Stunning fantasy illustrations from scratchboard artist Nicolas Delort

Before I write anything about illustrator Nicolas Delort I feel like full disclosure is necessary; between the ages of 11 and 14 I spent all of my pocket money collecting and painting Warhammer models and most of my saturdays hanging out in Games Workshop, which means I’m predisposed to LOVE epic fantasy artwork, like Frank Fazetta, Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo.

I’m also a sucker for 19th Century illustrators like Arthur Rackham and Aubrey Beardsley. My opinions on Nicolas’ work are therefore entirely subjective and I’m likely to gush a fair amount.

Nicolas’ work combines both of the influences mentioned above – masterfully intricate detail of traditional engraving techniques and balls-out bizarre fantasy characters – into a breathtaking body of work. Unusually for an illustrator he works in scratchboard, a medium usually associated with hobbyist artists, but the images he creates are far from amateurish. His extraordinary draughtsmanship has been lent to a wide variety of fantastical subjects, including personal interpretations of Where The Wild Things Are, reimaginings of scenes from Harry Potter novels and background artwork for video games like Diablo – all of which are transportive in their sheer scale and precision. He’s also done a lot of work for the Games Workshop, which obviously earns him my everlasting fandom. VERY cool indeed.