Animals Real and Imagined: Fantasy of What Is and What Might Be
Terryl Whitlatch
DesignStudio Press
Nonfiction, Art/Fantasy
****+
Description
Lemurs, housecats, dinosaurs, unicorns... these and more creatures appear in this collection of art and sketches by noted artist Terryl Whitlatch.
Review
Demonstrating a remarkable eye for reality and a vivid imagination, Terryl Whitlatch showcases a wide variety of beasts in many styles. Unlike some artists, who lock in on one "look" for their creations, she proves highly versatile, creating whimsical cartoons and surreal monsters on the same page. She talks a little about her process of creation, and several of her sketches - from her workshops and courses on creature design - have notes, but this isn't really a how-to-draw book so much as it is a gallery of her work. (Her more famous creations, though, fail to appear... likely due to copyright issues, as s he's worked with Disney, George Lucas, and other prominent entertainment entities with uncompromising legal departments.) I only clipped it a half-point for feeling a little random, and many of the sketch notes were difficult to read for being too small and faint. Despite those very minor issues, it's a beautiful collection from a talented artist.