Book Review: Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: The Ultimate Illustrations

This is my first Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell art book. They have published many art books so I can't confirm if there are any duplication here. It says in the product description "The Ultimate Illustrations presents the first collection of their sketches in over 15 year and features 100 previously unpublished illustrations."

Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell are famous for their erotic fantasy portraits. The Ultimate Illustrations collects pencil drawings of (perfect) women, men and beasts. This includes drawings for various product merchandise but they didn't show the actual product with the artwork.

Many of the portraits are really classic anatomy drawings. They are categorised as fantasy art simply because of the fantasy elements added, like clothes and ornaments. The form, highlights and shadows are rendered beautifully. This book is a showcase of some pretty amazing technical pencil work.

Each chapter opens to a story of their career. You'll read about their training, bodybuilding background, how they create art, thoughts on art or even how men and women think about their butts (artistically speaking). All are very interesting and filled with meaningful quotes, such as the ones below.

"Artists shouldn't even begin to attempt to paint until they have adequately gained control of their drawing skills." — Boris

"I like to keep it simple with pencil drawings. It just looks more striking that way. Using the white background emphasizes the figure, which really appeals to me." — Julie

"For an artist, even one at professional level, it is crucial to maintain drawing skills and consistently practice." — Boris

"Nature is random, but a composition is anything but random." — Boris

Additionally, all the drawings are captioned on the origin and concept. There are many interesting stories on the commissioned pieces such as a piece commissioned by a private collector who found himself in the position of raising his grandson by himself. It shows him holding a chubby baby on his muscular left arm, with a sword in the right. It looks funny and fun.

This book is for those who like figure drawing and fantasy art.

You can view more work from Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell at their website www.imaginistix.com.

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Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: The Ultimate Illustrations is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

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