Mechanika, Revised and Updated: Creating the Art of Space, Aliens, Robots and Sci-Fi by Doug Chiang

by Doug Chiang

In this stunning collection of step-by-step lessons, award-winning entertainment artist Doug Chiang gives artists the inside scoop on his processes, techniques, and theories for creating eye-popping science fiction artwork. Readers will learn to draw the creatures, robots, vehicles and drama of distant worlds--perennial favorites in film, television, toys and games. With Chiang's expert advice, 25 step-by-step demonstrations using both traditional and digital techniques, and a stunning gallery showcasing his amazing visual style, artists have no choice but to be inspired to create their own phenomenal works of art..

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Drawing, Reference

Unknown Binding

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

American film designer and artist

Doug Chiang has received an Academy Award, two British Academy Awards, a Clio Award for his work in film and television, and the Prix du Rendu at the 2003 Imagina CG Film Festival for his Robota teaser. A veteran of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic, he served as design director for the Star Wars prequels. His paintings are exhibited nationally and in a variety of publications, including limited edition prints. He lives in Northern California.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long been a fan of Doug Chiang's work from the day I stumbled across a copy of Robota only to discover he has been of the driving artistic forces in the new starters films (amongst many of his achievements).

This book has actually been around for a while although this edition has been updated. What I like about this book is not only does it showcase a number of his pieces (although sadly not enough but thats just me), the book also gives you a step by step guide to how he created such amazing art.

Now I will admit openly I wish I was more creative and artistic - its one of the driving forces behind me collecting so many artwork books - and this book opens the door (although I will admit I have no idea how to step through).

This book is perfect for any budding science fiction artist (or fan of them). One of the things that I liked about this book was that it was open and honest - it gave all his cheats and simple labour saving ideas all the way to gluing lego bricks to an or ruler to make an artists rest. It just goes to show its not the tools that make the art but the imagination.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

It's not very often you see a great concept artist come up with a tutorial book. Here, we have a great book by Doug Chiang. He's the concept artist for big movie hits like Star Wars, War of the Worlds and Terminator just to name a few.

In this book are 30 lessons and step-by-step tutorials for creating science fiction art, mainly robots. There are details and tips for using Photoshop.

Through these pages, one can see Doug Chiang's process of creating sci-fi concept art. It's always interesting to find out how other artist work, especially one of such high caliber.

This review was first published on parkablogs.com. There are more pictures and videos on my blog.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting, but that's not the fault of the book or the author.

I was expecting something more along the lines of a collection of work (career retrospective, greatest hits, etc.), but this was far more of a how-to. Which is cool ... but as someone with zero drawing ability, it was more just a reminder of "yep ... you're at zero. that's your level." lol

The illustrations were cool, but given that I was more interested in looking at cool pictures than learning how to make them, there weren't quite enough of them for me.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is an amazing artist, although I was looking for a bit more concrete lessons on drawing mechanical beings and less what inspires a mechanized drawing. I feel this book, like many art books, showcases a great artist doing incredible things but doesn't really help another person to increase their skills.

[Stupid Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, beautiful look at the design strategy of Doug Chiang. This is not a good book if you want to learn to do what he does from scratch. If you're already a learned artist, you might learn a bit more from his technique, but this is more a display of his method than any actual tutelage, so don't expect what it's not.

[Jerry Petersen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the paintings but not his method.