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August 25, 2023 · 6:00 am

#FineArtFriday: the Dragon’s Cave by Georg Janny 1917

Artist: Georg Janny (1864–1935)

Title: The Dragon’s Cave (German: Drachenhöhle)

Date: 1917

Medium: oil on canvas

What I love about this painting:

What’s not to love about a dragon? Georg Janny gives us the beast in his natural environment. Our dragon is immense, gloriously armored with steel gray and silver scales. Twin streams of smoke rise from his nostrils, evidence of his fiery internal workings. The dragon sits at the entrance to his mountain aerie, surveying the world, and believes that he is the master.

I love fantasy paintings. The artists who painted scenery for the opera were, and are, incredibly skilled. The scenery painters of the early twentieth century were often influenced in their subject matter and style by the works of the pre-Raphaelites.

About the Artist, via Wikipedia:

Georg Janny (20 May 1864, Vienna – 21 February 1935, Vienna) was an Austrian landscape painter and set designer.

He worked as a scene painter in the studios of Carlo Brioschi and Johann Kautsky, alongside Alfons Mucha, and was a member of the Dürerbund.

In 1898, he participated in painting the “Eisernen Vorhang” (Iron Curtain) at the Vienna Volksoper for the 50th jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph I. In 1904, he exhibited in the Austrian Pavilion at the St.Louis World’s Fair with scenes from the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways (now at the Technisches Museum Wien). Two years later, he designed the stage for The Queen of Sheba by Karl Goldmark, one of the most popular operas of the late 19th century. Pictures from the second and third acts have been preserved.

He also painted landscapes and figures, including scenes from fairy-tales or imaginary worlds that are reminiscent of the works of Arnold Böcklin or Gustave Doré. [1]

Credits and Attributions:

Image: The Dragon’s Cave by Georg Janny. Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Georg Janny – The Dragon’s Cave 1917.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Georg_Janny_-_The_Dragon%27s_Cave_1917.jpg&oldid=636191261 (accessed August 25, 2023).

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Georg Janny,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georg_Janny&oldid=1159021400 (accessed August 25, 2023).

Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Georg Janny – The Dragon’s Cave 1917.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Georg_Janny_-_The_Dragon%27s_Cave_1917.jpg&oldid=636191261 (accessed August 25, 2023).

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Tagged as 20th century art, fantasy art, The Dragon's Cave by Georg Janny

October 17, 2013 · 11:32 am

Art for the great cover-up

I love great fantasy art. Fantasy art has been around for thousands of years, and examples of it can be found all over the globe. Some of the finest examples of fantasy art are in the heroic paintings from medieval times that were meant to describe the daily lives of people. Like good fantasy, they were based in reality, but with a bit of a fairy-tale quality added, to lend a bit of interest to what they considered ordinary pursuits.

I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at art, with the intention of buying. I have the notion to redo all my book covers this next year, if I can get the hang of Photoshop. I love good book covers and am always buying books based on them. The graphics on my books are always done by the amazing Ceri Clark, but in my Tower of Bones series I’ve given her less than optimal art to work with. She has worked a miracle with what she has been given. Now I’ve amassed a really large database of affordable art, much of which will speak well to my books.

This has all come about because I have completely rewritten my first published novel and am now designing the new cover for it, based on its new title. This cover is critical, because there are two books currently based in that world, and a third is partially written. The covers for all three must relate to each other.

I think I was successful in getting the right art for Tales from the Dreamtime. Ceri’s graphics are perfect and make it intriguing.

This quest for great cover art is what I must do for my Tower of Bones series too. There are two books currently published in that series, and one more in the editing pipeline at Eagle Eye Editors. (Actually, they currently have three books of mine in their pipeline, and Tower of Bones is one of them.)

The best art for a book tells some of the story but also make the eye go “Oh yeah, baby!” For me, that means it is colorful and mysterious, something that makes me think about the image. I have comps of all the art I’ve ever wanted and now I must go through each image and decide which image will be purchased. It is difficult to find great art for reasonable prices, but not impossible.

Many of my friends go to DeviantArt.com, and many others go to iStock and Dreamstime. I have gone to all of these places, and I’ve found many pieces that will combine well to build my covers. It will not be free, but it will be fun!

All I have to do, is learn how to use Photoshop. I am now an old dog, learning a new trick!