Sketchbook by Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell with text by Nigel Suckling
01/09/2004 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 

pub: Paper Tiger. 160 page softcover. Price: £14.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-84340-222-X.

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You know how it is. Staff changes at a publishers and we get a few late books.

The nice new publicist at Paper Tiger shunted me the missing books and I'm settling down to a nice read and some interesting art books this month and next.
In some respects, 'Sketchbook' could be regarded as being the equivalent of buying the Vallejo and Bell shopping list as you're seeing the designs rather than the final product.

Leave that thought at the door. This is really seeing Boris and Julie's art in its most raw form at the design level before they bring their models in to do their final paintings. The pencil work here invariably shows how precise they are even without a paintbrush. It also demonstrates how good they are without model dependence.

It's a shame that they've been tied so much into that form, especially as the demonstrations of both real and mythological animals here should really be explored by some of the publishers.

One thing I would have liked to have seen here though is a comparison between these design sketches and the final paintings. Some of them I readily recognised and I suspect their fans are going to be buying this book to do the comparison through the various Paper Tiger releases but it including them would have given even greater appreciation of the work they do.

Although I'm not sure if such a book as this will help learner artists how to improve their own techniques - Boris already has a book out dealing with that after all, it will probably show how much work you need to put in to raise your own standards.
As to the Boris and Julie fans? Well, you've probably got your copy by now and already using it as ammunition against those who claim they rely too much on models.

All right, that's a very good reason but this book should be looked at in its own right as well and it's at a nice price that everyone can afford.

All pictures in this review (c) Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell and used with permission by Paper Tiger. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited.

GF Willmetts