The art of Boris Vallejo is characterized by beautiful maidens, heroic men and fearsome monsters while the work of his wife Julie Bell is famous for a sense of color and dramatic composition which puts her paintings in a class by themselves. As two of the most acclaimed fantasy artists working today, Boris and Julie have produced art for album covers, trading cards, posters and calendars for (in Boris' case) 30 years -- and have seen 15 books published celebrating their breathtaking work. Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: ...
Read More
The art of Boris Vallejo is characterized by beautiful maidens, heroic men and fearsome monsters while the work of his wife Julie Bell is famous for a sense of color and dramatic composition which puts her paintings in a class by themselves. As two of the most acclaimed fantasy artists working today, Boris and Julie have produced art for album covers, trading cards, posters and calendars for (in Boris' case) 30 years -- and have seen 15 books published celebrating their breathtaking work. Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: The Ultimate Collection brings together all their greatest pieces throughout their careers, while also including some unseen new work. The book is arranged chronologically and divided into three main sections: early, middle and recent art. A narrative accompanies the paintings with captions for many of the pieces. The pages are also punctuated by quotes from Boris and Julie's peers in the fantasy art field and fans of their work, who pay homage to their art and comment on how their work has inspired them to become better artists.
Read Less
Add this copy of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: the Ultimate Collection to cart. $43.00, good condition, Sold by Goodwill Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hillsboro, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Harper.
Add this copy of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: the Ultimate Collection to cart. $205.99, new condition, Sold by MEADOWLANDMEDIA rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from fayetteville, AR, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Harper.
Add this copy of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: the Ultimate Collection to cart. $36.99, very good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by HarperDes.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: the Ultimate Collection to cart. $56.95, new condition, Sold by EB-Books LLC rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Rockford, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Harper.
Add this copy of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: the Ultimate Collection to cart. $88.13, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Harper.
Add this copy of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: the Ultimate Collection to cart. $135.83, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Harper Design.
I purchased this book along with Luis Royo's "Subversive Beauty" and I was more impressed by the former. Not because their artwork is better (I sort of find Royo's work more intricate) but rather in terms of substance. The book is kind of a "best of" anthology detailing both Boris' and Julie's artwork over the course of three decades. Julie Bell however, has only been painting for about half that time. The book is divided into three periods: early, middle and late. In each, paintings from each period by both artists are presented on high quality glossy paper. Julie's paintings no doubt date more recently since her art career started much later than Boris'. They're married, by the way. Some of the paintings are a bit small but most fill a page.
I'm not an art student myself but I do enjoy looking at fantasy art, especially featuring voluptuous amazonian women (most of theirs are like this). It's sometimes hard to differentiate between the styles of Boris and Julie but if there's a metallic element to it, chances are it's Julie's. The book features a short write up at the beginning of each section that provides some insight into what inspired our artists at the time. No matter what your background, you'll probably find something there you can relate to. The women in the paintings are sometimes topless but not quite in a pornographic way. There's hardly any nudity below the belt. I don't know why (Boris and Julie equally, it seems) tend to feature such women - and sometimes men - except that they claim to admire perfection of the human body.
The book also features a fourth chapter on some of their photographic work which is for them rather a cyclic means to an end between their pictures and paintings. They appear to say that each inspires the other i.e. photographs help them create realistic landscapes in their fantasy worlds and fantasy paintings help them look at things in the real world as if on a different dimension (e.g. really close-up shots of insects make them look like alien warriors). Among my favourite pieces are "The Prize" (1999 by Julie Bell) and "Euridice" (1991 by Boris Vallejo). I certainly found some of their other paintings and photographs more alluring but these two kind of "spoke to me". The book is generally light material. I finished reading it and admiring the artwork in about an hour. I would recommend this book if you're a fan of fantasy art or of Boris and Julie themselves.
