TOMES OF KNOWLEDGE

Books that are worthy of your hard earned cash!

Full Disclaimer, you do not have to buy any of the books I have recommended on this page. I will, however, explain why I feel that these books are worth your time and money.

The Main Primer on All things Animation:

The Animators Survival Kit

This book is a culmination of knowledge from not only Richard Williams, but also his mentors (from Disney) and beyond!

Also, lets be real: we're visual people, we need lots of pictures and examples, and this book is FULL of them. It's an amazing read, and spoiler alert: I will be teaching out of this book - so get it!

Getting Better at Drawing From Life (and have it feed into your work)

Drawn to Life Vol. 1

Amazing Lectures, Pamphlets, and Mind-blowing advice done by Walt Stanchfield - who's been brought out of retirement 4 times to teach at Disney.

Point is that you should DEFINITELY read this book.

Drawn to Life Vol. 2

Everything I said about the first book, part 2!

Seriously, read these books - change your gesture drawing life.

Books on Preproduction:

Framed Ink

Amazing resource for Storyboarding! Marcos goes over basic tips and set ups, and then dives deeper into what makes effective storyboards and how to achieve them. A good read!

The Skillful Huntsman

A Vis Dev book devised by three amazing students (Khang Le, Mike Yamada, and Felix Yoon) where they each designed their own iteration of a Grimm Tale. They go over their thought process and it teaches you so much about visual development.

Directing the Story

Another hefty book that teaches Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques! Written by Francis Glebas, a Disney veteran.

Books on Technique:

Force: Dynamic Life Drawing

Another Gesture Drawing Book - this time to accurately convey the human body exerting force, motion, weight, etc!

The Weatherly Guide To Drawing Animals

Gesture drawing Animals! This guide helps you understand the anatomy of the animals you are drawing and also gives you tips on how to effective capture these poses in person (when you're at the zoo).

Framed Perspective vol 1

Let's be real - perspective drawing can be painful - but it doesn't have to be! Check this out!

Now Here comes the fun part: The "Art Of" Books

Japanese Animated Films/Art

The Art of Miyazaki's Spirited Away

Probably the most famous out of Miyazaki's films, this feature was originally made based off of his friend's daughter. If you haven't seen the film, go see it.Contains stills, storyboards, character designs, and backgrounds.

The Art of Howl's Moving Castle

This movie was not originally directed by Miyazaki - the previous director stepped down and he had to take over. As such, there are some interesting design elements, story choices, and a really different overall tone to this film than his previous ones (especially Spirited Away). Contains stills, storyboards, character designs, notes from the team, and background paintings.

The Art of Princess Mononoke

This movie came about during an interesting time in Miyazaki's life: his producer, Toshio Suzuki - convinced him to do an action film before he got too old. This was his answer to that (there's obviously more to this story, but I found that tidbit interesting). Contains stills from the film, storyboards, character designs, and background paintings.

The Art of Your Name

A recent film by Makoto Shinkai, it finally beat out Miyazaki's record at the Japanese Box Office for opening weekend. His animations tend to have an almost hyper-real quality to them, and story this time was also really well done. This book purely contains the backgrounds from the movie.

Tokyo Store Fronts by Mateusz Urbanowicz

Contains several watercolor illustrations done by the author. He explains that he always searched for stores that had a lot of history (and in some cases, didn't have the same front anymore) and did his best to colorfully and faithfully recreate them in his paintings. A great book to study color, technique, and draftsmanship. You can also find his work linked in the Artist Page.

American Animated Films

The Art of Tangled

I chose this book out of all of the recent Disney films because of two things: A really great paced film with amazing humor moments, and the preproduction sketches on this film are some of my favorite (especially by Jin Kim and Glen Keane).

The Art of How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Oh my God, what a mouthful of a title. Regardless, the art produced for any of the HTTYD movies is top tier and DESERVES to be praised and studied. I like this book because they really have established the world by now, which brings up this problem: how can you build on something and make it feel new, yet still rooted in the original design? I think they came up with brilliant solutions to this.

The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2

Again, Dreamworks Art is some of the most incredible, top tier art in the animation industry. I don't always agree with how the final product arrives on screen but damn do they know how to draw over there.Also, that freaking peacock is hands down one of the best animated villains I've seen on screen to date.

Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse Art Book

Oh boy, this incredible film - where do I even begin. This film broke every rule in the book possible and they made something brilliant. There's a reason this art book was sold out for months after this film was released in theaters. What I especially appreciate is that they broke every conventional rule in CG animation by going back to traditional animation and printed media!

American Animated Television

Avatar The Last Airbender Art Book

This show was such a breath of fresh air. The world was developed over a long period of time, and they're one of the few productions to still use traditional animation. They also teamed up with the South Korean Animation Studios JM Animation, DR Movie, and MOI Animation to do the fight sequences and action.

Over the Garden Wall

Speaking of refreshing shows, this show also made waves when it aired on Cartoon Network. It actually has backgrounds and an art style reminiscent of Disney's golden age - but made up to date. The book itself is full of interesting tidbits and production artwork.

Steven Universe: Art and Origins

Steven Universe is an incredibly beautiful show. That's it. Also, I have studied a lot from the artists who worked on this show, so seeing their work come together is something of a treat.

Video Game Art

The Art of Overwatch

Disclaimer: I don't play Overwatch. That being said, there are a lot of brilliant artists on this IP and the sheer amount of work they have done for the animations, designs, backstories, and cinematics is mind boggling. This game was supposed to be another MMO like WoW, but they scrapped it when it wasn't working and rebuilt the game mechanics from the ground up. As a result. they have a hugely successful game with a rich backstory (even their hand animations are varied based on the character attributes, job, quirks, and personality. Talk about attention to detail).

Art of Halo 4

The Halo Series by Bungie Studios are the forefathers of the modern day FPS (First Person Shooter). They also have created a very successful franchise that has spawned numerous spin offs and an attempted movie. This book is an interesting one because it was the first of the Halos to be handled by Microsoft after the departure of Bungie (who went and made their own intellectual property, Destiny 1 & 2). I specifically picked this book because this new studio was tasked of keeping the torch alive for the Halo Universe, and they came up with very interesting solutions to answer that hefty burden.

Dragon Age Inquisition

Bioware's Inquisition is built on a rich backstory and lore, and the artists on this game were able to make each country and faction have their own distinct heritage and design. The art produced for this game is some of my favorite, including the tarot card designs used for the menu and lore entries.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild

Building a Champion

The Zelda Series has a very long, lofty history that has a dedicated fanbase around the world. The creative teams and designers behind the games continue to reinvent the wheel, creating fresh takes on what has essentially been the same plot for over two decades. Breath of the Wild is their first entry into the Open World genre, and it contains some of the most brilliant game design that has ever been conceived for a Zelda title.

Okami

Okami is one of those games that received critical acclaim when it was released ...and then the studio that made it got disbanded. It's a shame, because the art and designs of this Clover Studio IP (may it rest in peace) are extremely inventive and fresh - using inspiration from Ancient Japan, during the Jomon Period.

The Art of Metal Gear Solid

The Metal Gear Solid games are iconic in the gaming industry for their tactical espionage-style game play mixed with deep, mysterious plots (that sometimes were too meta). On the art side of things, it is also known for it's iconic ink work by Yoji Shinkawa. This collection shows off the art for Metal Gear Solid I- IV.

Other Useful Art Books

The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist

Syd Mead was one of the main designers for Blade Runner, and the art and designs he came up with set off waves in the sci fi genre in both movies and games. Through his work you can see how so many IPs and franchises found their futuristic sci fi look.

The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age: The 1930's

I'm going to be honest - I didn't quite know what to expect when I did buy this book. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to find really nice quality sketches and drawings from around this era- you can see the artists working to solve various art problems around the time. It's a fascinating look back in time.

The Drawings of Heinrich Kley

A German Cartoonist from the early 1900's, Kley created extremely expressive charicatures and political cartoons that landed in newspapers everywhere. They are great examples of telling a story with just one pose.

Fantasy Sports Series, 1-3

The Fantasy Sports Graphic Novels by Sam Bosma are brilliantly designed comics, centered around magic and sports (which is a weird mix, but it works). The stories are engaging and interesting, and I personally have learned so much from looking at the color choices, designs, and how Bosma chose to frame some of his compositions to tell the story. They are all a great read.

Character Design Quarterly

A Kickstarter Publication that had a successful launch and is now up to 10 issues! It's filled with images, designs, breakdowns, and tips from Character Design Artists all over in the industry

Google Sites

Report abuse