Art

[marycatelli]

I was in a mood for Art.  So I pulled out some Fantasy Art books and started to read.

James Christensen: The Greenwich Workshop's New Century Artists Series by James C. Christensen and A Journey of the Imagination: The Art of James Christensen by Renwick St. James and James C. Christensen

Art wild, whimsical, and fascinating.  Some times with striking beauty, but one looks at Christensen for such things as Two Men in Conversation Attempting to Put Things In Perspective, with its odd perspectives, or his sketch of a duke in a school of anchovies. (It's practically a signature of his, having a fish ambling around in the air.)  The Series one is a group of paintings with brief comments; Journey is a discussion of imagination but a rather longer book, so it has more art.  (Including sketches and things.)  Some overlap between them.  Marvelous to look at, with all the details.

Kinuko Craft: Drawings & Paintings by K.Y. Craft

Here, the art takes a turn for the gorgeous.  Historical, fairy tale, fantasy -- women and some men, and settings of radiant beauty and strangeness.  (With some text about her artistic life.)

Witching Hour: The Art of Larry MacDougall by Larry MacDougall

A return to whimsy.  However, a much more consistently fantasy, even world-built, with witches and trolls and an inn in a tree. . . reminds me of a story I'm still working.  Or at least it's on the backburner. . . . I may pull it off.

Kiddography: The Art and Life of Tom Kidd by Tom Kidd

Some striking art in this one, but I think I liked it the least.  They didn't engage my imagination the way the others did.