1. Spectrum 21: I began collecting these with volume 18 and although it is really nice every year, some years are of course better than others in my own conception because of personal preference. This year I found the annual compilation especially great, at least as good as 18 maybe even the best out of all four I own, although the series switched from Underwood Books to Flesk Publishing and the layout for the cover also slightly changed, the overall format, quality and price stayed the same. I felt that in volume 21, the art had almost no images which content I would consider rather... 'generic', lots of darker stuff instead. I loved it.
2. Substrata: Originally a project inspired by the Art of Darksiders 2, this fictional videogame companion book with art to a video game that was never planned to be made, features some really great art if one is interested into fantasy in its slightly darker form. Great creature designs as well.
3. The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition: This one came as a bit of a surprise to me, as I did not and still do not like the cover image a lot and have my prejudices against the third installment of the game series as well, however, the content shown inside the book, which I first got to know through Parka's helpful video, really convinced me. Nice fantasy art and a good mixture of character concepts, environmental art and ingame asset concepts.
1. Spectrum 21: I began collecting these with volume 18 and although it is really nice every year, some years are of course better than others in my own conception because of personal preference. This year I found the annual compilation especially great, at least as good as 18 maybe even the best out of all four I own, although the series switched from Underwood Books to Flesk Publishing and the layout for the cover also slightly changed, the overall format, quality and price stayed the same. I felt that in volume 21, the art had almost no images which content I would consider rather... 'generic', lots of darker stuff instead. I loved it.
2. Substrata: Originally a project inspired by the Art of Darksiders 2, this fictional videogame companion book with art to a video game that was never planned to be made, features some really great art if one is interested into fantasy in its slightly darker form. Great creature designs as well.
3. The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition: This one came as a bit of a surprise to me, as I did not and still do not like the cover image a lot and have my prejudices against the third installment of the game series as well, however, the content shown inside the book, which I first got to know through Parka's helpful video, really convinced me. Nice fantasy art and a good mixture of character concepts, environmental art and ingame asset concepts.