Top Five Art Books You Should Own

Written By Stephanie Broder

It is no secret that my art book collection is LEGENDARY.

This is, in part, because I love books. My book collection is legendary, period. But I also believe staying at the top of your craft involves investigating what’s happening in the industry, studying the work of other artists, and learning from what you love. Illustration is my craft, so I am lucky to be able to surround myself with inspiring and beautiful books.

But art books can be expensive, no lie. And not all are made equal. If you are looking to start your own collection of art books, look no further than these five beauties who I can absolutely recommend.

The Other World

Published by Gingko Press

I love any art book that includes a variety of illustrators working under a theme. It’s a great way to find a bunch of new talent to learn from and follow. Bonus points if it’s easy to find websites and social media links from the book!

The Other World does this fabulously. Uniting illustrators working under the umbrella of “Asian Myths and Folklore.” Beautiful illustrations are accompanied by information about each artist, interviews stuffed full of helpful tips, and an Index at the back with professional websites for each contributor.

Add to that a stunningly bound book with an embossed and gold foiled cover, exposed book cloth spine, and fold-out four-page illustrations, and this beauty is a shining star in any collection.

NOW: Art of Yusuke Nakamura

While this book may be the hardest to find a copy of in the English-speaking world, I am convinced you can at least find one of Yusuke Nakamura’s many art books as he is a prolific Japanese illustrator.

His work and career constantly inspire me as he showcases how an artist with a very distinctive style can still be a chameleon. He has worked in ads, music, animation, posters, merchandise design, packaging and more with his flat, bright colour schemes, anime-esque characters and detail-laden backgrounds.

If you’re interested in making pop-art illustration abundant with contemporary cultural references and characters as a focal point, you can’t go wrong by studying this legendary illustrator’s work.

The Illustrator

Published by Taschen

With the subtitle: “100 Best From Around the World” how could you ignore a book like The Illustrator?

This particular Taschen tome heavily features editorial illustrators, so I’d maybe challenge that “100 Best” claim. However, for a collection of editorial illustrators, they do find incredible representatives of the craft. Each artist entry includes a hefty introduction to the illustrator and their website, followed by several pages of top-notch illustrations. What strikes me most about this book is perhaps the diversity of styles on display here. No two illustrators look alike, and for a 650+ page behemoth, that’s saying a lot.

I often recommend this book to students in my Intro Illustration classes who are interested in editorial illustration, or even just want to get a sense of the broad range of illustrative styles, as you can’t go wrong with this sweeping overview.

Visions of Fuji: Artists from the Floating World

Edited by Michael Kerrigan, Published by Flame Tree

I think an understanding of art history is important to a contemporary practice. We can glean a lot of inspiration, and motivation, from the legends that came before us. One of my favourite types of historical illustration is ukiyo-e, the Japanese art of woodblock prints popularized even in the west by artists such as Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige. This book celebrates these artists with a particular focus on their fascination with Mount Fuji, the quintessential symbol of Japan.

Ukiyo-e shares so much with modern illustration. It was designed for cheap and fast reproduction (via woodblock printing), used in packaging and ads and accompanied stories and pop culture publications. Its lasting legacy is thoroughly investigated and celebrated in this stunning book. The metallic cover and quality of the writing, research and reproductions inside make this a great way to inspire your practice with a historical phenomenon.

The Electric State by Simon Staelenhag

Published by Skybound Books

Only two books on this list include the work of a single illustrator, and I think that speaks so highly of the illustrators featured. First, Yusuke Nakamura and now Simon Stalenhag can easily carry an art book on their own. Even though buying a book representing a lone creator may seem like less bang for your buck, I believe Stalenhag’s work is so worth owning that I insist you go for it!

Any of Stalenhag’s books come recommended by me, but this was my first and favourite. The Electric State follows a girl and her robot as she searches for her brother through a dystopian landscape. With a blend of Swedish landscapes and architecture blended with fantastical future technology in immacutely rendered digital paintings, every page in this gem is a feast for the eyes. The images are accompanied by a text that is every bit as compelling as the illustrations, creating what I like to call “an adult picture book” that lends itself to re-readings.

When I heard this story was being picked up for a feature film by Netflix, I thought, "Of course!" Simon Stalenhag already did all the concept art for them; now, they just have to bring it to life.

Stephanie Broder
Previous

Top Ten Figure Drawing Tips for Illustrators