It is with considerable embarrassment that I profess knowing little of Ron Cobb‘s most illustrious career in concept art design for films until a few years back when I saw his work featured in the excellent The Making Of Aliens art book; what struck me the most besides the obvious technical excellence and artistry is his particular style of marking a thick bold outline around his drawings, giving them a rather distinctive look that is hard to miss. With this visual marker, I started seeing his work and designs literally every where ( well, where the good sci-fi films dwell ) and my respect for his immense craft continues to grow.
This new hardcover art book showcases the sheer scope of his concept art/design contributions to some of the best and most highly acclaimed sci-fi films we love, including titles like Alien/Aliens, Total Recall, Rocketeer, The Abyss, Back To The Future and more. Also included are some of his personal work, side projects as well as satirical cartoon/comics.
Book synopsis – Discover the ultimate collection of Ron Cobb’s artwork from across his entire career (Alien, Star Wars, Back to the Future) in this comprehensive coffee table book.
During his sixty-year career, Ron Cobb provided concept art for some of the biggest films in sci-fi cinema. From designing spaceships for Alien, Dark Star, and Firefly and Delorean from Back to the Future to character designs for Conan the Barbarian and creature concepts for Star Wars and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Ron has left a legacy of artwork behind to inspire future generations of concept artists.
This beautiful coffee table book is full to the brim with Ron Cobb’s artwork from throughout his career and includes exclusive insights from the talent he worked with along the way, including James Cameron, Joe Johnston, Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and Nick Castle.
(above & below) Quite a number of concept art pieces by the artist are also showcased in The Making Of Alien as well as The Making Of Aliens.
Of course I was clueless that Ron Cobb designed the fictional Luftwaffe BV-38 aircraft in Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981). This and more in featured in the Art Of Ron Cobb book; my review will be online soon – https://t.co/qkU934aIRJ#conceptart #filmmaking #artbook pic.twitter.com/lWFZ7fTtRv
— blauereiter (@blauereiter) October 16, 2022
Any significant design work done on legendary films like Indiana Jones : Raiders Of The Lost Ark or Back To The Future would secure you a place in the sci-fi art hall of fame; and Ron Cobb has worked on all of them, and then some. This beautiful hardcover book is the perfect volume to study and enjoy his amazing concept art work and comes most highly recommended.
“The Art Of Ron Cobb” art book details :
– Dimensions – 9.32 x 0.89 x 12.48 inches
– Hardcover, 208 pages
– Full color
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October 25th, 2022 at 8:50 am
This was one artbook that I had to get. It’s amazing how many SF fans do not know about Ron Cobb’s contribution to SF cinema, but I was blown away by how many films he had worked on that I never knew he had worked on! It’s a great book, and although Cobb is no longer with us the book also stands as a fitting tribute.
Also, the book HIDETAKA TENJIN’S ARTISTRY OF MACROSS is finally out! It’s a great collection of Tenjin’s Macross art and it’s the first English-language collection of his work. Udon did a great job with this one.
October 26th, 2022 at 3:54 am
Marc – I’m actually one of those who knew little of his work until a few years back haha, but yeah his contribution to sci-fi concept art for movies is immense.
Thanks for the heads up on the Tenjin Hidetaka book ! I might pick it up for review !
October 26th, 2022 at 3:56 am
Yes, Ron Cobb was an absolute master. I also recommend visiting http://www.roncobb.net/, where there are other works that did not fit into the book.
October 29th, 2022 at 1:07 pm
Tomas – Nice, thanks for the heads up on the website !