The Art of Stephen Hickman was published by Titan Books in November 2015.
Information about Stephen Hickman:
Stephen Hickman has been illustrating science fiction and fantasy for three decades. His work is inspired by the masters of fantasy and science fiction writing - J.R.R. Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, A. Merritt, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Clark Ashton Smith. He has illustrated over 400 book covers for acclaimed SFF authors.
Click here to visit his official website.
Information about The Art of Stephen Hickman:
A lavish, full-colour hardcover art book taking readers on a visual guide through Stephen Hickman’s artwork. The collection focuses on his book covers for famous SFF authors such as Harlan Ellison, Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey, and Larry Niven.
A REVIEW OF THE ART OF STEPHEN HICKMAN
The Art of Stephen Hickman is a definitive art book of the work of one America's greatest fantasy artists. It belongs to the bookshelf of everyone who loves beautiful SFF art, because it's one of the best art books available for speculative fiction readers.
The Art of Stephen Hickman gives speculative fiction readers an interesting and informative glimpse into Stephen Hickman's fantasy and science fiction paintings and illustrations. It's an excellent and lovingly created art book with depth, because it contains interesting information about the paintings and how they were painted.
If there are readers out there who are not familiar with Stephen Hickman, I can mention that he is a well-known and respected SFF artist who has illustrated fantasy and science fiction for many years. His works have been inspired by many classic authors, and he has illustrated a stunning amount of book covers. Along with Alan Lee, John Howe, Charles Vess, Stephane Martinière, Ted Nasmith and others, he's one of the best and most versatile artists ever to grace the field of speculative fiction art.
I'm personally fond of well-created SFF art books and cover images, because I enjoy looking at beautifully painted illustrations (I've always appreciated SFF art, because talented authors have an ability to bring scenes from the books to life with their paintings). Although I love SFF art, I've often been a bit frustrated with certain art books, because they have little or no explanations at all about the paintings and illustrations. Fortunately, this book has excellent and informative explanations, because the author tells how he has created his paintings. It was a pleasure to read his explanations, because they gave new and useful insight to his art.
As most of us know, a beautiful painting is almost like a classical composition or a magnificent symphony, because it consists of different elements that together form a beautiful whole that delights people. There's quite a lot depth in beautiful paintings - when you look at beautiful and lovingly painted illustrations, you'll immediately notice how detailed they are and how much time and effort the artist has put into painting them and making them as beautiful as possible. All of this applies to Stephen Hickman's art, because he has given a unique touch of gracefulness and depth to his paintings.
This art book has been created in the best possible way, because the makers of the book have paid attention to giving Stephen Hickman's paintings as much room as possible so that readers can fully appreciate their beauty. The large paintings are wonderfully portrayed on the pages of this book.
The contents of this art book have been divided into eight different sections:
- Introduction: Stephen Hickman, Me, and Art (by David Drake)
- Foreword (by Rick Berry)
- Fantasy
- Pharazar
- Tolkien
- Science Fiction
- Classics
- The Secret Art of Painting (by Stephen Hickman)
The introduction by David Drake and the Foreword by Rick Berry are interesting and worth reading, because Drake and Berry show their appreciation to Stephen Hickman's art. The Secret Art of Painting by the artist himself is excellent, because he writes about many important things related to painting. It'll be of interest to all who are intrigued by art and painting.
Stephen Hickman's notes and explanations about his illustrations are detailed and it's a pleasure to read them. He reveals an amazing amount of information about his art and lets readers examine the paintings from a new perspective. It was interesting for me to read how he had created his paintings and what inspired him to paint them.
Speculative fiction gives artists quite a lot of freedom to explore different things and paint almost anything. Stephen Hickman's paintings demonstrate he has explored many things in an intriguing way and has created something that will impress people. He has a way of finding what's essential and important, and he fluently paints stunning vistas and handsome persons and beings.
The full colour illustrations are impressive and detailed. The level of details found in them is amazing, because they're full of tiny details that are beautiful to look at. Your eye rests at the paintings and you can't help but admire them and their beauty. The sketches are also beautiful and reveal how the artis has constructed his paintings.
Stephen Hickman uses colours to emphasise certain things - characters, happenings and landscapes - in a good way. His paintings have a good balance between lighting and shadows.
Some of the paintings are beautifully erotic and sensual. The author approaches nudity and eroticism in a classic way. His illustrations are comparable to great and significant works of art, because they're stunningly gorgeous. I dare say that they're already classic works of SFF art, because many of his paintings are among the best SFF paintings ever painted.
The Fantasy section contains exquisitely beautiful fantasy paintings. The dragon paintings are marvellously detailed and feature stunning colours that will impress readers. "The Lesser Kindred" is a masterfully done painting, because the lighting has been captured perfectly. The light illuminates the persons standing next to the dragon in a wonderful way. "Hawk" is an amazing and atmospheric painting about a hawk and a dragon.
The Pharazar section concentrates on the artist's paintings that are related to his fantasy novel, The Lemurian Stone (1989). I haven't personally read this novel, but I'm tempted to take a look at it, because the artwork looks amazing. "Ymirschemeh", "The Sea of Vaynu" and "The Lion Pavillion" are simply stunning and powerfully evoke the feel of a different world.
The Tolkien paintings are among the best and most detailed paintings about Tolkien's works I've seen to date. They rival the paintings by Alan Lee, John Howe and Ted Nasmith. I have to mention that "At the Entmoot" is one of the most beautiful paintings about Treebeard, Merry and Pippin I've ever seen, because the artist has painted all of the characters in a detailed way. "Escape from Orthanc" is also a magnificent painting and "The Harp of Galadriel" is very captivating.
The Science Fiction section demonstrates Stephen Hickman's ability to paint science fiction paintings. "St. Anthony's Fire" is an amazing painting that will impress all readers who love science fiction art. The paintings related to science fiction books are masterfully painted visions of the characters and scenes found in the books. "The Way to Glory" looks absolutely amazing, and so do "Sea Without a Shore", "Some Golden Harbor" and "Between Planets".
I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that the Classics section contained the artist's Lovecraftian art. Because I'm a big fan of Lovecraftian weird fiction, I was mesmerised by this art and all of details found in it. "The Colour Out of Space" captures the alien colour and its terrifying glow in a magnificent way. "The Temple" looks simply amazing in its darkly glowing colours. The artist's use of different colours highlights the sinister and mysterious atmosphere.
"The Siegfried and the Dragon's Blood" is a wonderful painting about the Siegfried legend. If you're aware of who Siegfried is, you'll love this painting, because it's gorgeous. "The Golem of Prague" will please all readers who are familiar with the Golem mythology, because the artist has painted an impressive golem that terrifyingly embodies its strangeness. The glowing word inscribed on the golem's head add a nice touch of dread to the painting.
"Norhalla of the Lightnings" is a stunning painting about the otherworldly goddess figure, Norhalla, from A. Merritt's The Metal Monster. "The Shadow and the Tiger" has a classic feel to it that I found captivating.
There's a wealth of depth in Stephen Hickman's art. If you've read any of the books that he's illustrated, you'll notice how well he has captured their atmosphere and how gorgeously he has painted his elegant illustrations. He has done his best to create art that pleases the readers and awakens a yearning to read and buy the books.
When I examined Stephen Hickman's cover images, paintings and illustrations, I noticed that he respects the source material that his art is based on. He has a way of awakening the spirit of the source material and placing it on the canvas. He's a gifted artist who seems to have a passion for painting beautiful and detailed SFF art that shines with elegance and atmosphere. There's something timeless and irresistible about his art that I found compelling.
The Art of Stephen Hickman is a perfect book for speculative fiction readers who love beautiful art and detailed illustrations. The artwork presented on the pages of this book is stunningly beautiful. I can highly recommend this novel to readers who are interested in SFF art and appreciate the beauty of elegant paintings.
Highly recommended to readers who love beautiful SFF art!