Review of "Tex: The Art of Mark Texeira" on Collector's Corner!

Hi Everyone--

Collector's Corner reviews new book on Mark Texeira; "Tex: The Art of Mark Texeira." Published by Vanguard Productions. Written and designed by myself. I'm very happy with the way this book turned out and thrilled with my friend, David Spurlock at Vanguard for his continued dedication to making books such as this available. Give it a Read.

--Renee
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Collector's Corner Reviews New Artbook on Mark Texeira

Recently Vanguard Productions released four new books in its artist’s series. Before I begin reviewing each book individually I’d like to comment on the books as a whole.
As a graphic designer I know how important it is to choose the right type of paper depending on the type of print product you want to promote. In the case of art books it’s especially important to choose the right cover and interior stocks.

Vanguard has done an excellent job selecting the stock that best complements and enhances the art in each of its books. Both the cover and interior pages are of coated stock, yet not so high gloss coated as to be too reflective and detract from the art.

Paper stock also determines ink absorbs ion which is especially important when it comes to text. Text must be crisp and clean and easy to read. So is the case in Vanguard’s books.
Paper stock must be stable enough to trim leaving crisp edges and no fold over, display colors in their proper hue and intensity, handles scoring and keep small details from smudging or disappearing all together. Binding must be snug with tightly bound, stitched or glued pages so that the books hold up. All of the books do just that.

Copy structure is equally important in art books. Too much copy detracts from the art, not enough leaves the readers slightly frustrated having not received enough information. I was impressed that in each art book I’m about to review that their was just enough copy to hold my interest, of appropriate size and line spacing (leading) for easy reading and very informative context-containing not only interesting facts about the art but facts about the artists as well.

I felt that after reading each book that I knew the artists personally as well as their motivation, work ethic and capabilities.

Overall production value on each book rates high. I plan on making these titles an important part of my collection. Well done.

Tex: The Art Of Mark Texeira: The Artist’s Great Escape came as a big surprise to me. I’ve always loved Mark’s comic book work-especially his Ghost Rider series and his comic book covers paintings.

I was unprepared and caught off-guard when I saw his commercial art work and paintings. The man is a powerhouse of imagination and a master of illustration and painting media. His new book, co-written by Renee Witterstaetter, looks into his impressive career.
Mark was born and raised in New York City amongst somewhat less than savory surroundings. As a young man he was entrenched within a rough environment with street gangs and poverty all about hi,. Still his dream to become an artist motivated him to create despite his situation and with the encouragement of a teacher Mark was able to enter a prestigious art school and excel.

Soon after gradating he acquired work and has been producing art ever since. Besides his comic book work Texeira is also an accomplished painter and illustrator with works gracing book covers, movie production pieces, trading cards and other commercial art projects.
The Art Of Mark Texeira contains examples from all of his projects. What I really liked about the book is that it contains sketches and preliminary drawings for much of Mark’s finished paintings. I enjoy seeing how he puts his ideas down on paper and formulates his final work. Too often people who look at an artist’s wok don’t appreciate the amount of time and effort it took to create the final piece.

Mark is very candid about his background, his education, his work and his life in general. His observations and insights into producing art are invaluable and his wicked sense of humor often shines through his prose. The book is well laid out with black and white illustrations and color paintings evenly distributed throughout its pages. This makes the book fun to look at as visual treats pop up unexpectantly.

Mark Texeira’s work is well represented in its pages and both looking at and reading the book is extremely satisfying.

Purchasing books from Vanguard Productions is money well spent. As a veteran artist or novice it would be a wise investment to purchase these books not only for their visual value but for their instructional value as well.

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(For a full review of the other recent Vanguard Books on Joe Kubert, St. John, Alex Horley, as well as the one on Mark Texeira, check out the link below!)

http://bamcc-bam.blogspot.com/2009/12/st-johns-kubert-texeira-and-horley.html