What are your art book recommendations?
Personally, I am looking for "the art of", whether its games, movies, or specific artists-- maybe something that has influenced your own visual language.
I'll post some work by two artists I've been recommended already
Syd Mead
Jean Giraud aka Moebius
>>2300640
stupid sexy moebius!
>>2300640
He sure knew how to put lines down heh
If you like Syd Mead and Moebius then pick up some of Sparth's books. They're quite nice and he has a pretty distinct visual vocabulary.
>>2300654
Looks like an asian version of some of the stuff Ian McQue does
>>2300651
>Sparth's
Nice. And his books are under $20. Good find
>>2300658
looks like leeloo multipas to me
>>2300659
>Good find
Glad to be able to introduce you to someone new, but saying he is a "find" is a bit erroneous. He's incredibly famous and considered to be one of the top digital painters/designers in the world. He was one of the first guys to really hop on digital very early on and for over a decade has really pushed the digital medium forward in new ways. His place in digital art history is somewhat analogous to someone like Mullins, but he gets mentioned on /ic/ a bit less because he is a designer with an emphasis on flat graphic shapes and gradients more than a painter, and /ic/ is very painting and brushwork/painterly biased.
>>2300658
>Ian McQue
Hes got a really cool "junk in the sky" style. His book is vaporware though, apparently
>>2300661
I'll admit I am a full retarded bitch when it comes to current era greats. This is one of the reasons I am buying these books.
I just learned about Syd Mead and Moebius this week haha
Either way, good find was more about the price because some of these books I'm finding are upwards of $500.
>>2300667
>I just learned about Syd Mead and Moebius this week haha
Damn, these guys are legends--are you just very new to art then?
If you are looking for the best "bang for buck" art books, the Spectrum volumes are probably the best I know of. They come out with one each year, and they always have very high quality, and get better each year. It's worth picking up a few of the newer ones in my opinion. They'll also be a good way to introduce you to hundreds of working pros/industry giants.
>>2300672
>are you just very new to art then?
Actually, I'm not. My interests have just lead me to follow animators, game designers, post 80s comic artists, and pre-modern painters.
For some reason, these things have just happened to help me skip over gouache-era designers and early digital aritsts.
>Spectrum volumes are probably the best I know of.
I've browsed a couple of the spectrum books, but they seem too broad. I'm currently looking for stuff that will give me a good bead on an artists style. I like being able to "read" their visual language.
>>2300712
Okay then. What type of stuff do you like then? Mostly design? More painting stuff? Does it have to be stuff for the entertainment industry?
There's a lot of books out there. Lots of artists have distinct visual languages. Out of books I own that fit that description, there's a really great one on JC Leyendecker, but maybe his subject matter isn't what appeals to you. Still he's great with shapes. Paperblue's book is pretty nice too. The Skillful Huntsman is a classic for concept art the early visual development in projects, as well as having that Art Center aesthetic/shapes. It was considered the "bible" for many people for years, though at this stage I feel some sections are slightly outdated, or rather, new techniques and approaches have become mainstream. Still worth buying though. Not sure if you like him or not, but I enjoy Yoshitaka Amano's stuff, I have several of his books and like them a lot. Has a lot of very loose designs and drawings and you get a good feel for his particular shape language and design choices. There's a number of Frazetta books available, some better than others. I don't own any though, but you might enjoy them. If you're feeling rich then John Berkey is a great guy for sci-fi, his book is supposed to be godly but it's out of print and pricey.
The other option is to just save a collection of images to your computer in folders. You can often find .zip's too of collections of artists' work.
>>2300721
Oh also if you have money to burn then try Eyvind Earle's books. They're sitting on my wishlist, but they have great reviews.
>>2300721
Right now I'm looking at a lot of concept art stuff, so the skillful huntsman is right up my alley.
I'm also looking for collections by big artists. No specific type of work, just stuff you might think would be in your top artists to study.
Amano and Frazetta I have seen before. I don't own any books by either of them so if anyone has a recommendation for either one I'd appreciate it. Stores tend not to share any images.
Thanks for your recommendations, I'm really liking the stuff you've shared so far.
>>2300728
For Amano I have http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Art-Final-Fantasy-Slipcased/dp/1616551607/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448845952&sr=8-1&keywords=yoshitaka+amano
which is actually 3 large books, so it is quite worth the money. Then I also have his Coffin: Art of Vampire Hunter D book which has fewer designs in it but more illustration stuff (still loose and nice) and some fantastic inks.
I don't really own many concept art type books, most of my collection is old masters or other things like certain illustration stuff. I do own Art of District 9 which is good but perhaps not exactly what you are looking for because it has several artists in it and some stuff is 3d, some is sketches, some actual sculptures etc. so it gives a nice overview but won't let you pick up on the design language of a single artist working in a single medium. I hear out of the "art of" books the one for Tangled is supposed to be the best. Oh, I also have both Massive Black art books, and while they are fairly nice their price isn't justifiable for the amount of content, so unless you happen to find them cheap (<25$) I wouldn't bother. I'm not sure what your taste in design is like, but look up the Monster Hunter art book. Find some pics online of the style, and if it is to your taste then buy it immediately. The designs are the over-the-top fantasy type, but are fairly fresh or interesting takes on things and I like the shape designs. It's not everybody's cup of tea, but the book is filled with a lot of images and is affordable so I recommend it if you are a fan. I have Exodyssey but don't recommend it. It has good reviews but I was disappointed. The art is printed too dark so looks bad and quite frankly a lot of it feels very outdated in a bad way.
>>2300728
>Amano and Frazetta I have seen before. I don't own any books by either of them so if anyone has a recommendation for either one I'd appreciate it. Stores tend not to share any images.
If you're looking for Japanese art books like Amano's I'd definitely recommend making an account on exhentai, it's mostly for uploading doujinshi/porn but there's a ton of art books for anime, games and novels. There's also a favorites feature so you can bookmark and organize anything you want to save.
It's a good place to look at books to decide if you'd want to buy them or not, since some of the uploads can really vary in quality.
