INFECTED BY ART VISUAL & CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH
Best known for working on various of covers for Tolkien's works and with Peter Jackson on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Alan Lee is a master painter and a huge inspiration when it comes to dealing with fantasy in illustration and art overall. His use of colour and light can be high lightened in almost all of his works, especially his paintings. Artists like him are always more valuable in my personal opinion giving the mastery of their art, through traditional media. Today, given the sea of digital artists, traditional artists are always all the more valuable.
Another iconic illustrator and concept artist as well, mostly famous for his works for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and various other fictional book covers. John Howe is a master at what he does, being able to create amazing and classical fantasy illustrations through the use of colour, light and character. He’s one of my major inspirations just for those reasons and so much more.
Charles Vess is another artist and illustrator who I’ve greatly admired and love for a long time but never got a chance to really show that love and appreciation. Another amazing traditional artist who uses a broad range of mediums and tools, as well as utilising the use of colour and character in all of his work. He has mainly worked on covers for books and even comics, but some of my most favourite art from him is his interior art for said books. His main medium is blending pen and coloured inks for most of his works. For this brief I chose this artist as one of my core inspirations, as well as an inspiration overall for this module for all those reasons stated above.
I don’t think much needs to be said for this one since Arthur Rackham alone speaks for himself but, again, another famous illustrator and all around inspiration when it comes to my practice. Considering how media was restricted back then it’s interesting to consider how these illustrators and artists became masters at their craft by perfecting it to the dotted line and beyond. Arthur Rackham will always be a big source of inspiration for me no matter how well known he is as a trademark illustrator.