Posts Tagged: Fantasy Art

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I adore this cover. For being bold, and putting focus on what makes the character interesting (his wings), rather than trying to create a clear image of the character himself. Lovely, simple typography (including the stylized R), and Arnold’s soft, impressionistic style are perfect for bringing together a cover you just can’t ignore.

Skyborn is about the Seraphim, an elite military force protecting a floating island of Weshern,” said Kirk Benshoff, Art Director at Orbit Books. “The Seraphim guard the remnants of mankind, defying gravity using ancient wings and mastering powerful elements to wage war in the skies.” Starring militarized sword-wielding soldiers with huge metal wings, Skyborn begs for a cover that shows off Daglish’s unique denizens of Weshern. Artist Tommy Arnold was the perfect fit, says Benshoff.

“In what I would call serendipitous timing, the work of Tommy Arnold came across my desk as we were discussing the covers,” he said. “His style just hit the nail on the head for this project. His ability to illustrate characters was spot on. He could also handle textures beautifully: fabrics, metals, flames, etc. And most importantly, his illustrations really pull the viewer in and engage you. It was a no brainer in reaching out to get Tommy on board.”

This book just landed pretty high atop my fall “to-read” pile. Skyborn will be released by Orbit Books in November, 2015.

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Of all the wonderful opportunities that come along with being a parent, introducing your child to your favourite books, movies, comics, and music is one of the greatest. When deciding on how to decorate our nursery, my wife and I quickly settled on a theme inspired by two of Hayao Miyazaki’s wonderful films: My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service. These woodblock-inspired posters from Bill Mudron would fit beautifully in our nursery. The drawn back perspective, with an emphasis on Miyazaki’s wonderful worlds, is a nice contrast to the character-centric imagery that you often see associated with films. You get a strong sense of the characters living in this world, of it continuing on past the rolling credits. Terrific stuff.

Posters of Mudron’s Studio Ghibli woodblock prints are available through his online store.

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Cyril Rolando, known online as AquaSixio, is a French illustrator who works predominantly with digital mediums, such as Photoshop. “My artistic approach is set between surreal and fantasy style… in one word : Otherworldly,” he says of his art.

“I want to ‘tell a story,’ not just ‘show pixels,'” says Rolando of his digital art. “Tim Burton and Hayao Miyazaki are both the roots of my own world. I like the surrealism movement, especially the work of Boris Vian and his Foam of the Daze (l’écume des jours). I like the absurdity, the creativity and the enchanting universes, where colors bring more emotions than thousand smiles or a million tears.”

Living on an island, I’m drawn to many of the thematic elements that Rolando incorporates into many of his images: waves, underwater, aquatic life, snow, rice beds. Doubly impressive is the way that the running theme of water is utilized without all of the images feeling repetitive or same-y. Rolando fills his images with deep blues, rich purples and reds, and nurses out a lot of evocative emotion through his use of colour.

You can follow Cyril Rolando on Tumblr and DeviantArt. His art is available for purchase through his online store.