Books You Would Recommend

[teh roxxors]

I would like to build up my reference library a bit before the start of the next school year. I'm looking for books that have clear, crisp photos and artwork, not the blurry, half-assed "stills" seen in too many "making of" books.

I'm especially interested in books that focus on the sculptors and artists working behind the scenes, rather than the directors and actors. I just discovered "Aliens VS Predator: Requiem; Inside the Monster Shop," which is EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm interested in. Lots of photos of WIPs, lots of close-ups--it's really loaded with stuff you can actually study and learn from.

This is some stuff I've ordered from Amazon this morning:

"The Crafting of Narnia: The Art, Creatures, and Weapons from Weta Workshop"
"AVP: Alien Vs Predator: The Creature Effects of ADI"
"The Winston Effect: The Art & History of Stan Winston Studio"
"Aliens Vs Predator Requiem Inside the Monster Shop" (A SECOND copy-- hardcover actually CHEAPER than the paperback I bought yesterday!)

What else would you guys HIGHLY recommend by way of books that focus on or can be applied directly to traditional sculpture?

And thanks for helping out, if you got the time!!!

[pocko]

hey, its years old, but ive got "the making of the lost world: jurassic park" by jody duncan, it covers everything including cgi and its got quite a lot of text, but does have some great sculpting pics (more stan winston stuff!)

[WanderingProphet]

The Art of Lord of the Rings is fantastic, tons of conceptual work, matte paintings, maquettes, random illustrations from John Howe and Alan Lee, it's great.

Anything about Pixar or Dreamworks, both rely heavily on maquette referencing

[Garyo]

I recommend Human Anatomy For Artist by Goldfinger. It's one of the best anatomy books written and produced by a sculptor. May not spark the imagination as much as the conceptual movie books, but should be in your library.

Garyo

[dreamsorcerer]

Here's a few books I think you could check out:

LUCCHESI: Modelling the Figure in Clay
No Strings Attached: The story of Jim Henson's Creature Shop
The Making of Judge Dredd
The Art Of Judge Dredd
The Art Of Lord Of The Rings (All four books) (Yes there's four of em)
Star Wars Archives
Star Wars Sculpting a Galaxy (lots of close up shots of models etc)
The Art Of Star Wars Episodes 1-3 (There's quite a bunch of maquettes made of sculpey)
The Art of Beowulf (Not so much a book with lots of sculpture, but it does have some maquettes in there and plenty of beautiful artwork in there.. an excellent book)

[lilalex]

I'd recommend ANYTHING by "George B. Bridgman".

Just check the 'Look Inside' link at Amazon of his 'Constructive Anatomy' book;
http://www.amazon.com/Constructive-A.../dp/0486211045

For sculpting, Dover also has a few books by 'Edouard Lanteri', which cover everything from armatures, to posing fundamentals, to basic shapes, to the completed figure, for both animals and humans;
http://www.amazon.com/Modelling-Scul...d_bxgy_b_img_b
http://www.amazon.com/Modelling-Scul...pd_sim_b_img_5

I don't work for Dover, but their art books are usually cheaper than a starving artist's sofa-painting, chock-full of illustrations and photos, and always great to reference for artistic inspiration.

Good luck!
la