The very moment I laid my eyes on Satoshi Matsuura‘s illustrations I took an immediate liking to it; my thoughts about his work were very quickly affirmed as I flipped through more pages from this excellent art book Monster & Human, Imaginary Creatures ( 空想世界の住人たち- 松浦聖キャラクターデザイン ).
Featuring a whopping 634 character & creature illustrations in all, Satoshi Matsuura’s art work run the whole fantasy gamut from dragons, demons, humans, magical creatures and many more. In some ways, his art style remind me of Hellboy comic artist Mike Mignola‘s simplified forms and shapes; austere but still striking in their expressive poses.
Satoshi Matsuura is a character/monster designer in the games industry with a long and impressive list of credits to his name including Legend Of Mana, Monster Guardians, Magical Vacation, Bravely Default and many more. I believe this is his first published art book.
I’m a little embarrassed to say that I was not aware of Satoshi Matsuura’s excellent art work until I chanced upon this book; but this is now remedied. This is not only a fun read but a great study and reference for anyone looking to design their own fantasy creatures. Highly recommended.
“Monster & Human, Imaginary Creatures – Satoshi Matsuura 空想世界の住人たち- 松浦聖キャラクターデザイン” art book details :
Dimensions – 19.2 x 1.4 x 24 cm
Softcover, 143 pages
Full color, In Japanese language
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February 18th, 2022 at 4:24 am
I have this book too, and I freakin love it. I haven´t seen so fresh in monsters designs in a long time.
February 18th, 2022 at 5:01 am
Fantastic book – got it a couple of weeks ago & its rarely been far from my side since.
February 20th, 2022 at 3:10 am
Josiko / busterMachine3 – All agreed, it’s a really refreshing take on creature design and I bought the book on first glance !
February 20th, 2022 at 5:43 am
Wow, I’ve sadly never heard of him either. But he has such a wonderful sense of shape and silhouette. I really dig these block designs, I’m gonna have to add this book to my list.
February 24th, 2022 at 6:48 am
Coffee – Totally agree about his skill with shapes and sihouettes ! Definitely part of the reason why they look so good !