Out of the Forests: The Art of Paul Bonner

I am a new artist, and really enjoy Fantasy art, so I researched some artist and came upon Paul Bonner. The art I found online was amazing, so I came across this book of his on Amazon. Let me just say it was worth every penny. The pictures and stories that go along with the pictures is amazing! I would love to find more art or sketchbook of Paul's as he is phenomenal!

I wish this book were longer, or part of a much larger series. I draw so much inspiration from Bonner's work and imaginings. Very inspirational as well. A few of my favorites depict cavernous scenes similar to LOTR, where orc-like creatures, goblins and dwarves pummel one another in heavily armored combat. The book covers pretty much all genres of work Bonner has brought to life over his career, so there is a lot of variety. I really enjoyed the scenes of armored marines riding atop raptors, while firing massive machine weapons. Sitting back with a nice cup of coffee in a quiet room with this book is a heavenly setup for me. I hope this waa informative!

The media could not be loaded.  Paul Bonner is one of the finest fantasy illustrator around. This book is a collection of over 150 paintings he has created for many big name clients, namely Games Workshop, Mutant Chronicles, Fasa, Riot Minds and Rackham.I love his style of mixing stylized creatures, extreme details and a little quirkiness into all his paintings. Imagine a desperate monster holding a human hostage, or maybe an orc wearing the head of a mammoth as helmet. The details in the design of characters, costumes and background makes everything looks so believable.Although his paintings capture a frame in fantasy time, I always imagine what would happen in the next frame, to learn more about the story of that world. The composition is wonderful, always framing the scene when the characters are suspended in action.And all these paintings are done on traditional medium. There are a few photos of his workplace at the back.Throughout the book, there are writeup from people he has worked with. He also talks about his college days, his travels in Europe and his creative process.If you're interested in fantasy art with lots of orcs, dragons, warriors, intricate armour design and dinosaurs, this book is for you. Oh, there are no elves, but there are a few human character designs as well.The book is printed in low gloss high art quality paper.(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

This book is a terrific collection of Mr. Bonner's work. I have seen a lot of these images on his website, but having them in this format really brings a new depth to my appreciation of his skill. One thing that is wonderful about his work is all the details he packs into each illustration. On the web, these details are harder to spot, but with this book I have really come to enjoy searching the backgrounds for all the small details and have been delighted with the discoveries.The selection of illustrations was very thorough as well. There are selections starting from his early work in art school and onwards up through his development as a professional illustrator. The reading experience is also enhanced by the anecdotes the artist throws in about his memories, inspiration and experiences surrounding a particular piece. It really personalizes the work in a way that doesn't come through in any other format. I also really enjoyed seeing the sketchbook studies being used as backgrounds for some of the text pages, it just rounds out an overall great book and I've read it through several times, finding something new and interesting with each reading.

This Book its Amazing 10/5

Paul Bonner is an incredible fantasy artist and displays a great expertise in creating gnarly, muscular monsters with savage looking faces, adorned with rows of vicious teeth or pokey fangs. Many of these images reminded me of miniatures and artwork for role playing games that I played a great deal as a kid. The images in this book are absolutely stunning and will have fans of mythological monsters, goblins and other fearsome creatures grinning from ear-to-ear on every page.

I have quite a few art books, spanning a broad range of subjects and this is up there with the best. Paul Bonner's quirky characters and amazing landscapes really come to life, and as an art school graduate I can really appreciate his command over his chosen media. I didn't really get much out of the dinosaur section at the back, but I certainly can't deny his skill in painting them, and it is easy to see how his love of the extinct lizards has filtered down through many of his monster creations. I constantly find new and interesting little details hidden throughout his paintings (not sure if it's just me, but I seem to find faces hidden all throughout his work, blending into tree bark, rocks, clouds etc. Maybe it's just my imagination...). If you have an interest in fantasy art in general, especially the more classical heroic style, and have ever been into RPG's or wargames, this book is a definite must.

Paul Bonner is an amazing artist. I love the art and characters. It's all very well done and always so dramatic. If he released an updated art book, I'd buy that one as well.

The art of Paul Bonnar is jaw dropping, even more so when you consider it's all real paint - no digital. This is a collection of his work... literally every sketch and painting is ridiculously good in terms of artistic quality, and each game/house he has worked for has it's own style or expression which he's incorporated.Throughout the book Paul talks about his artistic journey at a high level, what he learned, what changed, what he liked about working for a place, and associates of his - often the art directors he worked for - provide their own insightful views.Some of the initial section of the book is a bit 'samey', so I'd urge you to push on into the newer games he did where the phenom really is released - there are few things so original and detailed out there.My only disappointment was that the section on Games Workshop was actually really modest. People talk about Paul "Of GW fame" etc. like he was an artistic pillar of them, however all the GW in here is black and white sketches and the most space-marine'y looking things are actually in his non-GW work. Anyway, if you can get beyond that you'll see and find some amaaazing work.The book itself is a quality hard back with good paper and print quality.

Paul Bonner is most closely associated with his illustration work for Games Workshop, but this excellent hardback book presents a much more rounded showcase of his remarkable output.As one would expect from this publisher, the 100+ illustrations are large and beautifully presented – a well laid-out selection of colour work and drawings supported by explanatory texts and biographical details.It's a great book for anyone interested in fantasy art, with examples of fine draughtsmanship and imaginative composition.You really can't go wrong buying this book – just a shame Amazon haven't provided a “Look inside” option for this one.

My first contact with Paul Bonner's art took place about 15-20 years ago, when I used to play Doomtrooper card game and Warzone, tabletop miniature wargame. Both of them were based on the Mutant Chronicles universe and were illustrated by Paul Bonner. Back then I could stare almost for hours at all his (painted!) illustration. Well, maybe I exaggerated a bit but I loved every single one and I am a great fan of his style.When I spotted this book on Amazon, I could not resist it and bough it straight away!The book is a hardcover and it is printed on high quality paper.It is 176 pages long and it comes with over 150 paintings.We have colour ones, as well as sketches, a big collection created by Paul over 25+ years.Must have for all Paul Bonner's fans!

If you are familiar with Games Workshop then the chances are that you have seen some of Paul Bonner's work. Although you'd need to go back a few years (White Dwarf magazine) to see much more. This book has many of his paintings and ink works from his time there as well as from other commission works. His characterizations are great at bringing the pieces to life and have a very apparent injection of humour(see the black and white ork drawings). If you like your creatures you'll like this.

A stunning collection of artwork by one of the greatest individual talents of modern fantasy art. Paul Bonner's work stands as a unique style that mixes elements of classic watercolour art, beautiful rendering, masterful characterisation, composition and storytelling with a warmth and humour rarely seen in the field. If you are a fan of Brian Froud, Arthur Rackham, mythology, or just beautiful art I urge you to get this book. With the typically high production values one associates with Titan Books these images are shown at their very best.