruntled feline into films such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and The Lion King.

Developed within Photoshop, these hilarious scenes will make you want a full animated feature starring good ole Tardar Sauce. After earning some magic Internet points at Reddit, Proctor plans to continue the series with a scene from Tangled and Beauty and the Beast. You can keep up with his future work on his DeviantArt page here.

Check out the entire collection, to date, of the Grumpy Cat Disney mashups. There’s also a bonus 1080p Grumpy Cat wallpaper, created by Proctor, at the end of the article (click to expand), enjoy!

“Circle of No”

“A Whole New No”

“Part of Your No”

1080p Grumpy Cat Wallpaper

This is What Happens When You Mix Grumpy Cat and Disney Films

Currently on display at the Ltd. Art Gallery in Seattle, this collection of Saturday Morning Cartoon inspired art depicts pop culture elements from various cartoons, shows and cereals that will make you incredibly nostalgic about those days when the most important task on Saturday morning was waking up early enough to watch Transformers or making sure you got the best cereal in the fun pack before your siblings.

Characters depicted within the collection include the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, He-Man, the cast of Saved by the Bell, BeetleJuice, Captain Crunch, the Trix rabbit, Batman, the Ghostbusters, Johnny Quest, Pee-Wee Herman, Pinky and the Brain, Optimus Prime, Spider-Man and the Super Friends.

You can check out the full collection of over 60 pieces on the LTD Art Gallery site as well as purchase the artwork. But first, check out our favorite pieces below:

Bust out the Lucky Charms for this Saturday Morning Cartoon Art

This year’s Comic-Con is underway, and it’s become a bigger and better event each year. The influence of comic books is felt everywhere in pop culture from summer blockbusters to toys to popular music.

While the styles and cover prices have certainly changed over the years,  the impact of comic books is as strong as ever. Here at The CheckOut, we’ve collected a small sampling of 10 classic superhero comic book covers from the past century, spanning over 60 years. This list could go on and on, so we’ll have to return to this subject again.

Some of the artists featured on these covers below read like a who’s who of comic icons, including Jack Kirby, Frank Miller, John Byrne, Michael Golden and others. Enjoy!

1938: Action Comics #1 (Joe Shuster)

1986: Watchmen #1 (Dave Gibbons)

1962: Amazing Fantasy #15 (Jack Kirby/Steve Ditko)

1986: The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller)

1993: Wonder Woman #72 (Brian Bolland)

1991: Detective Comics #626 (Michael Golden)

1983: Alpha Flight #3 (John Byrne)

1961: Fantastic Four #1 (Jack Kirby)

1999: The Amazing Spider-Man #633 (Chris Bachalo)

1985: The Spectacular Spider-Man #101 (John Byrne)

10 Spectacular Superhero Comic Book Covers Over The Years

No, this isn’t a brochure from the future where you choose what planet you want to live on or a Civ V map generator. They are planets created by artist Adam Kennedy from the tops of rusty fire hydrants.

Scouring all of San Francisco for the rustiest of hydrants,  Adam also has an Indiegogo campaign to help fund his creative endeavors.  Adam has me wondering how these rust patterns are so similar to actual land patterns. Perhaps the role of water in both has something to do with it? Either way I’m off to endlessly look at Star Trek planet guides.

It’s A Small World After All: Hydrant World Art

We all have memories of our first video game system. For me, the original Nintendo (NES) was set up in my childhood dentist’s office — who knew there were ways to get seven year olds excited about oral hygiene? But if you’ve been gaming since joysticks were the height of technological prowess, it’s nearly impossible to remember them all. Until now. Blow a little air into the dusty cartridge of your memory and check out the newest print from Pop Chart Lab featuring the meticulous and beautiful Evolution of Video Game Controllers.

What started with a single button and knob combo circa 1958’s Tennis for Two has evolved into controllers in nearly every shape imaginable. Wheels, guns, guitars, magic wands and, hey, is that a set of maracas I spot in there? It reads like a Choose Your Own Adventure chart by way of a Family Tree, with a color key at the bottom to define the different controller types and how they’re chronologically related. Remarkable.

Pop Chart Lab’s The Evolution of Video Game Controllers tracks video game system controllers from 1958’s ‘Tennis for Two’ to the impending, ultra-modern DualShock 4 (PS4).

Want a closer look? Over at Pop Chart, you can zoom in on the entire print in all of its painfully detailed glory (as well as purchase a poster for you game room).

The Evolution of Video Game Controllers: Look How Far We’ve Come