The Importance of Art Books
These printed companions make us understand how the media we consume is made. And by who.
It’s hard to write about visual arts. About their mannerisms and references. About their intricacies and how they are hidden from the most casual viewer. And, of course, about how their most obvious strokes and excessive quirks are equally difficult to discuss.
However, I think it’s necessary to talk about them.
Regarding art — and the people who devote their lives to it — , we, as an audience, tend to take a lot for granted. Sometimes, we romanticize it, describing it as a calling for those to happen to have the gift. Others, we treat it as a bodily function. Like something the artists need to throw out in order to keep up with their lives, freed (momentarily) from that unbearable weight.
And, I’m not gonna lie, I think there’s some truth to that. Especially that last assertion…
But I am not so interested in philosophical or academic discussions about art as in its power to inspire.
Some of you may happen to be reading this entry thanks to its title. Or maybe you know me beforehand and you think I can articulate something minimally insightful about my obvious interests in illustration and narrative arts (and I hope this doesn’t disappoint…), but I wonder how many of you had a moment in your lives that changed everything; all because you saw a particular image.
For me, it happened when my folks brought me a collection of dinosaur books from the Natural History Museum of London. Needless to say, that made me obsessed with those ancient reptiles (for life). And, needless to say, that obsession accompanied me until the debut of a certain movie called Jurassic Park. Because this article is not about the Dinomania of the 90s, I will spare you the details about what this specific phenomenon did in my childhood brain and how impulsed a need to have EVERYTHING that had to do with dinosaurs. That said, a certain (and very desired) book came to my little hands: The Making Of Jurassic Park.
Again, this is not an exercise in nostalgia. I loved the movie, thus I wanted to have cool dinosaur images and so, but this book made so much more for me; it sparked my interest in HOW the Steven Spielberg film was made. And even when I was amazed by the engineering of the life-size animatronics and the groundbreaking special effects, something more caught my eye: there were a bunch of illustrations that preceded all the magic that appeared in the film. It was those concept sketches and key arts that immediately put me to draw. I wanted to emulate the lines and colors of Crash McCreary and Craig Mullins. And I couldn’t stop.
That was the first time that I understood that, aside from a cultural or emotional expression, visual arts could be a job.
It may seem like a naive revelation, but I was 9 at the time. I couldn’t even fathom that this was possible. For me, drawing was an activity only reserved for children that, with time, adults happen to forget — except for cartoonists… But with that discovery, I had a new goal, something to pursue. And I learned more about animation and comics, and the processes that make them a reality. I bought more books and magazines on the subject, whenever I managed to grab some of the very few that there were released and translated to my language. Some years later, I pursued a career to study filmmaking and digital media.
All that because of a book.
Today, finding a Making Of book of a movie/series/game is not precisely hard. Their production has become more and more widespread and not only of the newest productions but also of some all-time classics. In some ways, they have become another merch item linked to a transmedia marketing strategy. A luxuriously printed compendium of beautiful images to put on our shelves. A souvenir of our experience with the work.
I may be sounding more cynical than I pretend, suggesting that art books are relegated to the mere cravings of a collector, so I must clarify that this is a good thing. These types of books were a rarity before, so it’s only positive if there are more of them now. And even when some of them really could be seen as a cash grab, they are more than a catalog of postcards; they are also a logbook of the creation of an audiovisual work. Again, they uncover an “arcane” process to us mortals.
This brings us closer to how these stories are (pre)visualized. How the most abstract concepts are translated to a visual language. How elements from our past and our present can permeate in new cultural artifacts. And, what I think it’s a most important life lesson: they show us how some of those images “fail”, so they are discarded to make room for more purposeful ones. That way, they de-romanticize this type of work, as they prove that every endeavor of this kind is made possible thanks to experimentation and — when the work is big enough — collective effort.
And then, there are the artists.
The art books demonstrate how a career in visual arts is indeed possible, yet they also make us discover the people that are behind the curtains. They are the architects who make the works we love come true. That’s why I can’t tolerate when a new art book is released and they don’t credit their artists. How can you make something that basically consists of the creations of a group of professionals and then not giving them recognition? It’s ridiculous. And inexcusable.
(Which may be related to the wrong turn that many of them have taken towards the NFT craze, but that is a topic for another day…).
Social media hasn’t been very kind to visual artists in general, with their illustrations also uncredited, plagiarized and many times downright stolen. That’s why it’s so vital that we never forget that creating the things we admire there are people who try to make a living with their craft.
Beyond unveiling the secrets of the industry, these books are a testimony of the great talent that goes unnoticed in all of these audiovisual projects. And what is more important: with their work, these professional artists transmit to us whatever inspired them so that it can inspire us.
Let’s give them the importance they deserve.
And let’s support them in any way possible!
