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Book Review: Confetti, The Art of Brittney Lee

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:15:24 -0600

Brittney Lee is one of my favourite artists of all time. She works as a visual development artist and animator in california. If there is one thing that defines Brittney Lee's passion and artistry it is through her paper sculpts. She's contributed paper sculpts to Gallery Nucleus' tribute shows for Harry Potter, "Baker's Dozen," "It's a Small World" and several others which can be viewed on her blog below.

Confetti, her very first book (and I hope it's the first of many), debuted at comic con and is now available on her Etsy store that I've linked below. It features personal sketches, paintings, and paper sculpts from 2007-2011. It is a soft cover book that measures 6.25" x 7.75" and features 68 full color pages. And as a nice treat, each copy is signed and has a sketch by Brittney Lee herself as well.

I love her brilliancy of colour and her art is nothing short of elegant. There's a fairly good variety of mediums presented in the book and the picture quality is perfect. The details on her paper sculpts are presented very clearly so you can see and appreciate the detail and precision she puts into them. I highly recommend this book.

Please check out her blog and shop. Her art speaks for itself.

Blog: http://britsketch.blogspot.ca/
Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/britsketch?page=1

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Book Review: Chasseurs de Dragons - Les Coulisses du Film

Sat, 05 May 2012 13:15:52 -0600

The title could be translated by “Dragon Hunters – Behind the scenes of the movie”. This is an artbook about an animated movie entitled « Chasseurs de Dragons » which was released in France in 2008. It wasn’t released in the US except in April 2009 at the Newport Beach International Film Festival. The movie takes place in a medieval world. But you just have to watch one picture to understand that it’s a funny kind of medieval world.

The book is divided in 5 parts. The first one explains the sequence of events from the idea until the writing of the script. There is a little interview of the producer Philippe Delarue explaining his work and choice of this movie. This part is good, since it’s concise and filled with beautiful pictures.

The second part is about the design of the movie. It begins with the study of the main characters: every steps of the creation are explained and there is a lot of pictures, sculptures, drawings and sketches that illustrate the process for the 4 main characters creation. There is an interview of the character designer Valérie Hadida. I like this part cause there is gatefolds and so the pictures are larger. Then, they talk about the expression of the character, but it’s just a paragraph. At last, it’s about the dragons and their texture. They list the dragons and explain what texture they choose for each of them, this part is good too because there are drawings and sculptures.

The third part is about the landscape and items. We can see the genesis of one landscape and magnificent pictures of other landscapes in the movie. I like this part with gatefolds filled with large pictures. I also really like the accessory part because we can contemplate the details in the decors that are easy to miss during the movie. For example, there is a tapestry in gatefold which is in the movie and it’s great to be able to see the whole tapestry.

The fourth part concerns the storyboard. There is an extract of the storyboard and an interview of Mathieu Venant the storyboarder. This part is too short in my opinion.

The fifth part is about the making of the movie after the preproduction which means the animation, light effects, special effects and compositing. There are interviews of the people working on every step of the process and pictures to illustrate their work.

Amateur in animation could read this book, I think that people who are not amateur will less enjoy the book for its contents but the amount and the quality of the pictures are still pleasant.

I like this book, the only bad aspect about it is that, in my opinion, it is too short. It’s only 85 pages. And so there isn’t enough space to precisely describe the huge work behind the movie. Too Bad.

This book can be found on amazon.fr and amazon.co.uk, I search a little and I think it exists only in french.

Product Details
• Comic: 87 pages
• Publisher: Fernand Nathan (19 mars 2008)
• Collection : CHASSEURS DRAGO
• Language : Français
• ISBN-10: 2092518526
• ISBN-13: 978-2092518526

Availability: Amazon UK | Amazon FR

2092518526_Couverture par AlexiaMaz, sur Flickr

2092518526_page4-5 par AlexiaMaz, sur Flickr

2092518526_page13 par AlexiaMaz, sur Flickr

2092518526_page par AlexiaMaz, sur Flickr

2092518526_page22 par AlexiaMaz, sur Flickr

2092518526_page34 par AlexiaMaz, sur Flickr

2092518526_page50-51 par AlexiaMaz, sur Flickr

2092518526_tapisserie par AlexiaMaz, sur Flickr

Book Review: Tales of Xillia Animation Genga Collection

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:42:48 -0600

『TALES OF XILLIA』アニメーションパート原画集

This is a genga book, it's contents is the same in nature to Gainax Groundwork books.

I Have yet to play the game.

General Info:
This book covers the Opening sequence of "Tales of Xillia" released for PS3, animated by ufotable (the Tales of franchise had turned to Production IG prior this game for these sorts of things but then ufotable came in and made a lovely OVA adaption of Tales of Symphonia and other things). Since Xillia has 2 main playable protagonist, there are 2 Slightly Different Openings; this Book covers both OPs. Same song for both: "progress" by Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎あゆみ)

If you haven't already, watch: Milla's Opening and Jude's Opening

Contents:
p003 Gallery - (Original pencils of Illustrated artwork)
p017 Character - (Original pencils of in game character illustrations)
p025 Opening - (Key Animation for Opening)
p095 Event - (Key Animation for in game 2d animated sequences *spoilers*)
p105 Flip over - (the flip book section, flip it one way and it's Jude, the other is Milla) Jude flip over gif | Milla flip over gif

The key animation is arranged in order of sequence, they've also arranged it with different coloured borders that. *Explains*Pages with a
Green Border: Animation used for Both. neutral
Pink Border: Animation used in Milla's Opening
Blue Borders: Animation used in Jude's Opening
I'd also like to note that EVERY scene and cut in the Opening/s are covered (except for one cut where it's a flying cg ship). Some to a further extent than others, but every cut that you see in the OPs (that required hand drawn animation) are present even if it's only shown as a layout.
There is one thing I didn't like about the way the book is presented (not including things I'd like to have in it that aren't .x-sheets) it maybe because I've gotten to use to the way Gainax lays out a Groundwork book, but i really dislike the way the frames are cropped diagonally (I know Groundwork books do this as well, but not as much not to this extent...it's probably because of the colours that make it feel more cluttered).

Paperback: 132 pages
Release date: Comiket 81 (29, 30, 31, December, 2011)
Language: Japanese
A4 . Dustcover

Purchasing:
Doujinshi so....Oh, this also came as a ufotable bundle that included other goodies, Don't get this confused with another book release with this, the other one is a sort of 'Staff Memorial book' with (I don't have it, but it's black&white if I recall from previews, smaller dimensions too) illustrations of xillia.
Search it on Yahoo Auctions (use a Deputy-service if living outside of Japan) using key words
try ebay or Madarake
Theres also this Here book on ebay with a shinny cover and includes both The animation and memorial illustrations. had no idea this existed.

Gallery

Character

Opening

--------------------SPOILER ALERT---------------------

EVENT

Flip Over at the end there's an exposure sheet for this section

Book review: Shadowplay "Black Box" Limited Edition.

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:22:51 -0600

Publisher: Edition Brusen - Fantasmus-Art
Website: www.the-masque.com (artist's website [book can be purchased direct])
ISBN: 9-788799-214761
Format: sewn hardcover with slipcase and prints
Language: English
Release Date: 12/11/2009
Pagecount: 192
Trim Size: 31m x 22.9cm
Price: €85,00 (around $113)
Availability of normal ed: Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | JP)

Limited to 500 copies, signed & numbered by Mark Wilkinson. Still available from the publisher.

Mark Wilkinson is a graphic design artist who primarily created stunning works for several top rock bands. Shadowplay chronicles his 30+ years in this field, plus showcases his other works from such eclectic sources as Judge Dredd and the U.S. Post Office. There is a LOT of expository text that accompany the illustrations, so the reader is always aware of what he or she is witnessing.

The interior is printed using full-process color throughout with a full bleed technique. Many illustrations are two-page spreads. There is also a foreword and afterword.

This edition of Shadowplay is the "Black Box" limited edition. It sports the following features:

o Cloth slipcase with onlay and spine stamping.
o Cloth hardcover with onlay and face & spine stamping.
o Stamped folder with signed certificate of authenticity and two signed giclee prints.
o Embedded ribbon marker.
o Book itself is signed & numbered with special endpapers and also signed and inscribed on the half title page.

Sorry for some of the lousy camera angles and glare. A Brodart cover had already been applied by the time I took these pictures. I also try to avoid breaking spines as much as possible.

(The deck of signed playing cards was sold separately.)

Monster/Creature Art Books?

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:24:31 -0600

Hello all,

I was looking at the Etrian Odyssey English art book the other day, and I realized that I liked looking at the monster art the most. Does anyone have any suggestions for art books with nothing but creature/monster designs in them?

I already have:
-Kazuma Kaneko Works 1-3
-Kazuma Kaneko Pandemonium 1-3
-Insanely Twisted Rabbits
-Disturbingly Distorted and Deliriously Demented Rabbits
-Animals Real and Imagined
-Diary of Inhuman Species (just ordered!)

Any suggestions would be welcome and appreciated!

Book review: The art of disney (japan exhibition)

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 04:11:58 -0600

The Art of Disney exhibit was on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo from July 15 through September 24 , 2006.

The art of Disney, is actually the catalog of the exhibition. The catalog is 243 pages and includes no less than 600 artworks.
It contains production art from works as early as Flowers and Trees, Snow White and The Three Little Pigs. Other works included animation cells, storyboards, production notes, and sketches from works like Cinderella, Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty.

These pieces were handpicked by Walt Disney himself to go on tour through 17 cities in Japan in 1960 to promote the art of the Disney studio and his then upcoming film: Sleeping Beauty:
So It is mainly dedicated to the Sleeping Beauty!

If you already have beautiful disney books, some of these artworks will not be unknown (they are found especially in the "archive series"), however there are many original pieces, and having these 600 works collected in one book, this is amazing!

Every disney collector would love that book, and animation fans would really enjoy it to because of the diversity of art that it proposes.

I have to put the pictures in miniature, because otherwise they are too big for the page. To view larger, you just have to click.

Book Review: Parallel Lines Peter Elson and Chris Moore

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:33:35 -0600

This is my first Art Book review, so please be nice people!
The version being reviewed is the Hardback edition which I acquired after purchasing the Board book edition by mistake of Amazon.

Contrary to the Amazon listing, there is a Hardback edition of this book although it is considerably more expensive and harder to acquire than the Board book that Amazon lists. So I would recommend that you shop around carefully on ebay or abebooks to find the correct edition. Regarding the Board book, there is little to no difference between it and what one would describe as a paperback.

Content wise both editions are identical, so it is left to the buyer's preference to choose which edition is worth buying. Personally I would recommend the Hardback version, as it is afforded with a sturdier binding. It should also be noted that the Hardback was issued without a dust jacket, so no need to panic if yours arrives without it!

More work by the Artists can be viewed on Peter Elson's website and Chris Moore's webpage. Unfortunately Peter Elson is no longer with us, having passed away unexpectedly in 1999 however, Chris Moore is still going strong, with a recent(ish) publication The Journeyman from 2000.

Product details
Board book/Hardback: 96 pages
Publisher: Dragon's Dream (10 July 1981)
ISBN-13: 978-9063327910
Product Dimensions:29.2 x 21.3 x 1.3 cm
Contributing Artists and Number of Images: Peter Elson (31) and Chris Moore (30)

About 95% of the artwork in this book is given a full page to itself, and in addition, there are 8 double page spreads, which really help the artwork to standout.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to any fans of Sci-Fi or Fantasy art.

Book Review: NANA 1st Illustrations

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:48:50 -0600

Book Review: NANA 1st Illustrations by Ai Yazawa

Product information

Binding: Paperback with slipcase
Pages: 106 full colour
Extras: two stickers (14,7 x21 cm)
Publisher: Ehapa Comic Collection - Egmont Manga & Anime (2006)
Language: German
ISBN-10: 3770465644
ISBN-13: 9783770465644
Product Dimensions: 25,6 x 18,2 x 1,4 cm

I own the German translated version, the original Japanese art book was published 2004 by Shueisha. The content is identic though.

NANA is a popular shoujo-manga series by Ai Yazawa (author of Tenshi Nanka Janai, Gokinjo Monogatari and Paradise Kiss).
The love-soap has been published since 1999 by Shueisha. It has also been adapted into an anime and a live-action movie.

To begin with a short introduction: The sensitive and naive Nana Komatsu meets the independent and self-confident punk girl Nana Osaki for the first time on a train to Tokyo. Later they happen to meet again and decide to move together. The manga is all about love, music and the friendship between these very different women.

The art book is devided into seven chapters.

The first one “Black Stones” shows 15 illustrations of Nana Osaki and her punk band “Blast”. The second chapter is named by Nana Komatsu’s nickname “Hachi” and contains six full-page and various smaller pictures of her. The third chapter, “The Couples”, shows all the characters and their relationships. It is followed by a whole chapter which features only Nana Osaki (the composition is similar to “Hachi”).
“Trapnest” is the rival band of “Blast” and its members are presented in the fifth chapter.

In the penultimate chapter, called “Junko’s Room”, Shin, the youngest Blast-member, comments on illustrations of Junko (Hachi’s best friend) and the other characters. It is funny to read those comments. The text in this chapter is English.

The last section contains 16 illustrations of Nana and Hachi together.

Ai Yazawa’s illustrations are very beautiful and colorful. The illustrations with Nana are darker and mysterious, those with Hachi represent the brighter and happy side of life. Yazawa mostly uses digital media to colour, but some of the smaller pictures are done with marker (I think).

I like the way she uses different techniques to create a certain atmosphere: You can find pop-art-like illustrations with simple backgrounds as well as photos which were edited digitally and then combined with the illustration. This makes them seem more realistic.

All of Ai Yazawa’s characters have an unique look and wear always the latest fashion trends. The way she draws them with long limbs makes them look like mannequins on a cat walk.

Ai Yazawa comments some of her artworks on the last pages and you can also read when and for what the illustrations were used originally. These short information are translated into German.

The author’s short message on the first and last page of the book is printed in Japanese and German: Yazawa thanks the reader for buying her book and says that she often received negative comments on her art style when she began her carrier as professional mangaka. But she works hard every day to improve her art.

I highly recommend NANA 1st Illustrations to fans of the manga series as well as to people who enjoy Yazawa’s art. People who are interested in fashion and/or digital art should also take a look at it!

You get a varied art book for a reasonable price!

(The whole cover is a panorama photo from Shibuya in Tokyo)

(The white spots are not from the flash!)

You can buy the book here:

Note: It is either the German or the Japanese version, the French version is available at amazon.fr! You might find a book named NANA 7.8 which is not the same, but a fan-book!!

(Price range ca. 20-25€ or 25.99$ it depends from where you buy it, I got my copy for 22€)

Availability
Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP) and Animebooks

Les Heroines Disney & De Blanche Neige a Hercule by Christian Renaut

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:54:06 -0700

Hey guys,

I'm begrudgingly selling the following Disney animation art books:

Les Heroines Disney by Christian Renaut
De Blanche Neige a Hercule by Christian Renaut

I figured if anyone would be interested in these books it would be you guys. Looking to move these wonderful treasure troves to help pay for school. I've listed them on my blog.

http://www.onanimation.com/book-sale/

Let me know if you're interested.

Daniel

Book review: BLK: Huke Selected Works

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:59:27 -0700

Binding: hardcover
Pages: 237
Print: Full colour
Size: A4 size approximate
Content type: manga, mech & fantasy style illustration
Content genre: fantasy, game & various machine
Publication: 2012
ISBN: 4-582191-966687
Language(s): Japanese
Recommended readers: general interest in manga style or fantasy style illustration & Huke fans
Can be purchased at:
amazon.jp(limited edition) | amazon.jp(regular edition)

BLK is an artbook centered around the works of the Japanese illustrator Huke, who recently within the past two years has acquired more attention as the creator behind Black Rock Shooter and the designer for the visual novel Steins Gate(now turned anime). Although smaller fanbooks have been available at previous Comikets, BLK is the first official artbook released by Huke and is available in a Limited Edition and a Regular Edition.

It is first important to note that the book contained within the Limited and Regular editions are both exactly the same. The limited edition book is not signed, numbered or specially given any form of ID. The only difference between the Limited Edition comes bundled with a Black Rock Shooter(Beast) figma(posable figure) produced by Good Smile Company. It also includes a code for redeemining a special avatar if you play the Puchitto Rock Shooter game.

In terms of the book in itself, the construction is extremely well made. It is hardcover and perfect bound but the binding is very tight, about A4 size. While sturdy this has a tendency to make spread illustrations a little more difficult to view. The entire cover is black and comes in a matte dustjacket that has a very slight texture and sheen to it very similar to the sheen on white PSPs. The cover is printed on both the front and back, but if you open according to page numbers then the book reads from left to right.

The illustrations are printed full color on a very thick, heavyweight matte paper. It begins with a couple cover pages and an introduction of a few sentances with a category overview then goes straight to the art. The illustrations contained within can be divided into three categories: Black Rock Shooter, Steins Gate & Misc. The vast majority of the book are dedicated to illustrations pertaining to the first two categories.

The layout of the book itself has actually very well planned. There are occasionally a couple pages that are simply all black that appears to be used as a form of divider between content categories. These black pages are also imprinted with a slightly darker watermark of some character design crests, most notably the crest used on the cover of the book beside the 'BLK' text.

The Black Rock Shooter art contains artwork and illustrations that are related to Huke's BRS fantasy world. Some of the artwork my be familiar to those who collect doujinshi or other books released at previous Comikets, but there are also a number of illustrations that are were used in promotional media such as magazines or other publications. There is actually a fair number of illustrations that have not previously been released, publisized, or otherwords hacked on the web for all its worth. Large size illustration stills are also included for the music video that Huke had self illustrated and animated.

The next portion of the book contains illustrations Huke had done for Steins Gate. A number of the illustrations featured were used for promotional media of not only the visual novel but also the DVD and magazines. These are all shown in full size and without any additional text, and also appears to contain some artwork made exclusively for the book before its publication.

The last portion of the book contains misc illustrations that detail and show Huke's skills in a variety of other styles as well. These are random illustrations, generally centered around a sci-fi or fantasy type theme featuring anything from fantasical figures, to tanks and machinery. The illustrations in this section also demonstrate Huke's flexibility as an artist to adapt to a wide range of different styles from manga style artwork to more refined, realistic and pop art.

One thing to note about the art displayed in this book is that despite them being almost all digitally painted, all of the art withing BLK retain a grainy, textured look very similar to a mixed media of watercolour and conte. Dark, heavy textures and a limited colour palette are a part of Huke's signature style as well as a mix of very thick and very thin brushstrokes. The style of art generally mixes a lot of what is considered contemporary anime or manga style that features very cute female figures(I believe a lot of people refer to this as "moe" these days), yet at the same time juxtaposes it with very dark colours and rough textures that usually are not considered at all cute or feminine, so it's rather difficult to accurately categorize it.

Overall BLK can be thought of more of a compiliation of illustrations for Black Rock Shooter and Steins Gate, which would be more appreciated by fans of either or both series, or fans of Huke's artistic style. The two former sections heavily dominate the majority of the book, despite being a generic Huke artbook. I would actually not recommend this book to the average anime or manga fan as the overall style contained deviates so heavily from what is popularly considered contemporary mainstream manga or anime these days, unless you are looking solely at the stylistic figure alone. However I do highly recommend this for people who are more interested in darker themed art in general, or even those who simply enjoy textures as Huke's art employs a wonderful variety of them in different methods. Considering the book's well made construction, this I would probably also recommend this to folks who just enjoy the beauty of a good book.

In general, I personally enjoy Huke's art for the style and use of colours and textures that are so reminiscent of traditional media, but do find that BLK could do well to have more pieces in the misc category. Huke appears to be quite skilled in a number of disciplines, and his work with realism and machinery, and fantasy themes are also incredible, but there are few pieces that show off his proficiency in this area. More original pieces not related to the two dominant series is the only other addition I would have really liked to see. The book in of itself is extremely well made and clearly very thoughtfully planned out. At a retail listing of 3200-4900 yen this is actually quite a good book at an excellent price.

Ralph McQuarrie - dead at 82.

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:38:18 -0700

I'm guessing most, if not all, of Parka's readers know who Ralph McQuarrie was, especially Star Wars fans. This is a huge loss for the community. Although RM's output had necessarily decreased over time, his paintings and illustrations have become modern-day classics and masterpieces. AICN has a decent write-up here.

Curiously, Dreams and Visions Press has pulled all their "Art Of" books pertaining to RM. I hope this doesn't mean they'll get reinstated at premium prices, as I had intended to pick one up later in the year. Does anyone here have one?

artbook review: Azpiri Sketchbook

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:00:37 -0700

artbook review: Azpiri Sketchbook

Product Details
Hardcover
Publisher: Heavy Metal Magazine (August 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1882931823
ISBN-13: 978-1882931828
Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 9.6 x 0.5 inches

available on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Azpiri-Sketchbook-...197&sr=8-1

Alfonzo Azpiri is a Spanish comics artist who mainly worked for Heavy Metal Magazine drawing his sexy girls robots and brutes.
this is a pretty big sided book, with a hard cover, and the drawing are full page drawing, only pencil drawing of nude girls and comics pages. i have to say i was disappointed from this book, but some one else may find this book for his liking.

here are some images:

azpiri sketchbook 06 by gad_yariv, on Flickr

artbook review: Bernet

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:27:14 -0700

artbook review:Bernet

Product Details
Hardcover: 233 pages
Publisher: Auad Publishing (November 20, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0966938127
ISBN-13: 978-0966938128
Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
Availability: Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP)

this book reviews the major body of work of Spanish comics artist Jordi Bernet.
this black and white hard cover begins with a short introduction by none other then will eisner, and is followed by a short biography of the artist.
from their on the book mostly consists of various segments of amazing black and white art and a few sketches here and their. between segments of the book that give us semples of Bernet artwork their are short commentaries from other artists about Bernet and his work.

I think it's a great book, Bernet i was always a fan of his gritty, existential gangster noir, and his black and white use of ink is something to drool about. if you are a fanatic comics fan this book is definitely for you. but i have to worn you for a significant part of his life allot of Bernet work was in the filed of erotic comics, so the book include what some might see as obscene material, but the editor have manged to minimize the part of Bernet's work that deals with this subject and mainly engross his more decent works.

you can see more images on my blog
http://gadinspiration.blogspot.com/2012/...rk-of.html

Book Review: Final Fantasy Type-0 Official Art Works

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:36:35 -0700

(that’s not the full title but as I cant really know how to say the last 3 word, so I decide to cut it short, but it something like Red or Phoenix History)

pages: 255 pages.
Publisher: Square Enix
ISBN-10: 4757535198
ISBN-13: 978-4757535190
Release date: 2012/2/23
Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches

Availability: Amazon Japan | cdjapan.co.jp | play-asia | yesasia.com

Here it is a new Final fantasy art book!!! This book is Final Fantasy Type-0 Official Art works. Ever since the first time I saw the I can't wait to order it and decide to order from amazon japan right away. The book cost 2800 yen, which could go around 35~40 USD. And shipping from Amazon Japan usually cost a lot and depend on where u live, my total comes around $75.

As far as I know we don’t get to see too much FF art book out there and I only know a few, so I know I just have to get this one, and I really love the design of Type-0 and also a big fan or Tetsuya Nomura (FF VII, FFXIII, KH...etc) who handle most of the art for the game.

Even though I import the book, but I barely know any Japanese, but I still order them cause I really like the work and most of the time these book don’t come to stateside.

First lets start with the cover. The book actually comes with clear plastic sleeves cover with title in red on top right corner. Take the plastic sleeve out and u will see the full cover of the book which is the main character for the game Ace from class Zero, also the cover for the book have some light matte finish and have some sort of glare effect which seem pretty cool to me additional to the clear sleeve something you don’t see often.

The book is 255 pgs and in 3 sections. Artwork, History, and Special. The first 2/3 of the book cover all the artworks (pg 4 to179) and the last 1/3 of the book cover the history (pg 180- 241) and special (pg 242-254).

The book start with various CG visual arts and promotion arts, and some never showed artwork. Then its goes to class zero.

One of the reason I wanted the book is that I wanted to see more art for the game, at the same time I wanted to know and see more arts of the all 14 members of class Zero, but it also one of my biggest disappointment for the book. The book didn’t show much or enough for each member. They only show a CG render and one in game render for each member, and that’s pretty much it for class Zero member. With about 14 pages total cover all 14 members but other characters in the game have about 2-4 pages per characters. Consider the class zero is the main point to the game I feel like they should have more work shown in the book.

The characters separate into section just like the fraction in the game Suzaku (red phoenix), Byakko (white tiger), Soryu (blue dragon), and Genbu (black tortoise). Each section covers the characters of that fraction. Then there are artworks of other characters such as Masamune the director class zero, some support characters and then there are various designs for moogles. There are also costumes and color design for the students and regular townspeople NPCs in the games. There are also many armor designs for the Byakko soldiers.

Also in the characters section, it’s the Eidolon section (summons), it include the common summon we know such as Ifrit and Shiva (each summon only gets a pages and mostly frontal shot and some breakdown and a cg shot). After that its show the enemy section with various mechas (also with some breakdown) and monsters in the game. The last few sections for the art work cover the Backgrounds, its shows a world map of the game, then there are many concept art for the environment in the game.

Past the art section it will be history then it special section. (I won’t explain much on each of these as I’m limited to what I can understand but I will give some general ideas these).
The history section is just like the title, it explain the history for the game and its best for you to skip this section if you don’t want any spoilers or such even though its about the game history and in Japanese but there are still some in games shots showing what happen in the game.

The Special section of the book, show various chart about the game with data from Square Enix Members. These chart showing Which Eidolon were used the most, which member from class zero were used and most and which character level up to lv99 the most….etc.

There are 2 interviews in the book, with a short one with 3 main staffs who work on the game and an interview in the end with Hajime Tabata.

Overall I really like the book, and I feel like Square need to release art book like this one for all their future titles (I’m still waiting for a Kingdom Hearts art book). I like all the design for the characters and again my main complain for the book was it don’t have enough arts for class zero members. I like to recommend this book to all FF fans out there especially if you have play Type 0, this is still a great book to have even if you don’t know anything to FF or the game.

I was about to borrow my friend’s camera this time and it looks really good, guess I need to get one good camera.

What you see here is what you get! Thats all for each class zero member.

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol. In Depth Review

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:30:13 -0700

*Book reviews are really tough... I'm doing a more in depth analysis of this book because its really that good*

Anya's Ghost is written and drawn by Vera Brosgol. The book is publish by First Second in June 7th 2011. This is a single volume graphic novel about Anya, a teenage girl desperately trying to look “cool” and fit into school. One day on her way home after school, she fell into an old abandoned well and met a ghost, Emily. With Emily's help in school, Anya starts to treat her differently and they became friends. Or so we thought.

Even though Anya's Ghost is the first graphic novel that Vera Brosgol created, the story is captivating and effective partly because of the nature of her job: a storyboard artist in Laika studio, (the company that created the stop-motion feature, Coraline) If you're still not convince by this first timer, the book is highly praised by industry veteran like Neil Gaiman and Scott McCloud. So what is so special about the story of a teenage girl who meets a ghost and finally learns about self-image, friendship and finding a place in the world? It is the great drawing style, the great color scheme and the well written plot.

Fig 1a

In Anya's Ghost, Vera Brosgol uses a cartoony art style to convey her story. Both the character designs and environments are fun and lively with the same cohesive art style seen in Fig 1a.. The choice of this particular style not only makes the characters cute and simple, it allows for great exaggeration of expression and movements in the comic. This flexibility in the drawing sets up for a great climax and twist as the drawings changes from cute to creepy yet maintaining that unique cartoony look as seen in Fig 1b.

Fig 1b

But what really sells Anya's Ghost is the STORY itself. Despite the fact that there isn't much action within the story, the narration, dialog and plot keeps the story fun and exciting. For example, in Fig 1c, Anya is trapped in the well and for the first time, she discover Emily the ghost. This short sequence can be drawn using two panels, 1) Anya sees ghost and 2) Anya freaks out. But instead, the author builds up the emotion by slowing down the pacing of the story from moment to moment and finally revealing Emily in the last panel, leaving the reader with a cliff hanger. The best part of this book is the fact that all of the 224 pages is a page turner in similar style. The other reason why the story and plot is well written is the fact that there is more show than tell in Anya's Ghost. When Anya discovers the back story of Emily, no expositions were used.

Fig 1c

Anya's Ghost is a great graphic novel that speaks to the heart, addressing our insecurities in life. The story works perfectly in terms of artistic style, color choice and plot. It is a resolve, fun and emotional book that is suitable for teens and adults. Highly recommended.

Available on Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP)

Book Review: The Art of PSG Vol.2

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:38:54 -0700

The Art of PSG Collection of Initial Designs Vol.2

I was completely wrong in a previous post, there is a Vol.2.

The second collection of of pre-production designs for Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, "Presented By Geek Fleet".
With Many of the concept sketches and designs already covered in the 1st Volume released at the end of 2010; The drawings contained in this 2nd Volume is extremely close to what is presented in "Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Production Material". Many of the sketches are simply the original drawings of what later is used as character references for the the show.

In Other words: Volume 1 > Volume 2 > Material Collection > What you watch

Released: 14/08/2011
Paperback: 148 pages
A4: Landscape :Black & White
(Format is the same as Vol 1)

Contents
004 Packaging Art
005 Chapter 1 - Concept Art
011 Chapter 2 - Character
076 Chapter 3 - Ghost
097 Chapter 4 - Background
119 Chapter 5 - Art Direction
131 Chapter 6 - D City Rock
148 Staff

I like the way PSG looks and I like this book, it's probably my favourite (.......at this particular moment) out of all the PSG books....I forget how much I bought this for....my advice (if you actually want this), don't spend more than 6000-7000 yen, 5000 yen is it's current standard price around the web or whatever, this book might disappear from your sight for a while, but don't panic...too much; I still see Art of PSG Vol.1 now and then, and that's been out for little over 1 year.

Purchasing: Since it's Doujin, you'll have to try searching on ebay, YahooAUCTION (if not a resident of Japan: use a Deputy-service), or Mandarake.

Package Art

Chap.1 Concept Art (What I saw in Volume 1 is what I'd consider Concept art, These look more like Imageboards -prior production- to me...actually...imageboard is part of concept art isn't t...... btw There is no Colour in this book unlike the first one)

I would have really liked to see this on in color (Panty is on the left page but I didn't take a photo....let me know if anyone wants to see it....)

Chap.2 Character (they're pretty much getting down what the characters/their actions/how things can, should or would look/work like in the show)

Additional images in section: 1
2

Chap.3 Ghost Additional image (Now that I look at it....some of the the Ghost in PSG.....and the series itself, remind me of 'Cutie Honey'....why didn't I realize this before..)

Chap.4 Background (this section is closer to 'setting' rather than actual BG, There is one here page with Layouts though)

Chap.5 Art Direction (no...more like the key animation/genga than anything else)

Chap.6 D City Rock (Storyboards + Final Image along side Key Animation frame; for the music video episode)

Scary Girl by Nathan Jurevicius

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:17:02 -0700

Today we're reviewing a comic/illustration book. This picture book has been out for awhile, published in 2009. There is an online flash game that you can play HERE. Square Enix is also developing a console game version set for 2012 release.

Scary Girl by Nathan Jurevicius: At 128 pages, this mime comic contains sketches and vinyl toy designs created by Nathan Jurevicius. The illustrations are colorful and gorgeous with great acting. The author/artist replace word balloons (speech bubbles as some of you folks prefer to call it) with icons and symbols. The visual narration is easy to follow and this book tells the story of a little girl, searching for her identity in a bizarre world. The book doesn't have an ending and it doesn't seemed like the author is planning a book 2. Nevertheless, it is a great book for collection.

Click here for Best Price

Books on '50s Art

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:03:28 -0700

From what I understand, art, especially in animation, became a lot more graphic--even Disney started doing this with Sleeping beauty and 101 Dalmatians.

Are there any books that cover the 50's art/animation with both pictures and text that Parka or anyone else could recommend?

Review: Art of Skyrim

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:30:19 -0700

Skyrim is an annoying item right off the press: its chief source of irritation is the fact that you can only get it with the collector's edition of the Skyrim game. That's the bad news, especially for those of us loath to drop 150 bucks for stuff we mightn't want, like a lead dragon.

The good news is that the books are sold separately on eBay for less.

How less really depends on what you're willing to pay for this, and how good you are at bidding on eBay. I have been tracking the books for a month now, and the lowest I saw a book go for was around 39 dollars, INCLUDING shipping. I got my own for free shipping for 30. But that was due to incredible luck and patience.

Most books sell for an average of 50 dollars. The price may gradually go down as the Christmas zeal dies down, but it may go suddenly back up if and when Bethesda goes defunct in 20 (say) years.

The book itself:
*Note* I took these photos with an iPhone 4 with low light so the glossy pages wouldn't be overexposed. The graininess and noise is bothersome, and the new photos I posted were edited in order to reduce the noise.

I was expecting more pencil sketches and 'process art.' A lot of the art is the final version, although because most of it (if not all) was digitally painted, some photos have different parts showing different layers of the artist's rendering.

The book is divided into several parts: The World, landscapes, creatures, races, clothing, armor, weapons, items, and effects.

Not all sections are created equal, and a large amount (roughly 50%) is devoted to the first two sections mentioned.

However, all the art is beautifully painted, and created to craft a very indo-european style--appropriate because the game takes place in a northern province populated (and named for) by Nords, whose historical art and mythology were similar.

I always enjoy when artists cite historical references, and they don't really do that here, in fact, there is very little text, maybe a few sentences every five pages.

The foreward is the largest segment of text you'll find in the whole book. Clearly, the emphasis is on the art (fair enough).

Speaking of which, not all the concept art used was put into the game. this youtube clip for example shows some art that didnt make it into the book.

You can see my own thumb-thru and note that the art featured is gorgeous--is it worth 50 dollars? Depends how much of a fan of Bethesda/fantasy art you are. I am happy with the product and the price I paid, but I can't imagine paying much more. If you're really interested in this, scan ebay like a shark until you see an auction that you can get a bid on.

Because the price is all over the place, I'd give this a four out of five stars: bottom line is that it is wonderfully produced, but don't break your bank.

Ebay link

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Review: Manchu's SF Art books

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:40:23 -0700

Manchu's 'Science [Fiction]' and 'Starship[s]'

Manchu, whose actual name is Phillipe Bouchet ( not to be confused with Philippe Buchet of 'Sillage' ) is a French science fiction artist, born in 1956.
According to the biography at the end of the first book, the two events that set him on his creative direction were '2001: A Space Odyssey', and the moon landing a year later.

If you're around my age, then Procodis Studio's classic animation series "Once upon a time...Man" is probably part of your childhood. Manchu participated in the making of the series ( according to the bio on publisher Delcourt's site ) and its sequel series, "Once upon a time...Space" ( but there is nothing related to it in the book ).

Science [Fiction], the first book, came out in 2002. The second, Starship[s], in 2010, both published by Editions Delcourt as part of their 'Serie B' books.

The core of both books is Manchu's cover illustrations for science fiction novels. The titles are in French, but most aren't that difficult to understand with a basic knowledge of a some words.
The first has a foreword by Gerard Klein, a well-known French science-fiction writer and editor, and the second by science fiction writer Laurent Genefort, creator of 'Omale'.
Both, like the other texts preceding particular sections in the books, are given in both French and English.

Both books also have a 2-page step-by-step section (in French and English) , and a non-fiction space art section with some of the work including shuttles, satellites, etc., which Manchu makes mainly for the French magazine 'Ciel et Espace' ( Sky and Space ), published by the 'French Association of Astronomy', which began publishing in 1945.
In the second book this section is shorter and is dedicated to art of the planet Mars, also including imagined future settlement etc., made for the French 'Association of Planet Mars'.

The first has a short black-and-white section showing art and designs made for comic books and role-playing games.
The second book has a section entirely dedicated to cover art and designs for Delcourt Publishing's comic books, such as 'Golden Cup', 'Le Grand Jeu', 'L'Histoire secrete', 'Jour J', etc.

The first book ends with a biography and ( as does the second ) a bibliography.

Some art books are of a mixed quality; some images stand out while a lot is "filler", like in music albums. Here there is virtually no such "filler", almost all images are interesting and are of excellent quality ( more so in the second book ).

Some links:
http://manchu-sf.blogspot.com/ - Manchu's own blog

http://fr-fr.facebook.com/manchu.sf

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchu

http://www.actusf.com/spip/article-3222.html - an interview with Manchu, in French

http://www.planete-mars.com/
http://www.cieletespace.fr/

lists of covers illustrated by Manchu, with pictures when you click on a title:
http://www.librys.fr/manchu/ -
http://www.scifi-universe.com/fiche_pers...r_id=11739

http://www.editions-delcourt.fr/catalogu...urs/manchu - A short biography on the Publisher's site

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The books at Amazon.fr:

Manchu Science [Fiction]:
http://www.amazon.fr/Manchu-Science-fict...874&sr=8-1

Manchu Starship[s]:
http://www.amazon.fr/Manchu-Starships-Ar...874&sr=8-2

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The books on the publisher's site: (there are a few other artbooks here too)
http://www.editions-delcourt.fr/catalogu...ce_fiction
http://www.editions-delcourt.fr/catalogu...starship_s

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