Seduction 1984

Boris Vallejo made this painting, called 'Seduction', in 1984. The airbrushed technique is so smooth, it’s almost like looking at a photograph, yet the subject matter is so unreal. The seductress stands tall, her skin a pale contrast to the rich blues of the sky and the inky black of her flowing hair. Look closely, and you can see how Vallejo uses color to create form, building up the highlights and shadows on the figures with incredible precision. It's amazing to me how he manages to make the bodies seem so lifelike and yet so idealized at the same time. The way he blurs the edges around the figures, too, gives the whole scene a dreamlike quality. The hair becomes like tentacles, wrapping around the figures as if they have been drawn in. There’s a lot of Frank Frazetta in this, in terms of the heroic fantasy element, but also something of the Pre-Raphaelites in the dreamy, sensual atmosphere, that sense of beauty and danger intertwined. Art's just one big conversation, isn't it?