World of Warcraft Tribute Art Book Pre-Order

The World of Warcraft Tribute book is now available for pre-order from several locations, including Amazon - EU and US - and UDON themselves. The price is a steep £28/$40 but given that this book contains over 200 professional illustrations, it's well worth the money. This is, of course, coming from an individual who buys the WoW Collector's Editions purely for the exclusive pet and art book. And the expansion itself, of course.

   I'm keen to pre-order my copy, but I doubt I'll be able to afford it on its release, what with AC4 coming out at the end of that month and the new consoles coming out shortly afterwards. But it's definitely on my wishlist.

   I love artbooks because they give a new insight into the races of Azeroth (and beyond). We only see them as digitalised beings, with every member of a certain sex and race having the exact same body and moving in the exact same way. But artwork can better capture the hatred between races, the love for individuals, the intensity of battle and hunting, and can also give us a more beautiful view of key locations. It deepens the whole world.

   I also love art books because I enjoy drawing, myself. I'm not very good at it (I used to be all right at it but having not touched a pencil in years, I've slipped somewhat), and when it comes to certain poses, or designing armour or facial expressions (you know, they key aspects of the picture itself) I really struggle. Art books like these featuring finished works have helped me build facial expressions and figure out stances so much, along with a few 'how to draw' books. I rarely copy images - the only time I do is to try to get myself back into the sway of drawing. Otherwise, copying drawings really hold no incentive. By copying, you don't allow yourself freedom of imagination. Having said that, by copying pieces similar to what you want to do (ie heavily armoured individuals), you will gradually learn what is needed to design decent armour.

   All in all, with over 200 high-quality illustrations of different kinds and situations, it's a well-worth addition for any collector or passionate Warcraft fan.