OtherWorlds: How to Imagine, Paint and Create Epic Scenes of Fantasy

328 Pages·2010·20.52 MB·English

by  Tom Kidd

OtherWorlds
HOW TO IMAGINE, PAINT AND CREATE
EPIC SCENES OF FANTASY
TOM KIDD
OtherWorlds. Copyright ©2010 by Tom Kidd. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part
of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including
information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except
by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by IMPACT Books, an imprint
of F+W Media, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45236. [phone]. First
Edition.
Other fine IMPACT Books are available from your local bookstore, art supply store
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Library of Congress Cataloging in publication Data
Kidd, Tom.
Otherworlds: how to imagine, paint, and create epic
scenes of fantasy / Tom Kidd. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60061-866-6 (alk. paper)
eISBN 13: 978-1-4403-1361-5
1. Fantasy in art. 2. Painting--Technique. I. Title.
II. Title: How to imagine, paint, and create epic scenes
of fantasy.
ND1460.F35K52 2010
751.45'47 — dc22
20100178603
edited by Sarah Laichas
designed by Jennifer Hoffman
production coordinated by Mark Griffin
METRIC CONVERSION CHART
To convert to multiply by
Inches Centimeters 2.54
Centimeters Inches 0.4
Feet Centimeters 30.5
Centimeters Feet 0.03
Yards Meters 0.9
Meters Yards 1.1
About the Author
Tom Kidd has been a top award-winning fantasy art illustrator for over
twenty-five years. His work has been featured in many volumes of the
Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art series, and he is the
author of Kiddography: The Art and Life of Tom Kidd (Anova
Books/Paper Tiger 2005). He has won multiple awards for his science
fiction and fantasy art, which has encompassed book covers and
interiors, magazines, films and figurines. He has exhibited at many
museums and provided conceptual and design work for companies as
diverse as Disney and American Express. The breathtaking vistas of the
art of Tom Kidd, alias Gnemo, alias Newell Convers, can be mistaken for
no other. Visit his website at http://spellcaster.com/tomkidd and blog
http://kiddography.blogspot.com.
This book is dedicated to my wife Andrea Montague who shares in all my
ups and downs even when I flew in a blimp.
Acknowledgements
I'd like to thank my editor, Sarah Laichas, for patiently shepherding me
through the making of this book and my designer, Jennifer Hoffman, for
making the pages beautiful.
All of the following people graciously took the time to teach me something
that made it into this book: Julia Jackson, Abe Echevarria, Cortney
Skinner, Elizabeth Massie, A.C. Farley, John Pierard, Sergio Martinez,
David Mattingly, Barclay Shaw, Paul Chadwick, Eric Peterson, Rick Berry,
Michael Whelan, Mark Ryberg and the Artlisters.
Contents
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION
Part One
THE BASICS OF GETTING STARTED
Part Two
TECHNIQUES, THEORY & SUBJECT MATTER
Part Three
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
CONCLUSION
FOREWORD
BY MICHAEL WHELAN
Tom asked me to write an intro for this book. I haven't seen the book yet,
but I think it's bound to be good. In fact, I'm sure of it. You see, that was
our deal; I write an intro, Tom gives me a copy of his new book. Then,
hopefully, mysteries are answered: I learn something of how he does
what he does, acquire some of his glorious color sense, absorb his feel
for three-dimensional structure, learn where his fantastic ideas grow from
and how he nurtures them into full-flowered paintings of wonder and
beauty. I imagine that's why you are holding this book, too.
We are going to have to rely on Tom's own words and examples for this
info. I went over his biographical background, asked him some
annoyingly personal questions, and all I can gather is that he is Tom Kidd
the celebrated fantasy and science-fiction artist, more in spite of his
history, than because of it.
His life wasn't so special, as he often points out.
Like many of us, he was born.
He grew up some. He got very sick. (St. Louis encephalitis, or SLEV as it
is called by the CDC, is an uncommon but occasionally fatal nervous
system viral infection, nearly impossible to treat.)
He recovered … but slowly and haltingly.
Nevertheless, he continued to grow.
He read. He was curious. He learned. He drew.
Then —
He got the idea he could make a career out of illustrating.