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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REAL LIFE BALLOON HOUSE FROM PIXAR'S UP!!!!!!

I saw this article on Gizmodo and I just had to post it.

It's a real life "house" based on the house from UP! tied with 300 helium weather balloons to see if it would actually fly. 

Well you can f*cking believe it got UP!

Unbelievable!!!!!





For more details check out the full article:
 http://ca.gizmodo.com/5778006/the-house-from-up-has-been-built-in-real-lifeand-it-flies?skyline=true&s=i

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Review :: Devil May Cry Graphic Files - Capcom

Devil May Cry is one of my all time favourite video games series, and when I heard about the art book I was ecstatic. As a hardcore fan I can say the actual content satisfied my expectations, even if the presentation left something to be desired. As a hardcore fan, you can’t pass it up, and even to the casual fan I’m sure some of the content will be a delight. Needless to say, Tsuchibayashi Makoto fans will benefit from this book the most since the drool worthy concept/character designs are the best bits of this book!   

 


Basic Stats
Title: Devil May Cry Graphic File
Author/Artist: Capcom
Publisher:
Pages: 144 pages
Dimensions: 21 x 30 cm :: Soft cover with Dust Jacket
Date of Publication: Dec.26, 2006
ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-4-86233-106-9 | ISBN-10: 4-86233-106-8
Retail Price: 2300 yen

 


Construction
                This book has been built fairly standard to how most Japanese Art Books are presented. You have a thin soft cover binding with a monochromatic cover of an early concept of Dante.  Wrapped around the covers is a thin glossy dust jacket of the DMC trio (Dante, Vergil, and Trish) done by Capcom veteran, Tsuchibayashi Makoto. His style never fails to delight and it's a wonder how such a rough and gritty stylized form is perfect for a game series like DMC. I'd say the cover is special because it deviates from Mr. Tsuchibayashi's norm. It's just as messy and unrefined as he usually is, but the ethereal mood is quite refreshing. Who would of thought he could make artwork just as "heavenly" as he could make them as "hellish".. quite the versatile artist, no?
                Steering back towards the actual construction, it's all pretty standard and there really isn't anything exceptional to note. Print quality is adequate, but not amazing. Paper quality is also adequate but a tad thin so there is some light reflecting on the white pages. All the pages are also printed on matte paper. No gloss in this book aside from the covers. Regarding the actual page count, it is a bit higher than average, but there is a bit of what I would consider to be "careless use" which I'll explain in further detail in the next section.   
 






 









Content
                Five different chapters divide this book. The first chapter is my favourite followed by bits of the third. I'll explain these two chapters a bit more and dabble about the rest.
                Try not to be mistaken, this isn't an art book of the entire cumulative series, only the first game. Because I knew this book was a re-release, I was a bit disappointed by this fact. I was hoping for a huge book that covers games 1-4 but it turns out I was wrong. This book is only about the first Devil May Cry. There is the final chapter dedicated to DMC 4, but it's very brief and therefore just ends up feeling like an ad if anything. I found it very extraneous and it took away from the overall presentation. The first chapter is called the "Character Design" and it's the meat of this entire book. Featured, are some very early sketches of the characters and a few that remain purely conceptual or largely absent from the games itself, even if they may be important characters. Aside from Dante and Trish, there are sketches of Vergil and " the Count" or aka Mundus. It's pretty neat to see Dante's family too. I gotta say though, it looks as though "Future Dante" served as an early template for "Vergil". Hard to imagine the brash rock n roll personality of Dante turning into a stuffy, prissy, "nobleman." XD The moody gothic setting concept sketches are also in the first chapter, and I adore them. The setting is a huge part of what DMC is, and this wasn't forgotten in this art book. Weapons connoisseurs will also most likely appreciate the very detailed sketches of Dante's armoury. It's just delicious, really.
                The second and forth chapters are largely CG renders of everything else in the game. You get images of Dante, Trish, the monsters, the weapons and anything else that you can think of that is present in the game. I'm not crazy about these two chapters. Extensive  CG renders in an art book makes me feel a bit cheated due to the recycled imagery. Others will object, but CG work isn't what I'm crazy about and usually, I don't pay much attention to it.
                I have a love/hate relationship with the third, "Behind The Scene" chapter. On one hand, it includes a lot of material that usually isn't included in a video game art book. On the other hand, that doesn't necessarily mean the stuff in this section is all good. The two pages of traditional handmade boss/monster models were amazing and awesome, and the shots of the promotional items (i.e.  real life resin models of the weapons, game disc + OST photos, even a large Dante standee, etc) were also pretty cool. however, about ten pages and another two, were in my opinion, "wasted" on staff credits and tribute gags drawn by the staff members. The intention was good, but as a fan I couldn't appreciate the number of pages that were devoted to something that just feels like a "filler extra."

Ending Notes
-  The most interesting thing about this book is how its reach is much more greater than the typical video game art book. The preliminary sketches of the characters show how far they've come (i.e. "Tony" becoming "Dante"), and I thought the storyboards were useful too. Photographs of actual handmade models of the monsters were really cool, and neat how they included photos of promo materials such as the actual game, posters, hell... even a custom game kiosk.
- Having the last chapter on DMC4 felt weird and out of place for me. The fourth game already has more than one book dedicated so there really was no need. You'd think Capcom should direct their energy towards releasing a much belated DMC2 art book, but I suppose they're still busy pretending that game never existed. 
- This book is a re-release of the earlier "Devil May Cry Edition." I have that one as well but I can't remember any major differences. I can assume the coverage on DMC4 has to be missing but I can't remember much more than that.
- Due to the range of material covered, it felt like they really tried to dig up extras to make this a special, commemorative book. This isn't surprising considering how iconic the DMC series has become and I'm grateful they used some extra elbow grease to do the series some justice.

Final Rating
- Strongest point: Some very rare tangents of behind the scenes also included. Loved the initial concept designs of the characters, 3D handmade models of a few bosses, and photographs of some of the promotional material.
- Weakest point: Although another rarity, I didn't care about the staff scribbles of DMC that took up several pages of the book. Wasted space in my opinion.

8.7/10 <- Beyond the standard in most aspects, falls a bit short in others

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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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