Jun Ikeda Works Collection & CG Technique

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I was going to skip buying Jun Ikeda Works Collection & CG Technique, as most books with “CG Technique” in the title have few illustrations. But this art book manages to find a nice middle-ground. It has plenty of art along with work-in-progress guides to many of the finished illustrations.

The word I would use to describe the theme in these works is: nature. Jun Ikeda seems to love illustrating the great outdoors, with only a handful of illustrations set inside. Even then, those indoor scenes have windows and lighting that reveal ideal landscapes. Another aspect present in many of the illustrations are blowing petals, or water—be it rain, river, or garden hose. For the most part, the backgrounds outshine the girls.

The art book itself is a small B5 size, like most doujinshi. And though the pages feel smooth, they have a slight textured. You can see the paper grain in the dark and black areas on the illustrations. But the very high quality printing with no visible DPI makes up for it. Jun Ikeda Works Collection & CG Technique is 128 pages, with pages 3 to 82 featuring full-page illustrations and the rest covering the tutorials. There’s a three page thumbnail index with artist commentary.

The illustration collection features many seasonal illustrations. Most of the pieces in the first half are very green, with signs of Spring and Summer everywhere. The latter half has toned down imagery with night scenes, snow, and golden hours. Yoshizuki Kumichi’s Calendar Film has a similar collection.

Finally, above are some shots of the tutorial section in the back of the book. The tutorials are from illustrations in the art book, so you can really check out the details. The layout shows steps of a work in progress, but neglects specific paint instructions. It shouldn’t be a problem for a CG artist with even a little experience to follow what’s going on and try some of the techniques—even without any Japanese knowledge—as the changes per image are very gradual.

I’m glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone for Jun Ikeda Works Collection & CG Technique. It’s packed with as many illustrations as “art only” art books. Plus, if I ever get into trying my hand at CG backgrounds, I’ll know a good place to look for inspiration. ^^