Monday, January 31, 2011

BOOK REVIEW: Spectrum 17: The Best In Contemporary Fantastic Art by Cathy & Arnie Fenner

Title: Spectrum 17: The Best In Contemporary Fantastic Art


Author: Cathy & Arnie Fenner

Publisher: Underwood Books

RRP: $45.00

ISBN: 9781599290430

Release Date: Jan 2011

Pages: 264



Description:



Challenging, controversial, educational and irreverent, the new addition to the award winning Spectrum series reinforces both the importance and prevalence of fantastic art in today’s culture. This elegant full-colour collection showcases an international cadre of creators working in every style and medium, both traditional and digital.





Review:

I’ve never seen the Spectrum Annual books before, but after reading Spectrum 17, I’m hooked and will be trying to track down the past 16 years worth. The 264 pages are absolutely chocked full of the best art from the previous year’s Science Fiction and Fantasy artwork.

There are covers of books, magazines, games, you name it and you’ll find it in this collection. Each piece of art has details of the artist, where it was published and the medium it was created with. I was amazed at the quality of some of the computer generated art work (which I’m not a big fan over). Some of my favourites were from artists who I had never heard of before, even though I recognised their artwork.

Each page contains either a full page spread of a piece of art or a couple of images. It would have been great to see every piece full sized, but I know that is not possible. As a budding artists myself, I was inspired by so many of these pieces to become more prolific with my own art.

This is a fantastic book that would start many conversations if left of the coffee table.

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