Flame Tree Fiction

Dreams can transport us to entirely new worlds and universes. Waking up from dreams can sometimes be the most disappointing part of one’s day, especially if it was a vivid fantasy on a peaceful, romantic land – away from the polluted air, the irritable, fluxed traffic and the overbearing paperwork on your desk. On the other hand, a good dream can turn around one’s day completely. Unfortunately, as it stands we are subject to the whims of our subconscious and never fully in control of which turns our dreams will take. It’s amazing to think that technology can do just about anything besides place us where we really want to be – though that may be about to change. For now perhaps the closest we can get to reliving our night time fantasies is through our relationship with art, and this is where Josephine Wall and her our new Gothic Dreams book Celestial Art comes into play. 

And cue the obligatory Game of Thrones finale blog. We won't spoil anything about the latest episode here, but if you're not up to date with the most recent season up to episode 10, then you may want to give this post a miss just in case.

Following Marvel's recent announcement that Thor will now permanently be a woman in the superhero universe, there was some surprise from onlookers. The change is intended to bring a larger female readership to the comic behemoth by speaking directly to an audience 'that long was not the target for superhero comic books.' 

Leslie J. Lee is an American concept artist currently working for Section Studios, a prestigious company based in Los Angeles who have designed and worked with franchises as big as Toyota. The quality of her art is reflected through her achievements, as she has designed for Netflix an online movie website known for its phenomenal success. She has also designed for the ever popular Game of Thrones television series, which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. The complexity of her drawings is breathtaking as the detail she provides is highly admirable. As seen below she presents us with strong and independent characters, each with their own elements of individuality. We are privileged enough to have her explain in depth and step-by-step just how much effort goes into each and every one of her masterpieces.      

In an artistic genre populated by muscular heroes, blood-soaked warriors and impossible vistas, Michael C. Hayes is just one of the talented host of artists that we feature in our upcoming book, Fantasy Art: Warriors and Heroes. Though his work is canonical, his paintings are also innately artistic. Lending equal attention to superhuman fighters and composed portraits of his characters, Hayes' work is a must-see for any fantasy art fan.

Dragons have become ever popular in recent years, fuelled earlier this month by the release of How To Train Your Dragon 2, which was prompted by the massive success its predecessor. Earlier this year there was a lot of excitement over Benedict Cumberbatch's incredible portrayal of Smaug in the second Hobbit film, The Desolation of Smaug. It was agreed by everyone that Cumberbatch's Smaug was impressive, with a fiery presence that really made the film what it was. Which isn't surprising, given that Cumberbatch writhed around on set while saying his lines, to really get into the Smaug spirit. So it's a great time for fantasy fans, and in particular those who love dragons! Here are some of our favourite fantasy dragons in film, T.V. and art today. 

It's been a long time coming, but at last we've made a fabulous illustrated ebook of the hugely successful print title, Dragon Art: Inspiration, Impact & Technique in Fantasy Art. Yes, it's very big, both in terms of dimension and the number of pages (192 pages plus covers), but we've worked hard to create a terrific iPad ready, digital book.  It's available on the Apple iBookstore and is designed for the iPad display which shows off the detailed and glorious art. We're absolutely delighted with it. It'll be on Kobo soon too, and you can download it to the Mac OSX Mavericks because at last you can use iBookson the desktop. We flirted with the Amazon on this project but the designed pages look so terrible you wouldn't want to open it again!!

We've just released a gorgeous digital edition of a brand-new book: Fantasy Art: Warriors & Heroes. 192pp pages of artwork, showcasing amazing paintings from fabulous contemporary artists. It's available on the Apple iBookstore and is designed for the iPad Retina display which shows off the detailed and glorious art. We're very excited to see what you think!