"Schools" of comic art styles
Aardy R. DeVarque
Kate & I were discussing comic artists the other night, and the topic of
similar styles came up. We got to thinking, and came up with a couple of
"schools," so to speak, of artistic style; the artists we pigeon-holed in
each group may or may not actually be influenced by other people in the
group, but they tend to have a similar "look".
I realize that a lot of people are going to read this and think we're out of
our gourds putting Artist A in with all those other guys in Group 3, but I'd
like to ask people to think a lot about the possible "whys" of our
placements before responding in this way. I also realize that for some
people all this is blatantly obvious, but for us it was a real shift in
perception, and it's not something that really gets discussed around here,
on this scale at least.
None of these "schools" really have names at this point, just letters (it'd
be a disservice to do so at this point, since phrases like "Image House
Style" are really loaded), but I'll try to describe what we were thinking
when we came up with each. [And I've added two groups we didn't discuss,
but which I think fill some holes we missed in our conversation.]
A lot of artists are difficult to pigeon-hole exactly, since there's a lot
of individualization of style (which is a good thing), resulting in a
continuum rather than a box. Kate thinks of this as kind of like a color
wheel (an "art wheel", if you will), where certain artists seem to have
blended styles the way red and blue make purple. It's exceedingly difficult
to portray such a situation with just text and no holographic projections,
so I prefer the "box" model, with a mention of which other groups an artist
tends to lean towards; when there's a semicolon in the "tending to" list,
the first seems to be the primary leaning, otherwise the leanings seem to be
roughly equal.
Anyway, here's the lists we came up with from artists Kate & I recognize the
art of (thus most of these are people that've worked on Marvel's X-Books, or
who currently get a lot of ad space in the trades & whatnot). The
alphabetic designation has no particular meaning in and of itself; it's just
the order in which I wrote things down.
(I apologize in advance if I goof on an artist's name.)
Group A
[Typified by: Very few extra lines, and no or almost no cross-hatching;
black used extensively for shadowing; heavy reliance on the colorist to fill
in details like noses]
Terry Dodson
Chris Pacheco (tending to C a little bit)
K.C. Jones
Cam Smith
Chris Bachalo [Death:HCOL & GenX especially]
Mike Deodato (tending to B; and C)
Adam Pollina (tending to E and C; early work also tending to B)
Matt Haley [Black Canary/Oracle:Birds of Prey] (tending to D)
Group B
[Typified by: A lot of extra lines in places that would otherwise be smooth
(like vertical lines/diagonals on foreheads); "loose" & "sawtooth"
cross-hatching rather than the tight style used in places like woodcuts]
Jim Lee (Early work is tending to D)
Rob Liefeld
Art Thibert
Ian Churchill (tending to D)
Art Adams (tending to D)
J. Scott Campbell
Whilce Portacio
Mark Silvestri [later work especially] (tending to D)
Val Semeiks (tending towards A and D)
Eric Larsen
Todd McFarlane (tending to C)
Group C
[Typified by: "cartoony" feel; big feet; big eyes; lots of angles on
muscles; often, puckered mouths and/or "razor sharp" lips' edges; often,
"rubberized" limbs that have a bit of a bend to them, like in 40's cartoons]
Steve Scroce
Joe Madueira
Roger Cruz
Humberto Ramos
Andy Kubert (tending to B and D)
Mike Wieringo (tending to A)
Jeff Matsuda
Bud LaRosa (tending to A)
Jon Bogdanove (tending to B and A)
Brett Blevins (tending to D)
Group D
[Typified by: George Perez. 'Nuff said]
Jack Kirby
John Byrne [esp. 70's & 80's work] (recent work tending to B a little bit)
George Perez
Dick Giordano
Dave Cockrum
Rick Leonardi (tending to B; and A)
Adam Kubert [Wolverine] (tending to B)
John Romita, Jr.
Dan Green
Paul Smith (tending to A, esp. with later work)
Terry Austin
Tom Grummett
Jerry Ordway
Brent Anderson
Bob McLeod
Alan Davis (tending to A)
Brian Hitch (tending to A)
Paul Neary (tending to A)
Bob Layton
Jackson Guice (tending to B)
Barry Windsor-Smith
Marie Severin
Walt Simonson (tending to E; and C)
Mike Mignola [when not doing both pencils & inks] (tending to E)
Group E
[Typified by: "scratchy" look; heavy use of black; "moody" art; purposeful
bodily exaggeration to set mood & show emotion]
Bill Sienkiewicz [depends on what of his you're looking at] (tending to D)
Mark Texiera
Kelley Jones
Hector [Gomez?] [Paranoia, The Yattering & Jack]
Mike Mignola [when inking his own pencils]
Group F
[Typified by: "clean" art; lot of curves (especially in limbs);exaggerated
emotions; "cartoony"]
Carl Barks
Phil Foglio
Matt Groening (tending to G)
Chuck Jones
Tex Avery
Don Bluth
[and all the artists hired by Disney, Warner Bros., and Hanna-Barbera to
handle characters such as Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Yogi Bear, and Pinky &
the Brain]
Group G (the least "unified" of all of these, as will quckly become obvious;
I think there's actually 2-3 possible groups here, but I'm the least
familiar with these artists' work)
[Typified by: very busy art; "rubbery" limbs; elements from 30's cartoons
and/or 50's pop culture; often, oversized heads; often a lot of "cartoony
but still graphic" protrayal of violence, sex, vomiting, etc.;
photocopies/photocopy-quality art of photographs]
Robert Crumb
Gilbert Sheldon
Julie Doucet
Peter Bagge
Roberta Gregory
Glenn Head
Dennis Eichhorn
Dan Clowes
Tom Tomorrow
Marc Hempel
Chris Ware
And that's about it for now--to kyp a phrase from Elayne, what do y'all
think?
Aardy R. DeVarque (with help from Kate the Short)
Feudalism: Serf & Turf
Snowlock
Aardy R. DeVarque wrote:
> Group A
> [Typified by: Very few extra lines, and no or almost no cross-hatching;
> black used extensively for shadowing; heavy reliance on the colorist to fill
> in details like noses]
> Chris Pacheco (tending to C a little bit)
Carlos (he's my favorite artist, so I gotta stick up for him :P)
> Mike Deodato (tending to B; and C)
I'd put Deodato in with the Jim Lees, more accurately maybe, in with the
Andy Kuberts.
> Adam Pollina (tending to E and C; early work also tending to B)
E & C definately, but I don't think in anyway does he belong in B. To
me, B is kinda the Image House Style, and I couldn't see Pollina fitting
in there at all.
> Group B
> [Typified by: A lot of extra lines in places that would otherwise be smooth
> (like vertical lines/diagonals on foreheads); "loose" & "sawtooth"
> cross-hatching rather than the tight style used in places like woodcuts]
> Ian Churchill (tending to D)
Churchill especially, from the X creators. Every time I see (saw) his
work, it reminds me of Lee. Especially the faces.
> J. Scott Campbell
Nah. He belongs in with the manga clones. Maybe only because of the
faces, but whenever I think of J.'s work, I think of the oversized...
eyes.
> Val Semeiks (tending towards A and D)
Val!?! Definately not, IMO. Her faces don't have that angular look to
them that Lee and Co. have.
> Todd McFarlane (tending to C)
I'd add Sal Larroca, and the guy who did X Force up until the AOA (can't
remember his name).
> Group C
> [Typified by: "cartoony" feel; big feet; big eyes; lots of angles on
> muscles; often, puckered mouths and/or "razor sharp" lips' edges; often,
> "rubberized" limbs that have a bit of a bend to them, like in 40's cartoons]
> Andy Kubert (tending to B and D)
No way. He belongs in B completely, IMO. What qualities of his work do
you attribute to Manga influenced?
> Mike Wieringo (tending to A)
Not even tending. He belongs solidly here. Have you seen Avengers
400? Definately this type of style.
> Jon Bogdanove (tending to B and A)
I'd put Bogdanove in with A only. But admittedly, with the exception of
glancing at a few Supes covers, I havn't seen his work since his X
Factor days.
> Group D
> [Typified by: George Perez. 'Nuff said]
> George Perez
Good call putting him in this group. :)
> Adam Kubert [Wolverine] (tending to B)
I'd put him solidly in B.
> John Romita, Jr.
I'd put him in with Tex's group. His stuff is rather distorted, but
good, don't get me wrong.
> Alan Davis (tending to A)
> Brian Hitch (tending to A)
Both of these two belong in A, IMO.
> Barry Windsor-Smith
I'd put him in the Sienciwicz group too.
Interesting list, guys.
Snowlock.
Larry Hama
I think it is rather interesting that the Neal Adams and Michael
Golden who actually created the styles used by most of the "realistic"
pencilers on your list weren't even mentioned. To categorize Jack
Kirby and Barry Winsor Smith as having a style "like" George Perez is
putting the cart before the horse, since Barry and Jack predate
George by quite a bit. The actual artists themselves would categorize
artists by a wholly different criteria. Artists generally are refered
to as "Adams clones", "Golden Clones", "Kirby clones", "Toth-like",
"manga-esque" and big-foot. If you asked the top pencilers who their
favorite artists are, you would be surprised at how often Alex Toth
would pop up.
Larry H.
Nat Gertler
Larry Hama wrote:
>
> If you asked the top pencilers who their
> favorite artists are, you would be surprised at how often Alex Toth
> would pop up.
I think there's a whole group of artists who are much more appreciated
by their fellow artists than by the general fan base. Toth is a
clear example of that, and so are Garcia-Lopez and (particularly
among the '90's artists) Mignola.
Ian Finnesey
Aardy R. DeVarque (aa...@anet-chi.com) wrote:
Pretty much every one of the artists who only PENCIL and don't normally
ink their own work that I recognized from your list vary GREATLY
depending on who is inking them.
A lot of what you are using to categorize artists is the result of the
work of the INKER. You put Chris Bachalo in one school, typified by few
extraneous lines. Look at X-men Unlimited #1. Pencilled by Bachalo.
Inked by Dan Panosian. Compare that to Death THCOL.
You should at least differentiate between inkers and pencillers in your list.
--
---
Let's play pretend. You just pretend this isn't happening.
Danny Miller
In article <32aaf586...@news.anet-chi.com>, aa...@anet-chi.com
(Aardy R. DeVarque) wrote:
> Kate & I were discussing comic artists the other night, and the topic of
> similar styles came up. We got to thinking, and came up with a couple of
> "schools," so to speak, of artistic style; the artists we pigeon-holed in
> each group may or may not actually be influenced by other people in the
> group, but they tend to have a similar "look".
>
> <specific styles snipped>
Very interesting. What might help even better is to name one or two or
three "typical" practitioners of each style, if one/they exist(s), just in
case not everyone recognizes *every* name...but then again, I could just
be talking through my hat...
--
Daniel A. Miller ST93...@pip.cc.brandeis.edu
MB#0723, Brandeis University, P.O. Box 9110
Waltham, MA 02254-9110
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you are a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain
R.L. Carmine
Danny Miller wrote:
>
> In article <32aaf586...@news.anet-chi.com>, aa...@anet-chi.com
> (Aardy R. DeVarque) wrote:
>
> > similar styles came up. We got to thinking, and came up with a couple of
> > "schools," so to speak, of artistic style; the artists we pigeon-holed in
> > each group may or may not actually be influenced by other people in the
> > group, but they tend to have a similar "look".
> >
>
> Very interesting. What might help even better is to name one or two or
> three "typical" practitioners of each style, if one/they exist(s), just in
> case not everyone recognizes *every* name...but then again, I could just
> be talking through my hat...
>
> --
> Daniel A. Miller ST93...@pip.cc.brandeis.edu
I think we have a winner. This would be a much better way to describe
the many styles that incorperate the big eyed slight nose characters
popular in imported manga and anime. The same styles which garner
threads like "How do I draw anime style?". It is not a style, in the
archaic sense of the word, but a school of styles. We havem the manga
school, not manga style.
R.Carmine
R. Lewis
Hi there!!
Aardy R. DeVarque (aa...@anet-chi.com) wrote:
> Group A
> [Typified by: Very few extra lines, and no or almost no cross-hatching;
> black used extensively for shadowing; heavy reliance on the colorist to fill
> in details like noses]
>
> Terry Dodson
Where would you put Adam Hughes or Maguire, who was the original before
either of Dodson or Hughes??
> Group B
> [Typified by: A lot of extra lines in places that would otherwise be smooth
> (like vertical lines/diagonals on foreheads); "loose" & "sawtooth"
> cross-hatching rather than the tight style used in places like woodcuts]
> Group C
> [Typified by: "cartoony" feel; big feet; big eyes; lots of angles on
> muscles; often, puckered mouths and/or "razor sharp" lips' edges; often,
> "rubberized" limbs that have a bit of a bend to them, like in 40's cartoons]
Would you put Art Adams here as well?? He _was_ the "original"
manga-styled artist.
> Roger Cruz
Does Roger Cruz really _have_ a style?? He just seems to rip off the art
style of anyone who previously drew whatever comic book he's working on.
> Alan Davis (tending to A)
> Brian Hitch (tending to A)
Hitch's work is an homage to Davis'.
> Paul Neary (tending to A)
> Bob Layton
> Jackson Guice (tending to B)
> Barry Windsor-Smith
> Marie Severin
> Walt Simonson (tending to E; and C)
Definately C (especially on THOR)
> Mike Mignola [when not doing both pencils & inks] (tending to E)
Right!
> Group E
> [Typified by: "scratchy" look; heavy use of black; "moody" art; purposeful
> bodily exaggeration to set mood & show emotion]
>
> Bill Sienkiewicz [depends on what of his you're looking at] (tending to D)
Would Sienkiewicz also go into Category G??
> Mark Texiera
> Kelley Jones
> Hector [Gomez?] [Paranoia, The Yattering & Jack]
> Mike Mignola [when inking his own pencils]
Would Jae Lee, and Simon Bisley go here as well??
> Group F
> [Typified by: "clean" art; lot of curves (especially in limbs);exaggerated
> emotions; "cartoony"]
Would that guy who does MADMAN, Alared, fit in this category, too??
> Group G (the least "unified" of all of these, as will quckly become obvious;
> I think there's actually 2-3 possible groups here, but I'm the least
> familiar with these artists' work)
> [Typified by: very busy art; "rubbery" limbs; elements from 30's cartoons
> and/or 50's pop culture; often, oversized heads; often a lot of "cartoony
> but still graphic" protrayal of violence, sex, vomiting, etc.;
> photocopies/photocopy-quality art of photographs]
> And that's about it for now--to kyp a phrase from Elayne, what do y'all
> think?
I like it. Where would you put Frank Miller in your category??
Dr. Noh
cobalt
I would say that John Romita Jr.'s work this decade has been all about
hatching and line clustering, though not randomly or out of place like
the others in B. Still, I think the use of line work to suggest depth,
correctly or not, typifies alot of the B stuff and John's as well.
He's just more adept at it then a lot of these newer artists.