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4.64 AVERAGE
4.64 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
As an artist that used to dream of working on an animated series or film, this art book was a great source of renewed inspiration, curiosity and resolve. Unwrapping Fortiche and Riot’s uncompromising creative vision and dedication to creating a never seen before piece of art, understanding their motivations, what inspired them and how they gave themselves the means to achieve their goal felt stimulating, magical. This book is an unapologetic explosion of art and passion!
I took my time to absorb all those story boards, color scripts, unused character designs, backgrounds (this is what I live for), and I took a copious number of notes that I will revisit as needed.
I do have a few grips with the book, mainly that it didn’t dive into how each character came to be lore and personality wise. Jinx gets two spread sheets since she is, per admission in this very book, the character the writers are the proudest of. Everyone else gets a paragraph at worst (Jayce, Viktor, Caitlyn) or two pages at best (Vi). The villains, Silco, Singed and Ambessa, get nothing at all, which is plain odd with how much they impacted the story. Likewise, I would have appreciated more insight into the thought process behind Piltover’s enforcers, Shimmer’s, the birth of Zaun and Piltover ; an exploration of the lore I thought lacking in the show but was hoping the art book would shed light on. There was a lot of self-congratulations spread in every chapter, which was earned if not repetitive (a tad like Jinx's scribbles), but could have left more room for artists to talk about their choices of framing, of color, their schedule, the way they had to collaborate with one another.
Instead, the value of this artbook resides in how the team behind Arcane are deconstructing their way of working, both from a technical, logistical point (explored in chapter 6, where they explained the uniqueness of their production) and an artistic one, in a language adapted for casuals and satisfying for the initiated. If you are a fan of the show, you will get more of what you love, if you are studying 2D or 3D animation, you will find something that you will need to enrich your perspectives and work. Enjoy!
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
informative
I did like the art and making of arcane, but I wish we would have learned more about the characters and how they came to be than the making process, because while it is interesting there were a lot of specific terms about animation, editing and music production that are not necessarily an interest of mine. Still a well researched and crafted book and I am glad to have read it.
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
I think this was a beautiful book for an amazing show. I really enjoyed learning about their inspirations for certain characters. The separate notes, wanted poster, map, etc were nice additions to feel more interactive. I wish it had a little more info on a few different characters, but overall a wonderful collector piece.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Where to begin...
Let me start with the highlights. Basically everything Fortiche has put in. You can see the love they have for the show and by how they talk in Section 6 of this book. They go into enough detail for those who understand the industry can see how it's made, but high enough of an overview so people outside of it can still follow along. You can see how inspired the were to work on this project.
Now, the lowlights. Pretty much everything that didn't detail how Riot and Fortiche started working together and Section 6 was so high overview that it felt out of place. This is a book called "The Making" and it barely went into how it was made. For example, the drug Shimmer is a huge thing in the show. It transforms multiple characters, the show shows how it's addictive and basically built an enterprise. So you'd think the book would include how they decided what effects it would have on people, the different stages of shimmer addiction, how they transformed it from League of Legends to adapt it for Arcane. But nope. Just throw some sketches on a spread and call it a day. They really abandon the making part of it. I was really expecting something like The World of Cyberpunk 2077, while even though it didn't go into the making of the game, you could tell by the information provided how decisions were made in terms of world building. That's what this book really lacked. Main characters at most got a spread dedicated to them with no details on how they were adapted from game to show. Things were mentioned in the book as happening in the show that never happened. It's interesting to see how the writing of this book is really it's weakest point (not shading the author, this was mainly the interviews done with Riot's team that probably were taken out of context or couldn't include the full thing so only did a snippet).
If you wanted to see more of the making, read section 6 and that's it. The rest has really cool drawing and sketches, but you won't really get anything out of reading this that wasn't shown in the show, which is a shame.
Let me start with the highlights. Basically everything Fortiche has put in. You can see the love they have for the show and by how they talk in Section 6 of this book. They go into enough detail for those who understand the industry can see how it's made, but high enough of an overview so people outside of it can still follow along. You can see how inspired the were to work on this project.
Now, the lowlights. Pretty much everything that didn't detail how Riot and Fortiche started working together and Section 6 was so high overview that it felt out of place. This is a book called "The Making" and it barely went into how it was made. For example, the drug Shimmer is a huge thing in the show. It transforms multiple characters, the show shows how it's addictive and basically built an enterprise. So you'd think the book would include how they decided what effects it would have on people, the different stages of shimmer addiction, how they transformed it from League of Legends to adapt it for Arcane. But nope. Just throw some sketches on a spread and call it a day. They really abandon the making part of it. I was really expecting something like The World of Cyberpunk 2077, while even though it didn't go into the making of the game, you could tell by the information provided how decisions were made in terms of world building. That's what this book really lacked. Main characters at most got a spread dedicated to them with no details on how they were adapted from game to show. Things were mentioned in the book as happening in the show that never happened. It's interesting to see how the writing of this book is really it's weakest point (not shading the author, this was mainly the interviews done with Riot's team that probably were taken out of context or couldn't include the full thing so only did a snippet).
If you wanted to see more of the making, read section 6 and that's it. The rest has really cool drawing and sketches, but you won't really get anything out of reading this that wasn't shown in the show, which is a shame.
hopeful
medium-paced
Did I finish this book or did it finish me?
Nah but I’m never going to be done with this it’s everything to me.
Nah but I’m never going to be done with this it’s everything to me.