Velocity and Structura 2

Friday Book Review – Velocity and Structura 2

Velocity by Stephan Martiniere

This week I take a look at two recent releases from the Design Studio Press label starting off with Stephan Martiniere’s Velocity. A collection of book covers, video-game and movie concept art from the acclaimed illustrator whose back catalogue consists of work for Star Trek, Tron Legacy, Star Wars; Episodes 2 & 3, The Fifth Element, Myst 5 and Rage.

The book includes a modest collection of highly accomplished, digitally created science-fiction and fantasy themed landscapes along with sketches and working drawings for a Universal Theme Park ride and a rather interesting animation project re-creating the world of Lilliput in Gulliver’s travels; The book’s highlight for me thanks to the excellent character drawings, location concepts and imaginative and antiquated machinery design. Work destined for a CG animated film that sadly doesn’t appear to have been completed. Certainly an impressive and inspirational collection of work on the whole, but a relatively low page count leaves you wanting to see more.

Velocity by Stephan Martiniere
Design Studio Press
Hardback 64 pages
31 x 23.1 x 1.3 cm

BUY NOW>

Velocity by Stephan Martiniere

Book cover illustrations for Star Trek

Mainspring – Book cover illustration

Gulliver’s Travels Character Designs

Structura 2, The Art of Sparth

Another artist whose work is comparable to the greats of the sci-fi genre such as Chris Foss is Nicolas Bouvier, aka Sparth. An Art Director and Concept Designer working in the video-game industry on titles including Assassin’s Creed, Halo, Doom and Quake. His new book Structura 2 collects some of the best examples along with book cover illustrations and personal projects.

An astounding collection of work that portrays a convincing sense of scale in believable future worlds such as the technologically advanced cityscape of ‘Electric Candles’ or huge looming spaceships coming into dock in ‘Overture’. Which makes the final chapter of the book even more welcome in which Sparth takes the reader through the creative process behind 3 paintings, detailing his use of composition, the rule of thirds, Adobe Photoshop’s clone and custom brush and texture tools. Worth reading as it’s often surprising just how simply some of it is done!

A highly recommend collection of work and one worth keeping on the shelf for reference.

Structura 2, The Art of Sparth
Design Studio Press
Paperback 160 pages
22.8 x 22.8 x 1.4 cm

BUY NOW>

Structura 2 The Art of Sparth

Les reves du temps – Book Cover Illustrations

The Quiet War – Book Cover Illustration

The Creative Process