Oga Kazuo Animation Art Woks II (Ghibli THE ART Series)

The long-awaited art collection by Kazuo Oga, the animation art director behind Studio Ghibli’s works, is now in its second volume!

This book contains numerous background drawings, art boards, and art settings for “Princess Mononoke” and “Heisei Raccoon War Ponpoko,” for which he served as art director, as well as “Ears to the Sky,” “Spirited Away,” and “Howl’s Moving Castle.
This is an unprecedented book of techniques that explores the “techniques” and “expression” of animation background art, based on a discussion with Naoya Tanaka, who also worked as art director at Studio Ghibli, and the making of the book’s cover illustration.

Table of Contents
About this book
Introduction Kazuo Oga
“Technique” and “Expression” in Cover Illustration

Chapter 1 Princess Mononoke
Village of Emishi / Forest of Shishigami / Deep in the Forest / Rebirth of Green
Techniques of Princess Mononoke
Basics of Animation Background Art
1:Tools of Animation Background Art
2:About color mixing
3:From watering to ground coating
4:The use of living brush strokes
5: Awareness of space and surface
6:How to capture light sources
7:Balance and density of the picture plane
8:Abbreviation and exaggeration
9: What you can get from the interview
10:How to use materials

Chapter 2 Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko
The four seasons in the satoyama / The lives of raccoon dogs / Developed nature
Expressions of “Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko”
1:Observation and sketching
2: Tense composition
3:Depiction of light and shadow
4:Depiction of atmosphere
5: Layout and composition
6: Color and spatial expression
7: Elegance and playfulness

Chapter 3 Other Works
Mimi wo Sumeba (The Girl with the Ears)
Spirited Away
The Cat Returns
Howl’s Moving Castle
Koro’s Grand Tour

Chapter 4 Before Techniques and Expressions
Discussion] Kazuo Oga and Naoya Tanaka
Column 1: Devices of the Analog Age, Techniques of the Digital Age
Column 2: The “brush” in background art
Fifteen Years of Trial and Error