Featurin' Pop Art

You'll find various articles on pop culture artists or artworks featured here. This is James Jeans' "Rift"

Featurin' Anime/Manga

You'll find various articles on anime + manga artists or artworks featured here. This is KYMG's "butterfly M82A1"

Featurin' PC/Video Games

You'll find various articles on PC + video game related artists or artworks featured here. This is Jeong Juno's "Last Rebellion"

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Archive for January 2011

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Review :: The Ark: Lineage II Illustrations - NCSoft

Perhaps it's a bit redundant to review a book so similar to Junography so soon, when I have a multitude of others just waiting to be reviewed.  Oh well, you'll have to make do since I want to review this one. :)
The Ark is a collective work from a Korean computer MMORPG called Lineage II. Lineage II has been around for more than 6-7 years now, and has an extensive international following. Its servers are still up and operates as one of the most successful MMOs on the market.  

 

Basic Stats
Title: The Ark - Lineage II Illustrations
Author/Artist: NCSoft
Publisher: SoftBank Creative
Pages: 127 pages
Dimensions: 21 x 30 cm :: Soft cover with Dust Jacket
Date of Publication: Oct. 10, 2005
ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-4-7973-3111-0 | ISBN-10: 4-7973-3111-9
Retail Price: 2800 yen






 












Construction
                I have to say construction is for the most part, fairly standard to the usual Japanese fare with some very much appreciated added frills.  I love the bronze metallic inlay of the female mage on the cover. From an angle it just looks like mocha coloured ink, but upon closer inspection, there's a beautiful bronze shine. I love it. The pages are  mid gloss, and it's funny because this doesn't bother me. On the contrary, I think I really like it. The art work seems to pop more and I'm not noticing any fingerprint smudging because of the white backgrounds. I have no complaints about the glossy pages in this book. The paper is a bit thin, perhaps high quality mook standard so you do get some reflecting. I didn't really notice it being an eyesore upon a quick flip through though. Colour accuracy and print quality is definitely above standard. Everything is so bright and colourful with no muddled colour or signs of cheap reproduction.
                 I really stared hard at some of the pages and I also noticed one very unique and slightly peculiar print characteristic. The colour ink has a different texture than the white paper. I even noticed the coloured parts appear to high gloss whereas the pages are only mid gloss. Because the ink is a different texture, it resembles raised ink. All of these factors make the images really pop from the pages. It's difficult to explain in words and you really need to take in the details by hand to see what I'm really talking about. However, I adore this feature and it's just a great way to finish an already superb print quality.
 

 Content
                All of the art work featured is from Lineage II. Fans familiar with the game will also be familiar with the style of the artwork and what's included. This means alot of Arthurian fantasy elements such as armoured knights, wizards, dragons, etc. Think LOTR, but with an Asianified art style. rofl. In my opinion, the poster girl for Lineage II has always been the flaxen haired elf maiden, so you'll see alot of her and different iterations of her image throughout the book. Not that I'm complaining. I think she's beautiful and kick started a hugely popular trend of the "elf girl". Presentation is also a non issue. Most of the images take up 80-90% of the white on the paper, some are full bleed double spreads and only a small portion are half paged or smaller.
                The book is divided into two sections. The first being labelled as "The Art Gallery" and the second, as the "World Guidance".  The Art Gallery is about 40 pages long and is composed of images that have been exposed and seen before. Anything from character designs, to full illustration, promotional art work to concept work, it's the spectrum of artwork that is expected in any art book. I gotta say, a few of the concept pieces I couldn't recognize at all, or were very rare and seldom seen.
                The second half of the book is what really got me excited though. The World Guidance includes all the artwork that is rarely ever seen by the public, if there wasn't an art book. NPC concept designs, the fantastic towns and villages of Lineage, a drool worthy weapons manifesto, and finally monster designs are the most delightful additions for me. You have to have this kind of "behind the scenes" look for a game art book. I mean how many years go into developing a triple A title? How much of that blue print work is ever available outside the company building? Atleast a portion of that foundation work should be shared to the fans, and this "rough work" is just as important as the more "elaborate" promo pieces.

 








Ending Notes
-  I have seen Jeong Juno's artwork in smaller art books, but due to the amount of details in his artwork, He needs ATLEAST an A4 format art book. I really appreciate this about The Ark.
- My only complaint is that it's too thin :/ I wish there was more or atleast if the weapon designs were larger and more spread out.

Final Rating
- Strongest point: Loved the depth of the featured pieces. You not only get illustrations or character work, but also more obscure artworks such as NPC designs, early concept work, monsters and an encyclopaedic collection of weaponry.
- Weakest point: In all fairness this was released in 2005, during the mid years of the game so I couldn't expect a complete collection of Lineage II art work. However, for a game of this calibre, there is easily enough artwork for double the amount presented. In short, it's too thin. 

8.5/10 <- Great for what it is, but could offer a bit more content

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Blast From the Past: Comiket in 1985

Yes, Comiket existed that long ago, and greatly more amazingly, some video footage of a report on Comiket 28 (1985) has been posted on youtube. This was even before I was born, so dang it's been awhile. I don't want to spoil it for you so take a look at the videos for yourself:

Part 1:





Part 2:



What can we conclude from the Comic Market of 26 years ago?

Well... it's mostly the same as now. A gather of people who love manga. Most of the observations I made are more on the general era than Comiket itself.

- It was big even then. Damn, 20000 people squatting in line? One with even a portable TV? Shit, people were just as hardcore even then.
- Everyone dresses the same/similar with similar hairstyles. I'm seeing alot of ankle length skirts and short sleeved blouses on the women.
- Women didn't wear alot of makeup if any back then. Weird, makeup has existed for 1000s of years but I suppose it follows trends too. People must have spent more time outdoors too. They're so tanned.
- "Idol" anime characters existed even then. Lum's fandom reminds me of all the idol followings of today.
- Slutty anime cosplay is "not" a modern invention. It even existed back then!
- Skill and presentation was alot more amateur back then, but that's pretty much expected. You don't have all the fancy CG programs of today or the sheer selection/variety of print options.

Bonus points to whoever that can ID the dude in the black beret.

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Review :: The Light - CGLand

                I found this used somewhere a few years ago... and I can't really recall how. Most likely it was one of my trips in Korea when I had the liberty of rummaging around internet cafes to find some rare Korean books. ^^ My memory is also foggy with some of the details of this book. It is published by CGLand, a Korean community for digital artists (they recently published Kosmos, which I also need to get my grubby hands on) and I believe this was limited to 999 copies? I can't say with 100% certainty but that’s the number that pops off the top of my head and I’m sure it was less than 1000. Back to the main point though… if you really want a sentence long review, it's the Korean "counterpart" to the Ballistic Expose series. Why do I say that? I think the photos will be serve as enough evidence. 
 

Basic Stats
Title: The Light - Digital Artworks 1
Author/Artist: Various
Publisher: CGLand
Pages: 182 pages
Dimensions: 22.5 x 31cm :: Hardcover with Dustjacket
Date of Publication: Jul. 05, 2005
ISBN: ISBN-10: 89-954099-1-6
Retail Price: 39000 won







Construction
           When a book goes over 30000 won (30 bucks) in Korea, that means it's expensive and presentation should very well exceed typical books. I think The Light is a pretty good representation of this. The hardback covers are durable, heavyweight and exceptional quality. The binding is good... I might have heard a slight crackling when opening the book fully though,  and the glossy dustjacket does its job of protecting the covers.  I can't find any glaring flaws in terms of construction, perhaps only a few minor things that are really depend on personal preference. The paper is high gloss. I’m not a big fan of high gloss but I didn’t find it too distracting here, and strangely pretty resistant against finger print smudging. Almost all of the pages are black which are notorious fingerprint smudge magnets, but yeah I don’t notice this happening very much at all when flipping through. Paper thickness was also very good. I didn't notice very much reflecting through the pages, but that may have also been because there was very little white/blank unused space.
 








Content
                The Light is foremost a digital collection. That doesn't mean there's only 3D renders present... I'd estimate only 1/3 of the work included is 3D and the rest of the two thirds are 2D. A few look like they were even done traditionally but that's just the skill of the artist in mimicking traditional mediums. ^^;;
                Seven sections divide this book: Character, Low_Polygon, Illustration, Transport, Military, Fantasy, and Architecture & Interior. Personally, I don't think some of these are even needed since they can be only a few pages long. Fantasy can just be classified as illustration and transport + military can be lumped together. The vast majority of the pieces are character work and illustrations, while a smaller portion includes real life renders of things like cars, battle ships (sorry I forgot to take a photo of one!) and even buildings + interior designs. I've already touched upon it, but this book covers alot of different material. It does lean heavily on the fantasy/character side of things so individuals looking for that won't be disappointed. However, people who want artwork that is more derived from technical realism on real life objects like cars or ships, may be disappointed.
                Just as there are a multitude of subjects covered, there are also a multitude of artists and styles. Much like the Ballistic series each artist will have 1-3 pieces exhibited within. The entire layout is also very reminiscent of how the Ballistic books are done. Most of the images are full page images on black backgrounds. The rest are half page sized and a few double paged spreads are included as well. You get minimal if any blank pages at all since black is used as the background colour. I wouldn't be surprised if they saw Expose beforehand and liked how the Ballistic books were formatted and decided to do something very similar.  

Ending Notes
-  When this book came out, quality CG related art books were rare in Korea. I’m satisfied by the quality of this book and how it paved the road for more books like it to be published.
- Why did it take so long for CGland to publish a successor art book? Kosmos only came out in 2010 so you have a 5-6 year gap which is pretty huge. It’s a shame The Light was pretty much only a single volume and not an annual it was set up to be.

Final Rating
- Strongest point: You get a vast sampling of digital art. 2D/3D.. everything from Character designs, illustrations, mechanical designs, hell even architecture.
- Weakest point: This is really going out on a limb, but it might feel like a "random catalogue" to certain individuals. It covers so much, there really isn't a central focus.

 8.7/10 <- Solid release, hard to find any flaws.

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Review :: Tsuya Style - Nakajima Atsuko

Nakajima Atsuko's style was a staple in many anime series during the 90s and early 2000s. Quite frankly, I'm a bigger fan of how anime was drawn back then compared to the more simplistic styles of today, so it was refreshing to go back to a style I was more familiar with during my younger days. Huge shiny eyes may be Ms. Atsuko's trademark, but I love how they don't fall into the overly girly or childish depiction which is what you'd normally expect from saucer sized high gloss eyes. Her characters manage to look older than the norm of prepubescent teens, which really makes her artwork instantly recognizable even given the multitude of series' she has provided illustrations for. Unfortunately, only a few are covered in this art book.
Basic Stats
 

Title: Tsuya Nakajima Atsuko Style
Author/Artist: Nakajima Atsuko
Publisher: Mag GARDEN
Pages: 112 pages
Dimensions: 21x 29.7cm :: Soft cover with Dust Jacket
Date of Publication: Jul. 1, 2004
ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-4-86127-049-9 | ISBN-10: 4-86127-049-9
Retail Price: 2095 yen

 





Construction
                There isn't too much to comment on this book in terms of construction. It's very standard for a Japanese release. It's roughly A4 in size which is the standard viewing format for Japanese art books in general. The covers are done with the generic single ply of semi gloss card stock. Not very strong but a glossy dustcover gives adequate protection. 
 
 Nothing fancy. The dust cover does scuff a bit easily overtime so something a bit more resilient would have been nice. I thought it was pretty interesting how the covers are the rough sketches of the completed cover images. Interior paper quality is above average though. Nice and thick semi gloss pages work well and there is no reflecting even though I can see that most pages are saturated with colour. Print quality and colour reproduction is alright, but nothing to rave about since the cel shading can't really be too difficult to produce accurately. 
 






 






Content
                It's a strange thing because I wasn't initially familiar with Ms. Atsuko's styles from the shows that are represented from this book. I remember her Rurouni Kenshin promotional covers leaving the greatest impression on me and I only vaguely remember her work from You're Under Arrest and Getbackers. It's most likely due to the fact that I've never watched these shows. ^^;;; But yes, You're Under Arrest and Getbackers are the main two series covered in this art book with Getbackers taking most of the spotlight. Maybe 10-20% of the book is dedicated to some other cutesy anime which I cannot name but these two series dominate with a few pages dedicated to Ranma 1/2.
                 


              Most of the images are pinup style illustrations (the majority of them being yaoi-esque images of the two main characters of Getbackers), in full page format. The book is varied to a lesser extent and you'll see some different forms of presenting the illustrations. Half page, double page spreads, quarter page illustrations, everything is pretty much done in this book.
               The second half of the book is all black and white sketch work. You'll see some of the completed images that were displayed earlier in the book in sketch form with a page or so of commentary along with a multitude of character design sheets used in the anime or just some random rough work from Ms. Atsuko.
                The last several pages I missed the first time I flipped through but the book, but it does end with a few more anime series being covered. One is something called Peacemaker which has a few pages dedicated to it and Kenshin gets a whopping two whole pages. ;_;


Ending Notes
-  Reminiscing about a style of the past is a good feeling. I still love Ms. Atsuko's big-eyed style more than most styles of today.
- I would have greatly appreciated seeing something other than cel shading in her completed illustrations. 

Final Rating
- Strongest point: It has variation from "just art" for people who enjoy it. Alot of notes, commentaries, almost a half and half mix between sketches and illustrations.
- Weakest point: "I" didn't like all of the black and white 
sketch work plus notes taking up almost half of the book. 

7.3/10 <- SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE

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