Outermost: The Art & Life of Jack Gaughan

by Luis Ortiz

Fantastic imagery, explosive color, and occasionally creepy creations merge together in this elaborate collection of the work of genius artist, Jack Gaughan. Extremely prolific and popular from the 1960s through the 1980s, Gaughan is showcased in this chronicle that is the first to detail the art and life of this master of the science fiction and fantasy genre. Overflowing with samples of work from the artist's personal archives and exploring examples of his working method, this definitive guide provides an inside look into this four time Hugo Award winner. After his death, the New England Science Fiction Association created the Jack Gaughan Award for best emerging science fiction illustrator.

Genres: Art

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2010

Reviews

[Davy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointing, to be honest, though I'm still thrilled it exists at all. I hoped for a somewhat more comprehensive survey of his color work -- far too many of the images presented here are black-and-white excerpts from his sketchbooks. They are interesting on their own terms, but certainly not the work the artist is best known for. I also feel like the wealth of text here takes away from the overall impression. Gaughan, for all his talent and imagination (and influence), did not lead a particularly fascinating life, and a more fitting retrospective would've laid the heavy emphasis on color prints prefaced by a short biographical foreword. I would also have welcomed a better format for the copious amount of captions and footnotes. In-text page # references would've been greatly appreciated where specific pieces were discussed.

[Rita Defino]

This was typed in error. My current book is OUTERMOST HOUSE by Henry Beston.