Book Review: The Art of the Dragon edited by Patrick Wilshire & J. David Spurlock
One of the most enduring symbols of the fantasy genre is the dragon. It evokes a primal response and is really fun to draw and paint, so it shows up all the time in fantasy art and sometimes manages to get into science fiction as well. With so many dragons on the covers of books, it’s no surprise that an entire book can be filled with nothing but dragon paintings.
This book features works by over a dozen fine artists, most of them currently active in the field. There are a couple that were recently deceased at the time the book was published, and the volume is dedicated to one of them, Jeffrey Catherine Jones. Several of the artists are spotlighted, giving details of their careers and their different philosophies of creating dragon pictures. I personally picked this book up for the Michael Whelan section (including his very influential White Dragon piece), but there is also excellent work by Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell among many others.
It’s coffee-table sized and as an art book, far heavier on pictures than words. Concerned parents should be aware that the second most common element in these paintings is half-naked women (and a couple of fully naked ones.) Mr. Vallejo in particular talks about how his depiction of women has changed over the years.
Several of the artists have worked for the companies that published Dungeons and Dragons game material over the year, so gamers may be especially interested in this volume. Otherwise, this book is recommended for fantasy fans in general and dragon fans in particular.
