Illustrated by Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldžija, Mark Schultz & William Stout, edited by John Fleskes (Flesk)
ISBN: 978-1-933865-38-6
After everything is said and done the most immediate response to narrative art is through the eyes. The right picture is worth far more than a thousand words and this stunning hardback coffee-table sampler is stuffed with finished works and the far-more-interesting roughs, sketches, pencil stages, works-in-progress and details of a quintet of extremely talented stars who are all masters of communicating through unforgettable imagery.
Selected by art addict and specialist publisher John Fleskes, this superb tome collects a tantalising array of material to captivate all fans of fantasy, horror, comicbook action and even dinosauria, but is in fact a delicious physical ad and endorsement for the company’s even more tempting range of dedicated art-books by the contributors and other such talents as Al Williamson, Bruce Timm, James Bama, Steve Rude, Jim Silke, Harvey Dunn, Joseph Clement Coll and many more…
Each entry begins with a brief biography, starting with the incredible career of fine artist, commercial and comicbook painter, animation visual developer (Hercules, Mulan, Monsters vs. Aliens, The Lorax and more) and landscape architect Craig Elliott.
His gallery of 11 stunning fantasy paintings – plus a page detailing his work process – leads into an equally staggering array of works by commercial artist, illustrator and comics aristocrat Gary Gianni, accompanied by sketches, paintings and comic pages from Conan, Solomon Kane, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Indiana Jones, The MonsterMen, Batman, Prince Valiant and much more.
Award-winning Serbian fantasy illustrator Petar Meseldžija is represented in an incredible gallery of 20 fantasy paintings, drawing and sketches, many starring the fantastic mythological monsters of his homeland, whilst comics superstar Mark Schultz contributes a dozen pages of working drawings, roughs and sketches from past glories such as Conan and Xenozoic Tales as well as a myriad of high adventure and fantasy scenarios.
This catalogue of wonders concludes with a selection by legendary artist, natural historian and illustrator William Stout, ranging from monster, zombie and dinosaur paintings to luscious animal pictures to comics covers to film posters and previously unseen record covers.
These pictures, ranging from intoxicating barbarian women, valiant sword-wielding warriors, wondrous dinosaurs, Cowboys and Indians, rockets and robots, bold heroes, period drama scenes, cosmic adventurers, beasts and monsters, aliens, action sequences, beguiling nudes and glamour studies, are the bedrock of fantasy illustration and these beautifully intimate glimpses of masters at work, with high quality colour reproduction capturing every nuance of brushstroke, pen line and pencil mark, make this a book a vital primer for anybody dreaming of drawing for a living. Most importantly the astounding breadth and scope of work presented here make me itch to pick up my pencil and draw, draw, draw some more myself.
Enticing, revealing, rewarding and incredibly inspirational, no lover of wonder or art lover can fail to be galvanised by this superb portfolio of excellence.
© 2011 Flesk Publications LLC. All Rights Reserved. All artworks and features © 2011 the individual creators, owners or copyright holders.