Books

In 2005 Chris Ayers was working as a character designer and concept artist in the Los Angeles film industry. On April Fool's Day his career–and everything else for that matter–was put on hold when a cancer diagnosis of acute myelogenous leukemia slammed its massive fist down on the PAUSE button of life's remote control. Fortunately, though, that pause did not become STOP and a premature EJECT.

After a lengthy and tumultuous period of treatment and physical recovery, Chris devised a personal project to support the continuation of his emotional recovery. By combining two lifelong passions, animals and art, and challenging himself to draw one animal each day for a year, The Daily Zoo was born.

For those of you who have been following the Zoo since its early inception, you'll know that the project proved to be so therapeutic and creatively satisfying that he continued it beyond its initial yearlong timeframe. At the time of writing the introduction to this book, Chris is nearing the end of Year Seven, which will culminate with Day 2,559. That's a lot of drawings…but what he feels is the bigger accomplishment–and what he is most grateful for–is that it also marks a lot of days of being in remission from the leukemia.

During the 1960s, out-of-this-world automobiles took America by storm, care of pioneering custom car designers like Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and George Barris, whose dazzling chrome creations—each with its own name and personality—captured the hopes and dreams of thousands of youth ready for their first joyride.

Simultaneously, the music world was getting its own punch of adrenalin with Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys, and Dick Dale providing the perfect soundtrack for a time when experimentation was the order of the day. The counterculture that emerged was one of pure innovation—hot rods, MAD Magazine, Rat Fink, Von Dutch, Robert Williams, Stanley Mouse. Never before or since has there been a time when the border between imagination and engineered physical reality was crossed with such boundless, almost reckless regularity.

Joyride/Flatout: Hot Rods and Dream Machines is a tribute to this formative time through the eyes of author and designer Dan Quarnstrom, whose love of hot rod culture, and those who were a part of it, is as fresh and contagious as it was more than 50 years ago, when he was a young boy attending his first hot rod show. From thumbnail sketches to finished drawings, Post-it squiggles to thorough model breakdowns, Joyride/Flatout is a testament to what can happen when you hold onto your enthusiasm and infuse it into everything you create.

From the creative force who brought us the sci-fi tale Abakan 2288 comes Kallamity Sketchbook: Mech in Ink, the latest collection of drawings from world-renown artist and sculptor Luca Zampriolo. Discover his wondrous mech suits and vehicles and meet many fascinating characters, plus, learn about the treasured tools he uses—from specific fountain pens and inks to different types of paper—to bring his remarkable drawings to life.

About the author:
Luca Zampriolo is a concept designer, painter, and celebrated sculptor who has worked for DreamWorks and Oktobor Animation and is well known for his limited-edition mecha design robots. Zampriolo’s first book, Abakan 2288, considered a must-have for mech lovers, features his imaginative robot designs and the world that they inhabit.

Darren Quach is a Los Angeles–based concept designer who has contributed his creativity to numerous video games, including Hawken, Fuse, Ratchet & Clank Future: ACIT, Total Overdose, and all three Resistance games.

Worldwide, Quach has worked with video game studios Adhesive Games, Insomniac Games, Etcetera, Universal Entertainment, and Killer Game. He is currently with BLUR Studio in Culver City, California.

The highly anticipated follow up to Structura and Structura 2, Structura 3 is the newest collection of images from HALO art director, Sparth, which takes viewers on an amazing journey to imaginary lands. As with his prior best selling books, Structura 3 will not only share his fascinating artwork but will also have tips of the trade for creating believable digital environments and lands. Step-by-step tutorials will provide anyone with the educational tools necessary to design their own fantastical worlds. This next addition to the Structura library is not to be missed!

Akihito brings inimitable and interesting characters to life. The Heart of Art welcomes one to look deeper into the creative process and motivation behind the work of Akihito. Whether you are a designer, sculptor, makeup artist, or fine artist, this book will regale, challenge and inspire. The Heart of Art features the extraordinary work of an artist that creates characters that meld a love of Japan, its culture, and its rich history into fantastic works.

How to Draw is for artists, architects and designers. It is useful to the novice, the student and the professional. You will learn how to draw any object or environment from your imagination, starting with the most basic perspective drawing skills.

Early chapters explain how to draw accurate perspective grids and ellipses that in later chapters provide the foundation for more complex forms. The research and design processes used to generate visual concepts are demonstrated, making it much easier for you to draw things never-before-seen!

Best of all, more than 25 pages can be scanned via a smartphone or tablet using the new Design Studio Press app, which link to video tutorials for that section of the book! You have to see it to believe it! An unprecedented technology, connecting printed matter to online digital educational content.

With a combined 26 years of teaching experience, Scott Robertson and Thomas Bertling bring you the lessons and techniques they have used to help thousands of their students become professional artists and designers.

This book is indispensable for anyone who wants to learn, or teaches others, how to draw.

Graphic L.A. is part practical instruction, part guided meditation on the importance of color values and objects in art. The reader is led by the professional instruction of Robh Ruppel; instructor at the Art Center College of Design, Gnomon School of Visual Effects, and Concept Art Academy. He is also a multiple award-winning art director of video games.

By reducing environments down to basic shapes and colors (or “symbols”), Robh builds astounding images. Robh documents the progression of building an image while referencing basic techniques. By using color with surprisingly bold brushstrokes, he produces images of incredible depth with intricate handling of light and shadow. It is a rare exploration into simplicity without resorting to minimalism.

Readers will be certain to take away both a sense of admiration for Robh Ruppel’s work and a greater understanding and appreciation for the importance of color value relationships in all forms of art.

Spearheaded by Constantine Sekeris, author of MetamorFX, this book is an in-depth look at costume design and illustration. Showcasing an educational process breaking down the problematic areas of costume design for the film, video game and animation industries. From 10 top leading artists in the field, this title will have a wide range of aesthetic and design solutions. One will learn how to design and illustrate a costume from start to finish with educational tips and the process from sketches to finished Photoshop images to 3D ZBrush sculptures to fabrication.

Scott Robertson Workshops are designed to inspire and to educate. As we strive to improve upon this mission, we have created the SRW Sketch Collection as something you can refer to whenever you need a little reminder of the rewarding creative experiences that the sketches in the booklet represent.

“Almost all of these 203 sketches have never been published until now. They were selected from my own personal sketchbooks and a few digital sessions represent my design explorations. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed creating them, and they can provide some inspiration when sketching your own designs.” – Scott Robertson

The highly anticipated follow up to best seller, Nuthin' But Mech, Nuthin' But Mech 2 delivers outstanding artwork from 40 artist contributors to the Nuthin' but Mech blogspot. Founder of the blogspot, Lorin Wood is so passionate about Mecha design that he created a nook of cyberspace to dedicate to the talent that he found among his colleagues. Currently with Gearbox, Lorin has been involved with the development of games Aliens: Colonial Marines, Borderlands as well as Borderlands 2. Prior to joining Gearbox in 2007, Lorin worked with major studios such as Walt Disney Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Warner Independent Pictures.

“After Cosmic Motors and his adventures in Hollywood, this is Simon's next coup. He has let his galactically huge imagination run riot to create a motorsport world we can only dream about.” – TOP GEAR magazine

At a stunning size of 12″ x 14″ (30.5cm x 35.5cm), and with full spread images spanning 24″ in width, this first book of a new fiction series will open the doors to a parallel history of racing. Daniel Simon designed for Bugatti, Lotus, Formula 1 and penned unforgettable vehicles for Hollywood movies like Tron: Legacy or Oblivion. This is his second book after Cosmic Motors.

Simon will present in this series over the next years fictitious racing machines at impeccable detail up to 50 megapixel, including vehicle specs and maps of the tracks they raced on. All vehicles and characters are explained through the carefully written story of racer Vic Cooper, who time-travels to the past and the future to compete in the most challenging motor races between 1916 and 2615. This is episode 1, the year 2027, written in English, French and German.

Design fans, car enthusiasts, CG addicts and science-fiction aficionados can enjoy Simon's parallel world through hyper-real renderings, drawings and photography of fictional drivers, managers and beautiful women. This first episode puts three uniquely designed race cars in the spotlight: The 1981 Masucci X-5 and X-6, the 2027 Masucci X-7 and the 2027 Prideux -Martin MF/27.

The foreword has been written by racing legend Jacky Ickx, who raced in the 1960s, '70s and '80s for many famed teams such as Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche, Brabham or Lotus. He is the only driver to have won in Formula One, Can-Am, Le Mans, and the Paris-Dakar rally.

“Daniel's designs are spectacular. ” — Flavio Manzoni, head of Ferrari Design

“This is really cool stuff.” — André Lotterer, winner 24 Hours of Le Mans 2011 & 2012

UPDATE: The PITLANE edition, as well as personalization of the limited version, are no longer available.

In 1979, Ridley Scott introduced moviegoers to a new definition of fear and horror with his sci-fi classic, Alien. To coincide with the release of AVP, special effects gurus Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. opened the doors of their Academy Award-winning creature shop,Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. (A.D.I.), to invite all to a behind-the-scenes journey, as they once more breathe life into the characters that have been scaring audiences for over two decades.

Different from many “making of” books, it focuses exclusively on the creature effects of AVP; what it takes to create some of sci-fi’s baddest baddies. It follows Gillis and Woodruff and their talented crew of over 100 artists and technicians throughout the design, sculpting, fabrication, and finishing processes. The story continues on location in Prague where, as the cameras roll, their creations truly come to life.

This is the fourth book by the award-winning science-fiction and fantasy artist Stephan Martiniere. Following his previous books, Quantum Dreams, Quantumscapes, and Velocity, Trajectory showcases Stephan's phenomenal artistic range and skills in a stunning new visionary collection of sci-fi book covers, theme park and animation concepts, video game designs and never-before-seen artwork.

Click here to view the LIMITED EDITION version of Trajectory.

Punch Drunk Moustache is the off-the-clock work of eight animation industry artists with the insatiable need to tell stories. Each artist showcases new ideas infused with unique personal style. Get ready for stunning visual development and never before seen concepts. Giants, androids, strange beasts, brave animals, magic, mystery, and everyday folks collide in these vividly imagined tales. With Punch Drunk Moustache, the gloves are off!

A fantastic addition to the Battle MiLK series, this third installment features four new artists contributing their work to the wide range of captivating images from the team. Upcoming projects from the artists include Star Wars 1313, Thor 2, Fountain City, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, season 5.