Just was wondering what others may have on their bookshelves at home or in the office that you find valuable for reference materials. This could be DVDs, Artbooks, Software Related, Anatomy, Art Theory or Method, etc. I figured this would be a good way to maybe spot some that either I am not aware of or should be aware of. List what you think in your opinion are must haves. I am always looking to for good references. I'm going to provide ISBN numbers where I can so others may find these if interested.
Here are some of my must haves off of my bookshelves;
-Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross (Softcover Ed. because it has near 40 more pages of material. Great human anatomy refs and all around awesome art) (ISBN:0-375-71462-6)
-Freedom of Teach: Organic Modeling I -Human Anatomy Male DVD (Maya based but pretty damn awesome way to learn modeling human anatomy)
www.freedomofteach.com
-Oxide2 Carta Numinous: Kim Hyung-Tae The Second Works (One of the best artists out of South Korea...this is collected works from the Magna Carta series of PC games) (ISBN:89-955948-1-0)
-Oxide2X (another book of collected works from the Magna Carta series of PC games by Kim Hyung-Tae) (ISBN:4-7577-2095-5)
-Character Design Bible Volumes 1-5 (japanese mook[magazine/books] that covers the art of character design by some of japans best and brightest in manga, anime, and film) For some reason a volume 6 has yet to appear, hopefully it will continue even though a lot of japanese publications end abruptly. (ISBN: 4-7661-1429-9 Volume1, 4-7661-1466-3 Volume2, 4-7661-1487-6 Volume3, 4-7661-1517-1 Volume4, 4-7661-1546-5 Volume5)
-Steel Canvas: The Art of American Arms (big hardcover wide format book that covers the evolution and artistry of firearms in the early US. Excellent photos of embelished rifles, pistols, knuckledusters and other odd guns like ones disguised as canes and books. This book is 98% high quality photos.) (ISBN:0-7858-1891-X)
-CG Academy Advanced Technical Modeling I by Chris Thomas DVD (this is 3D Studio Max Specific but is really worth the cash and helped me a lot in learning some aspects of technical modeling I didn't know)
www.cg-academy.com
-CG Academy Advanced Sub-D Creature Modeling by Dominic Qwek DVD (yet again 3D Studio Max specific and worth the cash, sometimes Dominic's accent is a lil hard to understand but I learned some great workflow tips from this one)
www.cg-academy.com
-Stop Staring: Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right by Jason Osipa (If you've done any facial animation or rigging I'm sure you've heard of the Osipa method of rigging many times. This book covers a lot of really useful info and has seemed to hold up well in time [published 2003] I recommend it highly.) (ISBN:0-7821-4129-3)
-Discover The Game With Alias (I picked this book up mainly for the sections involving environment creation for games. It has tons of great information and images following the processes in color. It is Maya specific but it all carried over nicely to other applications. They cover about all you ever could...vertex lighting, texture creation, UVs, modeling, etc.) It is nice to see an environment being built from the bottom up till the end and being ready for a game.) (ISBN:1-897177-10-0)
-DK Eyewitness Books: Knight (If you know this line of books then you know how great they are for photo ref. This book in particular is about Knights. Tons of photos of real armor and weaponry from that period in time and explanations on how it all works in detail) (ISBN:0-7566-0696-9)
-DK Eyewitness Books: Arms & Armor (Another great reference for armor and weaponry from the real world and explanations on how it all works) (ISBN:0-7566-0654-3)
Replies
My dads 1975 an 78' yearbook.
All american ads. 1950. which ive used for refrence I guess.
heh.. thats it in front of me/ :F hahaha
Offerings < Brom
The Alien Life of Wayne Barlowe
Expedition < Wayne Barlowe
HR Giger ARh+
Mind Fields < Jacek Yerka
plus a bunch of graphic novels and electronic junk
These are the ones I keep close to the computer at home.
Ender's Game Series
3ds Max Fundementals
Photoshop book
C++ Bibles
and my track spikes...
I don't really have any order to my room, just the way I like it too.
Currently working through the Hogarth book in my sketchbook, and reading the Betty Edwards Color book (which is fantastic) while in the bathroom.
Jeffro, that Itten book is worth it's weight in gold. I have one upstairs that I need to reread. So glad to see other people own it.
(Hogarth) Dynamic Anatomy
Gray's anatomy
Giger's Necronomicon
about six thousand comic books
Lone Wolf and Cub DVD's
Decorated Skin: a world survey of body art
Fighting Techniques of the Achient World
Heavy Metal mags
DnD stuff by Wayne Reynolds
Stuff from Brom, Simon Bisley, Masamune Shirow, John Singer Sargent...
Random porn
Gun/car Mags
A lot of non art books
A lot of stuff is still packed but I rely a lot on the internet for reff.
*Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, The Witching Hour - Anne Rice
*Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince delux, Quidditch through the Ages, Fantasic Beasts and Where to find Them. - J.K. Rowling
*The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci
*Monsters: An Investigator's Guide to Magical Beings - John Michael Greer
*World Mythology
*The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-Paganism
*The Sorceror's Companion: A guide to the magical world of Harry Potter, Second Edition
*Dynamic Figure Drawing - Hogarth
*Drawing Dynamic Comics - Andy Smith
*Drawing Cutting Edge Comics - Christopher Hart
*The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology
*The Chronicles of Narnia collection - C.S. Lewis
*various Wizard and Guitar World magazines
*Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition
*Figure Drawing: the structure, anatomy, and expressive desgin of human form, Fifth Edition - Nathan Goldstein
would take a picture but have no digital camera.
The Human Body
a Medical Dictionary
Vanderpool's "The Human Figure"
Expose 3 (The Leatherbound copy) which my lovely girlfriend bought me for my birthday
H.R. Giger's Necronomicon
H.R. Giger Icons book
Faeries (Brian Froud and Alan Lee illustrations)
Collected Works of Hieronymus Bosch
Collected works of Aubrey Beardsly
Collected Works of Salvador Dali
JTHM: The Directors Cut
I Feel Sick #1
I Feel Sick #2
Swampthing: Love & Death
Charles Addam's My Crowd
Talk Sex
and Finally
Naked (A book my Design teacher gave me for Christmas)
I should take a snap shot of some of my bookshelves. I hadn't thought to do that. I collect game artbooks from japan and korea. One recent one I had picked up was an illustrated collection of the armor and weaponry from Final Fantasy XI. Hundreds of illustrations and explanations for armor and weapons. One of my largest magazine collections has to be Newtype Japan. I have every issue from december 2005 back to January of 1993. The only other magazine collection of mine that comes close to volume is Hobby Japan and National Geographic.
And the art specific books are in the upstairs pairs of shelves next to the computer.
Scott