Barlowe's Guide To Extraterrestrials
Barlowe's Guide To Fantasy
(1979/1996 - Workman Publishing / Harper Collins)

Wayne Barlowe's 1979 book BARLOWE'S GUIDE TO EXTRATERRESTRIALS (created with Ian Summers) was a clever trail-blazing 'field guide' to 50 aliens from classic science-fiction works presented as a painting on the right page with pertinent information on the left one (long alien paintings were allowed to flow across the book's gutter . . .). Along with that, there is a fold-out size-comparison sheet and a 30-page section of drawings, being both working sketches & studies for some of the selected aliens and 'finished' illustrations for another proposed book by the artist (which does not seem to have come to fruition, though the art may have been incorporated into a differently entitled project). Almost two decades later, a new company published the follow-up book, BARLOWE'S GUIDE TO FANTASY, using the same conceit but instead choosing 50 outlandish creatures or human characters from better known fantasy works. This second book did not let the paintings extend over the center which contributed to its scoring better on my presentation scale. It also has a size-comparison sheet and a comparable drawing/sketch section including unassociated works for a different proposed book (also not ultimately published, but seems even more likely to have be used in his HELL projects). Note that as I perused it once more to write this, my original paperback copy of the first book started to fall apart, so that might recommend buying a hardback copy of what will surely be a beloved book through the years.

Related Books

Other Workman releases

In The Stream Of Stars - The Soviet/American Space Art Book

Tomorrow And Beyond - Masterpieces Of Science Fiction Art

DiFate's Catalog Of Science Fiction Hardware [BELOW THE LINE]

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