What I am recommending to the artist, however, is Ursula K. LeGuin's A Wizard of EarthSea and the books that follow. Inside of these wonderful little books are some fantastic imagery that steps away from the traditional Tolkein-eske fantasy imagery that bombards us, especially in this day and age. The movies have brought about a resurgence of the high fantasy of wizards and elves and orcs and light and dark.
While this may have been the predecessor to all fantasy as we know it, this is not the definition in my opinion. EarthSea provides us with a little more subdued and thoughtful approach to man's struggle with the forces of magic and creature associated with it. The first book even may be likened somewhat of a pre Harry Potter kind of book in which a young wizard in training is attending a school to learn how to use his powers.
While you are locked into the primary figure of Ged in the first three books (and relatively short books they are) you move onto a different angle in the fourth book. And if you are still with the series after that, which you would likely be if you enjoyed the first book, then there one more book called Tales from EarthSea and the Other Wind. The Other wind is the final book in the series and the tales from EarthSea cover short stories before and after the first 4 books.
Through each book however are wonderful settings and ideas that should inspire the artist to think in a grand and magical way. You don't need to have shimmering beams of light and balls of flame rolling off of a wizard's fingertips and you aren't likely to find these things in EarthSea. Instead you will find more than anything, relationships between people and places and things. Scenes involving the everyday activity of EarthSea as well as the more mystical experiences of talking with dragons can be found among the pages of the books.
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