I should have written about this sooner, but I have such a long list of goodies to tell you about that it can take a while to get to a particular one.
Spectrum 13 (Amazon link) came out a couple of months ago. This is the latest in the Spectrum yearly collections of contemporary fantastic art.
As you might expect, this includes fantasy and science fiction illustration, but it also includes comic book artists, dimensional artists (sculptors and modelers) and 3-D artists; and has expanded in recent years to include more fantastic themed art from mainstream editorial and book illustrators as well as entertainment industry production art.
The Spectrum collections are edited by Cathy and Arnie Fenner, (who also did a wonderful job on the new Jon Foster book), and never fail to be beautifully designed books showcasing some of the best contemporary representational illustration to be found.
Unfortunately, the Spectrum site doesn’t include any preview galleries, although there is an artist list, that lists the over 300 artists featured in this edition.
In glancing through Spectrum 13, I was struck by how many artists that I’ve featured over time on lines and colors are represented in this latest edition, so I’ll use the lines and colors archive to give you a taste for some of the artists (though not necessarily particular works) you’ll encounter.
I don’t know how many of you have noticed that I’ve been using the Snap Preview Anywhere feature for the last few weeks, but it allows you to hold your mouse over the links on lines and colors to see a small visual preview of the linked page.
Every year, the Spectrum collection features a Grand Master Award, a special acknowledgement of lifetime achievement. This year it goes to Jeffery Jones.
Other artists (in no particular order) include:
Donato Giancola (this year’s cover artist)
William Stout
Jon Foster
Stephan Martiniere
Robert Chang
Dan Dos Santos
James Jean
Brom
Todd Lockwood
John Howe
Douglas Klauba
Frank Cho
Peter De Séve
John Picacio
Matt Dixon
Michael Whelan
Dave Stevens
Stephen Hickman
Phillip Straub
Marc Gabbana
Brian Despain
Gregory Manchess
Christian Alzmann
Robh Ruppel
Michael Deas
Tony DiTerlizzi
Bob Eggleton
Craig Mullins
James Gurney
For those interested in submitting an entry for the next volume, Spectrum 14, the deadline is a rapidly approaching January 27, 2007.