Sometimes you just have to stare be thankful someone can paint this stuff.
January 31, 2006 11:25 PM   Subscribe

Kim Taylor's Online Art Gallery. The beautiful, mystical, and eerily fantastic artwork of Kim Taylor.
posted by gagglezoomer (16 comments total)
 
I totally want to play whatever game these are from.

Quick, someone make a game around this art!
posted by aubilenon at 11:41 PM on January 31, 2006


If I read your sarcasm correctly, I take it this art is from a computer game? Which one?
posted by gagglezoomer at 6:22 AM on February 1, 2006


My thought was: I want to read the fantasy novel these are from...
posted by zia at 6:33 AM on February 1, 2006


I think what you should take from the comments is that this stuff looks like your basic Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel cover, or the opening animation to a new Final Fantasy game or maybe the cover to the 2007 edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Which isn't to say it's bad, but just that it is incredibly genricized (I think I just made up that word).
posted by spicynuts at 7:05 AM on February 1, 2006


ooh great word, genricized.
posted by jrb223 at 7:27 AM on February 1, 2006


I'm with spicynuts: this looks like total geek art.
posted by rhymer at 7:42 AM on February 1, 2006


But I won't hedge my bets: I do think it's quite bad.
posted by rhymer at 7:42 AM on February 1, 2006


Well, I was saying 'it's not bad' based on the genre. I mean, as art, it's shite. But within the genre it's not bad.
posted by spicynuts at 7:58 AM on February 1, 2006


Not meant for a museum sure, but sometimes I am a big fan of substance over form, know what I mean?
posted by gagglezoomer at 8:01 AM on February 1, 2006


Fantasy art is a big turnoff for me, but this artist has quite a range...not bad.
posted by kozad at 8:39 AM on February 1, 2006


I mean, as art, it's shite.

Care to defend that? I think it's very pretty, and if the subject matter suffers from overexposure and cliche, well, not every piece can be a Guernica.

The artist was born in South Africa and now lives in London; he is in his early twenties, works as a matte painter for The Moving Picture Company and goes by "sketchling" online. More information and images here, here and here.
posted by sennoma at 8:54 AM on February 1, 2006


I'll defend it by saying the following:

1) Pretty does not good art make. Watercolors you can buy at Restoration Hardware are pretty too. So are the countless anonymous calendars full of flower and sunset and wildlife photography available at Wal Mart. Doesn't make them good art.

2) There is nothing in this work that transcends the genre of fantasy book covers or even makes it stand out from everyone else that does this kind of work.

3) There is nothing new said or represented in any of the work.

4) Perhaps I should have said as Art with a capital A it is shite. Certainly the guy can paint. But so can a lot of people.

Anyway, I got more involved in this than I really cared to.
posted by spicynuts at 9:03 AM on February 1, 2006


Spicynuts, I wasn't trying to pick a fight -- sorry if it came off like that. I just felt that "shite" was overly harsh. The guy has chops and is entertaining, and deserves more careful criticism than a one-word dismissal. I don't suppose Taylor would disagree with much of what you say -- I doubt his goals, at least with this work, involve "Art with a capital A". Or to put it another way, "art" is sufficiently broad an idea to have room for pretty genre pics as well as the challenging stuff.
posted by sennoma at 9:16 AM on February 1, 2006


Yeah I mean this is clearly not anything anyone should be picking fights over, and I didn't take it that way. And actually, I used "shite" instead of "shit" to notch down the harshness. I may have liked it more if there were more of the traditional half naked warrior sluts that usually accompanies fantasy art.

I kid.
posted by spicynuts at 9:42 AM on February 1, 2006


I like it.
posted by Smedleyman at 9:43 AM on February 1, 2006


I like it too. I'd let him draw the cover on my sci-fi novel.
posted by Citizen Premier at 7:08 PM on February 1, 2006


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