I have absolutely no talent whatsoever as an artist, but even as a child, I enjoyed visiting art galleries. Growing up outside of Washington D.C., there were lots of good galleries to visit. My favorite was probably the Freer Gallery, which has an amazing collection of Asian art. I also vividly remember a travelling exhibition of the works of Henri Rousseau, with his fantastic paintings of jungles and animals. The art I enjoyed the most, however, was fantasy illustration art, which does not appear in the Smithsonian galleries. I bought lots of Frazetta posters, put up pictures of Roger Dean's dragons in my room, collected the Hildebrandt Tolkien calendars, and ogled the Boris Vallejo covers for the Gor books. In addition to fantasy art, I also love paintings of sailing ships. I avidly read books such as the Hornblower series, and other tales of the age of fighting sail. I had a poster in my room depicting the famous battle between the U.S.S. Constitution and H.M.S. Guerrier during the war of 1812.
When I grew up, I decided to replace the long lost art prints and posters I owned as a child, and
realized that I could actually purchase some originals instead. I began collecting paintings. I have a small, but growing collection of art from some of my favorite artists. This page details the paintings I own, and has information links to some artists and art web sites.
Most of my collection is fantasy art, but I have a few pieces of other art, including some traditional Chinese paintings, modern art, and maritime art. I've included some of these in this gallery as well.
My Collection: Click on these links to see some of the paintings in my collection, a little bit of information about the artist, and a
link to their web site, or other sites on the web that have galleries of their works:
Garth Williams: Illustrations from The Tall Book of Make Believe
Tom Kidd (Gnemo): The Mediator
Stephanie Law: Memory of Lothlorien
Geoff Hunt: U.S.S. Constitution off the Barbary Coast
Anna Christenson: Overheard on a Salt Marsh
Clayton Merrell: That Black River
Clayton Merrell: A Corner of the Evening
Blaine Larson: Knights of San Romano
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Fantasy Art Links: The Illustration Exchange
This is the best fantasy and science fiction collector's site on the internet. There are galleries, and a forum made up of a community of fantasy art collectors. Pat Wilshire, the site owner, has a very extensive
collection, and knows most of the big name fantasy artists personally. This site is a great source of
information if you are looking to purchase original artwork or just learn more about the genre.
Worlds of Wonder This is the homepage for Worlds of Wonder, a science fiction and fantasy art gallery run by Jane Frank. Jane is a very nice person and is no doubt the world's most knowledgeable and well-connected sci-fi/fantasy art dealer. I bought my Michael Whelan painting, "Armenia," through her, and she also aided me in arranging several private commissions. There is a great book which lists some of her own private collection, entitled (appropriately enough) "The Frank Collection: A Showcase of the Worlds Finest Fantastic Art."
Epilogue
This is one of the best sites on the net to see some great fantasy and science fiction art from artists you may never have heard of before. There are galleries for both amateur and professional artists. The great thing about this site compared with the Elfwood site (which has much the same format) is that the artwork is pre-screened by moderators who eliminate the stuff that has little artistic merit. As a result, you don't have to wade through a hundred horrible images to find one that is nice. There are lots of very talented artists here, and lots of amazing art.
April Lee Fantasy Art Links
Lots of great links to individual artist pages and other fantasy art related sites.
Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists
The art association that grants the "Chesley" awards for artistic excellence in the Fantasy/Sci fi
fields. Artist information and portfolio pages.
Archker's Fantasy Gallery
An on-line gallery of art from lots of famous and not so famous fantasy artists
Chimera Publishing
Lots of nice fantasy art prints from well-known artists
Daydream Graphics
A collective site of a number of well-known fantasy artists
Demon's Image Archive
A good on-line gallery, with art from all of the Tolkien calendars.
The Duirwaigh Gallery
This is an art gallery specializing in fansasy and romantic art. They represent a number of famous artists, as well as a number of up and coming artists. You can browse their on-line galleries and view some of the paintings which are for sale. Among the works for sale are paintings by Kinuko Craft and Stephanie Pui Mun Law.
Elfwood
This site has on-line galleries and forums for amateur fantasy artists. Some really good stuff,
some horrible stuff, and lots of mediocre stuff.
Slawek's guide to SF, Fantasy, Space and Surreal Art
This is one of the best collections of fantasy art galleries and links on the internet
ArtHistory CC
This is an excellent collection of fantasy art galleries.
KR Web; Artwork Central
This site has tons of links to artist galleries.
Other Fantasy Artist Homepages
If you would like to contact me with questions or comments, I can be reached