INTRODUCTION
If there is one element that can really tip the success of a TTRPG property over the top, is the successful application of great art. Rifts is no different and shown success shepherding some great talent to help vault them to success; some fan favorites include Kevin Long, John Zeleznik, Ramon Perez Jr., Wayne Breaux, Chuck Walton, to name a few. But the concepts behind sci-fi/fantasy art are much richer, the history behind it going back much further than even I considered. While on a family trip to England, I noticed a book devoted to Fantasy Art. Needing a diversion for some of the downtime, I had no idea what kind of rabbit holes I would be sorely tempted to dive into. So, with no sense of irony, I present this jewel of a find, and hope you don’t outrun Alice or the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole.
DISCUSSION
Fantasy: Then, Now, and Always (Dian Hanson). An incredibly interesting thesis and review of fantasy art as a modern, contemporary concept. From the 1500s onward, art included realistic depictions of religious, mythical and allegorical figures (e.g. dragons, witches, gorgons, nymphs, winged avengers, new worlds). Since they were believed to be real at that time, they were just…. art. Not until we collectively ceased believing mythology did we reconsider how to categorize those pieces. A wave of surrealism and abstract art was triggered in opposition to development of photography, but ‘modern’ fantasy art came from a commercial reality and bucked the aesthetic trends of the time. Much of this section summarizes several great artists and their pieces’ influence on science fiction and fantasy fiction magazines, journals, and fantasy pulps that debuted in the early 1900s. Weird Tales, Amazing Tales, Wonder Stories, and a number of others all proved the marketability of the art on their covers. They were also the ones to sexualize the art to compete, including a familiar name, Marvel. A wave of conservative backlash against the artwork, under the guise of “causing juvenile delinquency,” was tempered by WWII acceptance of pin-ups. Sci-fi/fantasy novels of the 1950s returned to the wildly fantastic art covers. Then came Heavy Metal and the French equivalent, Métal Hurlant, which brought the form to a more mainstream audience. This led into Dungeons and Dragons and a host of cinematic blockbusters (e.g. Star Wars, Alien, Conan) that needed movie posters. solidifying many of the concepts behind genre art into the mainstream.
Fantasy Art: Origins. It may be odd to consider that the origins of modern fantasy art came from children’s book illustrations of the 1800s and onward (e.g. Alice in Wonderland, Tarzan of the Apes). Relatively short compared to the previous section, a whole host of authors and the supporting illustrative works are cited, including sample images from that time and how the illustrators influenced modern concepts of creatures of magic or the supernatural.
Fantasy or Sci-Fi? A quick one-pager that addresses the question of differentiating between science fiction or fantasy art. To us nowadays, the distinction seems pedantic; back in the day (1920s), this was a thing. Those initial science fiction and fantasy journals and magazines developed a huge audience based on the imagery, and the expectation of the stories within were real. Ultimately, given the limitations, if it included a dragon you had yourself a fantasy work; include a space ship and you get a science fiction work. Some superb examples of art from the era included.
New World, New Wave. Another short section. Fantasy pulps almost completely disappeared in the 1940s due to paper shortages. Those that thrived post-war latched onto the pin-up craze, churning out alluring vixens and fetishistically sexy women for the covers. We see the rise of EC Comics, until the U.S. government scuttled them under charges of ‘inciting juvenile delinquency.’ It took some time before Heavy Metal, Metal Hurlant and others started producing magazines with artwork throughout.
THE ARTISTS
Julie Bell (The Visionary). I’ll repeat it for her: she is not just Mrs. Boris Vallejo. She is his partner in life and in painting, the two often working in their shared studio side-by-side. Going over her childhood, we get a sense of her inspiration and how much her body building hobby helped influence genre art; its how she met Boris and he introduced her to painting. After learning his style, she branched out and created her own. Her accomplishments include multiple covers of Heavy Metal, and album covers for Meatloaf.
Rehs Contemporary Gallery (New York). Her artist profile and list of works.
Borris & Julie. Official site shared with Borris Vallejo; prints available.
Philippe Druillet (Space Architect). Born in 1944, after a stint living in Spain he returned to France in the post-war era and immediately made a name for himself. Leveraging knowledge of photography, he developed a signature look; dark, funerary, gargoyle winged creatures and spires portraying dizzying and intricate three-dimensionality of his style. One of three men to launch Metal Hurlant in 1974, launching the genre across Europe, his home became an epicenter of new-age sci-fi/fantasy art.
Frank Frazetta (The God). Enrolled in the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts at the age of 8, the moniker seems well earned. By 1948, already an established illustrator for the famous pulp fiction zines and publications. His works most famously depict the male and female forms that were so popular in the 1940-1960 era, including the eight-piece Conan series. A multitude of his work is recognizable (including the cover for this book), and has many pieces in a museum dedicated to him.
H.R. Giger (The Biomechanic). Born in Switzerland in 1940, the anxiety of the era translated to shadows, crawling things, and dark crooked passages. A somewhat macabre childhood led to architecture and industrial design, which perfected his style. His personal life was tumultuous, which is evident in his portfolio. Most famously inspiration for the Alien movie franchise.
The Brothers Hildebrandt (Masters of Light). Identical twins, best known for the Star Wars movie poster and cover for Sword of Shannara book. Raised in post-WWII Detroit, they thrived with parental support of their obsessions with illustration and filmmaking. Prolific illustrators for a multitude of products (e.g. book covers, movie posters, calendars), the works are masterclasses on light and shadow.
Jeffrey Catherine Jones (Tortured Genius). Born into a military family, he moved his family to New York just prior to the fanzine publishing boom. Illustrating for everything and anything that came his way, including some work for adult-themed publications; Idyl his most famous. Developed his own style in the shadow of Frazetta, his Studio became a refuge for many artists in NYC. Conflicted about gender since childhood, they transitioned through hormonal therapy (adding Catherine to her name), but this did not end the internal disputes. This conflict would manifest in her art.
Rodney Matthews (The Rock Star). The 1970s fantasy art scene saw some psychedelic color palettes. Rodney Matthews took a more center-line approach with palpable yet still alien scenes. A prog-rock drummer, his art reflected his musical taste: inventive yet presenting a thorny edge. A collaboration with Michael Moorcock got him into novel cover illustration and video game covers, characterized by a heavy mix of expanded reality and psychadelia.
Moebius (Psychedelic Surrealist). A child of WWII raised by his grandparents, he sought escape in comics and film. Schooling for art led to a 6 month stint in Mexico. Returning to France determined to become a children’s cartoonist, he did illustration work for a number of magazines, leading to a western comic strip that made his name. He helped co-found Metal Hurlant and did the inaugural cover. He quickly transitioned to surrealist fantasy art, catapulting him in the genre with his clean, signature palette and style. He also did costume design and concept work for films (e.g. Alien, Tron, The Abyss, The Fifth Element).
Rowena Morrill (The Pioneer). This woman’s story deserves to be read first-hand, it’s that interesting. First offered a romance cover (“something with a nurse”), her portfolio quickly landed her a role in fantasy book illustration. Originally looking to teach art, she ended up helping define the genre. She painted hundreds of paperback covers for major genre authors, and illustrations showed up in magazines of all sorts (Heavy Metal to Playboy). Ironically, she thought the books themselves were “truly dreadful,” LOL.
Sanjulian (The Classicist). A dapper Spaniard walks into Warren Publishing at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday, opens his portfolio, and all bets are off for supper. First job, revamp Vampirella (only the 11th iteration); he was responsible for 22 covers thereafter. He did the covers for Ace Books novelizations of the Conan series, among over 50 other covers.
Boris Vallejo (Master of Muscle). Whether intrepid and stoic heroes or operatic and noble villains, Vallejo is THE master for painting human forms – let’s not belittle the hyper-realistic monsters. With a passion for body building and a 2-year stint in medical school (learning anatomy), he left his native Lima, Peru, for NYC without first learning English. Starting as an illustrator for greeting cards and advertisements, he started developing his signature style for magazine/book covers, video game covers, soon after releasing calendars with new prints each year. His influence over current genre art is immeasurable. Oh yeah, also married to Julie Bell, who features prominently as a model in his works.
Borris & Julie. Official site shared with Julie Bell; prints available.
Michael Whelan (The Realist). Born in 1950 to a family that moved every year, making him the perpetual “new guy” or odd-man-out. This also led him to a love for comics and genre publications. His art became a therapeutic outlet, various themes evident throughout. This led to some venerable pieces (e.g. Stephen King’s Firestarter and Dark Tower series, Jackson brothers for the Victory album), scores of book/album/magazine covers, multiple Hugo awards, and an inductee to the Paul Allen Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.
LEVERAGING GENRE ART FOR YOUR TTRPG
One of the key resources a GM needs is inspiration for a fertile imagination. This is one of the key elements of the GM Tool Box that allows them to create an adventure setting, generate story ideas, plot detailsm, merging combat and action-oriented encounters along with non-combat scenes, to paint a picture for their Players. The Players, in turn, soak up this information and react. The GM then has to make further calculations/assumptions on how that moves the story forward. It’s a back and forth, but it starts with the Adventure Design. There are few mediums that provide such a tangible response as sci-fi/fantasy art; nothing more so than the greats.
Above are some of the major names in genre art. You’ve seen just about all of them, if not all, on covers of your favorite books, albums, or magazine. The marketing guys know that the inspiration these illustrations derive are what drives a significant portion of sales. But it also sparks the imagination. An image of a monster not in bestiary can become a new encounter the PCs have zero information on; the backdrop of a painting may inspire an alternate/pocket dimension the PCs must visit; a character depicted on the cover inspiration for a villainous NPC. I mentioned the rabbit hole, this is the kind of place it leads; perhaps a multitude of ideas from a single image. The links above are each and every one of them a rabbit whole. I hope you have time for tea with the Mad Hatter, and don’t you mind the Cheshire Cat.
WHERE TO FIND IT
It’s a book, so, lots of places to find it. A few easily clickable suggestions below, I’ll let the reader discover whether their local bookstores or an online option works best. The following have links embedded with the search criteria:
Amazon. I’ll leave you and your computer to validate pricing based on your location. I’m surprised to see the multi-lingual version I purchased set to a whopping $190.00 (that’s crazy)!
Barnes & Noble. For readers in the United States (US$30.00)
Chapter-Indigo. For my Canadian readers (Cdn$40.00).
CONCLUSION
This is an absolutely fantastic product (pun intended) for anyone with an interest in the history of genre art and its influence on TTRPGs. Despite the concentration on artistic influence of the market today, it provides a great overview of its development, from Renaissance era to modern day. The information is clearly portrayed among myriad examples of classic artwork you may recognize, and introduces dozens of artists you may not be familiar with. All this is done with hundreds of images!
One aspect of the book to note is the use of tri-lingual presentation. Each segment and artist review is done first in English, then repeated in French and German. This makes the reading less daunting, but the real success is the layout is the different imagery in the segments presented in other languages; text is simply translated, but imagery is not repeated. That means much more art to feast your eyes upon. Win-Win!
For anyone who enjoys the visual aspect of the genre, this makes a great gift, and a superlative read. The hardbound book is reasonably priced for 512 pages of great information and jam-packed with hundreds of images depicting great art. It features original paintings, contextualized by preparatory sketches, sculptures, magazine covers, all providing an immersive dive into a fanciful and dynamic genre. The in-depth artist sections do each of them justice, giving a foundational review of their lives, influences, and ultimate success. At its 40th edition now, this speaks well to the success of the work, and how popular it has been. And by all means, explore the art, and enjoy!
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