Favorite "Art of" books?
polycounter lvl 10
Hey polycounters, I was in my school library wowing at the Art of Assassin's Creed book, and was considering finally giving in and buying an "art of" book or two for inspiration because I am getting into creating my own original characters which I have found very difficult.
Do you guys own any "art of.." books and/or have favorites?
Do you guys own any "art of.." books and/or have favorites?
Replies
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Cinematic-Art-World-Warcraft-Wrath/dp/1933784814/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244574786&sr=8-1]Cinematic art of... Wrath of the Lich King[/ame]
ive been on a book binge lately, will find some more
"Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar" is a great book covering the art and making of both HL games, as well as some of Valve's other titles. I don't think it's in print anymore so you may only be able to get it from eBay or used from Amazon.
I love "The Art of Gears of War" book that comes with the limited edition strategy guide; small book but loaded with such good art.
"The Art of Eve" also has nice art and is well printed.
http://www.creativeuncut.com/game-art-galleries.html
I wish there was an Art Of Lineage 2.
One of the best books I'd seen for character designs was the Art of Magna Carta.
Included everything found in the above mentioned webpage, with a WHOLE wack more sketches, painting tutorials by Hyung Tae Kim, and a whole wack of other doodles, sketches and goodies.
2nd place - Final Fantasy XI World Concept (Another 240 page book. Covers character designs as well as environment/monsters)
Worth a mention- The Ark: Lineage II Illustrations
and i agree on the cinematic world of warcraft book, super-duper
I also have to mention Rakugaking by Katsuya Terada; a 1000 page sketchbook that is just brimming with ideas. It was a big factor in my wanting to get better at drawing a few years back.
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Art-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0060758279[/ame]
and the art of shadow of the colossus which is kinda of only filled with screen shots and walktroughs and stuff.
but what i really recommend is the art of metal gear solid books by yoshi shinkawa now those are bursting out of all seams with 100% PURE WIN
Also really like the Art of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, big book with everything from characters to enviorments
the art of god of war 2 which came with the strat guide is one of my faves.
half-life 2 raising the bar is dope, someone mentioned it already but its one of the best out there.
Structura: the art of sparth is super cool too.
oh yea that mass effect one is awesome
Also, The Warhammer: Age Of Reckoning special edition came with an absolutely amazing Hardback art book. 240 full color pages I believe. Frickin Rad.
WoW ROTLK: Cinematics, you guys hit this one already, but I totally agree.
Darkwatch leaks win all over your fingers as you flip through it.
and I've got these two already, and love them:
Still kicking myself for not picking up Monsters Inc when it was in print.
I think I mentioned these in another thread alredy, but the 2 environment artbooks for the Tekkon Kinkreet movie are amazing. All the full color environment used in the movie in the first one ( http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/animebooks-com_2053_28087423 ), and the other one has all the preliminary sketchwork (stuff like http://born-robotic.net/stuff/tekkonkinkreet.jpg ).
Great suggestions otherwise, I'm looking forward to the paperback of that Exodyssey book, big fan of the artists in there.
http://www.paulbonner.net/
If you enter the site he got samples.
I'm also a big fan of Udon's Art of Capcom
The Bioshock artbook that was released in extended format recently is pretty good too.
The D'Artiste book with the Gears of War characters was good too.
I got the mass effect, star wars force unleashed (thanks to ~AUSTIN) and assassin's creed ones which are great too...raaah so many cool ones...
another really awesome one, by Udon, Okami : the official complete works
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Okami-Official-Complete-Works-Capcom/dp/1897376022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244640514&sr=8-1[/ame]
I bought these two while I was in Canada 2 months ago :
Gigers alien
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Gigers-Alien-H-R-Giger/dp/1883398088/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244640619&sr=1-1[/ame]
The Art of Greg Capullo
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Art-Greg-Capullo/dp/1582408394/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244640679&sr=1-1[/ame]
I tend to look a lot at the Intron Depot series by Masamune Shirow too, especially Ballistics
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/INTRON-DEPOT-BALLISTICS-Intorodepo-Japanese/dp/4878922648/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244640793&sr=1-1[/ame]
this guy reviews tons of art books. with pics and videos flipping through. good info for those who are wondering which book to buy next.
also, here's another hot tip from me. i got myself citadel catalogue (games workshop stuff) which was about 10$ and has like 400-500 pages of warhammer, wh40k and lotr characters, vehicles, buildings and environments. inspiration goldmine.
I've tried to find a copy of the Warhammer version but the only one in my city looks like it's been pawed over by hundreds of greasy nerds and then thrown down a couple of flights of stairs.