Customer Reviews

John Howe

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading it through, I felt like I'd spent an afternoon in John's studio, talking with him about not just how one paints, but most importantly, why one paints. That's exactly what I'd hoped the book would be: not just a how-to manual, or a collection of techniques, or a long list of self-congratulatory stories -- but good, solid advice on the creative process from an experienced professional.

This is a wonderful book. I am a big fan of Mr. Howe's work and much of the advice in this book is familiar from John's forum but it's a good chance to see how he works step by step, as well as how he organizes his studio and prepares for illustration jobs. While there are only a few "walkthroughs" featuring new art, the book is full of interesting tidbits of information about the creation of other paintings. There are lots of tips even I who has been painting for many years didn't think of before. John Howe makes a point to encourage readers to find their own unique style and way of painting, unlike many how to books which only show one way of doing things. I particularly love that his sense of humor shows. He honest about illustration and admits that he isn't perfect and procrastinates as much as possible before every job.

John Howe is the artist I credit for making me interested in fantasy illustration, and will always be one of my favorites. It should come as no surprise that the artwork in this book is amazing, and the information presented is also quite insightful. It is not an art how too book, so much as it is a general treatise of John Howe's way of thinking about his work, and going about his creative process. He actually expresses pretty clearly his dislike of anything that feels like a how too process, or is so forumulaic that it can be presented as if there is only one set way to do it. One of the best additions to my art library.

Length:: 0:25 Mins

This book is a collection of tips and insights on creating fantasy art, with material covering the course of his career. There are no step-by-step tutorials so you won't see how he actually paints. That's the only thing lacking in this book that would make it perfect.

Instead, each chapter is filled with his past work and sketches with commentary on how they were created. The lessons are mainly on a conceptual level rather than at a technical level, like mixing colours or how to draw. He talks about his inspiration, research process, working style and includes lots of information on things to look out for when painting certain subjects, like characters, scenery, armour, etc.

Towards the back, he shares some career related tips on how to tackle commissions, promoting yourself, and working on set design for the big screen.

This should be an inspiring book for fantasy artist.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

I'm always interested in any collection of John Howe's work and this book does not dissapoint in that regard, it is chock full of illustrations and examples of his approach and techniques. The addition of his insight and advice just makes this a terrific volume with no failings. In addition to being very useful as an instructional book, it's also inspirational. It's worth every penny of it's very reasonable price.

Whenever I feel stifled, stuck, or stymied by a particular problem, I reopen this brilliant book for a bit of inspiration and commiseration. John Howe takes us through the steps he uses to create his fantastic pieces, some of which were very new to me, some have sat on my bookshelves for years, as covers of some my favorite novels. He also talks honestly about the difficulties involved in creating art, while sharing with the reader his ways of gathering ideas through sketch books, found items and photographs. He shows us his work area, with pictures that offer great insight and ideas to be incorporated into our art areas (his wall calendar is just one of many brilliant ideas!!).

I love that he pulls no punches about the creation of his art work, admitting there is no secret formula, no hidden tricks that make it easy or brilliant, just lots of work, rework, and an ability to pull together real items to create a fantasy world. He shows several examples of his work, showing in clear photographs the steps he used to bring the pieces together as well as the sources of his inspiration. The text of the book is equally brilliant, offering tips to improve any sort of art, from sketches to oil painting, encouraging artists of all levels.

The forward, written by Terry Gilliam, says it best, "So, look out John How, I'm on your tail. I'm giving up directing movies and am going to show the world that I too can paint wonderous worlds of imagination and dreams." And while I may not be bold enough to say my art will one day be greater than his, this book makes my artwork better than it was before. This book, out of my hundreds of art books, is always closest at hand (and the cover is starting to show it); it offers new ideas, new ways to look at old ideas, and an admission from John that he too has rough days.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in fantasy or science fiction art. It encourages the reader to gather ordinary objects to combine into extraordinarily imaginative worlds.

To be clear from the start, I love and admire John Howe's art, and I think 'John Howe. Fantasy art workshop' is a beautiful book, which I don't regret having purchased. It's a real joy going through its pages, but, when compared with 'Mechanika - Creating the art of science fiction with Doug Chiang', which I purchased and read simultaneously, I was slightly disappointed.

After some sections about his materials and instruments of choice, and some general remarks about his habits and preferences, the author jumps to his works. The book is lavishly illustrated, with finished artwork in many techniques, and with a lot of awesome sketches. Some of the art has pointers to little explanatory texts or detailed drawings. These neat analytical additions are very instructive.

But when reading the book you may still have the feeling that at the centre something essential is missing: the methodology with which Howe approaches a work. Doug Chiang in his book gives a series of very clear step-by-step breakdowns of his approach, from concept to finished artwork. Howe's book could have benefited immensely from such an approach, it would have enhanced his mastery and the reader's knowledge.

I agree with other reviewers that the book goes way beyond the general 'how-to', but a little more time with the master in his own kitchen, looking over his shoulder, can only be inspiring and rewarding.

Therefore the term 'workshop' in the title of the book is slightly misleading. This shouldn't be a reason, however, not to buy it, because it's a treasure as it is.

This is a wonderful book, well worth the price for any aspiring fantasy artist. It goes well beyond the usual how-to (although there are plenty of interesting tidbits to pick up) and into the less explored areas of how to find inspiration and how to make use of it. John Howe is articulate and never boring. I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of his style, or blown out of the water by his technique, most of the time. I found the words in the book more inspiring than the pictures. Still, both words and pictures made reading this book a pleasure. The sections on his industry experience were particularly interesting.

I had two slight problems with the book. First, there were times when the musings seemed a little vague, or a little wandering. The essence of what I got from the book can be boiled down to this: Nature and history can be great inspirations. They should be consulted whenever possible, but not slavishly copied. Fine ideas, if not all that unusual. But none of the other things he mentioned really stuck with me.

Second, and this is probably the greater failing in a book like this, the reproductions of the art were somewhat small in some cases. This is probably because it includes so many pictures, which is of course a good thing. It's a difficult balance to strike, no doubt, but there were many cases where I would have liked a closer look.

John Howe is one of the industries most popular fantasy artists who has rought to life medieval legends and characters and creatures of Middle Earth from The Lord Of The Rings amongst other amazingly detailed worlds and scenery, an artist who is adept at creating in many media such as watercolours which he seems to create the best washes of colour that brighten up and enrich any scene that he does.


This book, Delivers a look into how the artist creates his wonderful artwork with actual pieces of art that he has created such as pencil drawings and paintings. See how John works and becomes inspired by other things to create the work that many have become a fan of for years.

If you are an amateur artist and want to see what a professional artist's workshop is like, want to see how he works, what he draws inspiration from, and dozens of examples of his art, this is your book.

He discusses what materials he uses, how he stores his inspirational material and his finished art, and many examples of his art. Later in the book, he gives examples of how he builds up the painting from background to foreground to finishing touches.

He does not teach a beginner how to create fantasy art. This is not a Lee Hammond or Jerry Yarnell book for fantasy artists. The reader is expected to have a good handle on art, this is more inspiration and examples than a basic how-to.

This is an excellent book for advanced artists, and probably useful for intermediate, though, aside from the stunning art in the book, it is probably not meant for beginners.