Published by Faerie Magazine, Walking Through the Landscape of Faerie is a lush, 108-page compilation of fantasy illustrations and writing from celebrated artist Charles Vess, with an introduction from Charles de Lint and additional poetry from Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. le Guin, Gregory Maguire, Alice Hoffman, Delia Sherman, Terri Windling, Jane Yolen, Theodora Goss, Ari Berk, John Matthews, and more!
Charles was born in 1951 in Lynchburg, Virginia and has been drawing since he could hold a crayon. He drew his first full-length comic when he was 10 and called it "Atomic Man." Minimalist in nature, it required no drawing of hands, feet or heads ("they just glowed"). Since then, he has painstakingly drawn thousands of hands, feet, and heads in great detail. Charles graduated with a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and worked in commercial animation for Candy Apple Productions in Richmond, Va., before moving to New York City in 1976. It was there that he became a freelance illustrator, working for many publications including Heavy Metal, Klutz Press, and National Lampoon. His award-winning work has graced the pages of numerous comic book, publishers such as Marvel, DC, Darkhorse and Epic. He has been featured in several gallery and museum exhibitions across the nation, including the first major exhibition of Science Fiction and Fantasy Art (New Britain Museum of American Art, 1980) and "Dreamweavers" (William King Regional Arts Center, 1994-95). In 1991, Charles shared the prestigious World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story with Neil Gaiman for their collaboration on Sandman #19 (DC Comics) --- the first and only time a comic book has held this honor. In the summer of 1997, Charles won the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Penciler/Inker for his work on The Book of Ballads and Sagas (which he self-publishes through his own Green Man Press) as well as Sandman #75. Soon after Charles finished the last of 175 paintings for Stardust, a novel written by Neil Gaiman, for which he was given the 1999 World Fantasy Award as Best Artist.
In 2002 Charles won a second Will Eisner award, this time as Best Painter for his work on Rose, a 130-page epic fantasy saga written by Cartoon Books' Jeff Smith. The year continued to be busy for Charles with the publication of Seven Wild Sisters (Subterranean Press) and The Green Man, Tales from the Mythic Forest (Viking), both utilizing cover art and interior b/w illustrations by the artist, and both making the 2003 American Library Association's list for Best Books for Young Adults! By the end of the year he had completed 28 paintings for his first children's picture book, A Circle of Cats, done in collaboration with writer Charles de Lint (Viking). This cover art won the Gold Award for Best Book Art in the 10th annual "Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art" even before it was officially published. A new edition of Peter Pan (Tor/Starscape) featuringa cover as well as over 30 b/w interior illustrations by Vess was released this past Fall. Another collaboration with de Lint, Medicine Road (Subterranean Press) and the YA anthology,The Faery Reel (Viking ) will be arriving this Spring and he is currently hard at work producing drawings for several new books, including, A Storm of Swords (MeishaMerlin), the 25th anniversary edition of Moonheart (Subterranean Press) and a graphic novel collection of his ballads material for Tor.
This is similar to "The Book of Ballads," but instead of short comics stories, it's illustrated poems and short stories, and unlike the other anthology, this has a theme in common for all: the eerie and gorgeous world of Faerie and its beautiful but frightening inhabitants. Taliesin, Thomas the Rhymer, Deirdre of the Sorrows... They're all here.
I only wish the 5-star artwork by Charles Vess had more 5-star stories/poems by the collaborating writers to complement it, but it's still great on its own, gorgeous and atmospheric and intriguing.
This is a lovely collection of art by Vess, accompanied by poetry, vignettes, and quotes from personalities such as Theodora Goss, Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, John Lennon, etc. There's a line in de Lint's introduction which summarizes it quite well: "The whole of the book paints a portrait of yearning and appreciation for a world that welcomes kindness, magic, whimsy, and pastoral beauty." What more needs be said?
Dentro de las publicaciones que tiene la revista Enchanted Living para descarga gratuita, (https://enchantedlivingmagazine.com/a...) una de las sorpresas fue este volumen ilustrado por Charles Vess, uno de mis ilustradores favoritos de temática de fantasía y que tiene cuentos y poemas de autores como Neil Gaiman y Ursula K Le Guin. Una belleza.
I don't think Faerie has a better illustrator than Charles Vess. Gorgeous illustrations, some taken from my favorite stories, combined with lovely poetry from some of my favorite writers. An excellent way to spend an afternoon with a book.
Poesía y arte del mundo de las hadas en este libro ilustrado por Charles Vess y acompañado de los poemas de los grandes escritores modernos del fantástico. Charles Vess me gusta y en especial su gusto por la leyendas del mundo feérico, pero a veces me parece que su arte satura tanto la imagen de "lo fantástico" que le arrebata al mundo de las hadas su misterio.
This is primarily an art book, though it does include one short comics narrative and several poems and very short stories (including a few by Vess) that accompany the illustrations. Vess's lush romanticism, his focus on nature and his creation of fundamentally benign-looking manifestations of the magical and uncanny is always a pleasure to behold.
The written sections are somewhat scattered and abrupt, because this is really meant to be an art book. But I still gave it a 4, because Charles Vess' artwork continues to be magical and awe-inspiring despite the context.
This book is incredible! So gorgeous and such a thoughtful curation of some of the artist's best work paired with the perfect words. Wonderful for all ages though some images are certainly more mature than others, so just pick up a copy if you're not sure about giving it to your kids :) I am so glad I was able to preorder a signed copy so that I can enjoy this book from now until it falls apart and I just hope that doesn't happen anytime soon because this is a book that's meant to be seen and read and enjoyed.