Though I have always loved, read and collected fantasy stories, I have only admired fantasy art from a distance until recently when I was introduced to a few How to series (out of dozens!). After a marathon meeting with local fantasy artist Jessica Feinberg I came away over saturated, a little overwhelmed, and very eager to try this genre of painting - fantasy artwork.
My personal favorite How To's are the Dreamscape series by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and the Fairy series by Linda Ravenscroft. Both are excellent water color tutorials - covering the basics of fantasy artwork drawing and the medium in simple, thorough lessons.
Both artists can be found on Amazon and often at your local library, which is where I started although I already want my own copies! Both Amazon books also offer generous Look Inside features where you can preview before buying.
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| Stephanie Pui-Mun Law Dreamscape series |
Coming from a mural painting and faux finishing background my brain was literally sparking with ideas for new paintings just when I was starting to feel a little burned out with current techniques and searching for something new.
I have already designed a new painting that is sort of fantasy, but still realistic. A riff on Stephanie Law's swirly style while I find my own.
Letting go the mental grip of reality to free style in fantasy takes some practice both in technical skills and thinking. This is where I will draw (literally) on all of the fantasy and paranormal literature I have loved and read most of my life.
Fairy tales, folklore, myth and legend are some of my favorite reading in all age groups with a sprinkling of excellent paranormal series like the Kat Richardson Greywalker series.
First, better get to work on current commissions since one of my deadlines is in five days, the others at the end of this month. Then at the end of the day I can play on my own personal project which will be my new experiments with fantasy artwork - Yay!
I will post my experiments and journey here.
