Fantastical Creatures Field Guide: How to Hunt Them Down and Draw Them Where They Live [Paperback]

Aaron Lopresti (Author), William Stout (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2008

Track them . . . hunt them down . . . and then–draw them!



• Engrossing and edgy–a field guide to animals never before seen by living humans


• A mysterious journey for artists and anyone who loves fantasy


• Step-by-step instructions for capturing fantasy creatures with paper and pencil



Come. Enter the world of fantasy. Bring your paper, your pencils, and your field guide to identifying the denizens of this mysterious world. What? You don’t have a field guide? Don’t be silly. Of course you do! You have Fantastical Creatures Field Guide. Author and artist Aaron Lopresti leads you on the daring hunt for the Utah salt beast . . . the dragosaur . . . and, of course, the mad men of Borneo. Each one shows how an artist can take a natural form–mud, twisted vines, animal shapes–and turn them into fabulous monsters. Pencil sketches drawn in the field, plus full-body paintings of the beasts, cast a spell that draws the reader into this strange new land. Step-by-step instructions, explaining exactly how to “capture” fantastic creatures with a pencil, reveal Lopresti’s creative process and inspire readers to explore new realms for themselves.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Aaron Lopresti has worked on many major titles in comics, including X-Men, Gen13, Xena, Spider-Man, and more. He has also published two fantasy art portfolios and several limited-edition full-color prints. He lives in Tigard, OR.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823011119
• ISBN-13: 978-0823011117
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.4 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,844,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic is right!, October 15, 2008

By 

Tim Lasiuta "Comic Fan 42" (Red Deer, Alberta) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fantastical Creatures Field Guide: How to Hunt Them Down and Draw Them Where They Live (Paperback)

When you are this demented...they call you Mister. So, in the best traditions of mental instability and creative creature cogitative processes, Mr Aaron Lopresti and his partner in tax avoidance/creature investigation , Professor Ham Fabricatini present in the grandest style conceivable (theme music please), a masterwork of imaginative, improbable, and impressive creatures of questionable origins.

Whether this book chronicles the adventures of Mr Fabricatini throughout the globe and local points of interest, is of no consequence to the reader who appreciates fine art and tactile delineation of half truths. Consider the journey that leads to a creature as elegant as the Gulf Stream Gill Man. Why, Elmer Red Kneck has spotted the Gill Man twice in 1957. Who can possibly doubt the veracity of such underwhelming evidence. Mr Lopresti has accurately captured the likeness of the Gill creature, perhaps due to the fact that in 1987 he sighted the creature handing out candy. Only Elmer will ever know...

There is also Davey Joness locker partner. Have you ever seen a sea flick with NO reference to Davey Jones? Jack Sparrow has oft referred to the Administrator of the deep, but what about his partner? Orthonius Rosenblatt, esteemed graduate of the Triton Academy of Death Management? As an avid bath-tub denizen, I am pleased that neither of the masters of the deep live in my tub. I have a a killer rubber ducky!

But oh, the number of creatures with seemingly out of place origins does not end easily. The Treasure Elves live and breed in the bowels of the G-7 tax departments today. Protecting us from the Elves are the Drooling Wolfhounds. The Thunder Trolls, Bug Eyed Bush Beards, Wild Rhinoceros Boars, and Cave Harpies would not be welcome in my hovel.

But, they are welcome in my book shelf. Such imaginative creatures with deviant origins could only be found in such a volume. This book is not for those who watch "dancing with the stars", but rather "dancing with the dragons, harpies, and Golems". Laugh, cry, lock your doors. This book will inspire your wilderness wanderings, accompanied by a tax accountant, priest, nutritional chemist, and botanist.
But, if you want to take your friends, go ahead.

"Fantastical Creatures Field Guide" is available at your local outfitter store and fine book dealers everywhere.

Www.watsonguptil.com

Tim Lasiuta

Deviant at large.