Muscles, Martians, And Masterpieces: The Wild Side Of Boris Vallejo by Alya Kadi (book review).
I don’t know about you, but I do occasional scans for new books by or about particular people. I put Boris Vallejo under the spotlight and up popped this long titled ‘Muscles, Martians, And Masterpieces: The Wild Side Of Boris Vallejo’ by Alya Kadi. I was expecting a large book but this one is actually quite small. Kadi’s text gives a brief history of Vallejo’s history but somehow misses his second wife, Julie Bell.
The art itself is surrounded by a black background. If ever there is a reason why other publishers choose a white background its because it puts the colours in a better light (sic). A lot of the paintings also looked a little blurry. I initially thought it was the colour contrasts causing the problem but it wasn’t consistent. Then the thought occurred to me that the right setting for printing hadn’t been chosen. Nope. As towards the end of the book, there was some pixilation showing on some of the paintings. They had been scanned at the wrong resolution. No doubt this was to keep the digital file smaller but it isn’t a good choice when it comes to printing.
This book is all right as far as it goes but really needs to be pointed out by the likes of me to get things done right in future.
GF Willmetts
May 2023
(pub: Amazon. Page illustrated 2/3 A4 size square-bound softcover. Price: about £24.00 (UK). ISBN: 978-8-38682-250-7)
