Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The Diabolical Zerd!

I'm not a fan of Boris Vallejo and most of his work, especially of the last dozen or more years, but some of his earlier work is okay. This cover helped entice me to buy the book, which was therefore doing its job. FYI, generally I find his work too slick and formulated, with too much emphasis on musculature and harsh faces . . . um, that's about it.

Boris — The Dragon — 1978

8 comments:

Will Shetterly said...

I agree with you about Vallejo's finished work. But if you ever get a chance to see his sketches, you may be pleasantly surprised. I was. The guy just doesn't know when to stop.

E.G.Palmer said...

I never had a very strong emotional response to Boris's art either.

I do love the teaser copy above the title though. "Cija's quest to protect Atlan from destruction by the diabolical Zerd!" Awesome!

Thomas Haller Buchanan said...

Oh! You reminded me of what I was going to title the post and then forgot! I'm going to change it now.

Thomas Haller Buchanan said...

Will, I like some of his drawings, but truly I haven't seen his sketches.

Kid said...

I can see why you'd like this. I want to marry her.

Malcadon said...

I also agree about his painted works. What I dislike most is his his use of green on the skin. At times, they look too sickly!

Anonymous said...

His early magazine covers have some life to them: http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/savage-sword-of-conan

Bob said...

Hello Thom -- Good call on Boris. I remember being very impressed by his work when I was a boy, but, as I grew older, I saw that it was the same picture over and over again. And the same two models! I think there was an odd undercurrent of narcissism in his work that I found distasteful -- though, of course, all of these things are subjective!