There
are times that I wander into genres that I personally wouldn't work
in but admire those who do. Perhaps it is due to the fact that it's
completely opposite of the subject matter and even color palette that
I work in but I sometimes find myself drawn towards the works of
those who specialize in the genre of dark fantasy. One such artist is
Gerald Brom (which I mentioned back in late September) but another is
Dorian Cleavenger.
"Dance of the Dragon" by Dorian Cleavenger |
Originally
starting off as a free lance artist for large companies at the start
of his career, Dorian Cleavenger soon broke off and started producing
images of his own. As an acrylic painter, the medium allowed him to
work quickly to create pieces in his unique style of nearly realistic
feeling fantasy imagery. It didn't take long for his popularity and
fame to go world wide as word spread through publications of his
work, starting in Germany followed by South Africa, China, Russia,
Belgium and the United States. There are some who would also consider
him one of the top dark erotica artists due to the common theme of
suggested sexuality in many of his pieces.
When it
comes to dark fantasy, it's always difficult to really tell who might
have been influenced by a single person or not. It's mainly due to
the fact that many tend to blend the inspiration and influences from
a handful of artists into their work. Even with this bit of a
challenge, I went about my search and picked out 5 artists to ask my
question:
“With
your beautiful creations, I was wondering if perhaps the dark fantasy
artist Dorian Cleavenger was in some way one of your sources of
inspiration. “
CatherineNodet.deviantart.com
(France)
"Present for Caroline" by Cathrine Nodet |
Website:
catherine-nodet.fr
"No
sorry not at all!
Instead
artists like Mélanie Delon, Linda Bergkvist, Luis Royo, Boris
Valejo... and many classical painters. ^^" ~Catherine Nodet
SteveArgyle.deviantart.com
(United States)
"Praetor's Grasp" by Steve Argyle |
Professional
digital artist living in the United States, Steve Argyle is one of
the favorites of deviantART. Balancing between bloody and beautiful,
he uses a deep rich color palette along with a hefty helping of
shadows which is perfectly countered by an ethereal glow which pushes
the envelope just enough. His subject matter usually consists of
fantasy and scifi with creations of his own imagination and a healthy
dose of Star Wars Universe characters to help fill things out.
Website:
steveargyle.com
"Yep,
that guy is pretty awesome." ~Steve Argyle
"Dead Birds" by Lizzy John |
Lizzy-John.deviantart.com
(United States)
Also
located in the United States, digital artist Lizzy focuses mostly in
the fantasy genre. Presenting characters of her own imagination that
are often for other projects she's involved with or concepts that
come to her. Her choice of color palette actually depends on the
subject matter she's working on but blues, greys and yellows seem to
be a theme in her earlier pieces where as more recently she has
started using more pinks and brown tones.
"Nope,
never heard of him before this note. After a google search I can say
that while we've got a similar dark fantasy theme going on, much of
his work is more sexual than anything I've ever done. He's obviously
got a lot of skill, though.
Thanks
for the kind words!" ~Lizzy
There
has been 2 artists who have yet been able to contact me so as always,
I present to you examples of their work so that you can decide on
your own if they were influenced in some way by Dorian Cleavenger.
michellemonique.deviantart.com
(United States)
A
photographer in the United States, Michelle has already risen up in
the ranks on deviantART in a short period of time with her concepts
and pictures. All of her work is photography (of course) but there
are a portion of them which are enhanced digitally in order to get
the feeling she's after. This can be seen in her works where her
model is cosplaying as a game or movie character. She does have a
list of her clients and the awards she has received posted on her
journal which impressive to see considering she is still fairly young
in the community.
"Eros and Thanathos" by Sara Forlenza |
SaraForlenza.deviantart.com
(Italy)
Digital
artist living in Italy, Sara's works seem to be an even divide
between fantasy and scifi. From Star Wars to World of Warcraft (WoW)
and her own character creations, she shows an amazing amount of
action and emotion in her pieces. It's thanks to her unique style that each piece seems so dark yet vibrant at the same time.
Website: saraforlenza.com
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