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A Cosmic Cornucopia by David Langford
Josh Kirby's exuberant cover paintings for Terry Pratchett's bestselling Discworld series have spawned dozens of imitators, but no one has yet matched his irrepressible and chaotic humor. As this definitive collection of Kirby's art--including many formerly unpublished works--proves, his vision has many facets. They go from the wildest fantasies to the hardest sci-fi; some images evoke a macabre realm of horror, others portray chilling futuristic landscapes, but all are wondrous. An analysis of Kirby's career and techniques will increase your appreciation of each the Discworld delights, bursting with detail and action; the ghoulish depictions of things that go bump in the night; and the representations of the science fiction worlds inspired by Ray Bradbury and Robert Silverberg. enjoy a comic compendium of interpretations from the pens of authors such as Tom Holt. A visual feast not to be missed, with an informative text by multiple Hugo Award-winner David Langford. 112 pages (all in color), 8 1/4 x 11 3/4.
- GenresArtNonfiction
Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
52 people want to read
About the author
David Langford
200 books43 followersBritish science-fiction author, editor and critic. He publishes the newsletter Ansible.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 3, 2020
Yes its another Paper Tiger - and probably one of the most surprising. Yes the works of Josh Kirby will be forever linked with comic fantasy and the works of Terry Pratchett but there is a lot lot more to Mr Kirby than just that.
Boy was I in for an education.
Now I have seen (and lucky to own) one or two science fiction and fantasy books and I have to say part of these books is the fun of recognising the works of various books reprinted in the pages of the various Paper Tiger books often with descriptions and explanations.
So I thought I knew what I was letting myself in for when I picked up this book - Wrong not only is Josh Kirby and incredibly prolific artist (even though by his own declaration he is a slow artist) but the fact he has illustrated so many books I recognised but did not attribute to his incredibly talented hand.
In fact I almost feel ashamed of how little of his work is his and how varied and creative he truly was. This is a book I know I will return to again and again to learn more about the artist and the massive body of work he left behind.
I am usually cortical of art books which have more words than pictures (come on the hint is in the title) but in this case every page is an eye opener - and then there is the art....
Boy was I in for an education.
Now I have seen (and lucky to own) one or two science fiction and fantasy books and I have to say part of these books is the fun of recognising the works of various books reprinted in the pages of the various Paper Tiger books often with descriptions and explanations.
So I thought I knew what I was letting myself in for when I picked up this book - Wrong not only is Josh Kirby and incredibly prolific artist (even though by his own declaration he is a slow artist) but the fact he has illustrated so many books I recognised but did not attribute to his incredibly talented hand.
In fact I almost feel ashamed of how little of his work is his and how varied and creative he truly was. This is a book I know I will return to again and again to learn more about the artist and the massive body of work he left behind.
I am usually cortical of art books which have more words than pictures (come on the hint is in the title) but in this case every page is an eye opener - and then there is the art....
October 15, 2024
This is an excellent collection of and homage to the paintings of Josh Kirby, published two years before the artist's death at age 72. You'll want to break out the magnifier for this one; his paintings are stuffed with vivid detail, and unfortunately they can't all receive a full 2-page spread in this book. Most of his paintings were for book covers, but there is plenty of other material here: poster art, personal pieces, gallery art and more.
Most of us know Kirby's work from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series covers. The book opens with these, and you'll want your paperback collection on hand to examine as you go. This collection doesn't reprint many extant covers, instead focusing on alternate, unused, and generally lesser-known paintings. The text attempts to summarize the books whose covers are featured, to provide context for Kirby's "action tableaus" which may focus on a key moment in the story, but surrounded by elements drawn from throughout the book. The results are usually comedically grotesque, frenetic and joyful.
But Kirby's professional opus precedes Discworld by 30 years. The book shows an array of work, ranging from his wildly creative fantasy art, to science fiction and horror pieces and more. He was capable of photorealistic paintings and realistic or abstract representation, but his favorite mode is what is immediately recognizable as his style:
(Sorry about the page crease, it does interfere somewhat with appreciation of the piece). The book returns to Discworld at the end, featuring pieces made for related supplementary material in various media. There is finally an index of every known book cover attributed to Kirby, in chronological publishing order, from Kirby's own records and other sources.
Many people would be surprised that some specific work was his, like this Return of the Jedi poster:
Overall, the text by Langford is loving, and respectful of Kirby's wishes. For example, Kirby wished that his early commissioned work done for money and certainly not with love not be displayed.
Kirby describes himself as a slow painter (he even read the books first, before coming up with concepts for the artwork) and, as a result, failed to become rich through producing his art. But he was undeniably a success, both in the SFF publishing world and more generally as an artist, with multiple shows and collections of his art even before his popularity boomed alongside Discworld. And even within the realm of cover art, as Terry Pratchett is quoted (I must paraphrase), if you have a reasonable collection of 60s and 70s SFF paperbacks, you already likely own multiple examples of his work, even if you didn't know it was his.
My favorite part of the affair is that, for Discworld covers, Kirby communicated directly with Pratchett, and not through the filter of publisher's art directors, a system which is likely responsible for most painful cover/book mismatches throughout history (I'm looking at you, Wheel of Time!)
I've owned this book for a while but only properly went through it cover to cover now, and I must admit it's for nefarious purposes. Although the following book appears in the full index of his covers, it wasn't presented in the book for some reason, despite how memorable it is:
I intend to read this very book in short order. Surely the interior will match the insanity of the cover.
Most of us know Kirby's work from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series covers. The book opens with these, and you'll want your paperback collection on hand to examine as you go. This collection doesn't reprint many extant covers, instead focusing on alternate, unused, and generally lesser-known paintings. The text attempts to summarize the books whose covers are featured, to provide context for Kirby's "action tableaus" which may focus on a key moment in the story, but surrounded by elements drawn from throughout the book. The results are usually comedically grotesque, frenetic and joyful.
But Kirby's professional opus precedes Discworld by 30 years. The book shows an array of work, ranging from his wildly creative fantasy art, to science fiction and horror pieces and more. He was capable of photorealistic paintings and realistic or abstract representation, but his favorite mode is what is immediately recognizable as his style:
(Sorry about the page crease, it does interfere somewhat with appreciation of the piece). The book returns to Discworld at the end, featuring pieces made for related supplementary material in various media. There is finally an index of every known book cover attributed to Kirby, in chronological publishing order, from Kirby's own records and other sources.
Many people would be surprised that some specific work was his, like this Return of the Jedi poster:
Overall, the text by Langford is loving, and respectful of Kirby's wishes. For example, Kirby wished that his early commissioned work done for money and certainly not with love not be displayed.
Kirby describes himself as a slow painter (he even read the books first, before coming up with concepts for the artwork) and, as a result, failed to become rich through producing his art. But he was undeniably a success, both in the SFF publishing world and more generally as an artist, with multiple shows and collections of his art even before his popularity boomed alongside Discworld. And even within the realm of cover art, as Terry Pratchett is quoted (I must paraphrase), if you have a reasonable collection of 60s and 70s SFF paperbacks, you already likely own multiple examples of his work, even if you didn't know it was his.
My favorite part of the affair is that, for Discworld covers, Kirby communicated directly with Pratchett, and not through the filter of publisher's art directors, a system which is likely responsible for most painful cover/book mismatches throughout history (I'm looking at you, Wheel of Time!)
I've owned this book for a while but only properly went through it cover to cover now, and I must admit it's for nefarious purposes. Although the following book appears in the full index of his covers, it wasn't presented in the book for some reason, despite how memorable it is:
I intend to read this very book in short order. Surely the interior will match the insanity of the cover.
April 23, 2020
The art of Josh Kirby, the writing of Dave Langford and lots about Terry Pratchett.
Bloody brilliant!
Bloody brilliant!
March 7, 2010
This guy’s artwork is truly amazing! He has a different artistic style that is worth seeing! I came across his book by accident really, while snooping around the Half Price bookstore… one of my favorite places to be… I love bookstores really… partly because I am an author, but also partly because I just love books. I found this gem in with the fantasy art books section and started taking a look quickly through the pictures. His artwork has this cool cartoony faerytale style to it that really grows on you if you are a fantasy lover. Some of his work has this awesome hidden picture inside of a picture that has several designs all in one and you have to look closely to see them all… truly brilliant!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews