Archive for category Series: Fantasy Art
Fantasy Landscapes in Watercolour || Stuart Littlejohn
Posted by Henry in Author: Stuart Littlejohn, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Fantasy Art, Subject: Fantasy art, Subject: Landscape on Jan 26, 2010
This introduction to fantasy art has the great benefit of simplicity on its side. Stuart Littlejohn has taken what can be a huge subject and distilled it into three very thoroughly illustrated demonstrations that will set you firmly on the right road if you’re just starting out. If you need a little help with the practicalities of the medium, there’s a useful introduction to materials, colour and composition at the beginning, but even more experienced artists will find that the real meat is in the demonstrations.
Fairies In Watercolour || Paul Bryn Davies
Posted by Henry in Author: Paul Bryn Davies, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Fantasy Art, Subject: Fantasy art on Jun 28, 2008
I have to admit to an allergy to Fantasy Art; it brings me out in spots. However, if you want a series that puts the Art into the Fantasy, this is it and if you want to see that it’s possible not to leave your creative hat at the door of the studio, Paul will give you some excellent ideas.
Search Press first published 2007, paperback 2008
£7.99
Dragons In Watercolour || Paul Bryn Davies
Posted by Henry in Author: Paul Bryn Davies, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Fantasy Art, Subject: Fantasy art on Jun 28, 2008
I’m not really into Fantasy Art, so my comments have to be limited, but there’s genuine creativity and humour here that should appeal to anyone who’s more into the Art than the Fantasy.
Search Press first published 2007, paperback 2008
£7.99
Celtic Fantasty In Watercolour || Stuart Littlejohn
Posted by Henry in Author: Stuart Littlejohn, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Fantasy Art, Subject: Fantasy art on Feb 4, 2008
Search Press are quietly building up an excellent little series on practical fantasy art. I have to admit that, were someone to start a Society For The Suppression of Fantasy Art, I’d be one of its first members, so you’ll gather that I’m not a fan of the finished results!
However, you get a lot for your money in these books and a lot that you can apply elsewhere. The one and two page sections here on faces, hair, clothes and ornaments can be just as well be applied to a fantasy-free zone and the technical instructions for painting a fairy waterfall are among the best and most comprehensive I’ve seen (and yes, it is the only demonstration of a fairy waterfall I’ve seen, but trust me).
This is well done, in terms of the writing and the artwork as well as the production and worth a look whether you’re with me on the subject matter or not.
Search Press 2008
£7.99
Painting Unicorns In Watercolour || Rebecca Balchin
Posted by Henry in Author: Rebecca Balchin, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Fantasy Art, Subject: Animals, Subject: Horses, Subject: Unicorns on Aug 7, 2007
This site normally has a policy of avoiding fantasy art. It’s not that I have anything against it, I simply don’t understand it and I find it difficult to be objective and to know whether the results are any good or not.
So why would I touch a book on unicorns? They’re the stuff of fairly tale, they don’t exist, missed the last bus to Noah Central and failed to make it to the Ark. Up there with the Dodo, except that the Dodo was real, so what kind of analogy is that?
Well, a very clever one, actually, because unicorns do have a sort of existence. Artistically speaking, they’re just a horse with a broom handle stuck on its head. Take the pole away and you’re left, plus or minus the odd cloven hoof, with a horse. And what this book is, above all else, is one of the very best books on painting horses you could wish for. Horses are a tricky subject and the proportions are hard to get just right, so full marks to Rebecca for some superb, sensitive drawings and paintings which get to the very heart of her subject.
If you want a book on unicorns, this is pretty much the only one but, if you want a book on horses, it remains the one you should buy. Of course it’s a bit fairytale, but that doesn’t get in the way if you don’t want it to.
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