CFSL.NET Artbook 06 by Café Salé

Publisher: CFSL Ink Publishing, Edition: 1st (May 10, 2012)
Format: Softcover (304 pages)
Collection: Café Salé
Language: English, French
ISBN-10: 2359470302
ISBN-13: 978-2359470307Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.5 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
Price: $30 (EURO) ($28.50 EURO on Amazon.fr)

CFSL.Net is an online french community website that has its own forum, gallery, online shop space showcasing (you guess) french artists. For a number of years, they have been publishing this series called CFSL.NET Artbook and Book 6 just came out in March 2012. It took me around 3 months to hunt down a second hand version which costs only $19 USD. Specifically for book 6, there are 3 main sections of the book namely 1) Environments, 2) Character Design and 3) Misc (which includes things like vehicle concepts, robots, etc.)

The book is thick and huge containing I guess more than 500+++ images. There isn't a whole lot of text going on in the book and the only place you would find them is at the preface, initial spread page of every section in both French and English. The images of the artwork contains the artist's name, the title of the work and the year it is created. There is a great section at the end of the book with an index that features the various website of the artists mentioned in the book which is a really neat feature that allows you to track your favorite artist down. 

I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 score.

Pros

• Lots of artwork in from Environments to Character Design and Vehicles.
• The feature works are fairly recent created mostly in 2011
• The huge amount of varying art styles from cartoony, realistic to futuristic designs.
• The Character Design sections include animals not just human characters

Cons

• Some artworks are really small with some pages having as much as 4 illustrations.
• Wish they would add more of the misc artwork which includes vehicles and robots.

Amazon.com |  Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.fr | CFSL Ink

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Encore by Eric Canete

This is one of the books that I've been waiting to get my hands on. I missed his kickstarter campaign last year may and have been waiting ever since. He has this deal that if you happen to be the first 13 buying his book in conventions, he'll draw a free ink sketch for you. I was there at the end of Heroes Convention last week and during the auction, one of his piece of painting (snow white if I remember correctly) sold for $3,400 USD. You can visit his blog HERE to purchase his book and he updates it pretty frequently. He'll be at San Diego Comic Con this year July I believe so if you ever get the chance, you might want to consider buying one of his Encore books.

The book consists of mainly black and white ink drawings from 2005 through to 2011. The book is 352 pages thick and contains some color paintings at the back along with a few copic rendering drawings. What is great about this book is the fact that you can still see the underlying pencil drawings in most of the illustrations. The content of his sketches range from marvel and dc super heroes to the likes of beauty and the beast: basically anything that he finds interest in drawing. This book shows great draftsmanship and how illustrations should be: with background drawings, not merely figures.

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Some Like It Rough by Matteo Scalera

This is the book review for Some Like It Rough by Matteo Scalera. I saw his Kickstarter Campaign last month and message him personally to see if he was going to Heroes Con and indeed he was. He is extremely down to Earth and friendly. He was kind enough to give me a person portfolio review and tips on inking. You can check out his deviantart website HERE for more of his work and also drop him a message if you want to purchase his book. 

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Massive Swerve No.4 by Robert Valley

I got Robert Valley's book 2 weeks ago and I was reluctant to do a book review. Mainly because I have mixed feelings about the book. There are two disappointing factors for me personally. Firstly, I pre-order the book before the release only to find that he would put the entire story (in the form of animation) online at his blog. Most self publish artist would put their comic free first and then go on to publish the book which the supporters supported base on their willingness. In Robert Valley's case, its the other way round where I pre-ordered, didn't even get my book yet and all the content is up online for free and guess what, it is better and in animation. Maybe he did mentioned that he was going to put the book online eventually and I didn't read it on his web.  My bad then.

Secondly, I have Massive Swerve 1 and it was a compilation of short finished stories. Book 4 is about one story (great story I think) but it is unfinished. Again, maybe he did mention that on his web but I didn't read it. My bad two.

But that aside, the artwork is over the top, his perspective drawing and style is unique and one of a kind. His black placement and positive/negative space usage is great. The story is interesting, the action sequence are energetic. The book costs $37USD including shipping and it is in full color, hard cover. (international costs up to $49.95) If you order from other website, it is cheaper. I've posted my own review and the animation below. Enjoy it.

You can buy the book HERE.

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Ramayana, Divine Loophole Book Review

So today's book review is about Sanjay Patel's Ramayana, Divine Loophole. This book has been around for awhile (Since Feb 2010) but i think it is still a great story/ reference book. There ain't a lot of books about Hindu gods and mythology that is drawn so well and beautiful. This hard cover book is 186 pages thick weighing about 2 pounds. When I first bought it, the price was around $36USD and it has since dropped more than half price.

Click here for Best Price

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WOLVES by BECK CLOONAN - VIDEO REVIEW

So this is Becky Cloonan's WOLVES. You can purchase the book HERE on her website. Its $5 USD, why won't you want a copy??? If you're really tight on your cash, there is a digital copy version by GRAPHICALLY for $0.99. WHAT SAY YOU? 99 cents!!! Her next upcoming comic THE MIRE, is also available for pre-oder now. The normal edition is $5 USD also and the special edition (I called it special because its SPECIAL) comes with a sketch and its only $25 USD. It is scheduled to come out in May 2012.

*On my last video review my lovely girlfriend pointed out a few mistakes on my weird accent. I'm gonna try my best and work on Ma SPEECCHHHH~~~ Hope you guys Enjoy~~

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THE ART OF URBAN SKETCHING, With Video Commentary

Hi guys, this is my first video commentary book review. Bare with the English, hopefully it'll get better down the road! I hope you guys like it. I highly recommend this book. It is Gorgeous. A Must Have if you're an artist.

Click here for Best Price

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Bakuman, バクマン Series COMPLETE. Highly Recommended

In the November of 2008, I started following the new comic series by Tsugumi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata who were the creators of DEATH NOTE. These two artist wrote/drew a new comic about (guess what?) comics! The series talks about two 14 years old Mangaka and Writer working towards a dream. And one of them had a pledge with a beautiful classmate: The pledge was, if their comic becomes an anime eventually and if she becomes the voice actor of that anime, they will both get married. 

The series wasn't a typical battle manga, but had the density and weight of one. (Battles between Mangakas competing in Shonen Jump Magazine) It had distinct characters throughout the series. The dialog and emotions were really well written and drawn. It showcase the struggles of an artist and writer and how fans affected their work and life. Most importantly, it was around the time where I decided to get back to art which probably meant that it spoke to me much much more. I've been a fan and have all the books until volume 7 right before I came to the States. At times when I was low, this book encourage me of what it takes to become an artist, in particular, a comic artist. 

If you haven't read about the series, don't know about it, I highly recommend that you give it a try. There is romance, friendship, hard work, passion, pain, politics and most importantly, reality in this comic. The whole series is still available online dubbed by fan subs but I highly encourage you buy the book and support the artist. 

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