Illustrators #19 (magazine review).

Another edition of ‘Illustrators’ and even a casual flip through shows there is a variety of art styles. We start off with no less than James Gurney, him of ‘Dinotopia’ fame for 30 pages. I’ve seen some of his work before but it’s always nice to see it again plus many I haven’t seen here as well. The dimensions of some of canvases and paper shows he can work at any scale and still make something look huge. An interesting twist for those who work from life is Gurney will use plastic models and kits to check how light sources will affect them in paintings. Someone really ought to reprint his book with Thomas Kinkad, ‘The Artist’s Guide to Sketching’.

Second up is Dutch cartoonist Erik Kriek, who developed his skills without too much awareness of American influence. It’s interesting seeing some of his horror work and recognising the photo sources. A lot of his work has a humorous charm and he grabs a good likeness. I can understand the EC Comics influence, although he points out he wasn’t aware of the 1950s comicbooks until much later. As with many of the artists in ‘Illustrators’, he explains some of his techniques.

While we’re still on the continent, we have a look at Jacques Onfroy de Bréville (1858-1931), who adopted the name Job for his illustration work. If you felt that you didn’t like or understand the Impressionists or Modern Art movement, then you’re not alone. Neither did Job, who chose his way instead. He illustrated everything from children’s books to political journals and specialised in military conflicts and figures, all without the aid of models. Considering the amount of war conflicts shown and to have each person different, this is an incredible skill.

From there, we move to Argentina and the work of Arturo del Castillo (1925-1992) and his work on ‘The King’s Musketeers’. Rather than a potted history, we see twelve of the pages The Book Palace has in stock of this single story and I can’t blame them for not wishing to split them up. Getting period piece costumes right means you have to have an eye for detail and the art is exquisite. Seeing the detail, not to mention corrections close up is a rare opportunity and the small reproduction here doesn’t do it justice..

There is a lot on offer in this latest edition. I suspect the name James Gurney will guarantee a sale-out this time around.

GF Willmetts

August 2017

(pub: The Book Palace, 2017. 98 page illustrated squarebound magazine. Price: £18.00 (UK), $21.99 (US). ISBN: 978-1-907081-41-5. ISSN: 2052-6520)

check out website: www.thebookpalace.com