What's your standard for buying artbooks?

[Yushin]

Hey guys.

I was just wondering what your standards are for buying art books are.

Since this is more or less an art lover's forums... I think it's safe to bet all of you have collected a lot more than the average anime fan girl/boy.

I don't know about ya'll... but I've collected my share of art books... and it's gotten to a point where anime/game style art is starting to look all the same. (If you want to throw me the whole, each artist has his own style etc... you know that's not what I mean...) That being said, I've always done so but more strongly now.. started to only buy art books when the artist has a really unique, distinctive style. Like, you could see an art work you've never seen before and you can correctly guess who the artist is with a really brief thinking. (Either that or for the awesome detailed designs... mostly like game character design books) Of course you get those artbooks that tap into your nastalgia for certain manga/games and I HAVE to get those..

I was wondering if any of you have started to feel the same way... and if your standards of choosing art books to buy is different from mine, share what YOUR standards are. I know everyone buys art books because you "love" the style... but if you've collected more than a couple, I think you can start to analyze what types of art books you love...

EDIT: So basically I'm asking "What styles do you like?" kinda thing...
For example, for me, it's uniqueness, realistic(oil painting style), sorta dark atmosphere... I do have a thing for goth inspired but not always..., or nastalgia.

-Yushin

[Siye]

I've collected a lot too over the years... some would say too much -_- and I haven't just struck to anime/manga styles either.

For instance...
I've trickled into collecting some books from western artists who do more fantasy styled works.. or perhaps pop culture is a better term.
Guys like Jon Foster... Luis Royo.. Ashley Wood have caught my eye.

I like looking into the works of obscure relatively unknown artists too from international locations.

I also like animation. So.. I try to go back and collect books from Disney and their art books of their classics...

I do also have artbooks from well known classics.. people like Mucha (a huge fan) and Monet.. etc.. "real" art books too.

Basically, MOST of my collection is anime or manga orientated but I'm not afraid to experiment outside the box. I think as a student it's crucial to get some well rounded education and exposure to different styles.

You're right.. Japanese manga style is a totally distinct style on it's own.. and ya you can get tons of variation within it but it does have it's bounds as well.
Sooner or later it can only end up looking the same because in my opinion.. not only is that general "anime" ish feel quite limiting... but as an art style it's HUGELY popular internationally so you have alot of people trying to draw using its influence.

Usually though I collect books using a two tier system.

1. Books I have to have right now
2. Books I'm interested in art wise but just don't "click"

Group 2 books are usually put on the back burner until I can find them at deal prices or I just wait it out even longer.
Hmmm... I'm also REALLY picky about the condition of my books but if I can get used books for good deals (30% off or more) I'll usually bite.
I don't really regret it in the end because it means more art books!

[nat]

I also prioritize purchases (believe it or not) between books that I have to have as soon as they're out, and ones that I'll get sooner or later. Usually artists I like, as well as books from series that I like take priority and then random artists whose art I'm not really familiar with are second string. I don't buy anime guide books or fan books if I don't like the series, as those usually don't have enough pictures to warrant it. Books that I don't like I end up re-selling for around what I bought, so it never feels like a mistake to take a risk on an art book, so I definitely experiment.

[Onegai]

I have a strong inclination for the more realistic or semi realistic styles. I'm not really into the "Moe" art style at all. It just doesn't do it for me.

Artists score bonus points with me if they work in traditional media.


Of course availability and price are also factors in deciding priority.

[Arcturus]

Women, quality, and style. Those are my three standards.

Not really interested in seeing men in art. Unless it is part of a series I am interested in.

Scantily clad women are not necessary. The face can say alot. Some artists just have the skill to
draw women properly or in an eye-pleasing style.

Hate sub-standard work. Quality is very important. I like some western animation. Think everyone is
in love with the esurance girl.

Once I find an artist I like I will continue to collect his stuff. Shirow, Manabe, and Sonoda are my all time favorites.

Sadly I think Shirow is resting on his laurels. Though that is his right.

Manabe seems to be concentrating on his hentai work, rather than doing any more serials. Discovered Manabe from his Outlanders series, always a sucker for a good space opera.

Sonoda seems to be more active now. At least with his Gunsmith Cats franchise. Fell in love with Sonoda's work from his Gallforce franchise.

[asgard]

When I first started collecting artbooks I'd buy everything and anything I could get my hands on, first artbooks by my favourite artists, to limited editions or any artbooks that caught my eye.

These days I am a lot more fussy simply because I can't AFFORD to buy artbooks like I used to. That being said, if it's an artbook by Masamune Shirow, Range Murata, CLAMP, Aoi Nanase or Chiho Saito, I'd probably snap it up as soon as it came out.

The thing with a lot of artbooks that have been coming out in the last two years is that they all have a very "SAMENESS" to them... the art styles just meld and become so generically similar even though each artist has their own "style" the style is just a derivative of a larger type of one... if that makes sense.
This is usually moe/game orientated... and unless you go for hentai games (and these days even those have become more generic/moe-ish) it's all so... bleh.
Personal opinion of course, I've never been a fan of moe.

Don't get me wrong, there have been artbooks released that really have stood out. It is those that I would LOVE to get if I could afford to

[Firestorm ZERO]

Hmm... Don't really have a standard. I pick up stuff I like from what looks good and from series I like.

I do get disappointed when 1 - they reuse old art (basically filler pages IMO) 2 - Not full page (either stretched 2 pages or put a bunch in one page).

Some artists that are recently disappointing me are...

Urushihara Satoshi - basically all work is now a head swap, same naked body, same poses/expression. Must be all those Tenma cover deadlines Seriously though other artists were able to make it interesting every month.
Masamune Shirow - I think he basically is in "retired" status. I don't think we are going to expect anything massively new in the future.

[kidrobot]

I don't really have any standards when it comes to artbooks
I just buy them if they have a pretty cover lol
The ones I have so far are-
Capcoms Artbook from 2002 I think
Masamune Shirows Intron Depot 1-4