Taking Sides: Chris Achilleos vs Boris Vallejo

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aka The 80s Fantasy Art Thread

Do you or have you ever bought any Paper Tiger books? Were they good? Has anyone here ever drawn any of this stuff? How uncomfortable would a chainmail bikini actually be, anyway?

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 24 July 2003 10:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Razzle. It's more honest.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Are these hem-hem adult publications?

― RickyT (RickyT), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:16 (twenty-two years ago)

They were "art books" wot contained within wretched (oft mucho airbrushed) fantasy pictures. About fifty percent were of statuesque barbarian ladies wearing chain mail floss with big swords (all the better for penetration) standing near a dragon or some such rubbish. The rest of the books had blokes so you could pretend like, it was a proper art book and not something to help your fourteen year old clammy hand busy.

At least this is what I surmised from arousal - I mean perusal in the local bookshop.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:18 (twenty-two years ago)

They were kind of like a subcultural Taschen except where Taschen has books of Proper Art as well as 1000 Nudes etc. Paper Tiger's 'respectable' books were Roger Dean album cover collections!

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:26 (twenty-two years ago)

It looks like Uday Hussein had a great collection of this stuff, judging from the report on Ch4 news last nite.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Judging by the barbarian-art T-Shirt we saw mingling with the mullets and trucker hats on Friday evening this sort of thing is going to be big with the hipsters this winter.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Were you hangin' in Hoxton on Friday or something?

― RickyT (RickyT), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:44 (twenty-two years ago)

No we went to Tate Britain for the Bridget Reilly free viewing and there was an event there or nearby which closed out at about 9 and our pub was suddenly full of hipsters.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:45 (twenty-two years ago)

(Who like us know the value of a freebie).

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 24 July 2003 11:49 (twenty-two years ago)

BROM

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Thursday, 24 July 2003 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember the big one back in the 70s (and for all I know still) was Frank Frazetta. My little sister always had his calender, with girls in chainmail being rescued/menaced by barbarian dudez.

― Layna Andersen (Layna Andersen), Thursday, 24 July 2003 16:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Frazetta is kind of the Old Master but IIRC he did actually do some kind of narrative/illustrative stuff (like comic strips and stuff) before carving out the barbarian art niche - whereas Vallejo et al did nothing ever but big overripe quasi-Gorean paintings.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 24 July 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Frazetta was a very good comic artist in the '50s, yes.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Thursday, 24 July 2003 17:55 (twenty-two years ago)

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