Shadowline: The Art of Iain McCaig
by Iain McCaig
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Book Summary Information
Author: Iain McCaigBrand: Insight Editions
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-07
ISBN: 1933784245
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Insight Editions
Book Reviews of Shadowline: The Art of Iain McCaig
Book Review: Supassing all expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
My reaction to moving through this book was a little unexpected.
Usually when I go through a good art book the artist that I am is a little discouraged, my own progress being lacking when compared to my mentors and some of my peers. However, my reaction to this book was a bout of chills and an exhuberant desire to draw like mad. One might conclude that I was underwhelmed, disappointed- a sense that I'm "much better than this loser". Instead, I was impressed in ways that have a hard time meeting any valued description.
Iain McCaig does not make it look simple.
He makes it look deep, fascinating and utterly approachable. He's an example of what being excited about one's work should look like.
I have to recommend this book to artists, particularly those struggling to find a reason to put pencil to good paper (any paper to take a mark is good paper). This is not your run-of-the-mill "art book". It's a celebration of the act of creation in which every mark the artist makes is potentially a portal to a world you want to visit, whether for good or for ill. The creature images run from whimsical in nature to terrible if ever met. The people are heroic, horrific and all points in between. Examples of sketches run throughout the book but they are eleborate, evocative hints when they are run up against full blown painted productions of characters and the worlds where they live.
I see a little Claire Wendling here and the recent work of Mathieu Lauffray there and this is all good. It's not that McCaig is copying anyone or vice versa. It's that they (and others not named) have such an obvious, shared passion for their work that it is an inspiration to both stragglers and jaded professionals in the field (or, at least it should have that effect).
I can only hope there will some day be another book.
My last comment is to see this man's production work for the upcoming film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "A Princess of Mars", leaves me anxious. Can, or will the film look this good? And his depiction of the actor to (possibly?) play John Carter is more than a little inspiring.
Summary of Shadowline: The Art of Iain McCaig
"What is Shadowline? It is the place where things meet: light and shadows, hope and despair, good and evil. It is, to me, the most interesting place to hunt for stories." So begins this stunningly realized and beautifully rendered new work from master storyteller and artist Iain McCaig. McCaig is best known for his work as a principal designer on the three Star Wars prequels, including the iconic characters Queen Amidala and Darth Maul, as well as his work on many major motion pictures, television, and video games. His work can be seen in such acclaimed films as Terminator 2, Hook, Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.Shadowline presents a stunning portfolio of more than two decades of McCaig's masterful concept designs and storyboards, cover art and illustrations, as well as his private sketchbooks and personal paintings, all woven together within the confines of an engrossing, otherworldly tale.
"I've been telling stories for years, with paint, with words, with film and video cameras, and pixels on computer screens. I can't explain storytelling the way teachers explain math or history. To explain what I'm doing when I create would be like waking up while still dreaming. We are all storytellers night after night, for even the most inartistic of us can still dream like masters."
-Iain McCaig
"Iain McCaig's characters arrive on the page fully formed, their life stories expressed through every beautiful pencil stroke, from the lightest fairy tales to the darkest nightmares."
-Doug Chiang, Academy Award-winning designer of Terminator 2, The Mask, Attack of the Clones, and The Phantom Menace
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