Donato Giancola - Traveler

¤ "Traveler"¹ is an illustration done by Donato Giancola in 2005 and included on his site, "Donato Arts" It is 20" x 30" and in Oil on Paper on Panel and part of a private collection.

¤ Within the "Traveler" each segment lends itself to the other so you can't look at one portion in isolation to the rest. If you did so it would loose its collective meaning.

When I first became enchanted with this piece I mistakenly thought she was staring out into the limitless realms of space, but on further inspection I find myself let down by the potential of this piece. If she was staring into space we would wonder, does she want to leave this world behind in search of a lost love or uncharted territory. But as she is not glancing into space, one might assume that she is not all there.

Is she just allowing herself to be a possession 'til the artist is ready to discard her? At first inspection I found her gown quite exquisite and low cut but now I find it quite distasteful and it makes her look vulnerable. What kind of message is the artist trying to portray in this piece? Is he trying to convince us that there is only one perception of beauty and one way of looking at things. Over all I would not be rushing back to look at this artist's work again as it does not make my heart sing.

~ Mags

¤ This is a crisp piece of science fiction artwork which I might call science fiction fantasy work. I'm not using any sort of technical term, but referring to the combination of the beautiful painting of the spiral galaxy and the glowing nebula in the background with the organic shapes of the foreground. I am not sure whether the title "Traveler" refers to the person being a traveler or if, perhaps, it refers to the Science Fiction Role Playing Game "Traveler". I have no real reason to suspect the later, but it is a suspicion.

I wonder if the composition is balanced for a title or text to be placed over the galaxy on that section of the image because while the galaxy is nicely framed, so too would be any text or title placed there. If a book cover, it would place the woman on the back cover however, and likely be covered by text. The figure seems to be formally posed rather than caught in thought. Perhaps I get this impression because she is facing away from the view and not toward the viewer or toward anything in the composition. She also has her eyes closed and so doesn't seem to be looking at something off the set. She seems to merely be there to be seen and somewhat pleased at that.

I like the way the colours work in the space art in it and the contrast of that with the "interior" and with the reflection of the lighting playing off the parts of the foreground-interior.

Donato does do interesting artwork and I am sure that you will find at least some of his illustrations familiar if you read fantasy, science fiction, graphic novels, or play role playing games or collectible cards games. His art graces many covers and cards and illustrates many books. His work and bio speak for themself.

~ Darrell

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¹ The American spelling "Traveler" is the spelling used on the website as opposed to "Traveller".

Andrew Annenberg - Portal of Hunab Ku

¤ Andrew Annenberg's "Portal of Hunab Ku" is shown on his site: Annenberg Masterworks visionary fine art & posters. It is part of his "Lost Words Suite".

¤ "Portal of Hunab Ku" is an interesting painting in Andrew Annenberg's series of lost worlds. This one shows a sunken Aztec or Mayan temple complex now visited only by sealife like sea turtles, dolphins and whales. There is a peacefulness that the water brings along with the streamlined grace of the sea life.

I like the crisp style of Annenberg's work -- an illustrative style. It brings the right touch where you want to highlight the detail of the archaeological structures in the piece. He uses shades of violet to draw the eye to the entrance of the foreground pyramid. The emitted light might make you wonder just what lies within.

Dolphins and Whales are creatures of intelligence so it is fitting that they are explorers in this painting.

This is another image where you can look and find new details on further inspection -- some that might be obvious once you find them, might not have been noticed at first.

~ Darrell

¤ When one looks at "Portal of Hunab Ku" one automatically starts to look for similarities between the human race and the underwater world. The only similarity I could come up with is that these historical structures of the deep are the dolphins equivalent to children's building blocks. The shape and size of structure remains the same and one wonders whether they are content to use these cement blocks of the deep as their dwelling place or whether they would much rather be exploring the larger landscape of the ocean. One can only speculate as mankind have not been able to fully converse with these playful creatures of the deep. I look forward to the day when we can converse as one because they have a lot to teach us about living in harmony.

~ Mags

Robert S Connett - Night Trawler

¤ Robert S Connett's "Night Trawler" can be found on his "flickr" page on "flickr". You can also find R.S. Connett's work on deviantART as "vmaximus" -- "vomit maximus" in his gallery there. Do not forget to click on the "All Sizes" link at the top of the image to see the large size version to take in the impressive detailwork of this artist.

¤ Taken aback -- obscure, fanciful, or just plain crazy -- I'm not quite sure. One thing I do know however, is that this artist isn't afraid to push the boundaries of what we consider to be artistic. But that's what I think gives this artist his appeal. The dark hulking colosus in the middle of the work looks like its an invention from a Sci Fi movie set being sent to its final resting place. The other inhabitants of the water look like they've just stumblied upon modern man gone wrong.

~ Mags

¤ I prefer this artist's later works and his works with places and things, to those of people, beings, and animals -- but that is my bias. People need not like all of an artist's works to like the work of an artist. I recommend looking at what the artist has to say about his own work under the images on flickr. He has a talent for writing as well as painting.

Connett puts great detail in his work -- working with magnifying glasses and jeweller's glasses to accompany the hair fine brushes he uses. In "Night Trawler" there is nowhere you can look and not see something of interest, something to make you wonder about what it is doing there. There are themes from other paintings repeated here: I see the people with telescopes that I recognize from the "Spying on the Dark City" painting; I see the city of glass from "Spying on the Dark City" and "Dreaming by the City of Glass" as well as other pieces; and themes from other paintings.

There are many stories being told in "Night Trawler" and though many are put their by the artist, many more are set to be created by the viewer.

~ Darrell.

Arnau Alemany - The old Factory

¤ "The old Factory" is an "oil on wood" painting by Arnau Alemany. You can find it on his website: "the magic realism of Arnau ALEMANY". You can find his biography on there as well.

¤ This is another one of those paintings that plays with creating a reality that goes beyond reality. I am not sure how other to describe this form of creation of alternate realism... Of course you can describe this painting as surreal.

The old 19th century style factory is sitting in the open countryside with its surrounding wall and it's apparent product: spheres.

It makes one wonder perhaps if these are simply polished rock spheres with no purpose other than aesthetic or if they are planets in the making. I note that the painting is labeled as being "New" -- I was looking for when it was painted -- to give a reference point to the work.

Perhaps the factory doesn't make the spheres at all... perhaps the spheres have invaded the landscape or are explorers or tourists from another world. Or, perhaps they are not stone spheres at all, but people each in their own world: Adult spheres, some going to work in the factory; others watching children; and toddlers all on a work-day morning or afternoon.

I think that this sort of painting is intended to get the mind wandering -- considering possibilities and wandering in directions a landscape might not take you in.

~ Darrell

¤ Egg-tastic! This painting by Arnau Alemany is a fantasy artist's heaven. My initial thought when looking at this stoke house was -- that one egg dropped out of the sky inspiring cloning and mass production. What is inside these monstrosities -- a new life form determined to take over the world as we know it -- teaching us to live as one?

~ Mags

Jonathan Earl Bowser - Cathedral of Illusion

¤ "Cathedral of Illusion" is one of Jonathan Earl Bowser's fine paintings that he is offering for sale as a Giclee print on his site, "The Goddess Art of Jonathan Earl Bowser". Details from "Cathedral of Illusion"¹ may be found on this page¹.

¤ "Cathedral of Illusion" is a tapestry of glorious parts which make up the whole. Let me explain: The unseen cathedral has a golden pinkish glow under a simple but elegant archway that could be mistaken for heaven. The "water of life"¹ (Mentioned in the detail page on the painting.¹) has had a lot depth added to it to make the rocks seem incredibly life-like. The moss covering on the rocks gives it a delightful touch. The "red king"¹ looks like he is the king of all he surveys -- very focused but determined at the same time.

My absolute favourite portion of the painting is the "Maiden of the Rose Window"¹ -- her hair looks like it is caught up in the winds of hope -- her complexion looks like pure silk -- her armbands look like they contain eye piercing jade -- her cuffs are cut in a diamond shape which would reminder her of her royal status..

~ Mags

¤ Jonathan Earl Bowser is one of my favourite "fantasy" artists. I put "fantasy" in brackets because he doesn't quite fit in with a lot of the artists I was following for fantasy cover art and gaming art. That was the genre of art I was following for quite a while after I discovered being able to look up the artists on the Internet many years ago.

I love the feeling Bowser puts into his work and the detail he puts into it as well. In some ways it is very realistic, but in others it is a step beyond reality. He does some really incredible landscapes and he also does very excellent studies of the female form. The two come together in grand harmony in his "Goddess Art". He also has that desire and talent to blend one subject or item into another to create something greater than the two separately. In this image he blends the cathedral-like forest with cascading brook rolling down an aisle in the trees into an actual aisle descending from the interior of a cathedral with the stained glass cathedral windows illuminating all in a magical light.

The lady in early medieval garb stroking a white dove, while a red bird -- I see in a detailed image it is a small red raptor, perhaps a hawk? -- appears about to alight on her shoulder adds a centre point and the greater meaning to the piece. There is a page with details of the image¹ including the artist with the original painting on the site. The titles to the individual detail images on the "Details¹" page make you wonder about the story behind the image. They make you think there "must" be some story inspiring the details.

But then it is the detail that make this artists works stand out.

~ Darrell

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¹ Detail page for Cathedral of Illusion.

Chelsey Bonestell -- Saturn As Seen From Titan (1944)

¤ "Saturn As Seen From Titan (1944)" By Chelsey Bonestell from a gallery on the artist: "Bonestell Space Art". There is a page called "titan" on how this masterpiece was created.

¤ Rings anyone? Not a star gazer by nature -- but when Darrell suggested I look at this space art, I could see the attraction straight away. Chelsey Bonestell has a unique gift in bringing the unfamiliar to your attention so that you feel like you have been there before and that you are returning home. The bit that impresses me the most is the shadow-like phase of Saturn floating between two rocky crags. The crags remind me of a Cadbury Flake confectionery bar. (Oops, must be hungry.)

~ Mags

¤ When you are a child and going through school many images "just are" and you don't think about how they were created and by whom. The images are something that always have been in the books that you know and perhaps loved. I loved books about space and films and film strips about space. (I wonder how many remember film strips in school? Basically a slide show on a roll.) This picture is one that I remember. I cannot even tell you what books I saw the image in.

Space Art was extremely important in the days before we had the fantastic imaging equipment and far flung exploring satellites we have today. Today we actually have seen images from Titan's Surface! In 1944... it was up to imagination and science to provide any inspiration to people as to what wonders might be out there. Some like this Bonestell work, nearly seem photographic and perhaps better than photographic. Perhaps some details are wrong... it wouldn't be from cloud shrouded Titan's surface but perhaps another larger moon of Saturn?

We still actually rely a lot on artist's interpretations of objects and vistas in space beyond what we can actually observe with remote sensing and satellite. But the artist's have better resources to draw on. They also now have computers to draw on. I shall have to in future review some of the current space art of new planets discovered around stars far away.

This one has incredible towering cliffs with perhaps methane ice on the ledges and tops. Saturn is seen from towards the back in a difficult angle to see from the Earth with the top surface of the rings illuminated. There is a link to how he created models to paint the rock faces from and experiment with different lighting. That was interesting. It was also interesting to learn that the media is thin layers of oil paint on "illustration board" which had a large black and white print of the model mounted on it.

I am thinking that in a way, an artist can be a space explorer just as an astronomer or other scientist can.

~ Darrell

Blake Flynn - Ruins

¤ "Ruins" by Blake Flynn from Blake Flynn's site: "Blake Flynn - Artist".

¤ "An impossible collection of archaeological artifacts to make an
impressive composition... and is the woman trapped in contemplation?" -- is how I wrote my review on "StumbleUpon" eight weeks ago when I reviewed the image there.

Often when I review something on StumbleUpon I am pressed for time. I often review it when I am the first to have found a page or when I want to "photo blog" an image, and for some reason find I am on my way somewhere else. When I photo blog something it is often because I find an image or artist I very much like and want to be able to come back to in future. Blake Flynn is one such artist and "Ruins" is one of his works that I wanted to photo blog so I could come back to.

I have studied some archaeology and anthropology and recognize some of the artifacts used in "ruins" which intrigued me -- though a person doesn't need to have studied archaeology or anthropology to recognize those prominent pieces.

I still wonder like I did in my original review about the woman in the image -- is this woman, who has been staring at this scene so long that she is becoming a part of it; watching as it crumbles, or as it is being born? Is she a part of the scene and one of the collected artifacts -- a goddess of a time past -- or is she simply enraptured by what is going on. Is the ivy holding her down or her natural garb.

I do love the natural delicate lace-like detail the greenery adds, to the image -- but looking toward the top are the structures being torn down by time or being created in a Tetris-like fashion?

I like Flynn's surreal paintings and the styles he uses in them. I would love to have some of his paintings or prints of them, on my walls... or even to paint something like those paintings... Now if only I can clear out that corner of my office I use as a studio.

~ Darrell

¤ I have a thing for climbing ivy. If I had my way we wouldn't be taken over by aliens or electronics gone wrong, but delicate invading luscious green ivy. I like the way in which green ivy encroaches upon the landscape without caring about what us mere humans think. Blake Flynn has managed to successfully combine a life study of the natural human form with the archaeologist's playground. It seems to me like the life study of the natural human form has come to a mutual understanding with the climbing ivy.

~ Mags

Katherine Dinger - My Loyalty (Stark Knight)

¤ This is "My Loyalty" by Katherine Dinger. She does warn, before giving link to her gallery of paintings that there is some nudity in her paintings -- Artwork of Katherine Dinger - New Paintings so please be warned. It was a bit hard to find the gallery as on the "Gallery" page which is titled on the page "Digital Paintings" you have to find the link "for more work head over this way" to reach it. The Gallery page also has a slightly confusing "Back Home" link that takes you to another site of hers, "Pocketmole" which doesn't seem to directly link to the site "The Paintings of Katherine Dinger". Perhaps one is the newer incarnation of the older -- whichever is which -- however I am including both and "The Paintings of Katherine Dinger" includes the paining of interest: "My Loyalty". Katherine Dinger is also known as "jezebel" on deviantART and you can find a large gallery of her work there. The name of the file on some of the sites is "Stark Knight" though the title she gives it specifically on deviantART is "My Loyalty".

What device on the surcoat of yon knight is displayed?

There is a peaceful look on the man-at-arms in this image by Dinger of a 13th century warrior. I might say innocent, however often peaceful and innocent can be confused. The man looks at peace with himself, but might well have seen much and done much. (My guess is 13th century based on armour and sword -- the design on the sword blade could be many things though.)

It is an interesting composition -- with the shafts of light coming down as if in blessing; with the subservient posture; sword held point down, though not gripped like a cross -- in that posture it seems like the knight has either taken on or completed a quest. The image is done from an intimate viewpoint which could be that of a sovereign, whether Monarch, Clergy, or of Romance -- for this would be a time of Troubadour's and Courtly Love. I would tend to think it would be Monarch or Clergy given the trappings of light rays and peaceful intent.

The device on the surcoat is very much hidden. I have passing acquaintance with heraldry and can not readily make out the charge displayed on the coat. Perhaps it is just an artistic piece or perhaps a "badge" of sorts and not a heraldic one at all. It looks a bit like it could be a man being swallowed by some beast, arms and head raised above the upper torso with lower torso and legs already engulfed -- or perhaps Jonah being swallowed by a giant fish-like whale? It might even be some odd floral decoration or decorative sword hilt? I guess it is the herald in me pondering that.

For a warlike figure it is a peaceful composition.

Reading the artist's notes on deviantART I see it is a painting done for a card game, "Game of Thrones".

~ Darrell

I fell in love with this piece some time ago by Katherine Dinger. She has taken extreme care in bringing this piece to life. In particular my eyes zeroed in on the exquisite technique used to create authentic looking chain mail fit for an aspiring knight about to go to war. I took great interest in the detail and time she has taken to add more depth to this piece right down to the leather heraldic image upon the knight's chest. The last thing that impressed me was the detail on the sword and the markings which it displays. I can't decide whether the sword's features come from the Viking period because the sword seems part one thing and part another.

If you like an artist that is able to mix up styles and genres -- well then, Katherine Dinger is the artist for you -- because like Forest Gump says "Life is like box of chocolates, you are never sure what you are going to get." One thing is for sure, she will always use an element of surprise.

~ Mags