Here's a passage from Uri Schulevitz's Writing With Pictures " Fantasy relies much more on specific and closely observed details of reality than is commonly assumed. The best fantasy illustrations are precise and concrete...." In an interview Tony DiTerlizzi said something similar. I can't find the interview so I'm paraphrasing, he said that it's important to create a believable world, to draw people into the fantasy. I tend to agree with both of these statements , though I think that work can be pretty expressive and still portray a concrete vision of the world. I think this is why I've always been drawn to fantasy illustration that really builds a world and lets you in.
