Cherufe 1991

Boris Vallejo paints a world of high fantasy, as seen in this artwork called Cherufe. There’s an airbrush quality to the image, with the kind of soft focus that feels very much of its time. The limited colour palette of reds and browns creates a sense of brooding menace. Look closely at the surface. The skin tones are built up with layers of thin glazes, like the old masters, but applied with a 1970s, sci-fi, book cover sensibility. This combination of the ancient and the modern speaks to the nature of fantasy art. It’s always in conversation with the past, but always finding new ways to represent the present. The dramatic lighting and exaggerated musculature remind me of Frank Frazetta. But whereas Frazetta captured a sense of raw power, Vallejo is interested in something more stylized and refined. Ultimately, art is about dialogue, a constant push and pull between tradition and innovation. There is no right or wrong, just different ways of seeing.