Luis Royo's Dreams
http://phistars.blogspot.com/2011/12/luis-royos-dreams.html
Luis Royo's Dreams
Ah...this is the last Luis Royo blog for now. It is also the longest blog I done in quite a while. I think it might be even longer than my Murillo blog. This album is called "Dreams". It has a lot of the commissioned works that Luis Royo did during the 90s. I hope that you find this collection inspiring.
To be honest, I got no idea what most of these images are about. They all look pretty cute but the nature of each commission is a mystery to me. I hope that you bear with my ignorance. I can only speculate the theme of each piece. Eh! Whatever, lets just get this show on the road.
The first runner up shows a futuristic battle. The guy in the foreground is charging his rifle to return fire. Toward the background, his peers are falling back (as in retreating). It must be a cover for a sci fy book...In any case, Luis Royo gains 5 star rating.
The next commission shows a lovely red head with a futuristic gun. She is wearing a tight suit (typical futuristic fashion). Her blue eyes look almost white. What I like best is her kill face. Around her you can see the wreckage of her spaceship. I guess she crashed landed into unknown hostile terrain. In any case, Luis Royo deserves 5 star rating.
In the next commission, we see a lovely maiden entering a cave. She has a knife in her mouth. She looks pretty cool. In any case, Luis Royo deserves a 5 star rating.
Hey, I know that guy!!! That's Alucard from Castlevania. He is the half breed (half human half vampire) son of Dracula. If you ask me he is a reformed Dracula. Vampires can gain new identities but they must always keep their original name. Whoever he truly is, Alucard is a fine vampire hunter. Here he has his blade opened and he is holding protectively this random girl. What I like best is his noblemen outfit. It looks pretty neat. For this lovely Castlevania commission, Luis Royo deserves 5 star rating.
The following "Dream" of Royo shows a super cool looking cyborg. He is in the middle of a battle shooting bullets. Behind him you can see another one of his robot peers. That stone temple looks a bit Japanese looking. Eh...whatever, 5 stars.
The next commissioned work shows a belly dancer assassin. Assassins is an Muslim invention (more or less , trained killers have been used throughout the ages. so hear me out). The name is derived from Hashashin. During the Crusades, the Hashashins were used by both the Crusaders and the Muslims to give themselves an edge. The name uses the root word Hashi. Hashi is a type of drug derived from Marihuana. In order to make the assassins more lethal, part of the training involved large intakes of drugs. They would offer them an orgy party with the drugs and they would tell them that this was gonna be as close to heaven as they were gonna get. After the party, they get a whipping and off they go into their preliminary trainings. They used their addiction to keep the coming back.
They caused so much problem for both sides that one day the mighty Saladin (he was the victor of the Crusade battles) went off the Hasshashin headquarters to slay this Muslim clan of assassins. On his way, he woke up to find a knife beneath his pillow. It came with a note " Back off or we take your head". He ignored and went on... The second note said " we mean it!!!" . This time the note came with an executioner's ax. So he backed off.
The point is that this maiden is part of the Hashasshin clan. They were not picky about the sex of their killer. She is currently escaping after completing one of her marks (or hit). She is wearing a lovely green belly dancer dress. Behind her you can see the sunrise. Her blade so shinning, so beautifully... In any case, Luis Royo deserves 5 star rating.
Hey!! This is one super cool looking bat girl. If I remember correctly, I think she is Alfred's daughter and the girlfriend of Robbin. She sorta got involved in the whole Batman business after Dr. Freeze kidnapped her to heal his wife. Anyhow, Royo's bat girl is kinkier than the original. The openings in her attire looks pretty hot, plus the blades in her arm shine so prettily. In any case, Luis Royo deserves 5 star rating.
In the next Dream, Bat Girl is overlooking Gotham city. From all the fictional Marvel cities, Gotham is the gloomiest. There is so much human tragedy in that place. In a strange way, Gotham city reminds me of New York. In any case, Gotham's darkly beautiful vigilante is 5 star worthy.
Around this cowboy, I can see a a lot of dead guys. Its pretty epic how the dead bodies' colors fussed with the color of the gothic church. Its amassing how Royo through reddish opaque colors managed to put the cowboy in the foreground. Its not easy to work with dark foreground colors. Had he refined the bodies more then the rider would have been swallowed up by the scenery. The black steed looks pretty cool. Its wild and insane. He contrast well with the rider's calmness . I seen a similar arrangement in the Equestrian painting of Napoleon Bonaparte. The horse is used as a visual sign of the power. This cowboy is following a similar pattern. He has his handheld sniper (?) lock and loaded ready for battle. This awesome Dream of Luis Royo is 5 star worthy.
The next commissioned work shows dark spider man fighting this silver haired super hero whose name alludes me. It is interesting the contrast between the light hero and the dark spider man. What I like best is the hero's rapier. It looks really shinny. If I remember correctly Spider man got this costume through a meteorite (or something). He liked these dark powers but he discarded them eventually cause he lost control. Later on, his old childhood pal (son of the Goblin) picked up this odd black goo and became Dark Spider man. In any case, this lovely Dream of Luis Royo is 5 star worthy.
The next Dream shows a paladin on top of a red orc. His gaze is calm and composed. His inner ferocity is shown in the persona of the red dragon. Behind him you can see a monkish army. This shows the two traits of paladins that combine white magic with brute strength. Truly, Luis Royo deserves 5 stars for this lovely white paladin.
The next Dream shows a monster ball. Like grad night, lots of monster couples dance on a basketball court. The fairy's color and levitation abilities is an allusion to the movie Casper. In this movie, Casper takes human form temporarily to dance with the girl. He then started using his powers to levitate himself and the girl. Following this similar format, the fairy is raising the elf to the night sky. The entire image is quite romantic. Truly, Royo deserves 5 star rating.
Pets in the future are scary lil monsters. Frankly, I would take cats on any day then put up with these ugly things. Eh... I guess they were the only thing they had available. Perhaps "cute" has evolved as well. Its interesting how the lil toddler and her father are mutually looking at these things. These futuristic pets seem to be the main characters in this "Dream". All the gaze is turned to them. Behind them, I can see Jupiter and its moon Europe. In any case, this piece deserves 5 star rating.
The next futuristic Dream shows two gunslinger couple. Both seem to be looking ominously toward the horizon. This is a common pose of main characters for a book front cover. In any case, they deserve a nice 5 star rating.
The next Dream shows a cool looking futuristic warrior maiden. The red vest look quite lovely on her. Close to the foreground I can see this weird lightning fire place. Behind her we can see the golden city. The golden colors makes her look quite epic. Another 5 stars for Luis Royo's dreams.
In the next Dream, we see a man wearing a futuristic ancient Greek armor (sounds contradictory don't cha think?). His helmet looks a lot like helmet with wings typical of ancient Norman warriors. The green flag's logo looks like a stylized version of this man's face. Behind him, I can see some random runes and some spaceships. He has just dodge a flame shot. In any case, he is 5 star worthy.
That's one elaborated armor. The patterns are really pretty. What I wonder is, why does this futuristic cyborg have a regular metal sword? It would make more sense for him to have a lazer weapon. Eh, I guess they are yet to be invented. The temple design is identical to the guardian. Another interesting detail is the smoke coming out of his barrel. He must have shot the weapon recently. In any case, this Dream is worth 5 star rating.
I don't know why this silver haired woman freaks me out. If I did not know better, I would say she was a witch (not in a cute sense). Behind this old hag, I can see her body guard. Judging by their face mask, the atmosphere must be quite toxic. Behind them you can see the ruins of a factory. One has to wonder about the plot of this commission. The old had looks queenly indeed.... (but she will croak soon). In any case, this Dream of Luis Royo deserves 5 stars.
In the next futuristic battle, the main characters are taking for the high ground. Bellow them, an army of ETs is closing in on them with blazing rifles. One of them is helping his wounded pal up the stairs. I bet it must be quite the interesting sci fi story. Another 5 stars.
I am starting to think that I should have split this blog in half. Its so hard to come up with witty comments when you are only half familiar with all the images you are rating. Most are pretty self explanatory. Here we see a pretty red head fighting an army of robots. She has a wolf tattoo on her leg. Its interesting the contrast between her golden armor and the metal armor of her enemies. For those that do not know (which is all of you by the looks of things), Gold is weaker than metal. At least her ax spear looks legit. Very fancy, the edge must be made of diamond. Are those dinosaurs? Eh, why not? 5 stars.
The next lovely Dream shows a maiden observing the arrival of a blue water ET maiden. She looks like a strange water deity. In any case, both deserve 5 star rating.
Another futuristic maiden. 5 stars for her and the fancy city.
The next Dream image shows a pilot exiting her spaceship. Her red hair is cut short after the female pilot fashion. Her attire is like a futuristic version of a pilot suit of the 20s. Behind her you can see her co-workers flying. Another 5 stars for Luis Royo.
Another lovely futuristic maiden. The sky is packed with lightning and motion. Her red ropes look pretty cute 5 stars.
The next futuristic girl is a rough version of the golden girl we saw earlier with the spear. You remember the Dream pictures with the flying dinos? Eh, whatever 5 stars.
You know the deadlocks are quite popular in post apocalyptic theme images and movies (I don't know why). Her hairstyle goes well with the rope design of her attire. Her look is quite original. Truly, Royo deserves 5 star rating.
The next Dream shows a lovely maiden in a red dress being pulled by a futuristic hobbit warrior. More enemies are approaching the pair. Perhaps she is being kidnapped. The red dress kinda makes her stand out. She must be the main character. In any case, Luis Royo deserves 5 star rating.
The next Dream is based on a book call Princess of Mars. The author of this book also wrote Confessions of an Opium eater. Ok, so now you know that these characters are the workings of a druggie. The maiden descending from the carriage is the martian princess. In the old days, a delusional astrologist who lost his glasses convinced other astrologist that there was life on Mars. He claimed to have seen water channels that shifted every so often. He used this as a basis to argue that there was intelligent life on Mars.
Now we know that due to the thin atmosphere nothing could possibly exist on Mars. Plus, every year Mars is bombarded by UV rays that sterilize (or kill off) the ground. Not even the smallest bacteria could survive the onslaught of the burning sun.
In any case, the ETs look like giant Mantis wearing aviator suits. The main girl is cute enough (reminds me of the Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes). Truly, Royo deserves 5 star for this lovely Dream artwork.
The next futuristic piece shows two soldiers. Both look battle ready. I noticed that in almost all soldierly theme pictures it is the men that lead the way... (just throwing this lil fact out there). Behind them you can see a spaceship crashing. Royo must have done a lot of sci fi commissions cause most of the Dreams that I seen thus far are of space wars. In any case, they deserve 5 star rating.
The next futuristic image appears to be another front cover. The characters are posing in an epic fashion. The background has a lot of motion. This trio does not look half bad. Frankly, I am up to here with futurism. eh, whatever 5 stars.
Above we see a lovely red headed Medieval princess. The design of her dress and the red cape reminds me a bit of king Arthur's young wife Guinevere. If I remember correctly, she left him for the knight of first: Sir Lancelot. Can't blame her, by the time she married the king he was old, and hunched. Plus, Lancelot was quite skillful with his big lance (hehehe). In any case, lady Guinevere with the army marching behind her deserves 5 star rating.
More vampire nonsense. This vampire Dream takes place in modern time. The gun in this image cuts across the graves. Inside its bullets lies the salving death for vampires. I think the main characters are a vampire hunter, a vampire and a werewolf. Bellow them we can see vampires marching in the darkness. This lovely commission deserves 5 star rating.
Hey, I think that's the same gunslinger cowboy that was ridding the black steed. In this scene, he is killing some reptile monsters. The lighting background suits him rather well. Super epic, 5 stars.
That is one scary looking husky. This Dream of Royo seems to be about hunting and the nature. Such stories used to be popular sometime ago. Another, lovely 5 star rating.
I think now most of the Dreams are gonna be about the old south west. In this lovely Dream, a couple is looking toward the sea at the arrival of merchant ships. The ocean has been a key trade route since the Greek times. Even today, many import goods get here via ships. Judging by the man's attire, this couple must belong to the lower working class. This humbleness is complimented by the simplicity of her blue dress. It has no fancy bows or laces. Still, it is well kept (must be her Sunday dress). In any case, this Dreamy couple deserves 5 star rating.
The next Dream shows a Native American trader ridding in the forest with two horses. The entire image has some strange reddish colors. Another, 5 stars.
Here we see the chief with his tribe. He is holding a rifle and has quite the strong manly gaze. Behind him I can see an American soldier. He seems to be part of the clan (which is rather unusual). In any case, this commission deserves 5 star rating.
The next image shows a Native American maiden meditating on nature. Above, we see several eagles soaring. We get a a certain oneness with nature from this image. The girl herself seems to be part of the landscape. In any case, Luis Royo deserve 5 stars for this lovely Native American piece.
In the next image, a hunting party has gone to look for a missing member of the tribe. The poor maiden has been ravaged. This is the moment before they notice the dead girl lying in the fields. The severity of the situation is enhanced by the decaying trees in the foreground... This serious nightmare of Luis Royo gets 5 star rating.
This should lighten the mood. In this pretty image, the captain of the ship is kissing his lover girl. On the table you can see a map and a tool used to measure the stars. That item in specific helps sailors know were they are at on a map. Without it they would be lost in the open ocean. In any case, this piece deserves 5 star rating.
The next image shows a dragon with his lover girl. It is not unusual for dragons to kidnap maidens. What is unusual is that they do not eat them. Judging by the expression of the maiden she must be quite humored by the dragon. He is breathing fire while her hair flaps around. The dragon himself seems a bit confused. It is not often that he breathes and does not make a person drop dead in fright. All dragons are praised for their wisdom. They are avid collectors of treasure and books of knowledge. Since they live between 20,000 to 300,000 years, they have a lot of time to sit down and read a book. In any case, this odd couple is 5 star worthy.
I think this is the last futuristic Dream. In this scene, a ship has crashed landed into the ocean. Currently, the crew is fighting off a purple colored ET kraken. Behind them I can see some futuristic helicopters destroying a battle ship. The image itself is quite fun to look at. A lot of action going on in both the foreground and in the background. In any case, Royo gains another 5 stars.
Above we see the interior of a medieval castle. The design itself, though simplified, is Romanesque. It does not have any of those pointy medieval arches. Rather, these arches are round and have a cute serpent pattern. Pharmacidically speaking, this castle is quite practical. As you can see in the background, the windows are awfully high and small. Castles in the old days did not have the luxury of huge windows.
Rather, they were built like giant fortresses on top of mountains.
Whenever war was brewing (which was practically everyday), the peasants would be summon inside and the knights would prepare to defend them. Anyhow, here king Arthur is knighting Lancelot (the guy who stole is pretty chaste (haha) wife). Knighting is a pretty neat ceremony. Like beatification (or raising a person to the status of a saint), knighting is still performed in this day and age. I think the last knight were the Beatles. In any case, this humble Dream of Luis Royo deserves 5 star rating.
Above we see a pretty maiden from the Jurassic era. As you may already know (or not), humans did not exist during this period. This did not stop people from imagining the scenario of Neanderthals vs T-Rex. This pretty maiden has clothing made of skin. The spear she wields is the first projectile weapon invented by men.
In the old days, spears were large and heavy. One had to get close to the beast to kill it. Naturally, these scenarios did not end to well. Our forefathers ,the homo sapiens, invented the throwing spear. With some distance, hunters could kill the beast with at relative safety without inuring major injuries. This boosted the survival rate of humans by a significant amount. It is neat how Royo caught on this trend and gave this cave girl a proper weapon to defend herself.
Behind her you can see mountains exploding. Until recently, the earth was quite active. Now it seems to be cooling down a bit, except around the Ring of Fire (a ring of active volcanoes and hot stops bordering the Pacific ocean (which is ironic in a strange way considering that the Pacific is not too Pacific with all those active Volcanoes)). Oh, back to the Royo commissioned. Thematically speaking, this Dream works pretty well. 5 star for it.
Above we see the infamous seer Nostradamus. He based all his prophecies by observing of the stars. He was an Astrologist. In the center, we see the Ptolemaic model of the universe with earth at its center. Considering that this model was incorrect there is a high probability that all his predictions were bull. Still, its fun to dream. 5 stars for this super cool looking seer.
The next lovely Dream shows another old western American couple. Here the gunslinger and his wife seems to be posing for a photo. Behind them you can see a lovely canyon. It is interesting the similarity of their hand position. The husband is grabbing his belt in the same fashion that the wife holds onto her summer hat. The arrangement itself of the Dream seems to guide the viewer's eyes toward the couple. Truly, Royo is a 5 star worthy artist.
The next lovely Dream shows a couple having a sweet dance. Both seem to be dressed for a party or maybe a prom. The entire Dream focuses mainly on the girl. The guy ,with his white tux, seems to be blending into the background colors (plus his face is omitted). Only the maiden, with her red dress, seems to stand out in this work. For this lovely piece of work, Luis Royo deserves 5 star rating.
This next Dream is a commission for one of those Steven King movies. I forget what this movie was about (you have to consider that he has a lot of work). I do remember the freakish looking kid. Its pretty neat how the main murder weapon is put in the foreground of the work. It is still dripping with blood. The niches on the blade show that it has been used a lot. In ay case, this Dream or nightmare of Luis Royo deserves 5 star rating.
The next piece of work shows another American couple. This one has just arrived to the US. You can see their galleon toward the corner right. Her husband seems like a reliable gun-ho sorta fellow. I am certain that their cabin will be done and over with in less than a few days. They embody the American spirit of adventure. For making a lovely picture of American colonist, Luis Royo deserves 5 star rating.
The next image is a commission for Star Trek. Here we see four of the main characters from this show. I never got around to watching it. However, I seen hundreds and thousands of satires, allusions ect. Here their ship has just broken free from this dangerous ET spaceship. In any case, this Star Trek crew is 5 star worthy.
The following Dream shows a trio of marvel super heroes. The center is...eh? I don't know. She seems to have the power of lighting. Plus, her costume is pretty hot (considering the way she is playing with it). Who would not love to be saved by a pretty girl like this one. In any case, this lovely red head super hero is 5 star worthy.
I think this is the same vampire hunter from before. If you are into this sort of business its pharmaceutical to use a cross around your neck to keep vampires from biting you. Then again the yugular is not the only main vain in the body. You also assess a main vein around your thigh (toward your groin). I think its called the femoral. So, I guess if a vampire cannot bite your neck he will bite your legs (just throwing this fact out there, no need to get alarmed). In any case, this vampire hunter and her personal vampire pet is 5 star worthy.
This next commission is themed after Vanity. This pretty maiden is kissing her own reflection in a whole narcissistic fashion. The colors around her are gold and warm. This is a warm self indulgent passion that is brewing picture. In any case, Luis Royo gains another 5 stars.
I think this is the last western themed commission. This one focuses mainly on the romance between a cowboy and his matrona (the head of a pleasure house). She is looking on as her lover boy goes on with the rest of his peer to God knows were. I like the colors in the sunset. Truly, they deserve 5 star rating.
The next one is a workout motivational poster. Here we see this pretty lady with workout clothing. In her hands she is holding up a pumped up man and a skinny wimpy guy. Her hands work like a visual balance. The strong man has a lot more weight than the skinny guy. This implies that a person who workouts is worth more than a person who doesn't hit the gym. Another, 5 stars for Royo.
Ok, lets wrap things up. The final commission that I rated shows an angel and a doctor at the beach. From all the ones I seen, this commission is the most random. Eh, whatever, it is after all a commission work (not the true machinations of Royo's imagination). I bet he made a lot of patrons happy. I know this blog is super long. I hope that you find my bits of info here and there useful. Next, I am gonna write about Jan Vermeer and later the Simpson and the art. Tata and goodnight.
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