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I may get shot for this...

Started by marko10174, 23 April, 2017, 09:52:14 PM

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Andy B

1. Ezquerra
.
.
.
2. McMahon
3. Henry Flint
4. Ron Smith
5. Cam Kennedy

Painted Dredd in the Percival / Staples style just doesn't do it for me. Hugely skillful, but just doesn't have the energy. The 'Dark Justice' GN has some penciled pages at the back which are gorgeous: it's a shame they were painted over.

Fungus

A thoughtful thread. I come back to the point that Carlos makes it look effortless... which is routinely taken as the mark of a master? You pay him the highest compliment, Marko, when you say he makes it 'look very easy'.
He gets the point and attitude of his panels across so economically, it's fantastic.

Some 2000AD artist mentioned in a Megazine interview a few months back that copying 2000AD as a kid spurred them on (specifically Ewins?), but that Bolland almost made them give up. How many readers have copied some Carlos art as kids and thought 'it's just a few lines, looks a bit rough, I can do that!' and when they try they find out  :-\ 
I suspect Mr Bolland wasn't copied quite as much (basing this on nothing more than a hunch, of course).

Rogue Judge

Quote from: Andy B on 25 April, 2017, 01:27:39 AM
1. Ezquerra
.
.
.
2. McMahon
3. Henry Flint
4. Ron Smith
5. Cam Kennedy

Excellent list! This sums it up for me as well, but not necessarily in that order (Smith a little higher and and Flint slightly below Kennedy for me, otherwise a perfect list!)


Smith

For me,Ron Smith is the second definitive artist.He strikes a very good balance between realistic and cartoonish.

Magnetica

Quote from: Andy B on 25 April, 2017, 01:27:39 AM
Painted Dredd in the Percival / Staples style just doesn't do it for me. Hugely skillful, but just doesn't have the energy. The 'Dark Justice' GN has some penciled pages at the back which are gorgeous: it's a shame they were painted over.

There is an interesting interview with Dermot Power in this month's Megazine in which he says with painting it's very hard to do the little background details of Mega City One and you can only really get that with pencils and ink.

IndigoPrime

Quote from: positronic on 25 April, 2017, 01:08:19 AMThat's a basic orientation thing. Some people want everything as "real" as a film on paper. NO humor, nothing 'interpretive', 100% straight.
It's rather telling to read the letters pages recently in Mighty World of Marvel. Pretty much everyone is ripping into Bachalo's art, which is expressive, interesting, and gets across the weirdness of the magical layer hiding behind our own reality. It can be scratchy and messy, but it has an energy about it that's far beyond the duller 'realistic' illustrative fare elsewhere in most Marvel fare. That's of course not to say there isn't a place for such art in comics. But the medium would be a poorer place if everyone was going for something photo-realistic, rather than having fun with experimenting with style.

I will make exceptions here: style without internal consistency is usually doomed to failure; also, if you are going to go for an exaggerated style, you'd better have a strong and thorough understanding of human anatomy and – preferably – also architecture. McMahon does well here: his current style is frequently bouncers, but it nonetheless feels solid and coherent.

As for Ezquerra, I like the fact he can do a lot with a little, and brings a solidity to Dredd, along with a design aesthetic that looks otherworldly. Strontium Dog, also, works really nicely from a visual design standpoint, with its odd organic buildings, and varied bounty hunter uniforms. Funny that the posted Judgment Day pic so frequently comes up, though. I love its attitude and what it represents in the story, but Dredd just looks off, like his right shoulder has dislocated, or his head's been moved too far to the right.

JoFox2108

Quote from: marko10174 on 24 April, 2017, 09:51:39 PM
Quote from: Goaty on 24 April, 2017, 06:28:14 PM
That why he is the best;



In this picture, what is it that people like about the way Dredd is drawn? I mean, there is very little detail in his face, it looks very easy to replicate for anyone with out any artistic experience. By that, I mean he just looks so basic. I don't get any sense of realism from that image, no personality in Dredd's face, he just looks like a cartoon. I get people might get a bit disgruntled by my choice of words, honestly that's not my intention... to offend. I'm just trying to articulate how I personally feel about this art work.

I think what I really like about this picture is the gritty solidity of both Dredd and Alpha in the drawing.  I get the sense that they are these two strong, experienced, hard-as-nails dudes.  Given Dredd's words I think that might be intentional.  It is hard to say any more than that though.  It just looks right.  I guess there is a solid grittyness is Carlos' work which kind of fits with Dredd and Strontium Dog.




Quote from: JudgeJudi on 24 April, 2017, 09:59:36 PM
Quote from: marko10174 link=topic=44388.msg954475#

I mean, there is very little detail in his face, it looks very easy to replicate for anyone with out any artistic experience.

Why not show us how it is done ? As you say it is very easy to replicate.

I had a go at this a while back - drawing my own version of Johnny Alpha trying to follow Carlos' style.  It wasn't particularly easy.

Here's the ink...



And the colour...

QuoteIt's all a deep end.

CalHab

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 25 April, 2017, 09:22:50 AM
It's rather telling to read the letters pages recently in Mighty World of Marvel. Pretty much everyone is ripping into Bachalo's art, which is expressive, interesting, and gets across the weirdness of the magical layer hiding behind our own reality.

That's rather sad, given Bachalo is such an excellent artist. Many US fans seem to prefer mediocrity in their comic art.

TordelBack

5 pages in and no-one has suggested a place of execution, never mind a date for this firing squad. Call this justice?

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Rogue Judge on 25 April, 2017, 01:40:08 AM
Quote from: Andy B on 25 April, 2017, 01:27:39 AM
1. Ezquerra
2. McMahon
3. Henry Flint
4. Ron Smith
5. Cam Kennedy

Excellent list! This sums it up for me as well, but not necessarily in that order...

Add a place for Colin Macneil and I think that would be just about anybody's top 6 of Dredd artists!
@jamesfeistdraws

Greg M.

Quote from: CalHab on 25 April, 2017, 12:04:45 PM
That's rather sad, given Bachalo is such an excellent artist. Many US fans seem to prefer mediocrity in their comic art.

Bachalo is great at design, and has a wonderful style, but I feel his storytelling skills have atrophied over the years (and were in fact superior in his Shade days.) His static images? Superb. Actually trying to follow what's going on in one of his modern comics? Not always easy. I can more than understand why some people would prefer a less 'individual' artist's work, even if said artist were less talented. To be honest, if I know Bachalo's drawing a book, I have to think twice about buying it. (Cue outrage from Pat Mills, who'd be firmly in your corner and often used to fend off similar criticisms about John Hicklenton.)

Fungus

Bachalo is one of the best. The fact that you need to look again - then again - at some of his fantastical Dr Strange scenes is a positive. I don't want to flick-flick-flick through a comic, I want to enjoy the art (usually more than the story, but that's my take on it and the subject of a recent thread. I was in a minority).

Along with the recent Elektra book, the design and invention there are beautiful. It leans into illustration, but I don't mind that. Plenty of us have picked up books for the Bolland cover, I expect.

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: Greg M. on 25 April, 2017, 12:49:49 PM
Bachalo is great at design, and has a wonderful style, but I feel his storytelling skills have atrophied over the years (and were in fact superior in his Shade days.) His static images? Superb. Actually trying to follow what's going on in one of his modern comics?

Although I've enjoyed his run on Dr Strange, I was struck early on by a lot of very ugly/clumsy balloon placements in the lettering. When you stop and look at why the letterer has made those choices, it quickly becomes obvious that these have been forced by Bachalo's page layout and panel composition decisions, something which is antithetical to clear storytelling.
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

JamesC

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 25 April, 2017, 12:44:03 PM
Quote from: Rogue Judge on 25 April, 2017, 01:40:08 AM
Quote from: Andy B on 25 April, 2017, 01:27:39 AM
1. Ezquerra
2. McMahon
3. Henry Flint
4. Ron Smith
5. Cam Kennedy

Excellent list! This sums it up for me as well, but not necessarily in that order...

Add a place for Colin Macneil and I think that would be just about anybody's top 6 of Dredd artists!

I'd move Kennedy up a bit and replace Flint with Dillon.
If it were a cover artists only list I'd make it Ezquerra, McMahon, Bolland, Robinson.

Dark Jimbo

Oh hell! I completely forgot Dillon. Yeah, needs to be a top 7 really, dunnit?
@jamesfeistdraws