There are certain contemporary artists in the field of fantastic art whose work I find a continual delight. Notable among them is Bill Carman, who I have written about previously here on Lines and Colors.

All too often, I find artists in contemporary fantasy, concept and fantastic art (as well as in “Pop Surrealism”) who just seem to be trying too hard — they give a sense of struggling to be weird, or surreal or shocking enough to get noticed.

Carman’s work is essentially the opposite of this: it feels effortlessly imaginative, as simply a natural expression of the artist’s mind.

Carman impresses me as one of those artists who is able to connect his unconscious imagination directly to his drawing and painting hand, and then get out of the way. (In this respect he reminds me of Jean, “Moebius” Giraud, though very different in style and execution.)

I was delighted, then, to receive a review copy of Bill Carman’s new book, Imagery from the Bird’s Home: The Art of Bill Carman.

For some reason, I was surprised when I opened the package, in that I wasn’t expecting the volume to be quite so large, deluxe and beautifully produced. I should know better, of course, because it’s published by Flesk Publications, a small publisher who has earned my admiration again and again for their superb volumes and great choice of artists.

Imagery from the Bird’s Home is big (9 1/2 x 11 inches), thick (192 pages) and packed from cover to cover with Carman’s delightful and beautifully rendered stream-of-consciousness imaginings. You’ll find repeated themes like glasses, lenses, birds (of course), cephalopods, dogs, and various other animals and characters, as well as subjects from pop culture.

Carman works in acrylic on a number of different surfaces, as well as in digital and other traditional mediums. His approach ranges from loosely sketched to highly rendered and intricately detailed — frequently offering much to look at in a single image. The book includes sketches, both random and preparatory for other works, as well as some alternate versions and progress sequences.

Imagery from the Bird’s Home can be ordered directly from Flesk Publications (which I believe to be more beneficial both for the artist and for a terrific small publisher), but if that’s not convenient, you can also order from Amazon.

You can find more images, and a video flip-through of the book on Parka Blogs.

You can see more of Bill Carman’s wok on his website and blog.

There is a brief video interview related to the book on the Flesk Publications site, and a more general interview with the artist on WOW x WOW.