Book Review: 男鹿和雄画集II (Oga Kazuo Animation Artworks 2)

男鹿和雄画集II is the second art book on background paintings by 男鹿 和雄 (Kazuo Oga). He's the artist who's responsible for the amazing background art in most Studio Ghibli films. This was published in 2005 and has been reprinted a few times.

Just like his art book 男鹿和雄画集, this one is filled with beautiful watercolour background paintings, the same ones used in the films. This book features art from Princess Mononoke and Pom Poko primarily, with a selected few from Whisper of the Heart, Spirited Away, The Cat Returns, Howl's Moving Castle and Koro's Big Day Out.

The book actually starts with a step by step look at how Kazuo Oga paints. The photos show his poster colour bottles, his arsenal of brushes and how he deftly applies colour onto the blank canvas. There are a couple of tutorials inside looking at how the paintings are created and used in the animation. It ends with a long interview with Kazuo Oga. Everything is in Japanese though.

Just like the first book, this is another collection to the other Studio Ghibli art books around.

This book is available at:
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This book is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.fr | Amazon Japan | YesAsia USA | CDJapan.co.jp

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