Fantasy art book Review. Out of the forests: The art of Paul Bonner.
a colorful cornucopia of creatively concocted critters. Paul Bonner is a visionary in the field of fantasy art.
The Review
Out of the forests: The art of Paul Bonner, really is quite an exceptional collection of artwork. As you may have guessed I have a wee penchant for fantasy art and while I do love characters I know and are familiar with, it’s often times the unique characters I have never seen before that give me the greatest thrill. Now just because I have never seen these characters, doesn’t mean they will not be unrecognizable to others. Especially those who dwell within the hidden and dank realms of fantasy role-playing games.
Now I am a nerd… a huge nerd. I love my anime, I will happily spit on any person that says Star trek is not the pinnacle of human creation and my collection of Japanese robot toys is world-class (don’t you judge me.) That having been said, I have never ever played a fantasy role-playing game… and I never will. Why, I hear you ask, (obviously I can’t hear you ask that, I am simply writing a blog post all on my lonesome in my studio… obviously.) Why have I never played a role playing game before and why do I refuse to even entertain the possibility of doing so? So then why would a self confessed nerd as nerdy as me not want to do something that many consider to be the height of nerdiness… hyper nerdiness? No reason whatsoever and it really has nothing to do with this review in any way shape or form… but I digress.
Fantasy role-playing games might be all the awesome but they are not my thing, which is why I had never heard of Paul Bonner before. It was a circuitous route but I finally got us back to the review. Paul Bonner has contributed a great deal of art to major game companies like Games workshop, Mutant chronicles, Fasa, Riotminds and Rackam. Everyone know who they are? Nope me either, because I do not play the fantasy role playing games, as previously discussed. All those companies are a big deal to be sure but i bought this book simply based on the front cover. I wanted a book filled with creatures and I got what I paid for. Yes I am aware you should never judge a book a book by its cover, but I did and I won, so bite me. Out of the Forests: the art of Paul Bonner, is 176 pages long and published by Titan Books.
The Pictures
Like many fantasy art books, Out of the Forests: the art of Paul Bonner, has many pictures. Many, many pictures. Goblins, Ogres, orcs, Dragons and that kind of thing that has the big tusk like teeth and large nose… I don’t know what that thing is called, but it’s in here. I really like Paul Bonner’s style of art, it can use vivid or muted tones but always maintains an old school painted feel. Probably because the man actually uses paint as opposed to doing the work digitally, I am uncertain if he actually paints his art in an old school or not, but possibly.
I love completely digital artwork but there is something that adds that little bit extra when you know that the whole thing has been created with pencils and brushes. I am reasonably sure my mind would shut down completely if I did not have the capacity to use the undo button, so I appreciate the commitment that artists like this possess.
Paul Bonner also plays around with proportion quite a bit making his subjects seem almost like dizzyingly realistic cartoons, which is a highly beguiling style. His human characters are also beautifully finished with an immense amount of character to their faces. I don’t usually care much about human characters in fantasy art, but here, they are deeply appealing.
The Words
There are virtually none. With the exception of a few written pieces by people the artist has worked with over the years and a bit about his process, the book is all pictures. Which is a good call, the art is the star here and really doesn’t require explanation. I do enjoy reading about certain artworks, but to be honest, with a book like this, I’m only looking at the pictures anyway, so the lack of words is only a good thing in my eyes.
Final thoughts
Out of the Forests: the art of Paul Bonner is an excellent book and one I am not sorry I bought. You don’t need to be a role playing game fan to appreciate the artwork here but you would probably have gotten even more out of this book if you were. Buy it if you love exquisite fantasy art and gorgeous characters, you won’t be disappointed. Score out of ten? eight and half Orcs out of ten… now I feel badly for the half an Orc, poor little guy.
You can Buy Out of the Forests: the art of Paul Bonner here. As always I am not paid for my reviews and this is not an affiliate link. However I do get paid if you buy my books, which are here. Yes it’s shameless self promotion, but at least I’m honest about it 🙂
