Fantasy Art: Warriors and Heroes: Inspiration, Impact & Technique in Fantasy Art

Inspirations & Techniques

by Russ Thorne, Ken Kelly (Foreword)

"Warriors and Heroes "is a stunning display of incredible, contemporary fantasy artwork, a complement to its bestselling predecessor, "Dragon Art." The first section covers 'Masters & Origins' and introduces some of the writers, characters and artists who helped to shape the fantasy world as we know it today - including James Allen St John, Roy G. Krenkel, the Hildebrandt Brothers and of course Frank Frazetta. A fascinating discussion of warriors and fantasy art follows on, running throughout the book, with a large selection of the best of the current crop of fantasy artists. "Warriors & Heroes "is interspersed with features on artists' works-in-progress, providing invaluable insight on technique and tools. "Warriors & Heroes" is a feast of visual imagination and a must for all fans of fantasy art.

Genres: Fantasy, Art

192 pages, Hardcover

First published August 6, 2014

About the author

As a boy, Russ Thorne loved reading Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, playing Hero Quest and poring over issues of 'White Dwarf', admiring the cover art in the process. Later he studied English Literature and got to know Homer's heroes and a bit of Beowulf, before beginning a career as a writer and editor. Since then he's published books on tattoo art, body piercing and vampires and writes regularly for national newspapers including the Independent.

Reviews

[Florin Pitea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent printing, diverse illustrations, good text, a wide base of reference. On the other hand, I was a little puzzled to see that one of my favourite fantasy artists, Luis Royo, was not mentioned even once in a comprehensive album dedicated to fantasy art. Leaving that aside, I recommend this art book to all fantasy fans.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved a lot of the art in this book, but the thing that drove me crazy was the art they were talking about was never on the page they were talking about it on. So they talked about Frazetta and specifically mentioned his pieces by name, but they were no where in the book. They talked about collectible card game art, but never showed any of it. Even if the art they were talking about was in the book it was always "as seen on page X" and then you had to go back and find that page.

I think the thing I liked the most was the artist sidebars where they described their techniques. A lot of it was like that "how to draw an owl" meme where they draw a couple circles and then the next step is to "draw the owl". It's pretty crazy thinking of some of the skill with software some of these artists have. Photoshop is so huge you could probably create a curriculum of 3 or 4 college semesters and still not understand how it all works.

[Red Lace Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

From fascinating details of fantasy art past to present, to technique tips and the very important forms of inspiration, this book is a great addition to an art lovers collection.

I'm not an artist, nor will I ever be, I simply don't have even a speck of the talent, but I wish I did of course, because creating epic fantasy pieces with dragons and scantily clad heroines would be all I'd happily do. Instead, I like to appreciate (and feel jealous about) art from afar and sometimes pay for commissions; there's nothing like seeing a character you've built within your mind come alive in colour and detail.

Fantasy Art: Warriors and Heroes was a good, informative book that I enjoyed. It was well written and included many beautiful illustrations to stare at in envy. Something I think benefits the book however, is being able to research the mentioned artists and relevant art alongside reading, so having internet connection at hand really helps.

I'd be interested in reading more books like this in the future, for sure.

Notable Quote:

Inevitably the hyper-real or accentuated nature of fantasy and specifically comic-book art has often left it open to accusations of sexism, of objectifying women in particular, and in some cases being deemed obscene. Is it celebrating the female (and male) form, or needlessly titillating? As with art throughout the ages it's up to the individual to decide where they stand on a matter of interpretation, but there's no doubt the lines and lingerie of heroines in particular will continue to provoke controversy in some circles.

Notable Art:

Dark Warrior by Adele Lorienne


Dragon Age by Frank Hong


Eowyn and the Nazgul by Nick Deligaris


Dragon Lord by Jonas De Ro


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