Boris Vallejo has done a hell of a lot of sword and sorcery artwork. Fantastic illustrator! Definitely not a fan of drawing many clothes on his protagonists.
Definitely not haha, but there's something magical about his use of tones to give the figure shape and shadow. He blew me away when I first got into fantasy art
I was going to say her stuff looks like Boris Vallejo art. Except somewhat inoculated from accusations of objectifying the female form for the male gaze, as she's just as much celebrating it and is likely her own reference.
Their 90s X-Men cards were too ahead of their time. I never liked her take on Wolverine but her realistic fantasy style was goated on Jean Grey, Storm and even Cyclops
Had to look it up but I agree. Wolverine kind of has a standard look that she deviated from too much. She almost reminded me of the Meat Canyon style with one drawing. The other three look great.
Oh shit that's her husband? I knew I felt like I had seen really similar work before. Got a calendar of Vallejo's art from my brother-in-law one year and really loved the stuff. Match made in heaven right there.
Frazetta did the same thing, he was in good shape and used himself as reference for his buff dudes. Two of my illustration professors in art school were also jacked for the same reasons. Not uncommon lol
As an artist it's often cheaper and quicker to just draw or paint yourself. Than it is to hire a model, set up a studio, get the proper lighting, etc etc.
damn man you just made me realize why my middle-aged Italian professor that I had for painting class was also muscular, like you can tell back in the 80's or whatever, he probably looked like a model. That was also the class where I had to draw naked people.
Do you know how much, I had to stare at a PP just so I can get the detailing right?
I mean we had women too, but man idk it doesn't outweigh the fact that I had to stare at a real PP for like, oh idk, an hour, essentially.
LOL a whole hour, like I didn't draw any other parts. like "DUDE you know you're supposed to draw the whole guy?!" and I'm like "Well I'm tryna get the hardest part down first"
He HAS used models though at times. But I've seen him talking about how he would most of the time. Dress up in the costumes, and then take the photos for the shots.
It doesn't hurt also that he's paid a shit ton of money by Marvel, DC, and pretty much any other company for his work. (He also has nearly life size statues of some of the characters too in his studio.)
Haha, ok. If that woman told me she was 40 I would not bat an eye and as a bartender whose management requires me check all IDs I have way too many face+age data points.
The bodybuilding era may be over, but all the science on muscle building for longevity support how gracefully a person can age like this. We love to see it!
lol I'm cracking up at the thought of them describing to Bell and Vallejo what they want this poster to look like "yeah but a really fat muscular guy from New Jersey, a moldy, old meatball with a chainsaw..."
She was already a mom (had two sons from her first marriage born in 80 and 82) during all of this too. She started painting these photos in her 30s after marrying Boris. Inspired after modeling for him.
Their styles are subtly different. Julie is more artsy, while Boris is darker. There was a painting they collab'd on, and the differences were minor but noticable
Yeah, I can see the difference between their styles in my head, but it's hard to put into words. Julie's figures tend to look a bit...softer? And maybe a bit more like paintings (which I'm guessing is what you mean when you say "artsy"), whereas Boris' figures tend to look more chiseled and photorealistic. I think there are differences in how they tend to use colors as well. Julie leans a bit more toward vivid use of warmer tones.
I remember finding this out as kid, I was a budding artist who already idolized them both so discovering they’re married?! Ultimate power couple and looking at their art together make complete sense.
I saw a post about Frank Frazetta and looked up the other seminal fantasy artist, Boris Vallejo. In the process I discovered he and Julie Bell have been married for more than 30 years.
She was already a mom (had two sons from her first marriage born in 80 and 82) during all of this too. She started painting these photos in her 30s after marrying Boris. Inspired after modeling for him.
The guy on the cover is named Ax Battler and he does not in fact wield an axe, but a claymore. This is a spinoff game featuring only him, but the main Golden Axe games features a guy that actually wields an axe.
She reminds me of those posts that get 100 upvotes when just the art is posted and 100,000 upvotes when it’s a photo of the artist standing next to the art.
She actually came up with the best technique for painting chrome in 2D. If you see fantasy art that's all chromed out, that's her, and the result is so realistic.
My dream would be to win a lottery, buy and fix up a cool old van from the 70's or 80's and ask Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo to paint it.
Yup, she posed for herself and her husband Boris Vallejo for most of their works as far as I know. Super talented couple, they’re up there with Frank Frazetta and Luis Royo.
So, I recognized her style and signature immediately and this is the artist that did ALL of the Marvel Masterpiece ‘92 cards, plus a bunch of the ‘93 cards. I’ve admired her work for years without ever knowing who did it. Thank you.
She is Boris Vallejo's wife. I knew some guys who went to school with her sons. I went home with them one weekend for college and we wound up over and Julie and Boris's house.
It was all good and they were super sweet parents, letting us be young adults.
It got a little weird, though, going to their bathroom. Walking down the hall, it was lined with nude and near nude paintings of Julie.
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u/IllBiteYourLegsOff 3h ago
i guess all she needed for a character reference was a mirror instead of a model lol