The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Techniques
John Grant and Ron Tiner
Running Press
Nonfiction, Art
*****
Description
We've all marveled at slithering dragons, soaring pegasi, massive spaceships, and other works of wonder seen on book covers, movie posters, and the big and small screens, among other places. How in the world do artists come up with such brilliantly inventive works - and can you ever learn to do the same? This is an overview of the genre of sci-fi and fantasy art, touching on artistic media but focusing on the effective use of techniques such as Reflections, Anthropomorphism, Exaggeration, Implausible Structures, Hardware, and more.
Review
Not so much a step-by-step instruction book as a source of inspiration and ideas, I find myself looking through it fairly frequently. It's interesting to read, with plenty of great finished examples illustrating the points and techniques mentioned. Each section also ends with a challenge for the reader/artist, exercises to help practice the concepts just discussed. The gallery at the end shows the techniques in action; while I didn't like all the art in the gallery, I could at least appreciate why each piece was included. There is a brief section on Erotica/Exotica art, not for glorification but because, as the authors state, sci-fi/fantasy artists are most likely going to be asked to produce that kind of art at some point in their careers. This is one of those books I find myself paging through again and again, not necessarily to do the exercises (I'm not only too far behind in my art skills to try, but I'm a notorious coward) but just to marvel at what wonders can be wrought by raw imagination and well-honed skill.