It has now become some sort of ritual. Come November, I wait impatiently to receive my copy of Spectrum and enjoy one of the best collection of Fantasy Art available..
This year was no exception. With this year’s edition, Spectrum 10: The Tenth Annual Collection of the Best in Contempoary Fantastic Art celebrates a decade of science fiction and fantasy illustrations.
Each year, artists submit their entries to a jury made of a small selection of their peers such as Rick Berry, Michael Whelan or Bob Eggleton. Their selection represent a view of some of the best artworks in book covers, comics, illustrations, figurines or statues.
I received my first copy as a present from my brother. I bought the second copy as a present back to him. After that, I was hooked. finding the missing issues was dificult but not impossible thanks to eBay
This series is a must have, a reference for anyone interested in fantasy artwork, be it to study them or just enjoy watching them. each volume is a beautiful display of a variety of styles, from baroque paintings to colorful acylics or dark sketches.
The introduction to each book is an overview of the passed year. Like last yeat, I was surprised to see little mention of the growing part of digital medium in the selection. Digitial artworks were once limited to elaborate works using Bryce – chromes, geometric shapes, robotic figures – or mixed with oil or photographic elements. This year, some digital artworks have the same quality and feel as paintings (take Blendboy 2000 by Brian Despain for example).
Just as the Spectrum series is a brilliant demonstration that Fantasy and Science Fiction art is as legtimate as classical masterpieces, the growing part of digital artworks helps the recognition of computer aided art as an legitimate artform. For many of us, this seems like stating the obvious. Just think of what it would be like to create a Museum of Digital Arts and you will see how far we have yet to go.