I thought it would be nice to order a few titles for the YA collection that might inspire artwork for the upcoming manga contest.  In browsing the selection on Amazon.com, I came across a few good titles that, to my surprise, are already part of DPL’s collection.  Take a look at these selections, complete with product descriptions from Amazon.  As always, feel free to place a hold on the item by clicking on the link which takes you straight to the catalog record.  Happy drawing!

Making Comics by Scott McCloud–Designed as a craftsperson’s overview of the drawing and storytelling decisions and possibilities available to comics artists, covering everything from facial expressions and page layout to the choice of tools and story construction, Making Comics, like its predecessors, is also an eye-opening trip behind the scenes of art-making, fascinating for anyone reading comics as well as those making them.

Manga Mania Fantasy Worlds by Christopher Hart–Manga fantasy is the swords-and-sorcery Japanese animation style featured in the most popular video role-playing games on the market. Best-selling author Christopher Hart’s latest tutorial reveals the secrets and techniques that go into building these worlds of wonder. An increasingly fashionable style among both digital and traditional animators, manga enjoys unrivaled popularity among the game players themselves, allowing them entry into fabled worlds of startling beauty, terror, and adventure. Manga Mania Fantasy Worlds throws down the gauntlet for people interested in creating these scenes for themselves. Artists will learn how to illustrate detailed backdrops and landscapes, rugged weaponry, and, of course, fearsome creatures-aliens, faeries, ogres, and much more. In the straightforward style that is his trademark, Christopher Hart teaches the basics and the intricacies of creating manga fantasy illustrations that practically jump off the page.

50 Fantasy Vehicles to Draw & Paint: Create Awe-Inspiring Crafts for Comics, Computer Games, and Graphic Novels by Keith Thompson–The great popularity of fantasy and science fiction themes in films, books, graphic novels, and computer games has created a continuing demand for artists who can conceptualize and draw convincing space ships of tomorrow, as well as other fantasy vehicles such as cars, tanks, and sea-going vessels of the future. In this book, artist and designer Keith Thompson presents a practical course for art students. He starts with advice on finding research and reference materials, and then advises on using them as inspiration before sketching out original ideas for finished illustrations. The book’s extensive main section presents a “mechanical workshop” of fantasy designs for students to copy and adapt to their own story needs and specifications. It gives attention to the techniques of drawing, shading, and coloring. The author analyzes each of the book’s fantasy vehicles in terms of how and why artists came to their final design, how well the vehicles fit into the story being told, and how they would move, sound, and perform. Clear instruction is supplemented with more than 400 vivid, step-by-step color illustrations of sample projects.

The Fantasy Illustrator’s Technique Book by Gary A. Lippincott–Here is a heavily illustrated, highly detailed instruction manual for art students seeking professional entry in the fantasy art field. The author guides students from conception of an art idea to publication of the finished work, emphasizing methods for creating magical, mythical, and monstrous characters who inhabit worlds of fantasy and wonder.  More than 350 color illustrations.