Customer Reviews

The New Works and Visions of Dorian Cleavenger

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

 

 

Those who like the fantasy art of Olivia de Berardinis may have a taste for Dorian Cleavenger, who goes into areas of bondage and demonic vampiric horror. However, his work touches on themes (fantasy, mechanization, vampires) that remind one of Sorayama and Giger as well as de Berardinis. The first few pages dwell on the mecha theme (Geiger and Sorayama), though the mecha stuff isn't as glossy as that of Sorayama. That's because Cleavenger's preferred medium is acrylic paint.

Models include Alley bagget, Melissa Wolfe, Glorianne Gilbert, Kate Moss (yes, that Kate Moss) and one of Olivia's favourites, Julie Strain, who is the winged cover girl astride a giant robot in a piece titled "The Bonecrusher."

Some of the artwork might be of appeal to black metal fans, especially fans of groups with dark artwork like Cradle Of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. On one entitled "Bloodbath," a nude woman arches back in ecstasy while blood pours from a stone gargoyle's mouth atop her throat. Purgatori III has a winged horned babe with her arms and legs astride a skulled cross. "The Reaper" is a platinum blonde woman with flowing locks, glowing blank whites for eyes, wielding a scythe and with a snake wrapped around her body. However, for something really gruesome, there's one of Heather Tennant, portraying a woman with quite a piercing fetish, with some of her pins on fire.

There are some pictures of Vampirella, yes, she of the long black hair, white collar and red ribbons placed strategically over her breasts. An interpretation of Arthurian legend is "The Lady of the Lake," where model Claudia Christian is holding Excalibur but with a skimpy outfit that one usually doesn't get in mentally envisioning that personage.

Warrior women also feature, some of which resemble Vallejo/Bell material of exotic armour and beasts. Innocent-looking girls also come out, particularly in the mermaid drawings. However, one erotic one entitled "Sea Food" might as well be subtitled "Octopi Just Want To Have Fun."

Given this newcomer who published his first book of material in 2001, we may see the heir to Olivia in this talented man. So, anyone who likes Olivia but wants something a bit on the spicy and gothic side, check this out!

An astoundingly refreshing and entirely new approach to fantasy art,with sensual illustrations bordering on the erotic, yet each with imaginative and creative situations and costuming portrayed in a manner never before seen in any book by any artist. A vertible feast for the senses. Technically Dorian's art is superb, with excellent lighting, perspective and creatively imaginative scenarios. His representations of the female form and features lack the exaggerated depictions of most fantasy artists, bringing such a degree of realism into his realms of fantasy that women can project their own personas into his images and his worlds.....women of strength, weakness, determination and helplessness, of melancholy and joy. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves worlds of challenge combined with fine art.

For anyone seeking a spectacle of erotic mechanised art to arouse, or a collection of paintings to envy as an artist, this book is for you.
The tempting and alluring beauties often seen in Olivia's work have found a dark and forbidding home, where they are infused with sensual and wickedly sexual machinery. This machinery, however, does not seek to harm but rather to augment or intensify the "come-hither" nature of the supplicant 'victim'.
A truly delightful romp through the realms of fantasy and overt sexuality, occasionally settling on the frighteningly dark, this collection is a must have for erotic-fantasy art fans.

If you glance at his art work it looks pretty good. But, once I started studying his work, its just not as good as allot of other artists out their currently.

First, for anyone who sees some of the pictures in Amazon Reader, the computer screen really does not do any of these works justice. They are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

My favorite paintings in the book are "Dreams" and "Life." While I don't think I can adequately describe either one, I will try to describe "Life" which depicts a partially finished statue of an angelic, nude woman arising out of the bedrock, holding stoneworking tools, staring at a live flower. It is a very nice contrast of themes. Dorian explains that he saw this as the woman having to create herself by destroying the flower. I saw it instead as a paradox -- we see the flower as more alive than a statue, and yet we relate more to the statue. It thus makes me contemplate what "life" is.

Dorian's use of space and background is excellent, and the works play games with your mind. The themes range from horror to fantasy, and include everything in between. Most of the pieces make you stop and THINK, which is something I appreciate in an artist. Although there is an erotic element to the artwork, it is overcome by the horror or just straight beauty of the pieces.

This is an excellent collection for those who like this sort of material Highly recommended.

From a book conception point of view this one is absolutely perfect. Every image displayed is either a full page or a double page. This is something that we can expect from this publisher (please keep up the good work).

As for the art, I've some mixed feelings. Since there are no sketches inside there also shouldn't be so many 2 and 3 stars ratings, hence, the review title.

SPECIFICS:
Page Count: 128
Number of images: 90
Small images: 0
Half page images: 0
Full page images: 63
2-page spreads: 27
BW images: 0

TEXT:
1 page introduction
2 page - the artist speaks about his work and techniques
2 page index with the title, real size and medium used for each painting

ART:
16 images: 5 stars
42 images: 4 stars
27 images: 3 stars
5 images: 2 stars
0 images: 1 star

Overall: 4 stars

I still dont know why I wanted to put 4 stars instead of five even though the book is just amazingly beautiful with super cool images.
I never thought it would be like it when I got it. To be honest I saw every single artwork and my father was next to me and he was like WOW, LOOK AT THAT MACHINE GIRL.....hahha I really love this book and I think it will help me a lot in my drawings, so yeah if you are an artist and need some real help, then this book will be a lot of help for you.

My favorite girls in this book were "THE GIFT" and "THE TRAP". You gotta buy the book to know what am talking about. My mom saw just the cover and she said "SHE LOOKS LIKE NIURKA MARCOS"
Anyway, I would urge you to buy this book if you like the erotic and alien or machine side in a artwork.

Extreme terror fantasy art. Lots of images to look at three or four times the most to get the feel of the weird content.worth while reading.