Dave Stevens: The Complete Sketchbook Collection Hardcover – August 9, 2011

I thought about getting the Dave Stevens sketchbooks when I first saw them advertised -- and thought about it, and thought about it, as the first volume and then the others went out of print and the prices on most of them began to climb. Procrastination and indecisiveness don't usually work out so well for me! Here are all four sketchbooks -- plus more -- in a very nice hardcover, 8"x12" page size. The "more" is -- quoting from the indicia page -- "approximately 100 additional sketches that have never before been published." It then goes on to say that some of the additional material in COMPLETE SKETCHES ("complete sketchbook collection" is what it is, all right, but the book's title is actually DAVE STEVENS: COMPLETE SKETCHES & STUDIES) appeared previously in ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES DELUXE EDITION (there's around 17 pages of "Rocketeer" art), so I guess that doesn't count towards the "never before published" sketches ... Since I don't know the page count of the original individual sketchbooks, I can't make an estimate of how many pages of this volume are previously-unseen work.The book is a hefty 256 pages, 245 of those art. About half the art pages are full-page illustrations -- faces/portraits, figures, comic book covers or other illustrations -- and most of those, I would say, are the "studies" rather than the "sketches"; they're fully finished, gorgeous works. There are also a dozen or so double-page illustrations. Maybe a quarter of the art pages are roughs, quick figure sketches, or thumbnails. Then there are comic book panels and pages, newspaper strips, advertising work, commissions ... real variety. There are several full-color pages, and more than half of the book, including both finished pieces and roughs/figure studies, is what I'll call "partial color" -- color reproductions of drawings done on tinted paper, or in one or two shades of colored pencil, or of wash, pencil, or other-media illustrations printed "black-and-white-in-color" or in grayscale, to show every shade and nuance of the work. At the end of the book there's an "art index" with a title or brief description for each page or major sketch, and sometimes additional commentary by Stevens.I could go on and on -- have I already? -- but the bottom line is, Stevens was an immensely talented artist in both comic/cartoon and realistic styles, and this is a splendid collection of his work both rough and finished.Now if Underwood would just rerelease BRUSH WITH PASSION, I'd be free of "Dave Stevens shoulda-got-it-when-I could" regrets...

This Dave Stevens compilation shows us the talent of this great artist. There are a lot of nude drawings, but all are tastefully accomplished. I was hoping for a book that displayed a little more of the process from the light sketch to the final drawing; however, that is very limited. In addition, the titles for each of the pictures, the explanations of who the subject was and comments on the pictures, are located in back of the book rather than on the page the drawing is on. The result is a lot of flipping back and forth. Many of the people drawn are not identified, and the number of drawings with explanations from the artist is small.I liked the storyboards on Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars. I would have liked more comments by the artist about these drawings and their uses.Good book.AD2

This book is already a classic!Dave Stevens, which sadly passed away way too early, was the best Good Girl artist of our generation.It reprinted all his sold out and almost impossible to find a completed 4 subsequently volumes sketchbooks.The best part is its highly quality photo reproduction and over-sized format so you could pour your eyes over his beautifully inking details, and several bonus not available anywhere such as personal interviews of others close to him and his short self-comments on his arts, etc.

How great is it that there now exists a complete, all in one collection of Dave's sketch books?

I am so glad to have purchased this book by a master artist. It breaks my heart he is gone, especially knowing he would have continued to thrill us for many years to come. While not REALLY a sketch book per se, outside of a fun napkin his friends managed to keep, the art is wonderful. Recommended!

This book is awesome because of Dave's fantastic talents.. It is particularly interesting to see the migration from sketch to final art...but...the way the book is bound hides some of the two page art in the center gutter making the viewer unable to see the enire artwork. I would have preferred just to have the blowups on a single page. Still a great book.

I received my book of Dave Stevens, one of my favorite illustrators and painter. It was exactly what I anticipated and the delivery was right on time thank you Amazon! I would recommend this book to any fan of women and Rocketeer

Beautiful book, inside and out!

Superb book from a great artist.

"excelente" porque se trata de un libro de buena calidad (impresión y encuadernación), ya conocía al autor por lo que también le cabe el mismo adjetivo.lo excelente: encuadernación e impresión; lo que no me gustó:nadase lo recomendaría a ilustradores, autores de cómics, y a artistas que valoren la anatomía humana en expresiones dinámicas y estáticas

Mort à 52 ans d'une leucémie en 2008, Dave Stevens est un admirable artisan du dessin. Il a travaillé pour le légendaire Russ Manning (Tarzan, Star Wars) et a reçu le prix Russ Manning décerné aux USA lors de la convention de San Diego aux nouveaux talents du dessin. Connu pour sa BD ' The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures ', il a aussi travaillé dans le dessin animé (Hanna-Barbera), le cinéma (story boards notamment pour 'Les Aventuriers de l'Arche Perdue') ou le clip vidéo ('Thriller' pour un certain Michael Jackson). Cet ouvrage regroupe en vrac et avec très peu de commentaires (les siens) ses esquisses, "commissions" et autres commandes, travaux préparatoires et portraits à la gouache (reproduits en N&B) réalisés entre ses débuts dans le monde du fanzine en 1974 et sa mort. Ce recueil est à 80 % composé de pin-ups, et notamment de dessins de la cultissime Bettie Page avec qui il est devenu ami. De ce point de vue, Dave Stevens se montre le digne héritier de rien moins que Gil Elvgren ou Fritz Willis. Superbe. The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures

What a great artist Dave Stevens was. The drawings are really nice and the quality of the paper its printed on is top notch.

GRAN libro del GRAN Dave Stevens, tristemente desaparecido hace unos años. Este libro es una muestra de la pasión del autor por su trabajo, su detallismo y su amor por el arte. Vale la pena.