Drawing & Painting Fantasy Figures
Finlay Cowan
Barron's
Nonfiction, Art
*****
DESCRIPTION: Everyone has seen fantasy art: on album covers, in movie theaters, on books, and elsewhere. How do the artists do it? How do they create those wizards and elves, those castles and weapons, all those things we remember about fantasy art? This book, using examples by the author and other fantasy artists, attempts to explain the process. Anatomy and proportions of common fantastic figures, perspective, image composition, even artistic media - from pencils and pens to the latest in digital imaging - are covered, with an emphasis on finding the creative voice within.
REVIEW: This reminds me strongly of The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Techniques, in that it spends a few pages on a given subject, then offers the reader/artist exercises to reinforce the lessons learned. Even if you don't have the time, space, or materials to try these things at home (and I have none of the above), this is a great book to page through. Cowan packs a lot of information into his pages, and this book certainly needs to be read more than once to get its full impact.
You might also enjoy:
Anatomy for Fantasy Artists (Glenn Fabry, Art - Human anatomy as applied to fantasy art)
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Techniques (John Grant and Ron Tiner, Art - Tips and methods to develop genre art)
Drawing the Head and Figure (Jack Hamm, Art - How to draw humans, from head to toe)
Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy (Christopher Hart, YA? Art - An "entry-level" book on human anatomy)
Dynamic Figure Drawing (Burne Hogarth, Art - Drawing humans, with emphasis on exaggeration and "deep space" motion)
DragonArt Fantasy Characters (J. "NeonDragon" Peffer, YA? Art - How to draw fantasy humans and kin)
Fantastic Realms (V. Shane, Art - How to draw and ink fantastic creatures and worlds)
Figure Drawing Without a Model (Ron Tiner, Art - Developing skills to successfuly draw humans and humanoids from the imagination)
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Drawing & Painting Fantasy Worlds
Finlay Cowan
Impact
Nonfiction, Art
****
DESCRIPTION: Impossible cities, strange beings, peculiar tribal armor, biomechanical beasts… fantasy and science fiction art and stories present us with all manner of fantastic worlds which, when properly rendered, can seem simultaneously bizarre yet entirely as real as our own world. This book describes how to create such worlds by examining architecture, characters, machinery, details, and other necessities.
REVIEW: It’s a bit difficult to give this an accurate review. I have read Cowan’s previous book, Drawing & Painting Fantasy Figures, which mentions several items found here, though in differing levels of detail. I clipped it a point because of the redundancy, though to be fair this isn’t a complete rehash of the earlier book. I think the two work best as companion works, each filling in blanks or weak spots left by the other. Both emphasize a marriage of traditional and digital media, and both discuss not only creating art but studio setup and other survival skills needed for working artists. As promised, this book describes many elements of creating visually compelling and original fantasy worlds. It also touches on characters and other items necessary to flesh out said worlds, and it includes some step-by-step tutorials. I found some of the tutorials a little overwhelming just in reading them; I think the previous book did a better job giving readers an overview of digital painting techniques and methods for producing computer-enhanced work. Overall, I can recommend this book to artists interested in creating fantastic worlds, but I can recommend it more highly if they already own or plan to purchase Cowan’s first book.
You might also enjoy:
Drawing & Painting Fantasy Landscapes & Cityscapes (Rob Alexander, Art - Drawing unreal yet believable scenery)
The Fundamentals of Landscape Drawing (Barrington Barber, Art - How to compose and draw landscapes)
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Techniques (John Grant and Ron Tiner, Art - Tips and methods to develop genre art)
Imaginative Realism (James Gurney, Art - How to create realistic worlds in art)
Drawing Scenery - Landscapes and Seascapes (Jack Hamm, Art - Ways to render scenery, from mountains and oceans to cities and trees)
Manga Mania: Fantasy Worlds (Christopher Hart, YA? Art - Drawing worlds, from fantastic to futuristic)
The Fantasy Illustrator's Technique Book (Gary A. Lippincott, Art - Developing and drawing fantasy worlds, creatures, and beings)
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