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Rob Alexander
Search Press
12 October 2010 / ISBN 1844486141
How-To Books/Painting
Amazon
US
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Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
If you enjoy
fantasy in any form, you will surely have been alerted to an interesting
book, game or whatever by an arresting piece of artwork. Fantasy
art usually contains buildings of some kind, and here is how to
produce some stunning fantasy pictures of your own.
Note that I wrote “pictures” not “paintings.”
Although there is plenty in here on drawing and painting, there
is also a fair bit on using a computer to achieve your artistic
aims. I particularly liked the overview at the beginning of the
book, where each of the four sections is explained very succinctly.
I can imagine reading that quickly in a bookstore and knowing what
I was in for. This is an excellent thing for any book. First, architecture
of all kinds is introduced, from Middle Eastern to Gothic, Mesoamerican
to Asian, and even modern and futuristic. The overview gives a look
at the book’s key elements, a bit of background and some examples,
plus how artists have used it for their own work. The second section
deals with the nuts and bolts of art, including how to apply color
theory, composition and perspective when painting buildings. I like
the way in which examples are given and then broken down to explain
what is going on in the pictures; a good way of learning. The third
section shows you how to achieve the various architectural textures
such as stone, tiles, bricks, wood, etc., and how they look when
aged over the years or damaged by fire etc. Finally there is a gallery
of work artist-by-artist, showing the stages of building up a picture
and what the artist was working towards and why. It is a good way
to learn in my opinion, and I would recommend this book to any intermediate
or higher artist who knows about painting or digital art and wants
to expand into fantasy.
Reviewer's
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