Dark Labyrinth

by Luis Royo

The Barnes & Noble ReviewLegendary Spanish fantasy artist Luis Royo's collection of darkly erotic paintings and sketches tells the tale of a young artist who apprentices with a master, only to enter a world of shadowy sensuality and sublime horror. The apprentice has admired the master for years but is bewildered by his latest 13 canvases painted black, all completed by the light of the moon. But when the student realizes that all of the paintings have arcane masterpieces hidden underneath, he becomes obsessed with the works and wanders into his teacher's "most hidden inner labyrinth."Illustrating the story of the apprentice's journey to the dark side are numerous sketches and dozens of full-color mixed-media artworks, many of which have never been published before. The new works include "Dark," "The Orc Cemetery," "The Counter of Time," "The Dark Visit," "Faerie Wars," and "The Awakening," which appears on the collection's cover.Featuring exquisitely detailed and powerfully unique visions that blur the line between dream and nightmare, Dark Labyrinth is classic Luis Royo; and like the apprentice who becomes obsessed with the haunting imagery hidden behind the black canvases, fans of Royo's latest will readily embrace the darkness within -- an absolute must-have for aficionados of fantasy art. Paul Goat Allen

Genres: Art, Fantasy, Erotica

60 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Luis Royo (born 1954) is a Spanish artist, best known for his fantasy illustrations published in numerous art books, magazines, and various other media including book and music CD covers, video games and Tarot cards.

Beginning his career as a furniture designer, he was attracted to the comics industry in the late 1970s, and nine years later turned to art as a full time career. Within a few years, he was publishing art in many magazines as well as providing cover illustrations for a number of publishers.

Reviews

[HapaDave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is the perfect example of why Royo is so good. Not only is he a talented artist, but he weaves his art around a story, which adds another dimension to the work.

This particular installment involves the story of an apprentice who joins an aging art master whose work has become progessively darker in theme and mood. This trend continues and what you see is what the young man experiences. Not only is each installment of the story interesting, but the art is just breathtaking. The quality of the art is very strong made all the more interesting by the insertion of some development sketches along with the final product. The women are all beautiful, but never stale and there is the occasional appearance of men as well. Royo's work on this one is truly astounding in its quality.

I'd tell more of the story behind the paintings, but you should experience it for yourself.

[Ninja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not his best work, but it's Royo, so the benchmark is high and there's still lots of great imagery. Mostly women in muted grey, with my favourites being Grey Over a Greyer Grey and Dark. A short story of a master painter and an apprentice weaves throughout the book in the style of Poe, or perhaps Pickman's Model by Lovecraft.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the collections released of Luis Royo works, this collection is not among my favorite. It was a mixed bag for me. The art was stunning ( I expected nothing less from master painter like Royo), but the layout of the pages felt messy to me. So it might be more of a issue it made looking/reading the book less enjoyable for me. Non the less I'm happy to have it in my collection.

[Romano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vampires and Male Gaze.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Royo collections. No science fiction art this time; all fantasy, and dark fantasy at that. Mostly women, and not the obvious "pin-up" style that I find so distracting. Some of these pieces approach photo-realism, without feeling artificial.

[Breanna Rose Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful gothic imagery! One of my favorite artists.