#wayne barlowe

[vintagerpg]

Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials (1979) is a fun little book that looks at aliens from a variety of science fiction stories through the (slightly) in-universe framing of a field guide, complete with notes on ecology and biological functions.

Artist Wayne Barlowe’s selections are an interesting cross-section of the genre (I don’t recognize a lot of them, honestly) and his interpretations (of the ones I do recognize) always walk the fine line between capturing something essential that I pictured in my mind’s eye while also being surprising or unexpected in many ways. Among the beasties I did not photograph are the Overlords from Childhood’s End, the Puppeteers from Ringworld, the Izchel from Wrinkle in Time, the Masters from the Tripod books and Ursula Le Guin’s Athshean.

In a way, the Guide feels like an extension of the larger interest in fantastic art in the ‘70s, embodied most in the Gnomes, Fairies and Giants books. It, and its Fantasy companion (see tomorrow) certainly wouldn’t come out today, but for me, they’re just amazing. They gave Barlowe a whole book to draw monsters and aliens; monster and alien enthusiasts like me got a pile of rad illustrations to look at; and a stack of sci fi writers got low-key advertising for their works. Wins down the line.

Worth mentioning that this is likely a direct inspiration for Call of Cthulhu’s pair of Petersen’s Field Guides (Cthulhu Monsters and Dreamlands), right down to little nuances of layout formatting. I would bet that they were also on someone’s mind when the Ecology articles began to appear in Dragon Magazine (those started in ’83 with the Piercer).

#roleplaying game #tabletop rpg #dungeons & dragons #rpg #d&d #ttrpg #Wayne Barlowe #Barlowes Guide To Extraterrestrials

[retroscifiart]

Art by the legendary Wayne Barlowe

#Wayne Barlowe

[thewindowofthesummerhouse]

Wayne Barlowe

#Wayne Barlowe #illustrations #surreal #macabre #horror #dark

[sandmandaddy69]

Wayne Barlowe

#Wayne Barlowe

[tachyonmemories]

Paintings and Drawings by Wayne Barlowe for an unrealized project called "Cryptozoo." Barlowe hasn't revealed much about it other than that he's written a screenplay for it and has been shopping it around for years now. Personally I can't imagine how this would work as a movie, but it seems ideal for the Barlowe's Guide format...

Griffin

Phoenix

Manticore

Another sketch for the Griffin design

#wayne barlowe #cryptozoology #manticore #griffin #phoenix

[ordheist]

NEW RELEASE

8 page mini zine (9.5x7cm) in my store. little alien guidebook in an indecipherable language, but within are some human scrawlings to guide the inheritor of this booklet to safety.

only £2.50! check it out https://ordheist.bigcartel.com/product/you-ll-need-this-zine

#illustration #character design #art #artists on tumblr #scifi #sketch #comic #concept art #my art #alien #zine #handmade #fantasy #dnd #ttrpg #rpg #guidebook #wayne barlowe

[vintagegeekculture]

Artist Wayne Barlowe’s vision of Hell in Inferno. 

#hell #wayne barlowe #inferno

[70sscifiart]

Wayne Barlowe

#Wayne Barlowe

[antediluvianechoes]

Nanotyrannus, Wayne Barlowe, 1995

The juvenile rex prowls the beach for stranded fish and sea things. Alas, the waves provide nothing today, not even a storm-tossed shark. After some steps across the wet sand, he spies a pterosaur skeleton, half buried like hastily abandoned picnic knives, but it has already been scraped clean by crabs and flies. Something else stirs to the rex's left. Not far away stands a morsel of a thing. It does not appear fast, nor does it have horns or scutes or talons or fangs. In fact, it appears to be the most defenseless creature imaginable. With catlike silence, the tyrannosaur zeroes his red eyes on this new prey. It is you he sees, Reader. Run!

#tyrannosaurus #wayne barlowe #cretaceous

[gebo4482]

Hellraiser (Unused) by Wayne Barlowe

#hellraiser (2022) #hellraiser #wayne barlowe #horror movies #concept art #creature design #cenobite #artwork

[bogleech]

UPDATED etsy grab bags now include: -Any two enamel pins from the drop-down options

-Two additional random enamel pins

-Two random Wayne Barlow Alien trading cards

-Two random “weird n’ wild creatures” cards

-Additional random monster cards/halloween stickers

-Rubber bugs! At least three, and at least one glows in the dark!

-TINY GHOST (actually a glow in the dark knockoff soot sprite)

-Tiny Halo Flood Infection Form

-Random “CREEPY FREAKS” figure now with their original stickers! 30 or 40 possible characters, and I’ll make sure it’s one of the interesting or cool ones

-Stretchy squishy worm-tailed eyeball -Cute detailed mini plastic bat $30 + $4.50 domestic shipping, Cheaper “mini” grab bag HERE:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1449551359/mini-grab-bag-pin-of-choice-random-bonus

#stuff #things #halloween #monsters #animals #science #sci fi #horror #wayne barlowe #bats #toys #art

[vintagerpg]

Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials was well received and won a couple of awards (and a second edition, I think in ’87?). It took a little while for the sequel to emerge: Barlowe’s Guide to Fantasy hit shelves in 1996.

Even though I am not super widely read in either fantasy or science fiction, Barlowe’s fantasy book is the one I really vibe on. Maybe because it allows him to do stuff like Grendel from Beowulf and Gorice from The Worm Ouroboros. Wouldn’t have expected Gideon Winter, the antagonist from Peter Straub’s odd novel Floating Dragon to be included, but he was. Other surprises are the Psammead from Five Children and It and the Saw Horse from Oz.

One of the coolest things about these books is the fold-out size comparison charts. I love a good size-comparison (and again, this is a big feature of those Petersen’s Guides for Call of Cthulhu, and I am sure it came directly from here).

#roleplaying game #tabletop rpg #dungeons & dragons #rpg #d&d #ttrpg #Wayne Barlowe

[retroscifiart]

Art by Wayne Barlowe from Tomorrow and Beyond: Masterpieces of Science Fiction Art (1978)

#wayne barlowe #tomorrow and beyond

[thewindowofthesummerhouse]

Wayne Barlowe

#Wayne Barlowe #illustrations #surreal #macabre #horror #dark #hell #lucifer

[sandmandaddy69]

Wayne Barlowe

#wayne barlowe

[nonebinary-leftbeef]

I would KILL for a video game set on Darwin IV from Wayne Barlowe's Expedition. Like are you seeing this shit???

#i wanna get jumpscared by a butchertree let me get jumpscared by a butchertree #wayne barlowe #darwin iv #expedition 1990 #losing my mind over this book #it's like dragonology for adults