Rating: 
Summary: "Fantasy Art Masters" Great for Fantasy Art Fans
Review: "Fantasy Art Masters" has a lot of different media and a wide variety of fantasy art methods. This book has everything from futuristic, sci-fi art to The Hobbit. Some are a little over the top. The color is fantastic as is the quality. The style of writing leaves a little to be desired, though.
Rating:
Summary: More "Okay" Than "Wonderful"
Review: "Fantasy Art Masters" is something of a misrepresentation. Sure, I'll accept Alan Lee as a "master", but Gambino or Stone or Maitz? Hardly. There is some excellent art printed throughout the book, but there are also an equal number of works that could best be described as unintentional kitsch, starting with the cover. And if this book is meant to represent fantasy artists "worldwide" (with less than a dozen contributors, all from the U.S. or England), where are the creators from Japan or Germany or Spain? "Shadowfire" may dis the "Spectrum" books for reasons known only to him/herself, but "Spectrum" certainly features a much wider selection AND larger quantity of EXCELLENT art than can be found in "Fantasy Art Masters."
Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: A wonderful resource for the fantasy/sci-fi artist, or art-lover. Packed with inspiration from some of the greatest artists in the field, with beautiful color art and pages of information quoted from the artists themselves. It shows the process of idea forming, creation and much more.It was one of the first books I purchased when I became interested in the fantasy/sci-fi art field, and proved to be very insightful when looking at the various ways artists approach their work. As a competitive and often undervalued genre in the traditional and digital art worlds, it was extremely helpful to find a book that was written from several different perspectives and an excellent display of the variety that can be found in fantasy art today. I wouldn't consider this book to be a "showcase" of art strictly, but there is still a good selection of pieces from each of the artists that are highlighted. If you're looking for a collection of fantasy art without so much of the written explanations, try one of the Spectrum collections, Spectrum 8 being the most recent.
Rating: 
Summary: The title may be misleading but it's still a good book
Review: Despite the negativitiy of some of our reviewers, this is an excellent collection of fantasy art. Many of the artists that people have mentioned that they think should be in this book already have had volumes published anyway. I especially loved seeing intial sketches and thumbnails and reading about how each artist worked. AND despite the naysaying of "traditionalists," computer art is here to stay... and this is coming from a person with a traditional fine arts background.
Rating:
Summary: Vastly superior to Spectrum
Review: Fantasy Art Masters presents many classic and renowned art masters such as Lee, Brom, Berry, Burns, Stone and many others, grouped into three subdivisions: those who work solely in "physical paint" - hairy sticks and pigments, as Don Meitz puts it; those who augment their work through digital means - Jim Burns and Rick Berry are good examples; and, finally, those who work solely in the digital - like Steve Stone and Dave McKean. The book displays some of their best art - from Howe's "Gandalf on Errand" through Burns's "Kaeti on Tour". The transition to paper has been made extraordinarily well, with no discolouration or smudging of any sort, and most of the pieces are followed by descriptions of what led to their creation. Also, the artists share their own insights into the technique of art and the future of fantasy art in general. This is a marvelous compilation of the highest-quality art in the field. I consider this work a must-have for anyone interested in the field of science fiction and the visual imagery in such.
Rating:
Summary: Vastly superior to Spectrum
Review: Fantasy Art Masters presents many classic and renowned art masters such as Lee, Brom, Berry, Burns, Stone and many others, grouped into three subdivisions: those who work solely in "physical paint" - hairy sticks and pigments, as Don Meitz puts it; those who augment their work through digital means - Jim Burns and Rick Berry are good examples; and, finally, those who work solely in the digital - like Steve Stone and Dave McKean. The book displays some of their best art - from Howe's "Gandalf on Errand" through Burns's "Kaeti on Tour". The transition to paper has been made extraordinarily well, with no discolouration or smudging of any sort, and most of the pieces are followed by descriptions of what led to their creation. Also, the artists share their own insights into the technique of art and the future of fantasy art in general. This is a marvelous compilation of the highest-quality art in the field. I consider this work a must-have for anyone interested in the field of science fiction and the visual imagery in such.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: I got this book for christmas present and I was suprised, great illustrations from alan lee, john howe, brom, dave mckeane and chris moore. highly recommended!!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was pretty excited when I saw this book, but it was quite a let down when I received it. Over half of the book deals with science-fiction instead of fantasy and it also includes lots of computer made art. The best artists of the fantasy art world were left out. There are some interesting pieces in this book, but it was not really what I was hoping for.
Rating: 
Summary: Not
Review: The title does not fit the context. True the artist are good ,almost masters if you will. Where are Frazetta,TerBush,Vallejo,Welan,Caldwell,Dali,Byrd,Larson,Hoffman,Sorayama,H.R.Giger,Bell? even Craig Fraizer Would have been a welcome sight. Maybe I should have read the intro better, than to reley on the title. There are some fairly good artist here but they are not what a fantasy art student would rely on for inspiration. I was really disapointed when I got to the section of digital imagery(almost half the book), When did pure art cross with computer generated graphics,If this is the standard acceptable to fantasy art Masters, My 12 year old will be the next Frazetta without even touching a paint brush. That is a line that should not be crossed when giving title to a master artist. They are two seperate catagories. A master Spends most of thier life studing color,comp.subject matter,lighting and transforms them from thier mind to a canvas to portray feelings and mood. A computer does most of the work for you,import a jpeg,bitmap,a few filters,add some layers,distortion options,reverse colors (hey cool),adjust the color setting, maybe use someone elses ideas and alter them at wim. Viola A Work of Art? A slightly disappointed purist.Yeh that's me
Rating:
Summary: A GOOD BOOK FOR FANS AND ILLUSTRATORS OF FANTASY ART.
Review: This 4.5 star book covers a wide variety of illustrators of traditional and computer media. Although this book is lacking in showing how the illustrators work it shows a good amount of artwork in progress by each of the illustrators shown. In my opinion Don Maitz and Brom are the only ones in this book that deserve the title on the books cover.
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