First of all this is not your usual art instruction book where the author takes you through several step by step guides to drawing the likes of a Dragon or a Wizard’s tower. I find this book much more valuable than that, this is a book which takes you into the mind of who I consider to be one of the modern masters of Fantasy art. The reader is taken through the thought process and inspiration behind many pieces of his work with lots of insider knowledge undoubtedly acquired over many years.
Included are many examples of his work covering a variety of media and there is nothing to stop you from trying to follow the same processes as the artist uses to either replicate his work or create your very own fantasy worlds.
The book is divided into three sections. The first-The Basics of getting started- covers the use of different media in your work and has features on the importance of studying nature and your environment, and the usefulness of generating your own reference photos, to name but a few.
Section 2-Techniques, theory and subject matter- covers things like the use of colour and perspective before moving onto some stage by stage processes of the artist’s work. This is all accompanied by features on themes such as action scenes and inventing your own creatures.
The final section-Putting it all together- was a bit pointless in terms of having its own section. I see no reason why this part couldn’t have just been tagged onto the end of section 2.
This is just a minor gripe though for what is ultimately a very informative and well presented book which has been produced to a very high quality finish.
