Spectrum 9: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art

As a fan of this remarkable series, it appears that every new volume is somehow superior to its predecessor, and I'm not slighting the prior volumes when I state this. It's a compliment of the highest order. Rather than resting on past laurels, the editors and chosen committee each year strive to push ahead, recognizing and acknowledging new artists as well as select more recent works by those greats who have graced previous year's volumes.Drawn from medium created for books, comics, magazines, art galleries, advertisements, and the portfolios of some of the finest contemporary artists in the field, Spectrum 9 has a wider reach than any prior volume, with work from the U.S., Germany, England, Netherlands, Spain, Japan, Canada, and France. Divided into seven categories, including one devoted to comics ("Heaven forbid!" I hear snooty 'arty' types decry), the book includes James Gurney (Dinotopia), Brom (designer of the film 'Sleepy Hollow' and an incredible artist whose work graced most editions), Michael Whelan (ten-time Hugo Award winner), Leo and Diane Dillon (Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Award recipients), Phil Hale (another staple in the series), Tom Kidd, Mark Zug, Carlos Huante, Jon Foster, Ashley Wood and many more. Contact information for each artist is provided in a handy index, and the editors' lengthy illustrated "Year in Review" preface puts the entire field in focus. 300 full-color images are featured.The only misnomer here that might put off some potential buyers is the use of the word 'Fantastic' - this is not just 'Heavy Metal', sci-fi and sword + sorcery inspired artwork - no sir, though there are many representations of those genres too, to be fair; these annual collections are designed for anyone who appreciates all aspects of the artistic realm and its visionaries - fine art, surrealism, neo-classical, sculpture, graphic, comic, modern, post modern, futuristic, sci-fi + fantasy, darkly morbid and chilling imagery, light-hearted and humorous characterizations, digital art, pop culture models and statues, mixed media, you name it, it's here. A lovingly compiled treasure chest of time capsule culture collected by those who wish to give the gift of exposure in a world of myopic, boring and sedentary media tableau.Do yourself a life-affirming favor and seek out several editions of this incredible series, though I'd recommend some of the more recent ones to really kick-start the old ticker. Highly recommended.

This annual collection of fantasy art has presented, from the first volume, the most amazing artwork by the most amazing artists in the field. Every style and mood appears: humorous, cartoony, heroic, nearly photo-realistic, dark and demonic, sensual, elegant, and more, often with multiple aspects present in a single work. You'll find plenty of familiar names here, including Ashley Wood, Dave McKean, Shaun Tan, and Luis Royo - but the lesser-known names contribute at least as much, maybe more, to the total.Even with the generally high quality of work here, a few images really stay with me. "Draw your own robot" offers the happy face of a sweet geek girl, doing what nerds do best. "Death in New York" pays solemn tribute to the then-recent attacks on the World Trade Center. "Mother" melds the elegance of womanly beauty with the animal imperatives of motherhood - showing their complementarity where a lesser artist might have displayed these aspects in conflict. "L-Ray" offers a charmingly goofy robot, sculpted in metal and glass with humor and masterful skill. I could go on, and certainly don't mean to insult any fine work by omission, but there's just too much here. Even if you've seen other volumes in this series, each piece in each book is unique. Whether you want inspiration, thoughtful commentary, wonder, or just amusement, you're sure to find it here.-- wiredweird

I bought the first "Spectrum" book at a used book store, the art is enthralling and I wanted more. If you are an avid reader or watcher of fantasy fiction this yearly collection of fantasy art by some of the best will greatly add to your pleasure of imagining all sorts of "creatures" in all sorts of configurations. The attention to detail. the costuming, the surrounding landscapes all evoke a world or many not our own. Shockingly I have been known to cut a picture out and use it as part of an "altered art" project. Great fun.

The Spectrum series is a collection of contemporary and fantastic art illustrations. I recommend it to anyone looking for discovering interesting work and contemporary artists. The work ranges from cover illustrations, paintings, sculptures to some toys, action figures and graphic novel work. The selection is usually very well done. I think the sculpture section is not as good as the graphic and painting area.It is interesting to notice in the volume 9 the diversity of techniques presented there. There are some pure digital art, but most of it is made of traditional media, or a mix with digital tools and some other technique.

I recently purchased Spectrum 9, 10, and 11. These books are absolutely wonderful, and I would recommend them to any artist or fan of fantasy/sci fi art. They are extremely well put together, of high quality (reproduction wise), have a large number and variety of artists, and contain some of the most beautiful works of art I have seen. Some of the subject matter can be disturbing or somewhat sexual in nature (certainly nothing explicit, but not exactly innocent either), so I wouldn't recomend them for the very young (12 or under?) if you are a parent. These books are worth every penny and highly recommended.

Spectrtum 9 is one of the better additions in this annual series. The printing is excellent and the art outstanding (if you like fantasy art). My only complaint with these books is that many of the pictures are small and hard to see the detail. It would be nice if the publisher would print less material, but make all illustrations full page. Good copies can be had used.

These volumes chronicle the changes in the way in which Fantasy and Science Fiction art has changed over the years, and while an individual volume is interesting in itself, the changes as the volumes continue show the inroads of Digital, even as conventionally formed art also changes over the years.

Purtroppodel articolo si sono perse le tracce.Comunque i libri Spectrum valgono semre 5 stelle.

Ein muss für jeden Fantasty/Scifi LiebhaberTolle Illustrationen und Abbildungen von den verschiedensten Medien (ölmaler, acrylmaler, Mixed Media, Digitale Medien.Einfach toll!

Very good, thank you x

peccato che certi libri siano stampati solo in america! é una bellissima collezione di illustrazioni che si potrebbe fare anche coi bravi illustratori italiano.

Awesome as always!