Viscreal: The Art Of Jason Edmiston (book review).
I did wonder why I hadn’t come across Jason Edmiston before, but reading this book, it became pretty obvious that his work is mostly seen on the other side of the pond, especially his native Canada and I don’t really see enough US magazines and boxed figures anymore.
What makes this book so useful is Edmiston gives the dimensions of all the pictures he creates and there are many examples of how he puts them together, usually from pencil to a sepia underlayer before building up to full colour. The underlay is important as it determines the placement of dark and light tones before you get into detail. He also likes Liquidtex, my acrylic of choice, so we’re totally on the same page so to speak. Edmiston tends to use digital only in preparation, not in the full work.
Oh, he’s also a total geek with a large collection of action figures from youth to adult and a perchance for horror and ‘Star Wars’ and a perchance for villains, so expect a lot of monster pictures here. They vary from total realism to slight exaggerations as he adapts to what his clients need for any particular project. A lesson for all your budding artists out there, being versatile shows a lot in your way of thinking.
The interview by Rob Jones with Edmiston is littered with bad language which makes this book a bad choice for younger readers. Yes, I know we see bad language all the time but not even an asterisk here. Jones started using it and should have known better. Saying that, the interview does explore Edmiston’s career and the point when there is a need to break away from an agent, although you certainly need them at the start of your art career in establishing your name.
The art in this book will undoubtedly sell this book, especially to horror fans and from those of us on this side of the pond will be adding to their artbook collection.
GF Willmetts
December 2020
(pub: Cernunnos/Abrams, 2019. 287 page illustrated large hardback. Price: £35.00 (UK), $50.00 (US), $60.00 (CAN), 40euro (EUR). ISBN: 978-2-37495002-0)
check out websites: https://abramsbooks.com/imprints/cernunnos/ and http://jasonedmiston.com/
