Archive for October, 2005
Miracle of miracles - I’m up to date and thanks to a couple of days off work again courtesy of this blasted virus that has taken up lodgings in me. I have been ordered to rest (i’m surviving on fruit juice, dry biscuits and medication - what I wouldn’t do for a cup of coffee and a cheese sandwich right now). This means that largely guilt-free I have to veg out on the couch with the laptop and browse the net until I get bored (um.. yeh.. like that is going to happen.)
After my last we(blog) I have found all sorts of other things that I think should find a place here. First of all I found a fiddler by the name of Martine Lund Hoel. She is a lovely Norwegian who plays a sweet and mellow instrument called a hardanger fiddle. No CD can be purchased from the website - I suspect that she hasn’t released one yet but she has made 5 tracks available to listen too. The sound quality is very good but be warned you will need to download the flash plugin (available through her site). The tracks are on loop in the background as I write. This is my kind of world music.
Moving on from the aural to the visual I have wandered some interesting little laneways this day. Where to begin? So much to choose from… let me see… Ah yes, Larry Elmore is a good place to begin. Known in gaming circles for his DragonLance illustrations. Not limited to the DragonLance series he freelances too.
While we are here, another illustrator for the DragonLance game is Matt Stawicki Another fine artist.
Next is Keith Parkinson, art director for a computer gaming company and illustrator of the fantastic.
Brom Art is the website for another Dragonlance illustrator. His work can be a little bizarre though. Brooding and dark much of his work is, but there are pieces that glow like the following Lost Song.
Next is the work of Clyde Caldwell. Lots of almost naked women weilding swords. Terrific stuff and great colours. I’m pretty sure he did one of my favourite book covers, but I can’t find it in his gallery.
(One day, when we finally move into a place that we plan to stay in for more than a few years, I will unpack my books and have a look. I think it was an Anne McCaffery called Damia or perhaps Rowan but the cover on the edition featured on Amazon is not the one I am thinking of. )
The next gallery belongs to Jeff Easley. Here be dragons and ghoulies and things that go crash in the night. Another terrific illustrator.
This brings us to our last artist for today. Todd Lockwood a purveyor of the gruesome. His pictures are epic and full of detail.
What a journey through the fantastic eh? These artists are all drawn together with the DragonLance thread. So to bring to a close today’s unanticipated and unplanned we(blog) it went off entirely on its own, I’d like to leave you with a link to a fan site for the DragonLance Saga. It’s called the DragonLance Nexus Here you will find game related artwork by fans. Lots of fans and no, I have never played the game to the best of my recollection though I have been known to indulge in the odd game of Dungeons and Dragons back before I needed a whole nights sleep.
Logging off,
Jools