Art of Ice and Fire

[Stego]

I *love* the painting of Winterfell and the painting from the north side of the wall. The first is not how I pictured it, but close.....and the second is exactly how I pictured it.

Fucking PERFECT.

[PhoenixFlame]

Yay!

I love seeing different interpretations of characters. It makes me think of how personality traits can stick out more or less for different people.

[Jayoh]

Im sorry, Im sure this is common knowledge, but who are the artists involved with "The art of Ice and Fire"

[Ran]

I just counted them last night, and it seems there are some 60-65 artists. Lots of people. Names that come to mind include John Schoenherr, Charles Vess, John Howe, Michael Komarck (who provides the excellent cover), Jamie Sims, Stephen Youll, Jim Burns, Franz Mikilos, Martina Pilcerova, Don Maitz, Amok, Jenny Dolfen, Mark Evans, Jean Tay, Thomas Denmark, Anders Finer, John Matson, Steve Stone, Tim Truman, Mike S. Miller, Linda Bergkvist, and Chris Dien.

[Spiral]

The book is gorgeous and any real fan should get one. The images really give much greater depth to the descriptions in the books. A definite keeper.

["Blackfyre"]

I just counted them last night, and it seems there are some 60-65 artists. Lots of people. Names that come to mind include John Schoenherr, Charles Vess, John Howe, Michael Komarck (who provides the excellent cover), Jamie Sims, Stephen Youll, Jim Burns, Franz Mikilos, Martina Pilcerova, Don Maitz, Amok, Jenny Dolfen, Mark Evans, Jean Tay, Thomas Denmark, Anders Finer, John Matson, Steve Stone, Tim Truman, Mike S. Miller, Linda Bergkvist, and Chris Dien.

There are 60+ in the Art Book, but upwards of 100+ different artists for all the official fantasy art done for the series to date. I have a master list showing the different pieces each artists has done.

[Jagged]

So is the art book worth the cash?

[Calibandar]

I don't have it yet but everyone who's received it has been very positive about it. It seems to live up to the expectations.

[Krafus]

I have it and I love it. There's some of the art that I don't like, but in general it's very good. Heck, IMHO the portraits of the Targaryen kings, ending with a full-page pic of Dany, are worth the book's price by themselves.

[DemonKing]

Just got mine in the post today - looks fantastic!

I had to stop looking after 10 minutes and remind myself I was at work, but hopefully I can get a chance to devour it in more detail tonight.

I have to admit I've been pretty impressed with the level of quality of all the non-novel Fire & Ice stuff I've bought so far:

* GoT boardgame.

* Deluxe RPG

* Hedge Knight comics

and now this.

Good to see GRR is signing up the right people for this stuff.

[Marwyn the Mage]

On page 22 in th Art of Ice and Fire, John Howe has made portait for Mad King Aerys. But I cant remember seeing it in Meisha Merlins edition of A Clash of Kings. Could someone confirm this ? Or is it just my memory...

The book is great btw, but I do not like the fact that illustrations originally intended for limited editions (I presume), such Charles Vess work is printed here BEFORE SubPress edition of A Storm of Swords is even released. It just dosent add up to me.

[Andhaira]

How does the art compare to the art in the rpg book?

[Calibandar]

Just looked at the first chapter, which chronicles the Targaryen history up until the time of Robert's Rebellion. Thoughts:

* The Targaryen potraits done by Amok are superb. They're not as small as I had thought, given someone's comments, but I'd seen them in a large frame on the Web already. Some are more succesful than others but all in all, a tremendous job. Personal standouts were Aegon The Conqueror, Jaehaerys the Conciliator, Maegor the Cruel and Daenerys.

* I'm intrigued by Schoenherr's depiction of Aegon, Rhaenys and Visenya. Aegon looks a bit daft with that haircut, but they look very Norse to me. Something out of Beowulf, a look which is somehow fitting. I also think the sisters look Elvish.

* I'm not bowled over by the depictions of any of the dragons. In fact the only one that appeals to me is Mike Miller's Field of Fire. The dragons seem far more narrow, far more sinewy than I had imagined. I had imagined a little more bulk.

There is a wide variety of winged dragons in one's imagination of course, ranging from the snake-with-wings idea as displayed here, to the more massive (sometimes four-legged) dragons you tend to see in usual Fantasy art depictions.

*Really disappointed by the image of Rhaegar, which seems all wrong to me. Short hair for one. Unimpressive, undistinguished look for another. I hope Amok's rendition will be better.

*Excited to see Robert vs Rhaegar by Miller in the book, as well as Baelor Breakspear armoured and on horse. Such awesome characters.

[lokisnow]

Got the book yesterday, gorgeous piece of work. My jaw dropped at the Dany portrait, outstanding job. I think that, the tower of joy illustration, the winterfell portrait and Mark Evans' Bran/Summer are my favorite

Most disliked portrait is Mark Evans' Eddard and Jamie Sims' Arya.

really like Jenny Dolfen's Brother Dear.

[Happy Ent]

I got mine yesterday and am a bit disappointed by the very uneven quality. Many of the illustrations are fan art, or of quality similar to fan art. (I guess these ended up on collectible card games.) Bland lighting, no texture, and poses that are either taken out of an anatomy book or plainly wrong. Terrible airbrush jobs.

Other things are amazing, namely from the professional artists (Vess, Howe, etc.)

All in all, well worth the prize and highly recommended for fans of the series, but not a good art book, even by the uneven standards of fantasy art.

[Maestress of the Sword]

We should take a poll of which of the variations on certain characters (Jon, Jaime, Dany, etc) best match our own vision!

Some of the ones that I thought almost perfectly matched my own mental picture of the character:

1. Sansa building the castle

2. Komark's Tyrion and Cersei

3. p 136 Renly

4. Amok's Oberyn Martell

I was a bit torn between the images of Jon and Dany - each one seemed just a little bit off.

Did I miss it, or are there no unmasked pics of Gregor?

[Miryana Storm]

I was pleasantly surprised I got my copy this fast; Amazon usually takes ages to ship things where I live. One looong post here.

History

Amok's new dynastic portraits should have been bigger. That Dany, though, looks even more perfect in the book.

There's something a bit 'off' about Finér's Rhaegar. I like most of his work but this one is too delicate.

Miller's Field of Fire is very good.

Ah, the madly laughing Dunk on p20. Egg looks sweet on that big horse but I wish some other page from the comic would have been included instead.

Battle on the Trident is one of the best pieces of ASOIAF art there is.

The North

Stone's Winterfell is just wonderful, so cold and immense. Winterfell Throne is also very fitting. The Dreadfort by Miklis is suitably creepy.

Why, why did they choose the worst Robb pic from the card game? At least Bednar's Ned and Roeoesli's Jon fit my mental images.

The things I do for love? Way to remind me of why I hate the twins.

Sims' Arya is more like a dwarf than a little girl; the proportions don't look right.

The Wall and the Lands Beyond

I love the blues of Sworn Brother. Tormund Giantsbane and Wildling Armies are also classy.

Iron Islands

The Seastone Chair, very nice. Ironborn is a proper tough woman of the Islands.

Kingdom of Mountain and Vale

Apart from Robert Arryn, this small section doesn't have much that impresses me.

Riverlands

Why does Roslin get a full page? Did they just really like that pic of her? Sworn to the Wolf King is nice enough, but this is another section where the pics I like best are familiar Amok art, like his Freys.

Westerlands

Komarck does perfect Lannisters. Tywin, Cersei, Tyrion and especially Jaime are as good as I could hope for. I'm surprised they included so much Engle art in this book, though; his characters have no, well, character. His Jaime and the later Loras are just wrong.

Stormlands

Dien is to the Baratheon brothers what Komarck is to the Lannisters. He does a fine Brienne, too. If only they'd have included his Melisandre as well.

Dragonstone Throne and Brienne & Loras Melee are both beautiful pieces.

King's Landing

The Iron Throne is excellent, with the swords and Jaime's golden arrogance.

This section is a bit of a disappointment. The art, whether depicting people or places, is not that high in quality. Shae is fine, though; she's young and pretty enough but there's something a little mean about her.

The Reach

Pleasure Barges of Highgarden really makes me wish we'll get to see them in the books as welll.

Both of Thongvilay's ladies are pretty even though it would have been nice to see more portraits of people we know. But at least we get Finér's Willas.

Dorne

Overall, this one probably has the best quality. No huge misfires.

Excellent Oberyn by Amok/Arianne and Tyene by Taptara. Two Steps Ahead looks a bit too CGI but I like the idea.

The Nine Free Cities and the East

Rather meh. Taptara's Quaithe and Bredy's Jorah are the only ones that stand out. Well, Fire and Blood does have Dany the Golden Zombie Child.

To sum it up, I'm glad I bought this. Even if some pieces make me go "But why did they have to include that card?" others are very true to the books.

[Lady Blackfish]

Miryana, out of curiosity (I don't have the book), is that Robb picture to which you refer this one? I've never seen an age-appropriate depiction of Robb besides Jenny Dolfen's, and don't really like any of the cards but Amok's (though I've only seen the ones available online, I don't play the games).

EDIT: Nevermind, I saw the preview at the FFG site ... yeah not a terrific picture either, that.

[unduli]

I always get a sense of vertigo when I look at The Field of Fire. Very nicely done.

[Miryana Storm]

Miryana, out of curiosity (I don't have the book), is that Robb picture to which you refer this one? I've never seen an age-appropriate depiction of Robb besides Jenny Dolfen's, and don't really like any of the cards but Amok's (though I've only seen the ones available online, I don't play the games).

EDIT: Nevermind, I saw the preview at the FFG site ... yeah not a terrific picture either, that.

It looks even worse in the book. The preview is so dark you can't make out the details, but Robb looks like a 50-year old complaining about something ("Why do I have to fight the Lannisters? I don't want to!"). The preview is superior in that it makes Robb look like he has red hair but the actual picture has grey with a bit of brown.

Robb hasn't had much luck when it comes to card art. The one decent pic in that collection is more like a twentysomething Ned. This is probably the only Robb I've liked.