Artistic Inspiration
Samantha Ann Patterson
For the past week I've been studying the work of Preston Blair attempting
to learn something of a more fluid style for animation, and as I study,
it's interesting to realize that there are other old masters of animation
hidden in his books. With a slight change of line weight or curve, I
uddenly see chuck Jones or Tex Avery, and many others. One starts to
realize how much artists are intertwined. The same holds true for
DaVinci, Michael Angelo, Raphael, all studying one another's works,
learning and gaining from each study. It set me to wondering. Who
do others see as the inspiration for their art?
I came late to animation and comics and really had no childhood
heros who were artists. My parents were the sort that said comics
were for white trash and rot your brain and I'd say that even up as
recently as a year ago, that some part of this ingrained prejudice
was lingering around me.
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting both Mr Bill Plympton and
Mr Ralph Bakshi. Both talked about their inspiration from bygone comic
book writers and seemed more heavily influenced by comis than animation.
I had to learn the name of the old masters of animation. It wasn't
something I found on my own. So... Who were the old masters of
comic books. What did they write, and what made them great?
-Samantha
Arty McToon
George Harriman, creator of the "Krazy Kat" comic strip...innovative
for his whimsical stories with a lovesick Kat and a cranky brick
throwing Mouse named Ignatz and the surreal desert rock formations in
the background.
Carl Barks, artist of classic Donald Duck comic books from the 1930s
to his death at age 99 in 2000...turned a Disney cartoon character's
stories into riveting epic adventures.
Walt Kelly, Disney animator and creator of "Pogo"...turned a concept
of Swamp Animals down South into biting social and political
commentary in the comic books and comic strips.
Their works turned the concept of kiddie "funny animals" into amazing
works of art with something deeper behind the cute furry characters.
My list is not complete...there are more.
cir...@deeptht.armory.com (Samantha Ann Patterson) wrote in message news:<v6q81i8...@corp.supernews.com>...
A'A'Alis
"Samantha Ann Patterson" <cir...@deeptht.armory.com> wrote in message
news:v6q81i8...@corp.supernews.com...
>
> For the past week I've been studying the work of Preston Blair attempting
> to learn something of a more fluid style for animation, and as I study,
> it's interesting to realize that there are other old masters of animation
> hidden in his books. With a slight change of line weight or curve, I
> uddenly see chuck Jones or Tex Avery, and many others. One starts to
> realize how much artists are intertwined. The same holds true for
> DaVinci, Michael Angelo, Raphael, all studying one another's works,
> learning and gaining from each study. It set me to wondering. Who
> do others see as the inspiration for their art?
Grrrwolf, Steve Gallacci, N'duli, Jay Naylor, Masamune Shirow, Karabiner, J.
Bernal, JMH, Leonardo D'Vinci, Raphael, and Monika Savant (Sonique).
There are almost certainly tons of others, but they all have inspired me
at one time or another. By the same token, idle conversation has been just
as inspiring.
> Last week I had the pleasure of meeting both Mr Bill Plympton and
> Mr Ralph Bakshi. Both talked about their inspiration from bygone comic
> book writers and seemed more heavily influenced by comis than animation.
> I had to learn the name of the old masters of animation. It wasn't
> something I found on my own. So... Who were the old masters of
> comic books. What did they write, and what made them great?
Will Eisner - an Master of Sequential Art. He did 'Spirit' for a long
time, and did some Dick Tracy at some point, but the guy is (was? I dunno if
he's still alive) a genius and very experianced at doing comics. I have
several of his books as reference in my library - and refer to them any time
I'm laying something out like a comic page.
Akal Ashata Alis
Obvious Fake. Do Not Harvest.
>"Samantha Ann Patterson" <cir...@deeptht.armory.com>
>> Last week I had the pleasure of meeting both Mr Bill Plympton and
>> Mr Ralph Bakshi. Both talked about their inspiration from bygone comic
>> book writers and seemed more heavily influenced by comis than animation.
>> I had to learn the name of the old masters of animation. It wasn't
>> something I found on my own. So... Who were the old masters of
>> comic books. What did they write, and what made them great?
>
> Will Eisner - an Master of Sequential Art. He did 'Spirit' for a long
>time, and did some Dick Tracy at some point, but the guy is (was? I dunno if
>he's still alive) a genius and very experianced at doing comics. I have
>several of his books as reference in my library - and refer to them any time
>I'm laying something out like a comic page.
Yes, he's still around. A couple years ago Eisner even won an Eisner. :D
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Stan Sakai, yet.
(quick glance at book shelves)
"Tintin" and "Asterix the Gaul" are classics worth studying -- especially so if
all you've ever seen are American and Japanese titles. I'll have to rummage
around to see what else I have on hand.
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M. Mitchell Marmel
art...@yahoo.com (Arty McToon) wrote:
> Maybe in a Furry sense, the "masters" of the comic art IMHO could be
>
> George Harriman, creator of the "Krazy Kat" comic strip...innovative
> for his whimsical stories with a lovesick Kat and a cranky brick
> throwing Mouse named Ignatz and the surreal desert rock formations in
> the background.
>
> Carl Barks, artist of classic Donald Duck comic books from the 1930s
> to his death at age 99 in 2000...turned a Disney cartoon character's
> stories into riveting epic adventures.
>
> Walt Kelly, Disney animator and creator of "Pogo"...turned a concept
> of Swamp Animals down South into biting social and political
> commentary in the comic books and comic strips.
>
> Their works turned the concept of kiddie "funny animals" into amazing
> works of art with something deeper behind the cute furry characters.
>
> My list is not complete...there are more.
Winsor McKay. "Little Nemo in Slumberland" is legendary.
Keno Don Rosa. Carl Barks' successor as the leading Duck artist around.
Jerry Barnett. If you didn't read CARToons in the 1970s, you probably
don't know him, but he inspired me to start drawing automobiles with a
3/4 perspective instead of flat side elevations... :)
The EC comics gang. Bill Elder, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, John Severin...
Bill Ward: Pinup artist supreme. Wingeresque gals way before Doug
Winger came onto the scene.
And that merely scratches the surface.
-MMM-
Arty McToon
Floyd Gottfriedson, Mickey Mouse comics artist from the 1930s
Reed Waller and Kate Worley, "Omaha" (broke ground on adult storytelling)
R. Crumb "Fritz the Cat" (ditto)
Charles Schulz "Peanuts" Minimalist art but deep.
Chuck Melville
Cripes. You might as well pick up any one of several books on comics,
both strips and books, in order to get a satisfactory answer to that
question.
Cartoonists and artists are influenced by a number of inspirations in
and out of their respective fields, but are usually drawn to the top
guns at any given time. The most respected and influential comic strip
artists for years were George Harriman (KRAZY KAT) and Milt Caniff
(TERRY AND THE PIRATES). Later, Will Eisner (THE SPIRIT) had his
influences on both the strips and the books. Jack Kirby, both with his
first partner, Joe Simon, and later with Stan Lee, is recognized as one
of the most influential comic book artists of all time, here in the states.
Recommended reading: THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES by Jules Feiffer;
BACKSTAGE AT THE STRIPS by Mort Drucker; THE COMIC BOOK MAKERS by Joe
Simon; STERANKO'S HISTORY OF COMICS by Jim Steranko; EXCELSIOR by Stan
Lee. In addition, any book collection of strips, as they usually carry
some info on the creator, with some history of his background and
influences.
As for their works, it depends on who you want to research. You might
have to search far and wide these days for some good reprints of some of
the best comic strips (although I believe Fantagraphics had been putting
out the POGO and LI'L ABNER collections not so long ago), but both DC
and MARVEL put out hardcover collections of their classic strips
(including the seminal SPIRIT stories by Eisner), however be warned that
these usually go for $50 a volume.
--
-Chuck Melville-
Comic book fanatic and sometimes-creator-type-person
Chuck Melville
A'A'Alis wrote:
> Will Eisner - an Master of Sequential Art. He did 'Spirit' for a long
> time, and did some Dick Tracy at some point, but the guy is (was? I dunno if
> he's still alive) a genius and very experianced at doing comics. I have
> several of his books as reference in my library - and refer to them any time
> I'm laying something out like a comic page.
Eisner is very much alive. The last of the old comic masters, he must
be, I believe, in his eighties or nineties, but still working. He has a
new graphic story being published by DC, last I heard. His SPIRIT
stories are currently being reprinted in handsome hardcover volumes. He
never worked on Dick Tracy, though he did aid in working on several
other books during his career (including having been one of the origianl
creators of DC's BLACKHAWKS characters). His work is so revered that
they named an annual award for him, and is issued to worthies each year
at the San Diego Comic Con.
Samantha Ann Patterson
Chuck Melville <cp...@zipcon.com> wrote:
>
> Recommended reading: THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES by Jules Feiffer;
>BACKSTAGE AT THE STRIPS by Mort Drucker; THE COMIC BOOK MAKERS by Joe
>Simon; STERANKO'S HISTORY OF COMICS by Jim Steranko; EXCELSIOR by Stan
>Lee. In addition, any book collection of strips, as they usually carry
>some info on the creator, with some history of his background and
>influences.
Thank you! This is very helpful. I tend to be a big fan of history books. :)
>
> As for their works, it depends on who you want to research. You might
>have to search far and wide these days for some good reprints of some of
>the best comic strips (although I believe Fantagraphics had been putting
>out the POGO and LI'L ABNER collections not so long ago), but both DC
>and MARVEL put out hardcover collections of their classic strips
>(including the seminal SPIRIT stories by Eisner), however be warned that
>these usually go for $50 a volume.
Not a problem. I'm one of the 23 people in the Bay Area who is still
employed. :)