This first piece is an illustration from the Michael Moorcock novel The Champion of Garathorm, which I recently read, and whose protagonist is Ilian of Garathorm the only female incarnation of the Eternal Champion featured in one of Moorcock's novels.
And how about some Roger Dean too?
Nice art. It really does show how styles change, too. This sort of very distinct 70s look (one of several popular then) would seem really out of place today.
ReplyDeleteSweet! Thanks for the pics!
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, that's brilliant! Thank you for giving me a couple new guys to use as inspirational art.
ReplyDeleteAnd is that the inspiration for Solomoriah the Shadowcat in the fifth one down? Hmm ...
Never mind, on further examination, that's not a winged cat, it's a weird moose.
ReplyDeleteI love this stuff! Both these guys are master illustrators that matured during the psychedelic fantasy surge of the 70s. They both did a number of rock and progressive album covers at the time - especially Roger Dean of course (Yes, Asia, Uriah Heep, Steve Howe, Badger, etc.) I don't understand why more modern bands and publishers don't employ these fellows for book and album covers.
ReplyDelete"Out of place today"? Well, record covers may have "moved on", but you can see the strong influence of Roger Dean and Frank Frazetta (just to name a couple of 70's artists) in the conceptual design work being done by some great master artists who design for the Movie and Gaming industries right now.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my favourites. ... "out of place today"? Lots of "Avatar" inspiration methinks? Oh and Roger Dean's houses ... hobbit homes for sure.
ReplyDeleteI understand that Roger Dean is suing Cameron for his use of Dean's floating islands ideas.
ReplyDeleteDean is by far my favorite artist of the 20th Century...it was always a HUGE BONUS to get the latest album from my favorite group (Yes) with the album covers illustrated by him. The Dragon from Asia's first album is truly classic.