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by Rodney Matthews

His artwork has graced the timeless novels of Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), H.G. Wells (War of the Worlds), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The Lost World), J.R.R. Tolkien (The Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings), and Frank Herbert (Dune). But whether he's illustrating a children's classic like Alice in Wonderland, a magazine, an album sleeve, or a poster, Rodney Matthews' images explode with fantasy and even joy. Few dark visions appear here; instead there are color, movement, and a host of eccentric, whimsical, and personality-filled figures to please the eye. The richly detailed paintings and preliminary sketches gathered here include The Hop, featuring an irresistible group of jazzy musical insects; the subtly glowing book cover for C.S. Lewis's The Silver Chair; and the fanciful, slightly disturbing The Spud Snuzzler--which pictures a bizarre creature who shoots high-velocity potatoes through his trumpetlike nose. 136 pages (all in color), 10 3/4 x 11. REISSUE

Genres: Art, Fantasy

134 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1989

About the author

Rodney Matthews is an internationally acclaimed illustrator and conceptual designer of fantasy and science fiction. Born in 1945, in Paulton, England, his distinctive style gained prominence in the 1970s with his poster art which sold in millions worldwide. His rich vision, characterised by lavish landscapes, ethereal cities, strange creatures and mammoth machinery, became the face of both the music and literature of the era. He has illustrated over 140 album covers for influential rock bands, such as Thin Lizzy, Asia and Rick Wakeman, while also becoming a favourite in the genre of speculative fiction, notably with science fiction and fantasy writer, Michael Moorcock.

In a career that has spanned decades, Matthews has also made his mark in the video game industry, working alongside the likes of Traveller’s Tales and Sony Psygnosis, as well as in animation, being given free rein to create and design the children’s TV series ‘Lavender Castle’ for Gerry Anderson. These days he works mainly on his own intellectual properties, which includes a sequel to his multi-award-winning animation, ‘Yendor – The Journey of a Junior Adventurer’, and further tales of Oddney’s Otherland. Matthews is also a talented musician and is recording his next album.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes I found this one next to the other Rodney Matthew's book And so my journey through the works (okay published books) of Rodney Matthews continues. This is the second of his collected works originally published 4 and a bit years after the first. It contains many new works something I am not surprised with. After all after speaking to him at his recent exhibition (oh name dropping feels good) I was amazed at how much material he has got, from sketches to part compositions to variations of the finished design all the way to the final version.

However one thing I did also notice that whoever complied this book also went back to some of the subjects and even pieces printed in the first book but with different view points and focuses (for example there were more printers from Yendor which was from the late 70s and also close ups of selections of earlier works.

However this is no way a criticism and certainly not a comment about recycling art from earlier books just a way of expressing details about his subject matter or his techniques which you can certainly see evolving through the pages.

Another great book - and so on to the third and final book of his collected work.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice collection of this nice different fantasy art. Recommended

[Jann Weeratunga · Rating 5 out of 5]

just adore this sort of modern art.
Brilliant.
Still a go to book on wet days to thumb through

[Ninja · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of different material here, not just book covers, also calendars, album covers, general typography / logos / fonts. All of which have Matthews' signature concave stylings. A fair bit of background on the images too. I believe only two are repeats from In Search of Forever, including the classic Heavy Metal Hero album cover.

[Brendan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Roger Dean better than Mattews but this was still good

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cool art. This guys is one of my top five.