Images that inspire stories.
I’m not such a dedicated Debbie Downer that I’m going to argue that fine literature will disappear in 2019, but I do believe we are at the cusp of creating an environment where fine literature will become dusty fodder for...
I’ve wanted to spotlight Jason Chan for many months – he’s one of my absolute favorite living artists – but something keeps coming up that is more pressing so for now, enjoy his Servant of the Panther Queen as the...
While the media steals the spotlight from groundbreaking inventions and incredible technologies, scientists continue to plow through new challenges with a vengeance. What’s new? Hmm. What’s not new? Groundbreaking research in epigenetics is opening the door to understanding latent or “junk”...
What do sea dragons, epigenetics, artificially intelligent cyborgs, and magic all have in common? You guessed it: Sea Dragon Apocalypse, my upcoming sci-fi/fantasy novel. Yes, I used those terms correctly. It is both sci-fi and fantasy, not one or the...
As many of you will know, I’m a big fan of Eric Velhagen’s art. He’s been featured a number of times on my blog and he recently landed a job illustrating every month of George R.R. Martin’s 2018 Game...
I’ve written a number of posts about memory implants, memory erasure, and mind control. Scientists have inserted a brain into a robot and done several other unbelievable things in the recent past so I thought I should write a little...
Many modern authors write while listening to music soundtracks. I’ve been doing that for a number of years now. “Cornered” from Salt has pushed me to write faster paced scenes and nothing has deluged me with a sense of fantasy more than...
Richard Browning, a UK inventor, created a real life Iron Man suit he dubs “the Deadalus” and gave it a test flight in front of a TED conference last month. Even though the suit can fly around 200 mph,...
Vuk Kostic (aka Chevsy on DeviantArt) has a very developed style – this is one of my personal favorites. I don’t know if it is deliberately (albeit loosely) based upon the golden mean or if his sense of design is simply...
The image is from an Ardella Cosplay When I started kindergarten, my teachers (including an assistant) suggested to my mother that I be advanced to the third grade. That was neither the first, nor the last time someone remarked about...
Whether you’re aware of it or not, artificial intelligence is all around us and what constitutes “artificial intelligence” is becoming as definitionally nebulous as … well, whatever. Should we call your thermostat artificially intelligent because it regulates temperature in your home...
What is it? Bulldog face, humanoid alien eyes, reptilian neck and skin flaps, tattoo-esque markings, and no discernible ears. I decided to post this as an inspirational work of art because it represents everything good about monster art. It...
Long before Shelley’s Frankenstein, we were sharing stories about changelings, transmutations, and various forms of magic that create new forms of life. As real science has contemplated the possibilities of real life Frankenstein breakthroughs, various transhumanist experiments in 2015 more than humbly suggested...
Today’s inspiration comes from this overdone, classic knight versus dragon fight concept. I think the ambiance and unique setting are what sets it apart from other pieces that often makes this concept so stale. I’m curious what you think –...
I just finished reading the first volume of Game of Thrones. I know – I’m really behind the times here – but to be fair, most Game of Thrones fans haven’t read the books either … and it isn’t too...
Hollywood (and book publishing) are possibly the only industries where an 80% failure rate qualifies you to be an unchallengeable authority. Then again, maybe that’s all in the accounting. Jabs aside, I’m happy to see more strong female characters climbing the...
I’ve kept my eye out for the artist responsible for this half-dragon for a couple years now without any luck. It deserves attention for a few reasons: It is a beautiful example of how to subtly use the golden mean....
I confess: I have almost zero knowledge about Skyrim. I understand that it’s a video game, that it has a beast logo, and from screenshots, it appears to have some pretty legit graphics. Beyond that, I know nothing. I do...
A little inspiration today from either X-Men fan art, Chandra fan art, or someone who felt nostalgic about their old D&D fireball throwing mages. I like this image compositionally and in concept. It feels very engaging, it has a nice...
Today’s inspiration comes from Svetlin Velinov who envisions an omnivorous hydra (are those teeth really plant worthy? Perhaps omnivorous means something more nefariously cache…). I found this piece inspiring because Velinov’s imagination pulled him far afield from the traditional dragon...
While tattoos are all the rage, I have to wonder why they are so prominent in sci-fi fantasy art lately. Okay – maybe I’m a bit stodgy (none of my friends got tattoos when I was growing up because...
I know, I know: Episode VII concept photos were leaked quite a while ago – but I still know people (*cringe*: I shouldn’t admit that but … I know people) who still haven’t seen any of the leaked pics so I...
What happens when you mix Jane Grey (the Phoenix in X-Men) with an angel, add a pinch of innocent baby face, and throw the mix into modern combat? I’m guessing today’s inspiration is the answer to that question. I’m uncertain why...
In a day when safety from political incorrectness and psychological trauma are nearly universally esteemed as inalienable rights, it is occasionally difficult to imagine a world where public executions and talionic (physical) punishments are the norm. After all, we’re half way across...
You might think mermaids have been on my mind this week by my posts – and you’d be wrong – but if they were, it would have to be Sacha Kalis’ fault. I wish it was me swimming in the...
As soon as an idea inspires myriads of people, thousands of aspiring artists throw their hand at it until the very idea becomes trite or overdone. Mermaids are like that. A quick google search for mermaid images offers hundreds of unpolished...
Lagiacrus, the flagship monster of Monster Hunter 3, deserves your attention – and not just because this picture is so boss! For some reason we can all probably relate to, fire breathing dragons hog the press – and maybe that’s...
Too often in SFF, the arts are blandly portrayed, as if the arts will never flourish in the future – or in fantasy cultures. Occasionally, in quasi-visionary movies, we see glimpses of creative new ideas for the arts but they...
How is it that our PC saturated culture has created so few disabled protagonists in modern literature? After all, aren’t our heroes supposed to have some weaknesses that they have to overcome so they don’t become a stale character? Hat tip...
All too frequently, fantasy art falls a little flat and often worse … it gets downright cheesy. Flying gorillas usually fall into that latter category – just google them and see for yourself. **shudder** “You Shouldn’t Be Here” by Ben Wootten...
You might’ve noticed: I love Eric Velhagen’s artwork – he doesn’t fail to offer plenty of action, movement, interesting poses, and often, an intuitive storyline. I haven’t read the Silmarillion yet (yes, that is a shameful admission coming from an...
Today’s inspiration comes from Jason Chan. Featured on Magic the Gathering cards and several book covers, Jason Chan’s art work is gaining momentum – you can see more by clicking on the image above. To be fair, “City of...
Today’s daily inspiration: Earl Norem’s Dragon-slayer. Best known for his Conan illustrations, Earl Norem gets my vote for best small sized red dragon. While the style is noticeably outdated to the art critic, you have to give Norem...
Star Wars depictions of diving technology may have been prophetic … so forget Harry Potter’s invasive spell for fish gills – that’s just uber unnecessary! The University of Southern Denmark has been developing crystals that absorb oxygen and then release that...
I just finished “Assassin Hunter”, a short story I wrote for the quarterly Writer’s Village competition so today’s inspiration comes Assassin’s Creed art by Chaoyuan Xu: A Leap of Faith. While my story deals with transhumanist themes, including memory erasures, memory...
Today’s inspiration comes from illustrator Sakimi Chan. I know … it really doesn’t make any sense at all. Why is an Irish girl becoming a Samurai and why is her facial shape so … un-Irish? And why are there...
You can’t help but to love a cool picture that immediately inspires a story. Today’s inspiration comes from an anonymous artist with a strong sense of irony. I snooped around to see if I could find the illustrator but...
Years ago, my then favorite cousin introduced me to this fun song: the Monster Rap by Bobby Pickett. It was a modern take on the Monster Mash but now, it’s sort of an undiscovered classic that ought to get loads...
Have you ever wondered why countless fantasy books offer little more than bland descriptions of a “dense forest” for elves to dwell in? If you’re lucky, the author may throw an extra bone into the pot by describing a...
Singing harmony by yourself is admittedly an exotic talent but Anna Maria Hefele can make it both exotic and … beautiful. Tuvan throat singing has been an Inuit (Mongolian) tradition for … who knows how long (not even Wikipedia knows). Even...
Often, depictions of fantasy dragons are a huge disappointment. Words like “cheesy,” “trite,” “overdone,” and “disappointing” often come to mind when I look at dragon art (which is not all that uncommon). That day may be over soon. Enter: Eric...
Looking for inspiration for an especially exotic destination? I’ve frequently said that sci-fi/fantasy authors need look no further than our own beautiful planet to find inspiration for unbelievable locations custom fit for any work of fiction. Take Cano Cristales...
Microraptor was a four winged dinosaur that provides clues as to the origins of birds. I was particularly interested in the above documentary for at least three reasons: (1) many of literature’s best loved monsters come from real creatures and/or...
At FantasyCon 2014, an astute panelist brought up an idea that I’ve thought about from time to time but haven’t given serious consideration to … at least not in terms of writing a new book. The idea is to pit...
Today’s featured artwork comes from Wesley Burt … at least, I think it does. I’m not usually one to like barbarian art but this one caught my attention. This “beast rider” image has a great sense of depth, an interesting...
I confess: until today, I’d never read anything by H.P. Lovecraft. Frankly, the “horror” label combined with its awful, original illustrations have kept me at bay for many years. However, at FantasyCon 2014, his name popped up so many times...
This post was originally posted a couple/few weeks ago – but my server decided to make my life miserable and to delete it and some other updates. If you already saw this post on goodreads, there is nothing...
Finding pictures of unlikely animal friendships has become unfathomably trendy lately. While I generally find these pictures of interest, this one particularly caught my eye. How did the baby elephant end up on a broken log overhanging a river?...
I have tons of dragon pictures. I also have a number of friends who would be embarrassed on my behalf to learn that I admitted that in a public forum! Among that large compilation of pictures, I find myself wondering...
Mauritius Island boasts one of the very few and indisputably breathtaking underwater waterfalls in our world. One glance is all it takes to see why. I’ve looked it up on a number of sights because they call the waterfall an...
A year or so ago, I picked up a Pamphobeteus Antinuous to mount. A what? An iridescent purple haired bird eating tarantula. I think it is pretty inspiring but not nearly as cool as the cobalt tarantula featured in the image...
One of my favorite roommates in college was a guy named George. As I recall, his mother was Irish and his father was Kenyan – an interesting mix for sure – and he was from Hawaii. There are a few...
One of my lease favorite composers (Arnold Schoenberg) penned these words: “Well borrowed is well composed.” He is indisputably right. Modern viewers almost undoubtedly prefer the Matrix to Plato’s Cave despite the fact that Plato came along much earlier than...
Years ago, I toured China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines with BYU’s Wind Symphony. Unlikely enough, I was featured playing a solo on a tenor saxophone. While touring, my favorite part of each performance was when the rhythm section...
I often think that Asians are very lucky. I spent a month in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines several years ago. It was the opportunity of a lifetime but it forever made me jealous of their land. They...
I’ll never forget the fateful day I went to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park – twenty years ago. Between the inspirational stories, the albino baby tigers, the baby lion that wouldn’t stop biting the sore bottom of a surprisingly...
Hmmm… Is this a photoshop job or not? The headlines are flooding in: Thirsty Baby Elephant Drowns Self Elephant Banned From Beach After Failing to Keep Its Trunk Up This Year’s Darwin Award Goes to … The image comes...
Although I don’t find the dragon armor or the dragon visage particularly inspiring, I thought I would share this image because it does a fabulous job of instantaneously conjuring up a story. After all, what creatively inclined kid doesn’t dream...
I’m an avowed UFC fan. Most of my friends find that revelation quite shocking but despite my very real fandom, I’ve been somewhat annoyed over some developments in the MMA community. A growing number of fans are beginning to believe...
If you google angel art (or shortcut and go straight to DeviantArt.com), you’ll run across tons of angel artwork spanning from the bloody awful to the doldrumous ordinary to the exquisitely inspiring. Today’s inspiration comes from a relatively new and...
There are lots of fantasy swords out there. Many of them are so over the top that it is difficult to find them very inspiring. Others are cool looking but upon closer inspection, you have to feel a little disappointed....
Author communities often ask questions like: where do you come up with cool names? cool world-building ideas? magic systems? and clothing? To the latter question, one must at least offer an honorable mention to steampunk. Looking for an interesting Alice...
I woke up grumpy today so today’s authorial inspiration comes from H.P. Lovecraft, one of the great masters of scary fiction: The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear...
I perform nearly every year at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Orem, Utah. While everyone has their favorite teller for various reasons (comedic, historical, lovable, liar-able, etc.), I have yet to find a young child who didn’t love Willy Claflin...
Bad guys are a dime a dozen but something about this illustration whisks my imagination away to discover an uber-villain beyond comparison. Noseless – perhaps only because the stench of Hades is so strong – this uber-villain doesn’t really need...
Any aspiring fantasy author ought to have one of those “Wonders of the World” type books to look to for inspirational settings for their stories – whether they take place on earth or some other place. There are enough truly...
In modern film, we usually find very bland, direct slams and insults. Occasionally, a marginally subtle and humorous attack is aimed towards a dense character who fails to understand the biting remark but rare are the times when ad hominem...
Every once in a while, I come across an idea or image that seems to write a story for me. The above image is one of those images. Some time ago, I was pondering over the success of the Star...
In keeping with my last post (about refined and beautiful things), here is one of several gestures from Grant M. Hansen who is painting the cover for my upcoming book Moon 514: Blaze and the White Griffon. Here are some...
I’m obsessed with beautiful things. I’m currently listening to my “inspiring” playlist on itunes. I own a butterfly store. I collect beautiful images for my screensaver and I have beautiful sculptures, feathers, shells, and various forms of art all over...
I co-own thebutterflystore.com. My partner and I have been working like crazy to do a huge butterfly display for BYU’s Bean Museum. The image above is the morpho flight that we are doing – in progress. I’ll be adding a...
In my database of inspirational images, I have a fair number of creative merfolk. While most artists use standard fish tails, several use tentacles and a very rare few use jellyfish motifs. However, I haven’t found a single other well...
As a teenager, I was probably more drawn towards the Dragonlance series than any other work of fantasy – though the Shannara series may have been a close second for a season. Something about Raistlin drew me in. Despondent, cynical,...
Here is Grant’s latest update on the cover. He got a bit shy about the swamp idea and went back to the field idea. What do you think?
It’s happened twice in my recent past: I’ve seen a picture and thought “Now I have to rewrite a scene to match that painting!” James Wolf’s picture above made me want to rewrite a scene in Moon 514 where a...
I have a good friend (Jaime Buckley) who writes full time. He doesn’t just write books – he authors games. Normally, I’m not the type who really enjoys games (I make very few exceptions to the “I don’t play” much...
“You talk so sweet I bet you have to suck on salt for half and hour to get the taste of sugar out of your mouth.” In “Seventh Son,” there are several places where dialogue typical of the eighteenth/nineteenth century...
Looking through my files of favorite images, I ran across this one. It wasn’t my intent to feature Andreas Rocha again but this painting caught my eye because it so immediately guides the mind towards a story. In fact, the...
I wish I knew where this picture came from – if you know the illustrator, please let me know so I can drop him a link … and perhaps hire him someday. When I first saw this illustration, I immediately...
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my...