Dean Russo

Dean Russo: A Retrospective by Dean Russo is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. I have always enjoyed the bright and colorful paintings printed on posters and t-shirts I have seen in the past. Russo is an animal loved and supports wildlife conservation and humane society for less wild life, lol! This makes him a hero to me. His fun paintings reminds me happy times in my youth! Tie-dyed and water colored looks, bright, neon, and full of animals, and more! These paintings make me smile no matter what mood I am in. This is a great history and collection of his works. I enjoyed this book!… (meer)

Dean Russo: A Retrospective is a beautiful collection of many of his pieces, a lot of them likely familiar to any animal lover. The book is 10"x12" so would make a lovely coffee table book.

It is more than just simplistic to claim that because he uses a wide range of colors that the pictures are repetitive. The color choices as well as how they are used varies with the picture. For example, if a dog has a relatively solemn expression the colors, while brighter than what might be called realistic, will be somewhat subdued. Yet the image of a dog with a big grin will be brighter and likely have some color around its head, giving the appearance of a happy aura around him. So no, these are not repetitious unless you also think someone who painted portraits and thus used the same basic color palette for every painting, is also repetitious.

One thing that is accomplished by using a broad spectrum of colors that don't represent the actual appearance of the animals is that the eyes are particularly expressive and emphasized, if for no other reason than that they are generally rendered in a realistic manner. Many of the animal prints are really quite moving and it is due in large part to the way the eyes convey the animal's character.

This art won't appeal to everyone, but no art appeals to everyone. If you are one of those who like the style and/or are willing to look at each one as you would any work of art, as compared to skimming the images, you will see that each print is distinct and most assuredly unique. Yes, Russo has a distinctive style, but that is different from saying it is repetitive. Yes, the "repetitive" comment irked me, ignorance is such an annoying thing when it is displayed in negativity about something one knows little if anything about.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (meer)