Customer Reviews

Black Rust

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This writer used to wonder where some of the best album art she's ever seen came from.

And then she clicked on a link on the official Colide page to Chad's page, and she found out.

The whole them of the artwork of Black Rust is of a world where nothing, and this writer means nothing, is impossible: cybernetic arms, out-there piercings, tattoos, and so on. In fact, according to the artist in the forward, the title of the book comes from a Japanese word reffering to the future.

One warning: this is not for those who are embarassed by the sight of bare breasts, for many of the female models are nude or half-nude

-Ariadne

Chad has taken digital manipulation of photographs to a whole new level...this book is well worth it!

If there's a genre of art for pinup/almost-goth/SF art -- well, come to think of it, there is. Ward's remarkable collection stands squarely in the middle of it.

A small bit of text opens each chapter. To tell the truth, I found it oblique, based on far too much trust that the reader would engage with a very odd frame of mind. I just ground my gears without engaging, but others may read it differently.

So, ignoring that impoverished attempt at narrative, I'm left with only what I wanted in the first place: Ward's remarkable SF/fantasy art. His media are photography and digital manipulation -- one medium, actually, the way he fuses them. The result is literal, painterly, and fantastic. He pursues Sorayama down the path of the robobabe, but with more flesh and less metal. And, once or twice, with more disturbing imagery. The Xs on that semi-robotic cover model: do they shield her from prurient gaze, or nullify her physically? The question might lead down paths too dark to pursue.

This book makes a fine addition to any collection of fantasy art, especially when the dark edge of beauty plays a role. This collection pursues one idea wholeheartedly, an idea that fascinates Ward. As a result, it might not reach out to every viewer. Whether that's your path or not, Ward's imagery still captures the beauty of his models, no matter what else it captured being `shopped.

-- wiredweird

I was fortunate to check out my friends copy of this book. I do own Autopsyrotica by Ward, and find it a bit more involved and polished; more elegant works. After checking out Black Rust, I was left with a sense of looking at a selection of campy, ill-photoshopped works that were in the early stages of developement, and not finished. The photo manipulations were blatant to say the least. Autopsyrotica is fairly blatant as well, but it retains soul and style moreso than this work.

Art. Not simply digital manipulations; the images existed before the photos, those characters were "real" in the mind of the artist...like a sculpture he just shown what the marble already contained. Ward can do something excedingly rare: he can generate images that generate completely opposed feelings at the same time! He can invoke lust and disgust; he can make an iconic image of purity but bursting with eminent violence; an innocent girl that we know has a dark secret. This is Art.

The imagery is about cyborgs, androids, domination, iconographic images of saints, beauty and horror. Most of the images are quite disturbing or alluring, so reader discretion is advised,

I advise to check the artists site ([...]) to see small samples of his amazing work, and the companies he works for.

As an added benefit you get a brilliant postword from one of the great illustrators of our time: Tim Bradstreet.

Highly recommended.

An amazing artist with an incredible vision. A great book from an up and coming artist.