Fantasy Art Page
of
Randy Asplund

All artworks are copyright Randy Asplund unless otherwise noted. Please contact the artist for permissions. 


This page contains Mythic fantasy and Horror subjects. Please also see related art on the Science Fiction, Card Game, and
Illuminated Manuscripts pages. See below for the Artist's Statement.

Many of the images below are for sale as Originals or as Prints






Flying Tiger,
Pouncing Dragon


The Circle
Of Light

Baron
Richard

The Sorms
Of May

The Thing
In The Vase

Magic And
Miracles



Meishodo
Amulet

The Dark Judge
Giants In The
Clouds

The Mountains
Below
Kyuden Hitomi


The Prettiest
Bird

Sir Lancelot
Meets
Sir Tarquine





The
Appeal


Snacking
Cthulhu

Shinjo &
Mirumoto

The Temple
Of  Heaven

Lion Matsu
& Utaku

Ride Of The
Specter King




The Fiend
Naga
Fortress


The Ocean's
Daughter

War And
Peace

It's Been A Very
Hard Day

The Big One



Tombs Of The
Old Ones

The Secret
Entrance

Shahadet's
Legion


Kai Awase
Bag End
Shadowcat



Sweet
Draemer

Gryphon
Stone

And All Eyes
Were Upon Her

The Dragon
Slayers


The Njork
Sir Lionel


Fantasy Artist's Statement

     I have always had a deep interest in archeology, history, and mythology. I love good stories of fantastic things, and I love the romance of heroic fantasy. Unlike many fantasy artists who formed their styles from comic book interests, movies and games, my artistic interest was rooted more in epic bardic tales like Beowulf, the Arthurian legends, the Tales of the Arabian Nights, and the ancient myths of Mediterranean cultures and Scandinavia. While my colleagues were inspired by the elves of current pop culture, I was reading legends of what real people in history thought elves were like in the old world, and visualizing them through the eyes of artists like Arthur Rackham. This affected my style and my entire sensibility as a Fantasy artist.

     I had it in my mind that I was going to create visions of playful and believable alternate realities. My art is full of the fanciful, and at the same time I paint the details so that the viewer can believe that they are looking at something that could be real. To me, a fantasy painting is a story, and I believe a story is most successful when the audience finds it easy and compelling to suspend their disbelief. I revel and delight in the "realistic" presentation of the incredible and fantastic. To me, this is what makes fantasy art fun.

     Not all of my fantasy art is for publication. When I can paint subjects from my own inspiration I usually find myself using my art to express concepts with some kind of message. This may be a comment on political or cultural issues, or even imagining a "what-if" situation to be considered by the viewer. An example is the Flying Tiger/Pouncing Dragon painting which depicts an American Volunteer aviator flying for the Chines during the second world war. A Japanese aircraft in pursuit is snatched from the sky by a Chinese style dragon. The Chinese emblem is transparent in the sky. The message being that when two very divergent cultures come together, together they can overcome the greatest of challenges. In this case he people of the United States came to help save a China fighting for survival, and the spirit of the Chinese people returns support in the form of the dragon. In our world today there is a co-dependency between the US and China, and a deep mistrust. The message is to remind us how well these two peoples can work together for good when they have a mind to do so.