My Favorite Art Books of 2024

Posted By yonghow on December 31st, 2024

The final count for total number of art books reviewed in 2024 ( see the full list here ) stands at 70, 2 titles more than the 68 I managed last year. The quantity is determined by a few factors like the actual pool of published titles that are available for the year, my modest financial ability to acquire them as well as the time I might have to review them ( my day-time job is a VFX artist and reviewing books is purely a hobby that I indulge ).

For starters, I only review books ( and the occasional blu-ray, usually Criterion titles ) that I like, so they are all IMHO quality, but these 12 are my favorites for the year. Also, for the sake of variety, I usually try to find a good balance of Western and Japanese titles to review, though interestingly the ratio seem to kinda sort itself out without much effort on my part.

The titles are arranged in chronological order of my review dates ( earliest to latest ) and as always, please bear in mind that some of the books might have been published before 2024.

I hope you’ll find something that will excite or interest you in the list, and if you do decide to make a purchase please consider doing it through my Amazon affiliate links; it will cost you absolutely nothing, but will go a very long way in helping me to keep this ad-free blog sustainable. Have a Happy New Year 2025 ! –

1) The Art Of The Boy And The Heron

This Art Of book for The Boy And The Heron was released in late 2023 and did not make it in time for my favorite list last year, but it is wonderful and I wanted to make sure that I feature it this year.

The book showcases Miyazaki’s expressive water-color imageboards ( イメージボード/concept art sketches ), character design sheets, layouts, a huge collection of just wonderfully beautiful background art plates and also the Japanese voice-over screenplay. The only pre-production element that is missing are the storyboards, which is fully collected in it’s own book that I reviewed here.

2) Walton Ford – Pancha Tantra ( Taschen )

Walton Ford (born 1960 in Larchmont, New York) is an American artist who makes paintings and prints in the style of naturalist illustrations, often depicting extinct species. Each of his paintings is a meticulous, realistic study in flora and fauna, and is filled with symbols, clues, and jokes referencing texts ranging from colonial literature, to folktales, to travel guides. The paintings are complex allegorical narratives that critique the history of colonialism, industrialism, politics, natural science, and humanity’s effect on the environment.

I came across this giant hardcover volume while browsing at the excellent Tsutaya Books in Ginza last year. The huge print size and high technical quality of Walton Ford’s paintings certainly left an impression, but as I browsed further into the book I realized this is not simply an accomplished visual documentation of wildlife art but something deeper and more subversive.

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3) Rome Sketchbook – Fabrice Moireau

I spotted this sketchbook of Rome by artist Fabrice Moireau while in a bookstore in Tokyo and after thumbing through just a few pages, I was mesmerized by his beautiful watercolor illustrations of the city. I’ve only been to Rome once many years ago, but it is such an amazing city filled with rich cultural heritage ( not to mention excellent coffee ! ), and Fabrice’s lively illustrations really transport me back to the wonderful time I spent there.

All the pieces showcased in the book are beautiful, but the wide vista shots are something special indeed. I also love the clean layout and the cursive type captions that accompany the illustrations adds a nice touch to the overall aesthetic as well.

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4) Diego Rivera: The Complete Murals ( Taschen )

Diego Rivera (1886 – 1957) was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement in Mexican and international art. My only awareness of the artist was through the 2002 film Frida ( directed by Julie Taymor ), with actor Alfred Molina playing the role as husband to the equally famous artist Frida Kahlo.

But I was not at all familiar with his actual art work and paintings. No, the start of my education regarding the brilliance of Diego Rivera’s work was when I got the chance to browse through this giant hardcover book at the Tsutaya Ginza Six bookstore earlier this spring.

I was immediately struck the bold expressiveness of his subject matter; elaborate, complex murals executed with striking rich colors and detailed rendering. This giant hardcover volume by Taschen features over 600 pages of the artist’s extensive portfolio of mural paintings, all reproduced in vivid fidelity and clarity. I’ve included a few bigger portrait format images below to show more close-up details of the paintings.

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5) Iain McCaig’s Once Upon a Time in the Sketchbook

Not a single word, just sketches ! This description pretty much sums up Iain McCaig’s Once Upon a Time in the Sketchbook, a strictly visuals only collection of his beautiful doodles & drawings, running the gamut from rough to very detailed, finessed pieces.

The scope of subject matters that the artist cover is pretty extensive, from more mundane, every day character portrait studies to studied and refined pieces of fantasy as well as sci-fi art, creature & character designs, and many more. Some familiar animation/film franchise pieces are also included, like Jungle Book and Starwars, the latter whom Iain McCaig’s character designs contributed greatly to and is covered in his earlier art book Shadowline.

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6) Yuko Higuchi Film Poster Illustration Book

‘Talk About Films And Posters’ ( a very literal but not altogether incorrect translation from the Japanese title 映画とポスターのお話 ) is a collection of film poster art pieces by Japanese illustrator Yuko Higuchi ( ヒグチユウコ ) and graphic designer Oshima Idea; ( 大島依提亜 pronounced E-deh-ah ) check out his beautiful design for this Japanese 4K edition of Luc Besson’s LEON.

I had previously reviewed another of Yuko Higuchi’s art books Circus and had been particularly impressed by her illustrations for movie posters, so this book is definitely a very welcomed one. It collects over 40 pieces of her movie illustrations for films like Midsommar ( quite possibly her most famous piece and also featured as the book’s cover art ), Suspiria, Moonlight, Nausicaa, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, The Dark Crystal, Lamb, Last Night In Soho and many more.

7) Entei Ryu Art Works – Chimera

CHIMERA (キメラ) is the long-awaited first art book by Entei Ryu (エンテイ・リュウ), an artist active at the forefront of the gaming and film industries. Spanning over 300 pages, this sumptuous volume includes everything from fantasy to science fiction, color illustrations, design sketches, and previously unreleased works realized in both 2D as well as 3D digital sculpts, offering a comprehensive showcase of the artist’s impressive body of work.

Based in Tokyo, Entei Ryu works on art and design primarily for movies and games both domestically and internationally. Her transcendent works, themed around life, energy, and harmony with nature, fuse classical realism with the spirituality of Eastern art, captivating a wide audience through various media. In the past, she has contributed art to various titles such as “ASSASSIN’S CREED” and the “FINAL FANTASY” series, and is currently active as a concept artist at Kojima Productions.

8) Hell, Ink & Water – The Art Of Mike Mignola

Hell, Ink & Water is a stunning 96-page hardcover volume serving as the official catalog for Mignola’s first New York art gallery show (Philippe Labaune Gallery, September 20, 2024 – October 26, 2024). It features 31 new watercolors by the artist, focusing on many of the themes near and dear to Mignola: skulls, monsters, and the supernatural. Did I mention skulls ?

As the title suggests, a significant portion of the book ( about 1/2 of the entire page count ) showcases Hellboy covers and pencil drawings, all scanned with care and to great detail in the manner of the Artist’s Editions from the original art.

Most of the Hellboy covers included in this book were only ever presented previously in colored editions, and the original ink art showcases them in a distinctly different light. As visual artists and photographers would understand; a black & white/monochrome art work removes the distractions of colors and allow for a much better appreciation of the original form and composition, and boy does Mignola know a thing or two about composition and the brilliant use of negative space. It is a marvelous visual treat.

Read the full book review | Buy From Amazon.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Buy From Amazon JP

9) AKIRA Layouts & Key Frames Vol 3 ( Otomo Complete Works )

Not only is this AKIRA Layouts & Key Frames book the biggest of the three ( read my review for Volume 1 and Volume 2 ) with a whopping page count of 678 pages, it also comes with ALOT more layered, high quality cel reproductions than the previous 2 books ( I guesstimate about 30-40% more, if not twice as many ). This splendid volume is a most fitting tribute to the climatic third act of Otomo’s AKIRA film.

Just like the previous 2 books, the contents showcase 4 distinct components used during production of the film; 1) the layouts, 2) the genga ( key frame drawings, printed on yellow colored pages ), 3) select background art paintings and 4) reproduction cel frames which are layered over these background paintings. The reproduced cel paintings are extremely high quality as you can see in the images below, and many of the layouts and key frame drawings are also printed in color, making the reading experience really, really immersive, and an absolute delight.

10) Walking Along The Railroad Tracks – Ogawa Shinjiro Illustration Book

Trains and railroads are such an integral and ubiquitous feature of Japanese urban landscape that it is often used as a motif and/or subject matter in Japanese visual arts as well as in animated films.

Nagoya born illustrator Ogawa Shinjiro (小川真二郎) is the latest artist to add to this unique genre with his book ‘Walking Along The Railroad’ (線路沿い街歩き), a most delightful collection of urban landscape illustrations showcasing charming Japanese vistas adorned by the railroad. Ogawa’s attention to minute detail in populating his lively drawings with all the streets/road signs, billboards and storefronts that are uniquely Japanese really transports the viewer right into the scene, and his use of deformed perspective adds a charming whimsical touch to his distinct visual style.

11) HR Giger XXL Monograph ( Taschen )

When Taschen announced its massive monograph tome for the late HR Giger a few years back I was both elated and also sad at the same time, because the book was a limited print edition with a price point that would bankrupt me ($1250). Thankfully, Taschen often releases much more affordable, albeit significantly smaller sized editions of these books, and I have reviewed it previously here.

The small print sized edition is definitely a great option to have, but it is not the ideal way to fully enjoy HR Giger’s meticulously detailed, large format art work. This new 2024 edition bridges the gap and is the latest addition to the excellent XXL giant monograph series of art books released by Taschen ( Bruegel / Frazetta / Hieronymus Bosch / Velázquez ).

The scope and breadth of the art pieces covered is immense; on top of the artist’s expansive portfolio of personal work, there are also substantial pages showcasing his iconic concept art designs for Ridley Scott’s Alien as well as Poltergeist II.

Read the full book review | Buy From Amazon.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Buy From Amazon JP

12) Nausicaa – Hayao Miyazaki Imageboards Art Book

Released in 1984, Nausicaa Of The Valley Of Wind (風の谷のナウシカ) is a seminal manga as well as animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, and although it was technically made before the creation of Ghibli, Nausicaa has since become one of the studio’s most iconic and beloved titles.

4 decades after its release, publisher Iwanami Shoten has launched a new “Hayao Miyazaki Imageboard Series” of art books to showcase the director’s original watercolor concept art in high quality, large format prints, and what better fitting title to kick-start the series than Nausicaa ? This book collects 131 pieces of art work spread across 108 pages, complete with an interview with Ghibli producer Suzuki Toshio found at the end of the book.

The biggest selling point and highlight of the book is the big print size; which allows for much better appreciation of Hayao Miyazaki’s gorgeous watercolor illustrations. I also like that the reproductions are presented close to their pristine look, with no overt color correction or saturation applied, something I noticed in some of Ghibli’s earlier Art Of books.

And that rounds up my favorite art book picks of 2024; there are quite a few notable mentions that didn’t make it into the above list but are great as well like The Millennium Actress Archives, Comics/Bande Dessinée (1964 – 2024), The World Of Yamada Akihiro, The Arts & Crafts Of Yoji Shinkawa, Monet – The Triumph Of Impressionism and more; here’s the full list of art books I in reviewed in 2024 ( 70 total ).

I also recommend my favorite art book lists from these other years –

2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012