Polish Art

There is a school of thought that says illustrations are bad for written stories. That the purpose of reading is to exercise your own imagination, creating visuals in your mind’s eye. Proponents of this school will often turn their noses up at any illustrated text as if it were not “true” literature. They will say that of course no artist is as good as your own imagination.

That attitude is elitist bullshit, and don’t you let anyone tell you otherwise. I have always been as much an art fan as I was a reading fan. I expect it’s because I started out reading comics, and moved on to books from there.

I don’t disagree that one of the great things about reading is the medium’s ability to exercise the imagination. Imagination is a muscle, and you need to exercise it regularly, or you risk becoming one of the Dull People of the world. A muggle, if you will.

But I think people who snub illustrations aren’t giving readers enough credit, usually because they are people who cannot appreciate art themselves. There are plenty of times when a well-done illustration can greatly enhance a story with it’s ability to evoke mood on another level from the prose. That is more a boost to imagination than a limit. Even in comics, the reader is forced to imagine quite a bit in order to follow the sequential art story. A lot more than you non-comics readers might think.

I can name dozens of books I bought just because I loved the cover art, and sometimes yes, it would influence my mental image of the characters. But only as a starting off point, giving me a model of the hero or heroine to put through various adventures. But if an artist in either medium produced something that didn’t jive with how I pictured things in my head, I never had a problem creating my own mental image. It’s the same way when I think to myself, “I don’t like the way this guy draws Conan,” but I keep reading the comics anyway, because Conan is awesome.

I’ve said before, one of the best things about having my books published is getting to see what other artists, copywriters, and designers come up with based on my work. I have a childlike sense of glee at seeing my characters, world, and symbology come to life through the covers, ads, and illustrations of different markets.

So far, no market has done as much in this regard as Poland’s Fabryka Slow (which translates to “Word Factory”). As you may recall, they created that awesome video ad for the Polish Launch of The Painted Man last month.

Well, yesterday they sent me an archive file filled with goodies, including some of the source images for the video, as well as a few illustrations I had never seen. Presumably, these are all in the Polish edition. I am totally geeking out over them, so I sought (and was given) permission to post a few of them here. These pictures are copywritten by Fabryka Slow and the artist, Dominik Broniek. Please do not repost them anywhere else without permission.

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge:

I think this is a wood demon. Or maybe a sand demon. Without anything to give it scale, it’s kind of hard to tell. Still, it is a BAMF, isn’t it? Ye gods, I would hate to be out in the naked night when that thing rises from the Core. Run for those wards, Forrest! Ruuuun!”

Cool as the wood/sand demon is, though, it’s got nothing on this wind demon, which is fantastic. Check out those teeth! Oh man, I am geeking out just looking at the thumbnail. The huge wingspan and backwards bird legs are just what I described, and the single steering horn on their heads. Picture a flight of those bad boys circling your wards at night, silhouetted against the moon and stars? Draw a ward in the air and pray to the Creator they don’t find a way in.

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One Arm! Shit yeah! Look at the oozing wound! Like he’s dripping awesome sauce. And he looks PISSED. Like, “Cut off my arm will you?! I’ll eat your soul!”

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This one of Arlen is really powerful, I think. You really get a sense of his pants-shitting terror, hiding behind wards drawn in the dirt that could blow away in a strong wind. And look! The artist used Lauren’s wards! Too cool. I also like the rags Arlen is dressed in, just homespun cloth with heavy stitches, and nothing but cloth and cord tied around his feet. It really captures the desperation and opression the people of Tibbet’s Brook lived in since the Return.

I reckon this is Arrick. I guess it could be Keerin, though. Both Jongleurs play significant roles in the development of POV characters, but since there is no Rojer illustration in the bunch and at least one and maybe two Leeshas, I’m going with Arrick. The illustration also has the feel of an entertainer past his prime, with the rotten teeth and dark-circled eyes. Keerin was a young up-and-comer.

Anyway. I dig it.

This one is definitely Leesha. I imagine it is the night she runs to Bruna. I love the look of terror on her face, and the mud-stained skirts she’s trying to keep out of the way so she can run. So powerful. Dominik Broniek knows his shit.

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Dani and I had a debate as to whether this image was Mery or Leesha. I guess it could go either way; both are pretty, bookish girls with dark hair. You would almost think Arlen has a “type”. I though Leesha but now I’m leaning towards Mery, because of the grimoire she’s holding. But you never know.

Regardless, it’s a great picture.

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But this one… oh man. This is just so fucking awesome. It’s the dessicated corpse of Kaji, the first Deliverer, complete with the Spear of Anoch Sun! Ha! I love it so much I am beside myself! I have been writing more and more of the legend of Kaji as the Desert Spear progresses. A spouse of a friend once suggested I write some short stories from his days in the First Demon War. I think that would be pretty cool, showing how the reality was vs. the legend. One day, perhaps, when I have that thing they call free time. I dimly remember what that feels like….

That’s all for now. If you’re bored, check out this great review Joshua Hill gave the book at Fantasy Book Review.

Posted on December 21, 2008 at 1:36 am by PeatB
Filed under Craft, Musings, Reviews, Writing
11 Comments »