Customer Reviews

Malefic

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm just discovering Royo, and have ordered half a dozen of his books in the past month. Secrets, Malefic, and Visions are all amazing! The quality of the artwork in Malefic is spectacular. The women are astoundingly beautiful, and the level of detail and realism is just breathtaking. Part of the reason I like these three books so much is that they emphasize fantasy themes, as opposed to the sci-fi themes found in Women, and the dark post-Apocalyptic themes of III Millenium. If you're new to Royo, get Malefic, Secrets and Visions - you won't be disappointed! The quality of the artwork in III Millenium is also good. Avoid Women - in my opinion, it's really cheesy and the artwork simply doesn't reflect the amazingly talented artist I've come to admire.

Again the work of Mr. Royo is beyond comparison and with Malefic he brings a slightly new twist to his fans. There are more male heroines in Malific than any of his other works. Excellent displays of both genders in battle plus poetic quotes by the artist to accompany each work. We glimpse into Royo's mind through not only his art, but his own words, helping us to see his vision of each piece. A treasure.

As the title states, these two books are quite similar in content. Detailed, photo-like paintings. Astonishingly beautiful women, sometimes depicted as fighting against Evil, sometimes as manifestations of Evil themselves - in both cases touched by or surrounded with light... amazing, other-wordly, fluorescent light, which could be the trademark of Royo. When I reviewed "Secrets", I wrote that if you only plan to have one of his books, get that one. Well, "Malefic" could be that one too...

Royo has a style in which some of the pale parts of the picture are so white they give the object a strongly shiny appearance, such as swords, hair, and thin white cloth. This book has some of the best examples of that style.

Another great thing about the book is that the last page has a list of all of the paintings, and if they are cover art to a book, the publisher and year as well. This is very helpful when I want to see the story that the art depicts. The descriptions beside the artworks are often difficult to understand.

SPECIFICS:
Page Count: 80
Number of images: 37
Small images: 2
Half page images: 0
Full page images: 28
2-page spreads: 7
BW images: 0

TEXT:
Introduction: 1 page
Index of Illustrations: 1 page
Title, year and a small paragraph about each painting

ART:
12 images: 5 stars
20 images: 4 stars
5 images: 3 stars
0 images: 2 stars
0 images: 1 star


Overall: 4 Stars


Note: most of the left-hand pages have sketches of what would be the final version of the painting displayed on the opposite page. The sketches were not considered in the rating.

My obsession with Royo is a new thing, I must admit. I hadn't even heard of him until I recently read a set of poems inspired by his 'Blue Prince' pieces (the poems were from Shane Windham's book 'POETiCA'). Me being me, I ran right out to try and get my hands on anything and everything the artist has done. I'm not sure exactly what it is about this one in particular, but it really gets under my skin more than anything else he's put out. That isn't to say that his other works aren't good as well. They're ALL stellar! Everything he's touched is golden. This one just REALLY hits home on some deeper string of the emotional instrument I am. There's no reason to question whether or not this is worth having. Just buy it!!

This is a newly revised and re-mastered edition of his seminal collection first published in 1996. While many modern fantasy artists are often content to work in the whimsical and light-hearted vein, Royo's work has always been darker. Darker AND quite a bit more interesting, frankly. Royo uses color for effect as well as any artist in the business and nothing is ever applied without reason to achieve a look.

Royo's female vampires are alluring and seductive as in his piece "Night in Red". Royo provides commentary on many of the illustrations in the book and talks about his various techniques and methods used to complete each work of art. Many of the finished paintings are accompanied by supporting rough sketches and pre-work leading up to the final result. Just check out one of the great pieces entitled "Under the Blues" above. This hardcover collection is pure brilliance. This is a must have for fans of fantasy art

Some artists can portray words and charisma with simply a pencil and paint. "Malefic" is a remastered edition of Luis Royo's gothic and fantasy artwork. With two decades in print, this art work is presented his fantastic artwork in full color. With sketches, commentary, the best selling artists work will delight those who delight in gothic, fantasy, and science fiction artwork. Not recommended for young readers, "Malefic" is highly recommended for everyone else.

The paintings on this book are beatiful,no words can descride just how wonderful this book is. I love this book! a must have for any true fan of great art.