Offerings: The Art of Brom

Thevartworknis amazing and dark. He LOVES IT.

What a dark pit it was that spewed forth Brom, and how incredibly lucky we are that it did. The devilish visions swirling smoke covered on these pages are frightening, wonderful. Just what the doctor ordered, to shake loose those cold, hardened embers. This artist is eating spiders for lunch washed down with a gulp of torment, yikes. Keep it up Brom, we're waiting for the next one. I would like to see Brom illustrate or write, heck, do both a monstrous Halloween tale.

Brom stacks up as one of the most brilliant fantasy artists working today, and this book shows why. Within you will find beautiful maidens, dastardly villains, valiant heroes, vile beasts, and all manner of other characters fair and foul - each and every one of them marked with the twisted vision of Brom. Brom's art has the ability to send a chill down your spine no matter what image you might happen to be looking at - there is almost always an element of the unsettling in a Brom painting, of impending doom or contagion, and every painting yields something new to look at with each viewing. Another quality inherent in Brom's work is his ability to make the viewer wonder about his images, and construct stories around his characters in his head - you may find yourself engrossed as you construct motivations, origins, and storylines as you flip through this book. Those looking for an excellent book of fantasy art with just the right twinge of horror would well to pick up "Offerings."

This is a good collection of Brom's art... but if you are thinking of buying a Brom book... buy 'Darkwerks' before you buy this book. The art in this collection is more mature and refined in comparison with Brom's Darkwerks collection, but is lacking in quantity and the spontaniety of his card art. He is one of the few artists who rarely uses reference material whilst painting. This approach is evident due to the fact that a lot of the figures have comic-book figure proportions -- which is admirable in this day in age where painters trace from photos. Verdict: Buy Brom's Darkwerks first, buy this after. Reviewed by Harrison Chua

This book is truly amazing and Brom has outdone himself again. The paintings are very interesting and depict situations that my mind would have never discovered on its own. One word of caution... though this is great art, it is women unfriendly. What I mean by this is that the females are generally depicted in painful situations that seem to take away from their beauty. I would highly recommend this book for anyone wishing to view dark and powerful fantasy settings and people/creatures. Amazing work!

This is Broms second book, his artwork is more mature than that in Darkwerks and perhaps a little less immediate, but never take a Brom picture at face value, even the classically beautiful images have something unpleasant lurking in the background. Fans of Brom will be glad to know that is more of the excellent, if somewhat disturbed work of perhaps the best fantasy illustrator working today. BUY IT !!