Steven Universe: Art & Origins

Product Information

Ian describes feeling like at first doing SU was a thrill ride that meant they’d finally get to do all the cool stuff, but it quickly became a responsibility that he took very seriously–the need to tell a good story now that he’d been given a megaphone. It begins with a cracked-planet-looking graphic depicting four tiny Diamonds emerging at 20,000 years ago. The last time I saw so many reviews submitted in such a short amount of time were for the books The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia and Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo, also a book published by Abrams.

This was successfully resisted throughout as well–because Garnet is the leader (unless she’s incapacitated, of course).We’re told that Pink Diamond straightened up, behavior-wise, after she lost her first Pearl, and that Yellow and Blue wanted to give her a planet but White only agreed to it to prove she would fail at managing a colony.

This gorgeous art book has some insightful imagery inside, like the inspiration behind several of the locations behind Steven Universe and a variety of other illustrations. Steven feeling like a monster, having intrusive thoughts, having not forgiven the Diamonds, and getting help/moving on–it’s all there. But pushback (often blamed on the conservative standards of the international market) led to negotiations trying to keep Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship from being explicit. The Gems in the story are all “she/her,” but on their planet they’re defined by their work, not by emotion or relationships (unlike women in our society), so having them be socialized opposite to how she was and be able to claim those emotions through choice and NOT as just an expectation “as women” was revolutionary. The “Perfect Steven,” discussed in several interviews before this book’s release, was an idea back in 2013; the “ultimate Steven,” beefed up and shonen-looking, was far from perfect because OUR Steven is perfect, while this alpha hero Steven idea (used in Steven Universe Future) didn’t belong being idolized in such a show.

But it doesn’t have to be anything grand to be something we respect–this show’s authenticity comes largely from how personal everything is, drawn from real-life experiences and incidental truths from each artist’s perspective, leaning hard on childhood and formative experiences.

Drew Green talks about being brought in late and getting to watch unaired episodes and a rough of the movie while eating cereal. Seems like they originally conceived Garnet’s story to inspire the Off Colors to become pirates and freedom fighters, though in the show’s canon this storytelling happened after Lars had already reinvented himself the way he did.For the uninitiated, Steven is a plucky young chubster who plays the ukulele and loves catbased candy - and he just happens to be a Crystal Gem, one of an legendary group of warriors which once included his late Mom, Rose. The first timeline chart in the book features a cool sketch of the original Off Colors, which at the time this planning document was drafted included unused Off Colors Flint and Chert. The second printing, sans Concrete and with a completely reworked version of the offending page, was made available at the end of August 2017.

They wanted it for years: The wedding concepts always included the tuxedo for Sapphire and the wedding dress for Ruby. The book talks about the origin, development, character design, writing and storyboarding, sound, backgrounds, animation and post production, and what the future holds. How she was selfish and selfless, never enough and always too much, and how Greg was her first partner who “challenged her” to be an equal.They’d always be worried about leaks, and sometimes Rebecca struggled not to talk about the reality of Pink Diamond before the reveal because she knew it would make so much more sense once the truth was out. Like the previous concept art book, Art and Origins, I’ll be giving you a description of the structure and overview, while also collecting notable information for fans. My low-quality photos should prevent people from feeling like I’m reproducing the book in any capacity. Bursting with concept art, production samples, early sketches, storyboards, and exclusive commentary, this lavishly illustrated companion book offers a meticulous written and visual history of the show, as well as an all-access tour of the creative team’s process.