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Fantasy Art Masters: The Best Fantasy and Science Fiction Artists Show How They Work
This state-of-the-art showcase features the very best in fantasy and science fiction art worldwide. The brightest talents in the business reveal their inspirations, frustrations, and joys, and explain how they bring their ideas to fruition. Through behind-the-scenes interviews, these masters of the genre discuss their favorite or most demanding assignments andtheir working techniques, and tell why they work in a particular medium.
Fantasy Art Masters demonstrates the creative wealth and diversity in this popular genre of illustrative art, from the lurical Tolkien landscapes of John Howe and Alan Lee, to the hauntingly beautiful multitextured images of Dave McKean, to the spectacular future-world visions of Jim Burns.
Fantasy Art Masters demonstrates the creative wealth and diversity in this popular genre of illustrative art, from the lurical Tolkien landscapes of John Howe and Alan Lee, to the hauntingly beautiful multitextured images of Dave McKean, to the spectacular future-world visions of Jim Burns.
144 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 19, 2016
Okay I am a sucker for a good artwork book even though it technically is not from Paper Tiger.
This book covers the transition from traditional artistic media and techniques through the to digital age and purely computer generated artwork. In this day and age it seems all a little redundant since such forms are now widely accepted and common place but at the time of this book being published it was all new and unusual.
In the transition (in three sections) from paintbrush to pure digital we see a wide variety of artists who have adopted these techniques and made them their own. Following the work of 10 different artists who cover science fiction to fantasy and horror and everything in-between we see how these styles have become synonymous to the artist (or is it the other way around) to the point where you see the artwork and you know exactly who created it.
But what appeals to me the most is that who ever put this book together selected both famous artists and more importantly their more famous pieces. Many of the images I recognise and a lot of them I have adorning some of my favourite books. Not only is this book a fascinating read but I also have the pleasure of seeing my book covers in high quality large format prints.
This book covers the transition from traditional artistic media and techniques through the to digital age and purely computer generated artwork. In this day and age it seems all a little redundant since such forms are now widely accepted and common place but at the time of this book being published it was all new and unusual.
In the transition (in three sections) from paintbrush to pure digital we see a wide variety of artists who have adopted these techniques and made them their own. Following the work of 10 different artists who cover science fiction to fantasy and horror and everything in-between we see how these styles have become synonymous to the artist (or is it the other way around) to the point where you see the artwork and you know exactly who created it.
But what appeals to me the most is that who ever put this book together selected both famous artists and more importantly their more famous pieces. Many of the images I recognise and a lot of them I have adorning some of my favourite books. Not only is this book a fascinating read but I also have the pleasure of seeing my book covers in high quality large format prints.
February 17, 2009
Surprisingly great! Contains work from some very excellent artists. From thumbnails to sketches, it shows the techniques and rough work of some people who really know what they're doing. I found it inspiring.
April 1, 2010
Beautiful art. Are you a fantasy or science fiction fan? You'll probably spot some familiar art here. There are book covers, illustrations...old friends you'll be glad to see. A few paintings that I already rated as my favorites are here. Enjoy.
December 27, 2023
It’s pretty rare to find books that explore Alan Lee and Dave McKean’s work that aren’t their actual books themselves, much less one that has both artists in it, so I was pretty stoked to scoop this one from the thrift store! Author Dick Jude brings together a slightly haphazard group of fantasy artists for this collection, which focuses on exploring the range of their skills from paintbrush to pixel and on the changes that fantasy artistry has seen over the years. Lee falls on one end of the spectrum while McKean is on the other, so it was a nice intellectual contrast for me, in particular, since I adore both artists and their highly unique styles! I vaguely recognized the rest of the artists in the collection, but by the time I got halfway through reading the book it was clear to me that if I wasn’t bought into the artist I wasn’t particularly interested in exploring them in depth. I’m sure each has their fan base (they are quite popular, to be chosen for this book), but their distinctive styles and quotes definitely set the tone for Jude’s accompanying text and if I wasn’t into it, then I just wasn’t into it! Jude does a quality job of getting into the mind of each of his subjects though, so when it came time for Lee and McKean I was rapt by his discussion of their backgrounds, inspiration, and thoughts on the changing nature of fantasy art. Considering the moment in art history that we are currently grappling with (the emergence of AI), this book is one that sits decidedly in its time period (1999), but it’s definitely still a great resource for collecting info on specific artists of note.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews