[BlackPool]

I get the impression from a lot of you that you feel that he is overrated or something. I was just wandering if you think this is true and if so why? What did I miss?

[balistic]

I can't speak for everyone here, but I find his poses very stiff and unexpressive. He renders people posing instead of people moving.

[The Magic Pen]

He does pose people and it looks completly unnatural but he is an amazing painter and he does incredible anatomy work ( though all muscle bound ) and he is very good with lighting and texture.

[Sedone]

I think he was overrated, but not so much nowadays. I think his paintings show a lot of technical skill, and I think some of them are very pretty, but I don't find them charming or moving at all. Whereas Frazetta paints the same subject matter, but his characters have "character", if you know what I mean.

Just my opinion.

[eyewoo]

Sedone... yepsir... ditto your remarks...

[Kaete]

There's nothing wrong with him. He had his own style, and he certainly made a lot of money.

I just don't like the "greasy porn" look. *shudder.* But that's just a personal preference, and just because I don't like his stuff doesn't make him a bad artist.

[Steven Stahlberg]

He's *not* a bad artist, he's very talented, creative and committed to his work.
I just find comparing his sketches to his finished pieces, that the sketches are so much more full of life - he's obviously brilliant and hard-working, I respect him very much for reaching the top of his field.

I guess he just gets a little too focused on details and rendering, especially of skin and muscle. Which is understandable, since there is nothing as beautiful and interesting to us humans as other humans.

Since he's so good at rendering he manages to capture and even improve on the original photographic reference he uses - but this doesn't mean much because those photos aren't all that good to start with. I understand he uses amateur models.
The models flex as many muscles as possible, while holding a striking pose, this produces a very unrealistic effect, since we - whether in motion or rest - hardly ever flex all muscles at once, at least never in the situations he chooses. The indoor lighting doesn't help him either, if he's painting an outdoor scene, which he often is.
But if I have the wrong idea about his procedures etc someone please correct me.

[Anthony]

I disagree with his poses, and I disagree with his use of color, but otherwise he's obviously talented :]

[Lunatique]

I used to be fascinated by Boris, but his work has gone down hill since the 80's. His paintings were interesting at first, but big muscled dudes and body building chicks can only be interesting for a while.

Also, over the years, he would sometimes do a piece that has glaring mistakes because he probably didn't take photos first. On those pieces, the figure drawing is so off it's not even funny. I don't understand how that happens since he is supposed to be a master of anatomy, especially being a body builder himself.

Another thing is, Boris does't experiement or grow. He just does his cookie cutter stuff. It's worse when he's got Julie Bell(his ex-model, now wife)to imitate his style.

One last thing-- have you guys noticed how DATED his style looks now? He hasn't evolved at all. His designs were always cheesy and garish. They remain so.

On a side note, I've correponded with his son, Dorian(NOT Dorian Cleavenger, but Dorian Vallejo), who I respect a lot more as an artist. Dorian has nothing but love, respect, and support for his father and his work. He also extends that loyalty to Julie as well. He was a bit peeved that I criticized his father's work. He even suggested that I email Boris and tell him how I feel. He said his father is a very kind and understanding person, and will listen to constructive criticism if they are polite.

I suggest writing Boris and let him know how you feel. But be polite about it.

[jr]

yup.

[strata]

due to this discussion I went on a search for both artists, and imoho, I'd say you're all right! =) I didn't agree with boris' use of colors at all, and they all indeed looked very strained and uncomfortable...

I did however come across Frazetta's Death Dealer painting! I saw this painting years and years ago on the net and was completely taken in by it, but I haven't been able to find it since, so I searched some more for it, but couldn't find a nice quality version, so I was wondering if any of you art collecting buffs might have it in your collection somewhere?

[Sedone]

Yeah, email Boris and see if he doesn't come over to your house and wring your little artboy necks with his 21" pythons.

[BlackPool]

So what I am getting is that while you all respect his technical achievments as an artist, you disagree with his design sense: stiff posing and use of color mostly. The reason I asked was because I have that book Mirage and while I too am not impressed with the aesthetics of his painting, those drawings in there are just so inspirational to me and I wasn't sure if people's dislike extended to his drawings as well.

Thank you all very much.

[Lunatique]

Mirage is the best work he's ever done is his entire career. It's nowhere as hideous as the rest of his work.

[jesse-k]

How to Paint like Boris:

1. Buy a book of frazetta paintings
2. pick one
4. make the characters overposed and quadruple their anatomy
5. make everyone's skin NEON ORANGE
6. and some silvery metal somewhere
7. sit back and watch the fanboys love your art.

[Arc][Pello]

Just looked at his work, all i can say is this. once youve seen 1 youve seen em all!

[Lunatique]

Sad thing is, Boris is a very gifted painter. It's just that he chose to paint cheese with that talent.

So, what did we learn today, class?

"Skills, experience, and knowledge does not = good taste."

[jesse-k]

I can say one good thing about Boris though, he's not Thomas Kincaide.