I recently received a certain artbook from one of my favorite artist on deviantart gueuzav (Xa), he’s a french illustrator since 8 years and his style somehow combines the western comic look with anime. He also was the head designer of the MMORPG’s games DOFUS and Wakfu which I haven’t played so far. The book contains a varity of nice Illustrations which show original and game related characters. Im a fan of his characterdesigns and the vivid coloring.
You would actually think that ordering things from France would be less difficult than ordering stuff from Japan, especially when you are living in a country next to France, but I was wrong.
It took me some time to find out that the artbook was exclusively sold at ankama-shop, after a long time of shipment I finally received my copy. The book was sold for 24,90€ + 10,00€ shipping. It has a matte softcover and contains 128 colored pages and is written in french and english language. Its measurements are 21 x 29.7 cm.
Lets start with the pictures, this one below is the cover of the book, a very detailed illustration.
I like the way the artist draws his female characters, the faces are always quite cute with big eyes and strong face expressions. The shape of their body’s is always very feminine and attractive, nice legs and thigs for example. Page 5 and 7 show two of my favorite drawings of him, the flower costume girl looks just great with all the details on her clothes. There are so much more nice character illustrations inside this artbook, but I’ll show you just a small selection.
Aside from the trouble with the ordering process Im very satisfied with the visual appealing artbook. There are much more nice sketches and Illustrations inside this artbook, but I couldn’t scan all of them. If you would like to see more, just take a look at his deviantART Gallery.
Hoshiko
Vibrant colors and a little Disney-like, very nice…and all of the characters are smiling, seems like they’re all having fun! >.<
wieselhead
Ah really, I haven’t noticed the little Disney touch in these illustrations before ^-^
I like if everyone is happy therefore Im a big fan of his illustrations and style.
fabrice
You see not only japanese can draw super well :3
wieselhead
Haha yeah, you don’t see much western artbooks like this.
Normally all moe girl related stuff comes from Japan.
feal87
Very beautiful colors, really great drawing quality.
For some reason though I can’t find myself liking the way he designed the nose of the girls…:P
wieselhead
That’s quite nice 😉
Ah I see, so you’re no fan of stub noses? I love them ^^
BioToxic
I’ve been playing Rayman Origins lately and I must say the artstyle here looks very similar; the fairies you rescue in particular. But enough of what I’ve been wasting time doing :P.
The artstyle is very vivid and colourful. All the characters are exciting to look at with their wide variety of lively poses. I like the last illustration – tight black suit and mysterious mask – what mischief could she be getting up to :P. The illustration with the space butt kisser is also amusing. So that’s what we have to look forward to when venturing further into space – butt kissers.
wieselhead
Haha I see, then I should play it as well :p
I like this style a lot, it’s quite appealing in terms of colors and characterdesign.
The butt kisser is funny, also aliens have a good taste it seems XD
exilehero
Oh it’s that artist from that Wakfu thing. He (she?), has a really distinct art style that is somewhere between anime and comic. Very recognizable. I’ve never really stopped and looked at his drawings but he can make some awesome faces haha. I also like the curvaceousness that he puts on the girls, sexy ;).
wieselhead
Im surprised someone knows Wakfu, I didn’t ant though it was more a french game.
“He” is right in this case ^^ Yeah I really like his style, yes pretty girls are pretty 🙂
Miette-chan
Oh man, I used to follow so many nice artists on dA sometimes I did considered buying some of their works but they tended to be limited and slightly expensive.
One thing I loved, which you can see with the style of these drawings is like you mention the mix of western and eastern styles resulting in some unique nice things.
wieselhead
Haha yeah the dA prices are just expensive, but the book had a fair price and so there was no need for me to hesitate.
Oh good Im not the only one who sees this combination, its one of the things I really like about the style of this artist.
Aya
so unique, looks so cute and funny, beautiful color too 😀
wieselhead
Ah nice that you like it as well ^-^
Nopy
The mix of Eastern and Western styles creates a unique look. Some of those illustrations remind me of the Looney Toons, but others look closer to anime. Regardless, they all look very nicely drawn and I like the colours used.
wieselhead
haha it really looks a bit like Looney Toons in some illustrations.
The lively colors are a very nice part of the illustrations.
Nadav
Thank you for showing us this book! I looked at the Wakfu trailers a couple of weeks back and thought to myself “I’ll never have the time to play the game, but I like the art so much. If only there was an art book….” and now there is! I just ordered mine from Amazon UK. You can find it in other places, but it’s not as cheap or convinient as Amazon. Unless you live in France that is.
wieselhead
no problem it’s my pleasure. The art is quite nice ^^
Good that you were able to get it, it was a little bother to get my copy.