Mospeda Complete Artworks

Finally found it. This is the book that would have really freaked me out during those super influential post high school years. Which was long ago- but better late than never. Im not entirely clear on the history of this book, but it looks pretty new- or at least a new cover and some updated pages? (Correct me if Im wrong but that 1/10 scale suit that I have scanned below sure looks new). But who knows- this spin off of the Robotech series was certainly ahead of its time- everything still looks great, and everything to see in this universe is definitely packed into this book! I especially like seeing all the concepts and production drawings for the Earth Fleet that shows up for the final showdown. I'd like to talk with someone who has seen the original series to see if some of those episodes were left out of the American version's season. All the hangers and ship designs are some of my favorites. There is also a lot of great Invid suits, ships and interiors I had never seen before, along with a good shot of what an Invid pilot looks like while sitting in a cockpit- gross!!
Really great book. If you liked Macross, you will really like this-






Mospeda Complete Artworks
Entertainment Archive Series
ISBN978-4-7753-0670-3
$32 @ Kinokuniya

LA <> SF

LA<>SF A Sketchbook From California by Christian Schellewald.
Sketchbooks are pretty big these days so here's a really good one published by Design Studio Press. I really admire this guys skills in drawing while riding in a car- personally I get seasick when I draw or read, but Mr Schellewalds got no problems. Probably because he seemingly has his sketchbook litteraly ALWAYS. This guys the real deal and always inspires me to have my skecthbook with me absolutely at every moment.
Here are some favorite pages, note the beer labels pasted on pages that appear often. Nice.






HC 128pgs ISBN: 1-9334-9210-4
$29.95 Design Studio Press

Dream Worlds

Dream Worlds; Production Design for Animation, by the prolific Hans Bacher.
I just picked up this book and I cant recommend it enough for anyone with an interest in animation, even the seasoned vets of the industry will find new tips, be reminded of some old ones, and hear some fascinating anecdotes of the second golden era of Feature Animation- the Late 1980s and 1990's. If you were like me, you were catching these films such as Mulan and Beauty and the Beast on their opening days and fantasizing about the future when you'd have opportunities to work on such masterpieces. Hans Bacher was there and with quite a bit of candidness writes about both the difficulties and triumphs of each project.
Along with those stories, he breaks down the pipeline for the production designer into easy to understand chunks and even has sections explaining what makes a good composition and notes on camera lenses etc. etc. Many of his own production paintings are included- and as a bonus- Bambi backgrounds he pulled from dvds via capture software (great idea!). Most of these actual backgrounds are long gone and the few that remain consist of multiple sheets of painted glass making reproduction difficult. Those Bambi background paintings are some of the finest to ever grace the silver screen. AMAZING!




Dream Worlds
ISBN # 978-0-240-52093-3
208 pages

Tekkon Kinkreet Art Book White Side

Its more than time for me to review this pair of books that Ive been sitting on for more than a year now- Tekkon Kinkreet, or Black and White, by the extremely talented artist, Taiyo Matsumoto is a three volume comic book that was originally released by Shogakukan and rereleased in 2000 by Viz. In 2007 it was brought to the big screen by director Michael Arias, who is well known for his work on The Animatrix. This two book set details the background paintings from this amazing film. Apparently some people were disappointed by the film, but for me its stands out as my all time favorite animated feature. Not to mention this being my all time favorite film, these two books also represent my all time favorite art books. This one in particular, "The White Side" is nearly entirely all full color paintings of the black and white pencil layouts contained in the First book of the pair; "The Black Side" which is reviewed below.
ISBN4-87031-765-6

Tekkon Kinkreet Art Book Black Side

This is the first book in the set, Tekkon Kinkreet Black Side. This fantastic volume contains a handful of pre-vis paintings and a whole lot of the pencil layouts that went into developing the final background paintings contained in the second volume, Tekkon Kinkreet White Side.
ISBN4-87031-766-4

The Elements of Style

Just picked up a pretty neat "Encyclopedia of Domestic Architectural Details" book. If you're fascinated with finding out all the various terms for different types of moldings, or if you ever wondered what a "muntin" or a "baluster" is- this maybe is a good book for you. Covers from Jacobean and Tudor (1485-1625) to The Contemporary Era (1975- present day). Probably a great resourse for both concept artists and modelers- I feel as though it gives you all the details you need to keep your architecture and interiors accurate and consistent across a wide variety of western styles.
Published by Firefly Books, ISBN 1-55407-079-1 580 pages.

Baghdad Journal

Its actually an older book- I picked it up a couple years ago- and I first became aware of Steve Mumford a couple years ago through his ArtNet.com diary. He went over to Iraq during the 2003 invasion seemingly with one plan. To draw, paint, and to witness. He arrived there early enough that perhaps you could still walk the streets of Baghdad alone in relative safety. Sketchbook and paints in hand, he wrote and drew who he met and what he saw. Its a fantastic glimpse into a world my American ass will never ever see . I find its EXTREMELY RARE to find an artist who is doing something no one else is doing, or will likely ever be able to do. Most of his journal postings can be found here; http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/baghdadjournal.asp
But I really recommend you go out and buy this book in support of his work... not to mention just to have a well drawn and well written sketchbook of an occupied Middle East that will never ever be the same.
I tried to pull out some of my favorite sketches and paintings, very difficult cause there are so many good ones, but here are a few.
Buy this book.