Book Review: 小畑健画集「blanc et noir」(Art of Takeshi Obata)

小畑健画集「blanc et noir」 is a large hardcover book, about 18 inches diagonal. It comes with a slipcase, which houses three prints and a postcard. The prints are printed on both sides with glossy finish that of top quality photo paper. The cover you see above is one of the prints behind the circular cutout on the slipcase.

There are 150 pages including a few gatefolds. Every illustration is a splash page lavishly painted by Takeshi Obata (小畑 健). Besides Death Note, there are also work from Doshitsune-ki, Apatsuri Sakon, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Hikaru no Go and some of his personal pieces.

The art is very nice, especially the meticulously designed and fashionable clothing he's noted for. It's interesting to see that he also did some designs for characters who look to be from the Warring States period. Many pieces are as detailed as the cover art. At the back he includes his workflow which shows how he inks and colours. The art which looks water colour-painted are actually coloured with Copic markers.

This book is clearly constructed with the collector in mind. There are several paper material on which the illustrations are printed. While most are the low gloss type, selected pieces are printed on matte with a soft shine. Two gatefolds with Hikaru no Go are on textured water colour paper. And remember the three glossy prints.

I had some second thoughts about getting this book at first. It's rather pricey. The book turned out much better than I expected.

It's a quality art book. Highly recommended.

This book is available at:
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This book is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon Japan | YesAsia USA | Play-asia.com

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