Book Review: Digital Art Masters Volume 8

Digital Art Masters Volume 8 is a new publication by 3DTotal that may shock what you know and want to learn about 2D and 3D arts, by watching at the most awesome works of the best artists

Digital Art Masters Volume 8, published by 3DTotal, is a source of inspiration, learning and amazement for all kinds of people interested in 3D and digital arts.

In its pages you will find case illustrations, walkthroughs, and tips, written by the artists themselves, about how they did the masterpieces that are part of this wonderful compilation.

A total of 50 of the best artists of 3D and 2D found worldwide have been selected to be showcased in this book.

You must notice that the publisher of this book, 3DTotal, is one of the most respected, recognized and popular entities in the 3D scope, also well known ad the publishers of several magazines focused on all kinds of digital arts, and books like this, Digital Art Masters, that compile the best of the digital arts in our days.

Each illustration appears in big size so you can appreciate the details in high quality paper. Oh, I forgot to tell you that this is a hard cover book of the finest quality.

Those are the kind of illustrations that you can find at magazines like 2D Artist of 3D Creative, the kind of images that leave you open-mouthed  by their complexity and perfection in all creative disciplines.

There are some that look more sober, just the main figure with a plain background, but incredibly realist, something that you feel is alive. For example, the characters of Mathieu Aerni, or Alexander Beim.

Others are so full of details that you can inspect every centimeter of the illustration and open the book again on another day, and still find a detail that you had not seen, like the angel and the death playing cards at the hospital of Huzheng in his work “Game of Life”, or the incredibly detailed “Koala King” of Rodrigue Prailer.

As we said, every work is preceded of the illustration in all its glory, then you can read the title of the  artwork, the author, and the software used to produce it.

This way you know that there are amazing pure 2D works made using solely Photoshop, while others are done with the association of this software with ZBrush, and others with several other tools at the same time, like 3DS Max or V-Ray.

All the process of creation is explained by the authors themselves, in all the stages of the work. From the sketching, blocking, or creation of the meshes, to the texturing, rendering, or detail addition.

This also turns the book into a very useful tool for learning. Even more, the book is very inspiring, and when you feel lost into something you don’t know well how to proceed or begin working, you can flip the pages of this book and always feel inspired by the ideas or by the workflow itself of the masters featured in its pages.

You will know what the authors did, why the did it, what challenges they faced, and all of it is illustrated. You can see the plain UV mapping with the textures in 2D and applied to the model, the screenshot of the modeling or rendering program that shows the position of the lights, cameras and props.

In the case of 2D works you can see the sketching, the addition of lights, details, the mix with 3D elements if it happens, or the detailing of the most important features, and see the artwork as it grows to be a magnificent painting.

The book is also structured in sections, so it covers different topics like Scenery, Characters, Fantasy, or Sci-Fi. The artists are then grouped, so reading each part is an exhaustive examination of works that help you to understand all the phases of creation of those genres.

In brief, Digital Art Masters Volume 8 is a book that you should not miss, a fundamental source of inspiration for professional art makers, and a inspiring tool for hobbyists and  people passionate for 2D and 3D arts.

Get it here: Digital Art Masters Volume 8

-Jordi R. Cardona-

© by Jordi R. Cardona. Link to this post without copying the text.

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