Contest: What are your favourite art books from 2010?

This contest is closed. Check out the results.

I was trying to postpone this contest until the arrival of the last 2 art books on my shopping list, The Art of Tron: Legacy and The Art of District 9. Sorry about the missing review for the Tron: Legacy art book but my shipment is running later than usual. Anyway, I saw the book at the bookshop and it's feels more like a picture book than an art book. Stay tuned for a more detailed review that should appear, hopefully, within this week.

2010 is another year with a bumper load of art books. For this last contest of the year, just comment on which are your favourite art books for the year. Take this as an opportunity to share with others what you like.

Here are the results from 2008 and 2009.

As usual, thanks to all the readers who have bought books here, commented, linked back, followed me on twitter, subscribed the RSS, joined as a blog follower (on the sidebar by the right) or threw me a helpful vote on Amazon! Your support made this contest possible.

Contest rules

  • List your 3 favourite art books from 2010 (a list to give you ideas). Add a few sentences on why you like them in the comments section.
  • For contact purposes, leave your email in the form text box asking for your email (so that other people cannot see your email).
  • One winner will be chosen randomly
  • Prize: The winner will get to choose any artbook(s) from the list of books reviewed or the list of upcoming books worth $50 - You can get two books under $25 each.
  • Bonus prize: If you've reviewed any art books on the forum, you get $20 additional.
  • This contest is open to everyone
  • Results will be announced after the deadline

To serve as an example, let me start with my favourite art books, in no particular order. You don't have to post ten books like me, although if you post more I don't mind.


The Art of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is definitely the best video game art book for the year. This is an exceptional art book for the phenomenal game.

The Art of How to Train Your Dragon
The Art of How to Train Your Dragon is a beautiful art book for the charming animated film.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Art of the Animated Series
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Art of the Animated Series is filled with beautiful anime art for an equally wonderful anime.

Book Review: Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes
Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes is the art book comic fans have been waiting for. It went out of stock real fast.

Dofus 2.0 Artbook
Dofus 2.0 Artbook for the MMORPG game is loaded with lots of nice character designs. It's beautiful and colourful.

Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers
Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers is a book on composition that all artists should have.

The Art of Drew Struzan
The Art of Drew Struzan is one of those art books that sold out real fast this year. The book collects close to 30 years of stunning work from Drew Struzan.

Book Review: The Art of Tangled
The Art of Tangled is another fantastic animation art book that mixes old Disney charm into modern animation making. The character designs are gorgeous.

Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee
Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee is an art book that highlights the amazing dedication to comics from Jim Lee.

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter
Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter is a very accessible guide that's filled with interesting and useful information on color and light. It teaches stuff you won't find in other books.

Comments

1. The Art of Massive Black:
The best art book I own!

2. The Art of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves:
The art book is like the game, beautiful!

3. Mega Man: Official Complete Works:
Bring back a lot of childhood memory

1--- Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Art of the Animated Series-
The best artbook for the best animated series I have ever seen!
2---Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle-
there are so many books of star wars its hard to choose but this
includes the entire saga and the ideas behind the mind of George Lucas,well done! 3---The Art of How to Train Your Dragon-
Full of beautiful artwork with one of my favorite concept artist:Nicolas Marlet.

1) "The Art of Tangled"

- I can't believe what a gorgeous volume this one is! All the sketches and concept art provided by Glen Keane and his team remind me of the OLD Disney Classics; and the beautiful paintings are horribly inspiring. I get the feeling I'm assisting at the birth of a new Classic, when I flip through its pages. Definitely a masterpiece movie - and a perfect volume of images and info to go with it.

2) "The Art of How to Train Your Dragon"

- Unfortunately I don't actually own this one yet, but flipping through its pages left me awe-struck a few days ago. Again, lovely character designs and BEAUTIFUL paintings. Inspiring, at least. It made me appreciate the movie so much more...

3) "Drawing Shortcuts: Developing Quick Drawing Skills Using Today's Technology. 2nd Edition"

- I first saw this book on your site and then immediately decided it's exactly what I needed. I'm an Architecture student, and I've had a bad time trying to make my perspectives and drawings look "good enough". I got some very good tips and pointers from this book and currently consider it one of the best investments I ever made.

4) "Tale As Old As Time"

- Although not as classy a volume as numbers 1) and 2) are, this deserves to be on this list because I've been dying to see a good "Art Of" book for my FAVOURITE Disney Classic for ages! It's impossible for me not to get all excited about owning this title; even though I wish it had MORE sketches and concept art.

5) "Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter"

- This one is not helpful for my school-work, but for my digital painting. I haven't had the chance to actually put it to good use yet (hence it being number 5); but I've been looking for something along these lines for a long long time and am very glad to finally have it in my hands. Also, I found out about it through your blog. Thank you for that :)

1. Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes
Stunning artwork from a brilliant artist. I like reading what the artist has to say about the pieces as well.

2. apple 04
Very interesting and varied artwork from different korean artists, probably my fav of the apple books so far!

3. Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter
This is the book i've been waiting for all year. Not only is the artwork amazing but Gurneys insight on color and light makes this book a must have. One of my all time favourite art books hands down. A pity there is no hardcover version of it though, at least not as far as i know.

1. COLOR & LIGHT by James Gurney
Not since the Andrew Loomis books from over 50 years ago has there been such a thorough and accessible book. Its to-the-point writing, arts & sciences reasoning and lavish illustrations have set the bar very high for books on learning.

2. FRAMED INK by Marcos Mateu-Mestre
A sharp and serious look at a well-tread but undernourished area of art. His straight-forward text is as clear as his art. He knows the job of the storyboard artist better than most and boils it down to it's essential elements.

3. THE ART OF DREW STRUZAN
This impresario was much deserving of a book that covers a 30 year career. The last great artist to touch the dying art of movie posters. That's not something to gloss over either. Unlike the death of typesetting, that nobody felt, hand illustrated posters with texture and paint should be mourned and yet celebrated in Struzan's work.

- James Gurney's "Color and light"
- James Gurney's "Imaginative Realism"
those two, because J.Gurney is a great artist, but also a great teacher about every aspect of illustration
- Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers
great resource, great drawings, too!

I had to find a different computer, but I finally got it to work.

My top 3 art books of the year:

Color and Light: I thought this was a super helpful reference book, particularly since I just started painting a short while ago. The tips and techniques are all very relevant, and the pictures are just beautiful.

Art of Tangled: I loved this movie, and the inside look at the character development and the beautiful backgrounds and the difficulties they went through to create the movie they ended up with was lovely.

Art of How to Train Your Dragon: I LOVED this movie, and the art book was just the icing on the cake.

1. Color and Light

I can't say anything about how great this book is that hasn't already been said. One thing I would like to point out that isn't normally pointed out is the short history of realist art at the start of the book. Those pictures are great. I hope Gurney's next book is a book about the history of realist art.

2. Spectrum 17

Again, not much I can say about this, the stuff gets better each year. I love the cover, especially because I saw it being painted in person at the Illustration Master Class. Lots of other stuff I saw in that class ended up in this book.

Middle-Earth: Visions of a Modern Myth by Donato Giancola

Some of the best LOTR stuff I've seen. I went to the store planning to get the new Spectrum and nothing else, but I couldn't help buying this.

I haven't been really keeping up to date with the art books--expensive things they are--so I'm rather dreadfully uninformed about what's new, but here's what I like from what I've seen:

1. Color and Light
Gurney was probably one of the most influential artists in my childhood, along with Bill Watterson and Chuck Jones, on account of his Dinotopia series. This amazing book has reignited my youthful fascination that has since been lost to years of bad art schools.

2. The Art of Resident Evil 5
The game wasn't good. Maybe some people liked it, but as far as I was concerned it was just another lousy big-studio blockbuster just making a quick million off an old franchise. But the rejected artwork tells a different story, at least going back to production. The concepts are brilliant and terrifying, full of character and life (or death, as it may be). It's a wonderful glimpse at what could have been a great game.

3. Composing Pictures
Technically this is just a reprint of a book from the 30s, but it's worth a mention. It's a good specific guide to a specific topic.

1. The Art of Toy Story 3 - I loved seeing the concept art for all of the characters and it was fascinating to read about the progression of Andy and his room through each movie.

2. The Art of Tangled - The images in this book are breathtaking and the concept art is stunning! This book is a work of art!

3. How to Train Your Dragon - Beautiful art work that takes you to another land. An incredible movie and an incredible book!

1.) James Gurney's Color and Light - a guide for the realist painter.
This is definetely one of the best, if not the best, publications for artists on the theme and a must have reference of any visual artists studio library!! A blast!

2.) The Art of Drew Struzan
One of the most honest books with insights into one of the toughest illustration industries.
Plus: it's not only about the poster art, it's about Drew's art! Must have!

3.) The Art of How to Train Your Dragon - great movie great book

The Art of Drew Struzan

some of the most amazing work human eyes may ever see. i also like this book because drew struzan is one of the rare super talents that returns fan email !!!!

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter

not only a book with great artwork from james gurney, but how to make great artwork. the value of this book will only be realized by the hundreds of years it remains in the hands of artists....and i havent even read this book yet.

Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee

awsome cover art, haha!

Thanks for the contest; it inspired me to go back to many of your 2010 reviews. But, at the end, my list didn't change (though I added a few things to my Amazon wish list, and hope you get credit when I eventually buy them)

1. Color and Light - amazing how much this man can teach
2. Art of Tangled - grateful for the relative lack of screen shots.
3. Art of Uncharted 2 - it's the settings that got me, not the characters. Beautiful.

First off, amazing contest!

1. Color and Light by James Gurney. Just received my copy a few weeks ago and have been absorbing it page by page. One of the best art books, period.

2. Star Wars: The Making of the Empire Strikes Back. Fantastic new look into a classic, one of my personal favorites of the series. Dives much deeper than the original Art of Empire Strikes Back.

3. The Art of Drew Struzan. Breathtaking work and to have it all in one handy resource - WOW! It would be very difficult to find someone who has not seen or been influenced by Drew's posters.

1) Process Recess 3 - James Jean
Looking through the pages you see one man trying to fill every inch of the page and yet even though most of the lines seem almost contour in nature, you fill as if you can learn from them. I still open it up for inspiration when I'm feeling down with my sketches and it always lifts me back up. Definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to see a different type of sketchbook. Something candid.

2) Structura: Art of Sparth
The man makes environments look so easy and there's nothing more impressive then seeing the chunks of paint used to form a world that's eerie but familiarly human. Each piece is breath-taking and challenging in its own right. Very very informative to study from.

3) Art of Toy Story 3
Like most people it's great to see things that remind us of our childhood, but more important to me is the simple nature of their artwork. It expresses so much in such an easy manner and doesn't overpower you so that when you see the movie art, you can see all of the ideas from the original art but at the same time, you can marvel at how it evolved. Just love the Pixar books.

1. Steampainting: SPARK
2. Color & Light
3. Art of how to train your dragon
great reviews guys

1. Art of Uncharted 2 - A large & definitive "Art of the Game" book. Important commentary from the very people involved displaying tons of concept art of 3D visuals. Endless inspiration.
 
2. Color & Light - Essential art theory book from one of the best natural media artists on the planet. Thoroughly enjoyable reading from a very down to earth painter in James Gurney. Invaluable to any artist.
 
3. Sentury II - 2 words "Syd Mead". Still producing concepts to rival the best, the nearing 80 "Futurist" still comes up with amazing concepts and ideas that despite being very sc-fi, remain heavily grounded in reality. Worth every cent.

The Art of Drew Struzan: his iconic posters had a huge impact on me ever since I was little. He's able to capture that certain something that give his work a life of its own, and to see concepts from him and learn a bit about his process is wonderful.

The Art of Tangled: this speaks to me as a wonderful treasury of art work by Glenn Keane - the backgrounds are also breathtaking and its fantastic to see the thought process of character development on this film.

The Art of How To Train Your Dragon: I loved getting to see the inner-workings for the character design for this film, and the book lets you appreciate the finer details that were designed for more common items like weapons and houses to complete their world.

my top 3 this year would have to be:
1) The Art of Toy Story 3. It's got great character designs and plenty of great art by fantastic illustrators like Dice Tsutsumi, Daniela Strijleva, etc.

2) The Art of Tangled. It's got drawings by Glen Keane. Need I say more?

3) Shadowline- the Art of Iain McCaig. It's just so darn beautiful *_*

1. The Art of How to Train Your Dragon: I got this before I even saw the movie and was blown away by the style they were going for. A perfect blend of cartoon-ish character designs with some deadly looking dragons.

2. Cover Run: I don't even read comic books, but the cover for this one got me, and of course, it was full of gorgeous artwork by Adam Hughes. It makes me want to start reading comics now, if only to get some great visuals out of it.

3. The Art of Tangled: Another one I checked out before seeing the movie for, I absolutely loved seeing all the manly men and their names, and yet amongst all of them there was a mime. Usually I only care about the character design sections of art books, but the locations in this book are stunning and I spent several minutes on each page just looking over everything.

1) Art of Tangled
Like most people who are into animation, Tangled has been the highly anticipated movie, starring the legendary animator Glen Keane. With amazing line quality that exceptionally displays force in Glen Keane's sketches, the process of Tangled is almost as admirable as the movie itself! The colors in the book also are also very nice and harmonized - only something to be expected from Disney!

2) Color and Light
The only book that I can find that teaches highly accurate light-on-form colors. It's been really hard for me to find a book that teaches light as in-depth as this. First book I've seen that demonstrates and teaches the different types of colors being affected by different types of light. Could arguably be number one in teaching how colors are very relative to light.

3) How to Train Your Dragon
Being my favorite Dreamworks movie, the book is also my favourite book from them. The book has tons of great concepts that we don't even see in the movie. A highly recommend for it having what art books are suppose to have, containing most if not all of the process (storyboard, character design, etc). Best story and design for Dreamworks yet!

Contest: What are your favourite art books from 2010?

In no particular order:
Cover run by adam hughes or AH!. Best cover artiste on gals. This book doesn't cover some of his works from Dark Horse's Ghost since its publisher is DC.Check out his deviant art https://adamhughes.deviantart.com/

Next up is Art of Drew Struzan
This book brings back memory on my first cinema trip to watch BK2FUT or Back to the Future. That poster capture the essence of the movie.With a back lite horizon that beckons another time travel

Last but not least is Icon
Jim Lee being another one of my favourite comic artiste. He does a fantastic killer Pyslocke. However again, this book does not cover materials from his Marvel stinct.

1- The Art of Toy Story 3 - That full spread color script was worth the cost of the book alone. Informative, surprisingly touching, and a great bookend to my first ever artbook (the original art of Toy Story from 1997).

2- The Art of Wakfu Season 1 Book 1 and Book 3 (trying to get book 2) - It's rare to find such detailed information on single episodes in a collective artbook and I love how they added both scenes that made it into the final pieces, and the stuff that they worked hard on but ultimately sacrificed in the name of story. The character sketch work at the end of each book is also top notch.

3- The Art of Uncharted 2 - This book alone has production values to rival the game and that says a lot. Filled with information you wouldn't find in every game book and so much of those incredible game backgrounds I still just flip through it every few days to pretend I'm in Nepal etc just for the heck of it.

3. Advanced Fashion Drawing: this book is fantastic. it is much more than a fashion drawing book and its lessons on creativity, thought process and multiple approaches to composing pictures with the human form are fantastic. The book really forces you to think about how and why you want to draw something/one.

2. Pastel Pointers: Top 100 secrets for beautiful paintings: this is a pastel painting book with a touch of info on oils but the information itself can be applied to any form of opaque painting, especially gouache. The author stresses color temperature more than anything else and it shows in his work. Also included is a half hour dvd lecture. Loved it.

1. The Legend of Steel Bashaw: a short story written and illustrated by the author. The oil paintings are too amazing for words and are complimented by a preliminary drawing/sketchbook section in the back. While the length of the story is short, the page size is large and printed on high quality glossy paper with full page illustrations that one would easily sell as prints; they are that good. Amazing artwork and amazing price, my #1!

1. Tangled - Tons of behind the scenes paintings and drawings and no filler screen shots make this book an absolute must for fans...and Glen Keane mixed into all of it. Amazing.

2. Walt Disney Archives - Design - This is my favorite of the series so far. Beautiful paintings and page after page of splendid drawings and illustrations.

3. James Gurney's Color and light - This is by far the most helpful book on painting that has been published this year. Terrific book and quite an undertaking.

In no particular order:

Spectrum 17 - I always look forward to this annual of collected artwork from the fantasy/sci-fi world. The quality is always first rate and knocks my socks off!

75 Years Of DC Comics: The Art Of Modern Mythmaking - What can I say? This oversized monster of a book is a must have for any comics fan. Well designed and comprehensive. A solid and entertaining investment in comic history.

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter - James Gurney is a Master Illustrator! His books are helpful, easy to read and understand and the artwork is fantastic! This book belongs in everyone's How-To library.

1. The Art of How to Train Your Dragon-So many fun characters and houses. Nico Marlet's drawings are awesome!

2. The Art of Toy Story 3-Absolutely amazing colors with great storyboard layouts.

3. Spectrum 17. A great variety of work and all of it is incredible!

My 3 favourite art books of 2010 are, in no particular order:

Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes
I am absolutely obsessed with Adam Hughes' art, to the point of downloading everything I could get my hands on on his website and DeviantArt page. So I had to get this book, which is really beautiful and well printed. If only it had art from other companies...

The Making of The Empire Strikes Back
I've been waiting for this one for so long...
I got the first book of the series and loved it. When I learned that there would be a book of the sequel, that also happens to be my favourite movie, I had to get it. And to my surprise, it's chockful of information on the making of the movie and things that surrounded it.

Alex Ross: Rough Justice
From another of my favourite artists, Rough Justice's got the beautiful sketches and rough work that were not contained on Ross' previous book: Mythology. It's a great complement to it.

I wish I could've added Color and Light and Framed Ink to this list, but they still haven't arrived!

1. The Art of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2. Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee.
3. Alex Ross: Rough Justice

1) Worlds & Wonders. Art of Aleksi Briclot
A beautiful book. And plenty of images. A good review of Aleksi's career(twelve years)

2) Light & Color: by James Gurney
Because I'm an illustrator and This book is a bible for the realistic painters.

3) Framed Ink: drawing and composition for story tellers
Composition is so important in pictures. I don't have it yet but it will be on my desk soon that's sure.

1) Worlds & Wonders. Art of Aleksi Briclot
A beautiful book. And plenty of images. A good review of Aleksi's career(twelve years)

2) Light & Color: by James Gurney
Because I'm an illustrator and This book is a bible for the realistic painters.

3) Framed Ink: drawing and composition for story tellers
Composition is so important in pictures. I don't have it yet but it will be on my desk soon that's sure.

1)"Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter": I was just waiting for a review on this book when it was posted in here. That said, I bought it for Christmas, and I have not taken my eyes off it. It´s so full of amazing content, mindblowing images and really helpful advice, everything you could ask from the master James Gurney.

2)"Planet to Planet: Creatures and Strange Worlds": A great book for creature design inspiration, and by the hand of Mike Corriero.

3)"Spectrum 17: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art": I´ll never regret getting this book, and haven´t yet met anyone who has, it´s just a fantastic book.

1) Art of Adam Hughes: The strength and "buoyancy" of of Adam Hughes is unrivaled. Not only does this book provide a amazing gallery of his work, it also goes in depth into his ideas and thought process behind most of the covers. You get a sense of the humorous personality of hughes' in his writing while marveling as his unparalleled skills at representing super hero women.

2) Art of Darksiders: While this book has one major flaw, the binding SUCKS and pages fall out. The content in the book is GODLY. The book is jam packed with sketches! Literally 4-8 images are found on almost every page. The creativity of both Joe Mad and Paul Richards is near unfathomable. If you can make it 20 pages in without your face exploding with inspiration then you might have been lobotomized.

3) Art of God of War 3: Really, what more can you say that the title doesn't already state? ITS THE ART BOOK FOR ONE THE MOST POLISHED AND INCREDIBLE GAME EVER. The pages of full of unseen characters and concepts, done by some of the best artists in the game industry. It has it all; concepts, storyboards, marketing illustrations, and 3d models!

These are my favorite 3 of the year.

My amazon que for next year already consists of;
Terryl Whitlatches new book "Animals Real and Imagined: Fantasy of What Is and What Might Be"
Piazo's "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: The Pathfinder Bestiary "
Piazo's Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 2
Scott Robertson's "DRIVE: vehicle sketches and renderings by Scott Robertson"
Andrew Loomi's "figure drawing"

1. The Art of Tangled- Glen Keane's drawings are so full of life and character, and you can see that the contributions of other artists totally put this film together.

2. Peck 'n' Paw and the Black Mirror- So many interesting and varied interpretations from the artists at Disney for the title theme. From space babes to a tresure hunt with a crow and cat, I would definitely recommend it.

3. Art of How to Train your dragon- Ahhh. I love this book. The character designs of Nico Marlet and the digital rendering from Zhaoping Wei are too damn gorgeous. All the work in this book is gorgeous.

1. Cover Run: The DC Comics Art of Adam Hughes
It's a book with Adam Hughes' art! Need I say more? I absolutely love his art and this book showcases not only his finished work, but also the preliminary sketches of it. He also provides an insight on his ideas working on the covers for DC. Simply gorgeous!

2. Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Art of the Animated Series
As a fan of the animated series, this is a very nice art book to get. Loaded with beautiful pictures and a lot of information about the show. Early concept sketches, how the creators developed the series (their influences and research), and also some storyboards and character sheets. This is a must have for a fan of Avatar: TLA!

3. The Art of How to Train Your Dragon
I really love this movie and I like the fact that with this book, I am able to get a closer look at the ideas behind the movie. I like reading about the ideas and concepts that go behind an animation - the character development, concept sketches and how they made each dragon different. The illustrations are beautiful!

The Art of Tangled - This has become one of my favorites amongst my Disney/Pixar art books. It has a wonderful collection of rough sketches and background paintings.
Cover Run - There's something about Adam Hughes' style that I love. It's a great blend of realism and comic art I think.
The Art of Uncharted 2 - I love video game art and this has some of the best enviromental paintings I've seen for a game. It's rich and full of details and worth every penny

In no particular order:

1. Claire Wendling - Daisies
French edition is published this year, so I assume it qualifies this beautiful coffee table book for this contest. I love every line Mrs Wendling draw. Most people use big words too easily (amazing, stunning etc.. .) An average or slightly above average artwork is NOT amazing. Franklin Booth and, say, Harry C. Wilkinson were great. Heinrich Kley as well. Harry Clarke is amazing. Zorn, Bouguereau and Vermeer more so. And what about Pierre de Champaigne...let alone Bernini or Michelangelo...?)
I do not use big words for little matters. However, Claire Wendling's art is not little matter.
In my opinion, she is one of the best illustrators around.

2. Alexandre Cabanel: La tradition du beau
Again - French edition. There is no english one and I doubt it will be. One of the greatest 19th century painters. I had luck to see his paintings in person and I can only say that he WAS stunning. No doubt about it.

3. James Gurney - Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter
Indispensable book (just like the previous one) for all serious artist.

I could also include The Art of How to Train Your Dragon for its truly exquisite art, but Color and Light took precedence because it is how-to book with both great artworks AND plenty of helpful pieces of advice.

1. The Art of Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animated Series) - I got a good laugh while reading this art book. Having the detailed stories on how they come up with the series. Seeing the amazing developments from the characters to the set makes this book number one for me.

2. The Art of Toy Story 3 - a book filled with inspirations! stunning storyboards

3. The Art of Tangled - still wishing for a copy. Seeing the character and set designs make me drool more.

Have a Blessed year ahead Parka!

These are the ones that I've checked out:

1- The Art of Iron Man 2 :
I always enjoy the "behind the scenes" articles, footage and in this case books. The designs are just breath-taking and detailed. If you like mechanical designs, robots, cool electrical weapons and art, this book is yours.

2- EXPOSE 8:
" The Finest Digital Art in the Known Universe" .... this says it all. As an artist I need a bank of inspirations that I could consult. This book has all the inspiration I need.

3- Digital Art Masters: Volume 5:
I own the first 2 series of DAM and since then I've been hooked. This series is becoming better and better with time, the best part? each artist displays how the image was created.

The Art of How To Train Your Dragon:
A great look in a project which they completely changed after two years of production - to see the transition of ideas to fit the new story as well as the ideas for the old were fantastic.

The Art of Avatar: The Last Airbender:
This show inspired me to become an animator, and with good reason. Not only does this have great art, but commentary by both creators, Mike and Bryan, whose back story behind the show is quite endearing.

The Art of Tangled:
Some great art by some well known artists in the animation industry, as well as some rising stars, this book shows that Disney is starting to embrace less than conventional methods of art and design in their studios.

Btw, for all interested I must mention the most beautifully illustrated children book I have seen this year - The Dragon's Feathers by Olga Dugina and Andrej Dugin
Originally published in 1993, it was reprinted a couple of months ago.
To say that those watercolor illustrations are masterfully conceived and illustrated would be an understatement. The art is mesmerizing.

The Art of How to Train your Dragon: My favourite by far! The search for the right design for each character is a must-see. The backgrounds are also spectacular.
I'll just add that I'm from Argentina and I had to order the book from North America...And it's worth it!

The Art of Tangled: If you like Disney art, then go for it! Lots of sketches from great artists makes the book a real treat.

Twisted Mind of 1000 tentacles: Unique. I love the style. And the variety of features in it: comic, 3D, character design, sculpture.

Thank you Parka for your dedication and for sharing this great contests. Happy Holidays!
Greeting from Argentina!

1. The art of toy story 3: Love the triology, love the toys, love the creativeness, love the concept art and story boards included in the book. I also like the extra text included in this book.

2. Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast: Who can not love beauty and the beast, the only animation feature to have won best picture. If you're like me, and enjoy reading more than just looking at art, then this is the book for you.

3. The art of how to train a dragon: This was a fun little book, with lots of funky pictures :).

1.) The Art Of Tangled.... oh...my..goodness. I was practically drooling in the theater as I watched this movie. Glen is just so wonderful, the way he draws emotions and movements in characters are just so amazing. As an animation major, I really look up to him. Just amazing.

2.) Cover run- DC has always been so inspirational to me. The different story lines and the art... so dynamic and interesting.

3.) Alice in wonderland- when i saw this movie, I was blown away by the visuals. The art book is full of so much more, it's just amazing how much artistic thought went into it.

1. The Art of Toy Story 3: This beautiful art book is the perfect companion to an amazing movie. Dice Tsutsumi's color scripts are incredible.

2. The Art of How to Train Your Dragon: All of the character sketches are hilarious and wonderfully drawn. Also, the environment paintings are gorgeous.

3. The Art of Tangled: It's nice to see hand-drawn art instead of digital for once. Glen Keane's work is outstanding.

1. Color and Light - Amazing. I haven't found a book that gave me so many insights on how to apply colour to my drawings

2. Framed Ink - I love this book for its style and insights into composition and camera viewpoints.

3. Avatar - Art of the animated series - I'm just big fan boy on this series. :D

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