Statue Forum 





Go Back   Statue Forum > Other Stuff > Books, Literature & News

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 12-22-2015, 05:00 PM   #1
OrangeCrush
Kindly Asked To Leave
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Farmington Hills, MI & La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Posts: 4,525
The Best Art Books of 2015?

I thought it would be interesting to start a thread on what people thought were the best art books of 2015. If you want, you can also include comic related books like omnibus's, artists editions, etc.

My #1 for 2015 would definitely have to be the "Superman/Batman: Michael Turner edition" by Graphitti Designs.



First off, its huge! It measures in at 12"x17", is a quality hardcover book all the way around, and the artwork is just absolutely stunning. I have always been a huge fan of original comic art and I just love these kinds of books that source the original art pages and create entire books from them, books like IDW's artists editions. I loved this book so much, I wound up going back and ordering the variant edition as well. This is honestly one of the most beautiful comic related books I have ever purchased. Graphitti Designs just did a remarkable job with this book and i can't possibly give it a higher recommendation.

The rest of the books I'll list really aren't in any sort of order quality wise. The Superman/Batman book was just so amazing, that I had to rate it #1 overall.

Another art book I was really impressed with was Dynamite's "Art of Vampirella: The Dynamite Years".



There are a couple of things that make this book stand out. First and foremost, the 2010 Vampirella series run had what I consider to be one of the strongest cover runs in the entire history of the comic market. In particular, Lucio Parrillo's work on this series was incredible, but there is also amazing work from artists like J. Scott Campbell, Ale Garza, Joe Jusko, Alex Ross, Paul Renaud, etc. If your going to have an art book that focuses on the covers of comics, it helps if the covers themselves are amazing and the Vampirella 2010 series did not disappoint in this regard. This book is just one amazing cover after another, from front cover to back cover.

The other aspect of this book that really made it stand out for me was that it contained the entire cover run. Dynamite didn't just include the very best covers, which is the approach most companies take with these kinds of books. They included every single cover in the entire series run. I really wish other comic companies would follow suit on this one. I would love for comic companies to start producing art books that had full page covers for entire cover runs for particlar series. If Dynamite did this same thing for Red Sonja, Queen Sonja, and Dejah Thoris, I would buy all of them without hesitation

Another one I have to add is "Sally Mann, Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs".



I have been a big fan of Sally Mann since my college photography years and this is just a beautiful collection of photographs. All in all, its one of my favorite books from her. Me being a photographer, I had to include at least one photography art book and this was definitely my favorite photography art book of 2015.

Next on my list is a book I just picked up last month. I have had a passion for architecture for as long as I can remember, which is basically why I became an architectural photographer. I am also a big fan of Lego's so I was super excited when Lego started releasing thier architecture sets. One of my favorite hobbies is building really cool architecture models and photographing them in the studio with my 4x5 camera. So it was just great to see Lego take a serious approach to architecture. Ever since then, I have become more and more serious about this aspect of my Lego building and photography. So when I saw "The LEGO Architect" by Tom Alphin, I just had to buy it.



This books has beautiful photography of both real world architecture and various architectural Lego creations made by Tom. Best of all, the book teaches you about various architecture styles (neoclassical, art deco, post modern, etc) and teaches you how to create your own. There are 12 models that it teaches you how to build and one of the interesting aspects is he only uses white Lego's in most of his sets, which really makes the design the central focus. This is one of the best Lego related books I have seen to date. If you like lego's and architecture, I highly recommend you pick it up.

Another great one that I just recieved is Top Cow's "Aphrodite IX: The Complete Oversized Hardcover"



Aphrodite IX is one of my favorite female comic characters and this oversized book (over 500 pages) contains everything printed to date incuding Aphrodite IX V1, Aphrodite IX Rebirth V1, Aphrodite IX Rebirth V2, & Aphrodite IX/Cyberforce. If your a fan of Aphrodite IX, this is definitely one that you don't want to miss out on.

Well, there you have it. I could include a lot more, but these were really some of the better art books I recieved in 2015. If you collect art books, by all means chime in and lets see what your favorites of the year were!!
OrangeCrush is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-23-2015, 04:34 AM   #2
DRL
3 kinds of people: those who can count & those who can't.
 
DRL's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 3,501
Not sure about the Best of 2015 but I picked up both Superman/Batman's by Graphiti Designs as well.

I also picked up the 20th Anniversary Art of Witchblade book

DRL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-23-2015, 01:12 PM   #3
OrangeCrush
Kindly Asked To Leave
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Farmington Hills, MI & La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Posts: 4,525
Quote:
Originally Posted by DRL View Post
Not sure about the Best of 2015 but I picked up both Superman/Batman's by Graphiti Designs as well.

I also picked up the 20th Anniversary Art of Witchblade book

And that right there is why threads like this should be done more often. I didn't even know they released a 20th anniversary Art of Witchblade book. Heading over to Amazon to buy a copy right now.

Actually found a copy for 40% off at Midtown comics. Wound up being $23.99. Thanks for the heads up!!
OrangeCrush is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2015, 05:07 AM   #4
DRL
3 kinds of people: those who can count & those who can't.
 
DRL's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 3,501
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeCrush View Post
And that right there is why threads like this should be done more often. I didn't even know they released a 20th anniversary Art of Witchblade book. Heading over to Amazon to buy a copy right now.

Actually found a copy for 40% off at Midtown comics. Wound up being $23.99. Thanks for the heads up!!
Great deal! I got mine for the same price on Amazon when it was a pre order
DRL is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:31 AM.



Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright StatueForum.com