Thomas Romain is an animator/artist that I have been following on YouTube who re-creates his son’s artwork. Family Traits The Fantastic Bestiary Of A Father And His Sons Artbook contains many of the drawings from the series. This was an amazing book to read because it not only shows the artwork but it shows the thoughts of both the sons and Thomas regarding each piece.
Romain’s Watercolor style remains consistent while still giving each drawing a unique personality and identity. Because these works are based on his son’s drawings, there is no set theme like mecha or animals. Even though there is not much connecting them in this way, Thomas still finds a way of making mini-universes where he puts certain characters in other drawings (mainly the Koomos, I will explain them later on). Some of these drawings are just of the character while some are of entire scenes.
Many of his more well-known pieces make it into this book. Some of these detailed works include The Scarlet Doctor, Yugo the Apothecary, and Justice. My favorite pieces in this book take a 180 from the others and focus on a more simplistic feel. The Koomos and the Tulip Brothers have a very simple design. To make them stand out more, Thomas gave them backgrounds that portray stories. For example, the Koomos are all gathered around a deceased Koomo. Since the Koomos have such a simple design and ambiguous origin, it is easy to fit them into other artworks, and that’s exactly what he did with drawings like The Royal Tentaduse.
Each drawing in this Artbook has its own story. It was definitely worth it to sit back and look through every page. It was a very cool opportunity to be able to read and review a book created by an artist I already follow and love! Hopefully, you can pick up this book and learn more about Thomas Romain and his sons. They are a very artistically skilled family and this book shows it!
Family Traits The Fantastic Bestiary of a Father and His Sons Artbook (Hardcover)
Thomas Romain, an artist and animator whose credits include Bodacious Space Pirates, Macross Delta, Space Dandy, and Phoenix Wright spin-off Dai Gyakuten Saiban, discovered that sons Itsuki, age 9, and Ryunosuke, age 10, were following in his footsteps by creating original characters and the worlds they inhabited. A drawing by Ryunosuke provided the spark of collaboration. From there, father and sons began creating characters that showcased their love of adventure, robots, monsters and machines.
Add to CartLearn More