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ARTBOOKS OF FANTASY, ADVENTURE
& NOSTALGIA !!

Paper Tiger's Bruce Pennington books
   Ultraterranium - The Paintings of Bruce Pennington
   Eschatus
                                             (1992/1976 - Paper Tiger)  ">

Ultraterranium - The Paintings of Bruce Pennington (1992) (by Nigel Suckling) I feel Bruce Pennington found that sweet spot somewhere between fantastical vision and realism that accounts for the wide-spread popularity of his work. This 128-page book pulls together a good overview of the main body of his career with 103 pages of dedicated large reproductions and another nine that gather two-or-more images. Note that 48 pages are employed in exhibiting 24 of his sweeping vistas spreading across the central gutter, with all but two remaining satisfying in that presentation. The captioning is conservatively precise with just the title, creation-year and the use to which the pieces were put. The remaining text pages comprise a basic biography that is then added considerably to with healthy chapter openers for: Science Fiction, Gothic Horror, Prophetic Visions, Fantasy, and Art For Art's Sake. All in all, a very handsome volume.

Eschatus (1976) This large 12-by-12-inch volume was another of Paper Tiger's 1970s 'head shop' favorites, later editions being sub-titled "Future Prophecies From Nostradamus' Ancient Writings", spelling out for you that the presentation of those prophecies is the dominent thrust of this book (indeed, 28 pages are completely taken-up with text about them and corelations from the Bible). 57 pages, of the book's 89, each feature its own singular image. There are no multiple-image pages, but 32 of those art pages are utilized to present 16 really large vistas (none are particularly troubled by the central gutter). All the art (and accompanying prophetic poetry) is framed by dark black borders. Pennington's Ultraterranium (above) scores as a significantly better presentation of his art, but only nine of these Eschatus exhibits are found also within it. So, this book is slighty ungainly, but I think the larger presentation will be welcomed by most.