Techniques of Fantasy Art - Robertson_ Bruce.pdf - Techniques of Fantasy Art (408) - superktos86

Foreword

There is strength through mystery. A

picture produced from the images

within the mind can be a more accurate

portrayal of human perceptions than one

based entirely on observations. When

we look at the work of a fantasy artist we

can respond to the mystery on a number

of levels: the source of the ideas, the

constituent parts, and the subject matter

of the picture. The construction of the

composition, its use of the elements of

light and shade, and its depictions of

imaginary forms are all crucial. Finally

comes our response to the mysteries of

the artist's technique - his painting

skills.

The creation of fantasy art is achieved

by the interplay of the conscious and the

unconscious mind. This process was

described in 1540 by Leonardo da Vinci,

the Italian Renaissance master, as a

challenge to the artist who must resolve

a conflict between the observed and the

imaginary, the known and the unknown.

Images of the imagination appear in

all forms of art, for example: the

decorative and applied arts, sculpture

and, surprisingly, architecture. This

book excludes all the forms mentioned

above and concentrates instead on

images, either painted or drawn, on two-

dimensional surfaces. It uses examples

by commercial artists, those working on

commissions, or artists exploring their

own visual references and imagination.

The vast resource of images made by

people suffering from mental disorders

who, as a result of illness or congenital

deficiencies, create images directly from

the disturbance of their minds is not

included.

The greatest source of imaginary

images is literature, both prose and

poetry. The flow of words creates worlds

which we mentally visualize. Stories

from legends, mythology, gothic horror

stories, science fiction and fiction itself

create images of new worlds in our

minds. The depiction of these

'imaginings' makes a direct appeal to us

through recognition of the element of

common experience in life. Since

fantasy art is not totally dependent upon

observable reality, we are likely to be

A Macdonald Orbis BOOK

The Diagram Group

Editorial staff

Ben Barkow, Guy Brain, Annabel Else, Moira Johnston,

Patricia Robertson

Indexer

David Harding

Art director

Philip Patenall

Artists

Joe Bonello, Alastair Burnside, Robert Chapman,

Richard Hummerstone, Mark Jamill, Lee Lawrence,

Paul McCauley, Katherine Mothersdale, David O'Brien,

Guy Ryman, Jane Robertson, Michael Robertson,

Graham Rosewarne

Picture researcher

Patricia Robertson

First published in Great Britain in 1988

by Macdonald and Co (Publishers) Ltd

London and Sydney

A Pergamon Press plc company

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in any form or by any means without the prior

permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise

circulated in any form of binding or cover other than

that in which it is published and without a similar

condition including this condition being imposed on

the subsequent purchaser.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Robertson, Bruce

Techniques of fantasy art

1. Drawings

I. Title

741.2 NC730

ISBN 0-356-15324-X

Typeset by Dorchester Typesetting Group Ltd

Printed and bound by Purnell Book Production Ltd

Macdonald and Co (Publishers) Ltd

Greater London House

Hampstead Road

London

NWl 7QX

disturbed by our examination of the

works of fantasy artists. They surprise us

by their inventions which, once we have

seen them, live in our minds as ghosts of

the unreal world.

Today the work of a good fantasy artist

is in constant demand by the

commercial world. Examples are

everywhere: video cassette covers,

record sleeves, science fiction novels,

movie posters, and advertisements. The

commercial artist produces work which

is often derived from the discoveries of

'fine artists.' Nowadays commercial art

can become 'gallery' art and is in turn

reinterpreted — the copier is copied.

Even the most commonplace image torn

from a magazine can be the source from

which unique pictures are created.

Remember when setting out on the path

of producing fantasy images that you

may be more surprised with your

discoveries than subsequent viewers of

your work. However, each new picture

is a new contribution to the vast world of

the imagination of mankind.

• Section One of the book looks at the

source of ideas. Where do artists get

their inspiration for imaginary pictures?

• Section Two explains the background

to eight famous fantasy paintings: the

artist's motivation, the origin of the

illustrated ideas, and the potential

audience. This section takes an example

from a selection of famous artists' work

and, although depicting the examples in

full color, concentrates on the ideas

behind the pictures rather than the

techniques used to produce them.

• Section Three explores methods of

developing ideas and shows how they

may be distorted or enlarged in scope by

the use of collage or changes in

composition.

• Section Four concentrates on the

physical processes required to produce a

fantasy image in a variety of media, and

contains interviews with eight

contemporary artists. The artists explain

their techniques and discuss the

development of an idea into a finished

product.

Acknowledgements

A personal thank you to each of the eight artists whose

work appears between pages 96 and 126. Without their

help in patiently explaining their techniques I could not

have produced those pages. Thanks are also due to my

old Professor of Art, Edward Wright, who kindly read

the book and offered very constructive advice about the

ideas contained in it, many of which I had remembered

from his lectures.

46 Reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees, National

Gallery, London

50 Patriomoine des Musees Royaux des Beaux Arts de

Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

54 Photo: PH3 Fotografia e Audiovisuais Lda,

collection of Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga,

Lisbon, Portugal

62 Patrimoine des Musees Royaux des Beaux Arts de

Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

65 Copyright ACL, Patrimoine des Musees Royaux

des Beaux Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

68 From ALARMS AND DIVERSIONS in Vintage

permission of Hamish Hamilton Ltd.

Seal in the Bedroom, published by Harper & Row.

90 Kunsthistorisches Museum (Albertina), Vienna,

Austria

103 Young Artists, London

115 Young Artists, London

117 Futura Publications, London

127 Young Artists, London

128 Gollancz Publications, London

129 Young Artists, London

Picture sources

The author has made all possible efforts to contact

the copyright owners of the illustrations reproduced,

but apologises in advance for any errors or omissions that

may have occurred.

Page

9 Photo: Geoffrey Clements, Collection of the

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York,

USA

26 Photo: Michael Robertson

34 The Museum of Modern Art, Kay Sage Tanguy

Fund

38 Photo: Goellette, collection of Musee

d'Unterlinden, Colmar, France

42 Photo: Ursula Edelmann, Freies Deutsches

Hochstift - Frankfurt am Main

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