Tribute to Bober

I have always loved the work of Richard Bober, an American fantasy illustrator who is eccentric in a world of eccentrics. His work has been on book covers for decades, yet he lives and paints in a distant rural area in Pennsylvania, and never goes to conventions or marketing tours. He sells to privileged collectors who market his work for him. 

His painting, in a combination of acrylic and layers of oil paint, is inspired by old masters like Rembrandt and more modern ones like Gustave Moreau. Both of those were fascinated by the play of light on metal, brocade, and gilt surfaces. Bober uses the old gold technique in his fantasy art. 

I have had the good fortune to inspect Bober paintings closely and actually meet the artist. This happened during an artists' gathering at the lavish, museum-like house of a major collector. Bober wouldn't come out and mingle at the party. He hid in a bedroom away from the crowd, which he found intolerable. But somehow he gave me an audience and I had an enlightening technical conversation with him about painting surfaces and golden highlights. After my conversation, I was told that Bober talked with me more than anyone else that evening. 

This tiny piece is my tribute to Richard Bober's phantasmic renderings of gold and golden light. "Sorceress of Sapphire and Gold" is painted using some of what I learned from the masters about rendering color and light. 

"Sorceress of Sapphire and Gold" is acrylic on Strathmore illustration board, 6" x 9", June 1992.