Digital paintings and practical demonstrations of futuristic spacescapes, medieval landscapes, and revolutionary vehicles, accompanied by techniques and an introduction to the technical equipment required, provide an in-depth review of this increasingly popular digital medium. Original. 10,000 first printing.
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119 reviews for Bold Visions: A Digital Painting Bible: For Fantasy and Science Fiction Artists
4.4out of 5
★★★★★
★★★★★
11
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★★★★★
Haunted Nostril –
I have been scribbling and colouring ever since I can remember, and have worked as a graphic artist in many different capacities throughout my adult life, and as such I fully understand that you never will, or can, know it all when it comes to an ever shifting and growing subject matter such as art. So when a resource you feel would be beneficial to your craft comes along you should grab it with both hands and absorb it wholesale and this, people, is one such resource. This is a book of tips and hints that will benefit the digital painting initiate hoping to add more depth to their work: starting with primers on perspective and lighting and working on from there. However there is much to be gained for the more seasoned artist as a glimpse into another artists technique can help to bring new perspective to already inspired and accomplished work. Also as an indispensible wealth of tips and hints there is bound to be a good few things that help you streamline your workload in here (or even something you may have a more effective method of achieving which will make you feel good about your work!).
Now I have read one or two (and I do mean one or two) middling to bad user reviews of this gem on a few other sites and they all boil down to one glaringly obvious point: this book cannot teach you how to draw and will not inject you with a talent that you may not have the capacity for. Some people will always expect too much but if you take note of the cover which states ‘for fantasy and science fiction artists’ you can’t go far wrong. If you want to try and boost your basic drawing skills a beginners guide to such things is going to be more up your street, this book assumes you have some skill with a pen, paper,certain programs and a graphics tab/mouse: and if you possess these things you will at one point of another make great use of this excellent guide (and impressive gallery of work).
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★★★★★
book_hero –
I was excited to get this book, although it did not mention the artist I was hoping it would feature. The book was fun to read and along the way helped to provide inspiration to do some exploring myself. The chapters are meant to resemble tutorials, but are not really step-by-step guides. I was able to purchase this title used for under $10, so it was worth it to me to have this included in my library of digital art books. My overall rating is good for this text.
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★★★★★
Barry R –
This book completely fails to live up to either its title or subtitle. Its not that the book is that bad, it is just terribly mistitled. Although it provides some useful process tutorials and some tips for beginners, it comes nowhere close in scope to biblical proportions.
However it is in the big claim of “bold visions” that it so miserably misses the mark. While the artwork is fairly good and even quite good in some instances, technically and compositionally; the content is for the most part an uninspired rehash of worn out futuristic themes particularly in its supposedly visionary architecture. What we get here, page after page, are cringingly cliche pointy towers spreading out radially at the base into an otherwise banal 1970s griddy boxey cityscape sometimes with a few streamlined forms added here and there for excitement. Please just go to any architecture magazine or do some sightseeing and you will see that the world is already lightyears beyond this. And very rarely do these buildings compose well into their settings. Even the implausible structure on the cover is a sorry stab at the overdone heavy metal/industrial theme. No originality here. In fairness, this problem infects much of futuristic visionary art world. But there is some great stuff out there.
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★★★★★
S. Slack –
Not super informative but has some nice fundamental lessons for composition with lots of illustration. Glad to have it in my collection, it was a fun read and fully worth the money.
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★★★★★
SUSANA GRANDA –
Me ha llegado una semana antes, la tapa está bastante desgastada, pero las hojas en muy buenas condiciones para ser de segunda mano. Estoy contenta con el producto y el precio.
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★★★★★
Florent Cote –
Ce livre couvre tous les éléments du digital painting en donnant des exemples et conseils sur les outils matériels et logiciels, l’utilisation de custom brushes, des calques, etc…
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Dell Rosa –
I bought this book hoping it would have some far out imagery to inspire me. I was not disappointed. Gary Tonge is a talented digital artist and his creative streak really shows through. This is not, however, much of a how to book. The examples are brief step by steps. If you’re looking for a PhotoShop how too book, this is not the book for you. But if you love SciFi art and like to have desk top references handy of some fascinating art, this is a great book.
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★★★★★
Mistrale –
Love this book
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★★★★★
Jon Redfield –
This book is so beautiful that I chastised myself for getting finger prints on the pages, which I’m afraid is hard not to do. The images in this book alone are worth the price, but the author’s walk through of each painting makes it priceless.
A quick note, this book isn’t for beginners (not that it claims to be). It goes over some basics of how to paint in Photoshop. Unfortunately, there’s an artistic jump from the basics that are covered, to the paintings that are presented later in the book.
Again, the book doesn’t claim to be for beginners, but as a beginner myself, I appreciate the topics covered and, once I advance enough to be able to draw from my imagination, as opposed to only what I can see, I will refer to this book often. Until then, the images within will serve as great inspiration and a benchmark to aim for.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Mary –
This book not only showcases beautiful and inspiring works of art, it provides advice and guidelines for artists hoping to develop their talents further. Be aware that the book does NOT provide step-by-step instructions, lists of tools, etc. on how each piece is done; that’s to its credit. Rarely do artists do things in the exact same way. Gary Tonge simply presents his work and explains the concepts and processes that went into it. There are some examples of composition provided, although not with concrete rules, and an explanation of how light diffuses in some of his pieces, as well as sections on the importance of color, scale, perspective, and texures. This is not a rulebook or a stiff outline of steps. This is a guidebook. It offers suggestions and leaves the interpretation up to the reader. If you want a step-by-step tutorial, this is not for you. If you want inspiration and an understanding of what makes Tonge’s art so dynamic, it’s an invaluable text regardless of your choice of medium.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Dr.Hyde –
Gary Tonge, ist ein Meister seines Fachs. In der Concept Art Branche seit langem bekannt und gefeiert, wird dass auch jedem klar der vorher noch nicht von ihm gehört hat, sobald er dieses Buch aufschlägt. Die Bilder sind atemberaubend schön und von ausserordentlicher Komposition. Das Buch selber ist hochwertig verarbeitet, der Druck fehlerlos und macht somit auch im Bücherregal oder der privaten Sammlung gut was her. Tonge gibt Schritt für Schritt Anleitungen die seinen Schaffensprozess wiederspiegeln und dem Leser auf diese Weise, den großen Aufwand an Denkprozessen, Vorbereitung und Ausfertigung eines Werkes näherbringen. Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt dabei auf Landschaften und Urbanen Umgebungen. Aber auch auf Fantasy Charaktere und Transportmittel und Maschinen finden in Bold Visions ihren Platz. Ich kann es jedem angehenden und fortgeschrittenen Digital Artist nur wärmstens ans Herz legen.
Was man nicht erwarten darf: Dieses Buch gibt den Schaffensprozess digitaler Kunst wieder – es gibt nur bedingt Auskunft über die fundamentalen Grundsätze der Kunst. Wer also die Grundsätze wie: Komposition, Form, Farbe und Licht, sowie die handwerklichen Fähigkeiten noch nicht beherrscht, sollte sich zunächst anderen Werken zuwenden. Für angehende Digital Artists/ Concept Artists die, die oben genannten Fundamente bereits studieren und/oder verinnerlicht haben, sowie für Sammler und Freunde der digitalen Kunst allerdings kann ich es bedenkenlos empfehlen.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
BlahMan –
Good book, I’d say it goes hand-in-hand with Digital Painting Tricks & Techniques: 100 Ways to Improve Your CG Art. Get both for a good intro and skill development in digital painting!
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
V. Hutson –
Beautiful images, great price, and a good overview of the steps Gary Tonge uses to create his spectacular fantasy and science-fiction paintings.
I keep looking for a book, or DVD, that will provide very detailed step-by-step directions for creating digital drawings and paintings from scratch using Photoshop. One that is designed for the beginner, but advances rapidly. I guess my unrealistic hope is to find material that takes me through the process in “baby steps” with directions like “I used this specific brush, with these settings, and this color to paint this area. Then I switched to this specific brushe and color and painted this here.”
While this book doesn’t get that specific–it does provide a good overview of the steps Mr. Tonge uses to create about a dozen different images. For example, his chapter on “Bringing a Fantasy Landscape to Life” includes 15 steps along with screen shots. In addition he has included useful information regarding composition, lighting, scale and perspective, with illustrations on how these are used in his work. And for the price–I don’t think you’ll find a better book. If you do, let me know!
One recommendation I have for the second edition of this book would be to include a CD or DVD with a video showing the step-by-step processess for one of his paintings! I’d pay double for that!
Haunted Nostril –
I have been scribbling and colouring ever since I can remember, and have worked as a graphic artist in many different capacities throughout my adult life, and as such I fully understand that you never will, or can, know it all when it comes to an ever shifting and growing subject matter such as art. So when a resource you feel would be beneficial to your craft comes along you should grab it with both hands and absorb it wholesale and this, people, is one such resource. This is a book of tips and hints that will benefit the digital painting initiate hoping to add more depth to their work: starting with primers on perspective and lighting and working on from there. However there is much to be gained for the more seasoned artist as a glimpse into another artists technique can help to bring new perspective to already inspired and accomplished work. Also as an indispensible wealth of tips and hints there is bound to be a good few things that help you streamline your workload in here (or even something you may have a more effective method of achieving which will make you feel good about your work!).
Now I have read one or two (and I do mean one or two) middling to bad user reviews of this gem on a few other sites and they all boil down to one glaringly obvious point: this book cannot teach you how to draw and will not inject you with a talent that you may not have the capacity for. Some people will always expect too much but if you take note of the cover which states ‘for fantasy and science fiction artists’ you can’t go far wrong. If you want to try and boost your basic drawing skills a beginners guide to such things is going to be more up your street, this book assumes you have some skill with a pen, paper,certain programs and a graphics tab/mouse: and if you possess these things you will at one point of another make great use of this excellent guide (and impressive gallery of work).
book_hero –
I was excited to get this book, although it did not mention the artist I was hoping it would feature. The book was fun to read and along the way helped to provide inspiration to do some exploring myself. The chapters are meant to resemble tutorials, but are not really step-by-step guides. I was able to purchase this title used for under $10, so it was worth it to me to have this included in my library of digital art books. My overall rating is good for this text.
Barry R –
This book completely fails to live up to either its title or subtitle. Its not that the book is that bad, it is just terribly mistitled. Although it provides some useful process tutorials and some tips for beginners, it comes nowhere close in scope to biblical proportions.
However it is in the big claim of “bold visions” that it so miserably misses the mark. While the artwork is fairly good and even quite good in some instances, technically and compositionally; the content is for the most part an uninspired rehash of worn out futuristic themes particularly in its supposedly visionary architecture. What we get here, page after page, are cringingly cliche pointy towers spreading out radially at the base into an otherwise banal 1970s griddy boxey cityscape sometimes with a few streamlined forms added here and there for excitement. Please just go to any architecture magazine or do some sightseeing and you will see that the world is already lightyears beyond this. And very rarely do these buildings compose well into their settings. Even the implausible structure on the cover is a sorry stab at the overdone heavy metal/industrial theme. No originality here. In fairness, this problem infects much of futuristic visionary art world. But there is some great stuff out there.
S. Slack –
Not super informative but has some nice fundamental lessons for composition with lots of illustration. Glad to have it in my collection, it was a fun read and fully worth the money.
SUSANA GRANDA –
Me ha llegado una semana antes, la tapa está bastante desgastada, pero las hojas en muy buenas condiciones para ser de segunda mano. Estoy contenta con el producto y el precio.
Florent Cote –
Ce livre couvre tous les éléments du digital painting en donnant des exemples et conseils sur les outils matériels et logiciels, l’utilisation de custom brushes, des calques, etc…
Dell Rosa –
I bought this book hoping it would have some far out imagery to inspire me. I was not disappointed. Gary Tonge is a talented digital artist and his creative streak really shows through. This is not, however, much of a how to book. The examples are brief step by steps. If you’re looking for a PhotoShop how too book, this is not the book for you. But if you love SciFi art and like to have desk top references handy of some fascinating art, this is a great book.
Mistrale –
Love this book
Jon Redfield –
This book is so beautiful that I chastised myself for getting finger prints on the pages, which I’m afraid is hard not to do. The images in this book alone are worth the price, but the author’s walk through of each painting makes it priceless.
A quick note, this book isn’t for beginners (not that it claims to be). It goes over some basics of how to paint in Photoshop. Unfortunately, there’s an artistic jump from the basics that are covered, to the paintings that are presented later in the book.
Again, the book doesn’t claim to be for beginners, but as a beginner myself, I appreciate the topics covered and, once I advance enough to be able to draw from my imagination, as opposed to only what I can see, I will refer to this book often. Until then, the images within will serve as great inspiration and a benchmark to aim for.
Mary –
This book not only showcases beautiful and inspiring works of art, it provides advice and guidelines for artists hoping to develop their talents further. Be aware that the book does NOT provide step-by-step instructions, lists of tools, etc. on how each piece is done; that’s to its credit. Rarely do artists do things in the exact same way. Gary Tonge simply presents his work and explains the concepts and processes that went into it. There are some examples of composition provided, although not with concrete rules, and an explanation of how light diffuses in some of his pieces, as well as sections on the importance of color, scale, perspective, and texures. This is not a rulebook or a stiff outline of steps. This is a guidebook. It offers suggestions and leaves the interpretation up to the reader. If you want a step-by-step tutorial, this is not for you. If you want inspiration and an understanding of what makes Tonge’s art so dynamic, it’s an invaluable text regardless of your choice of medium.
Dr.Hyde –
Gary Tonge, ist ein Meister seines Fachs.
In der Concept Art Branche seit langem bekannt und gefeiert, wird dass auch jedem klar der vorher noch nicht von ihm gehört hat, sobald er dieses Buch aufschlägt.
Die Bilder sind atemberaubend schön und von ausserordentlicher Komposition.
Das Buch selber ist hochwertig verarbeitet, der Druck fehlerlos und macht somit auch im Bücherregal oder der privaten Sammlung gut was her.
Tonge gibt Schritt für Schritt Anleitungen die seinen Schaffensprozess wiederspiegeln und dem Leser auf diese Weise, den großen Aufwand an Denkprozessen, Vorbereitung und Ausfertigung eines Werkes näherbringen.
Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt dabei auf Landschaften und Urbanen Umgebungen. Aber auch auf Fantasy Charaktere und Transportmittel und Maschinen finden in Bold Visions ihren Platz.
Ich kann es jedem angehenden und fortgeschrittenen Digital Artist nur wärmstens ans Herz legen.
Was man nicht erwarten darf:
Dieses Buch gibt den Schaffensprozess digitaler Kunst wieder – es gibt nur bedingt Auskunft über die fundamentalen Grundsätze der Kunst. Wer also die Grundsätze wie: Komposition, Form, Farbe und Licht, sowie die handwerklichen Fähigkeiten noch nicht beherrscht, sollte sich zunächst anderen Werken zuwenden.
Für angehende Digital Artists/ Concept Artists die, die oben genannten Fundamente bereits studieren und/oder verinnerlicht haben, sowie für Sammler und Freunde der digitalen Kunst allerdings kann ich es bedenkenlos empfehlen.
BlahMan –
Good book, I’d say it goes hand-in-hand with Digital Painting Tricks & Techniques: 100 Ways to Improve Your CG Art. Get both for a good intro and skill development in digital painting!
V. Hutson –
Beautiful images, great price, and a good overview of the steps Gary Tonge uses to create his spectacular fantasy and science-fiction paintings.
I keep looking for a book, or DVD, that will provide very detailed step-by-step directions for creating digital drawings and paintings from scratch using Photoshop. One that is designed for the beginner, but advances rapidly. I guess my unrealistic hope is to find material that takes me through the process in “baby steps” with directions like “I used this specific brush, with these settings, and this color to paint this area. Then I switched to this specific brushe and color and painted this here.”
While this book doesn’t get that specific–it does provide a good overview of the steps Mr. Tonge uses to create about a dozen different images. For example, his chapter on “Bringing a Fantasy Landscape to Life” includes 15 steps along with screen shots. In addition he has included useful information regarding composition, lighting, scale and perspective, with illustrations on how these are used in his work. And for the price–I don’t think you’ll find a better book. If you do, let me know!
One recommendation I have for the second edition of this book would be to include a CD or DVD with a video showing the step-by-step processess for one of his paintings! I’d pay double for that!