General Art Discussion

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0399507914/ref=s9_qpf_gw_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=right-4&pf_rd_r=0AXSF1AFF31H802FT8GR&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=469296593&pf_rd_i=468294

I thoroughly recommend this book. Well worth getting hold of.

[Emperor]

This was recommended on the Comics Scholars mailing list (where I lurk plucking out the tasty chunks for later rumination):

Character Design for Graphic Novels*
http://www.twentysevenletters.com/design/index.htm

*Although there is no reason it can't work for comics too

[Gibson Quarter]

Pretty soon I'm gonna write up a blog entry about art books I've found helpful and why, cuz I find there are alot of very crappy art books out there. I grab them from my library and I can't believe how LAME some of them are!

Until I get to the bloggin, I will suggest to all artists that this book is fantastic, and has helped me alot. The book is : 'Gesture drawing for animation' by Walt Stanchfiled. Don't let the animation part fool ya, it works great for comics and any artist, really. The best part? Its free to download! 

Google it, or check out: www.floobynooby.com/pdfs/gesturedrawingforanimation.pdf

Cheers,
Gibson

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

Blimey, well done Gibson Quarter this is quite a find.

[Jim_Campbell]

Blimey, well done Gibson Quarter this is quite a find.

I've only had time for a quick glance through the PDF, but that's some good stuff.

Cheers!

Jim

[johnnystress]

great pdf

It reminds me I had this bookmarked

Loads of downloads and useful stuff

http://www.fineart.sk/

[Emperor]

Not sure where to put this but here seems as good a place as any.

John Freeman has had a book project greenlit to produce a sci-fi themed art book:

"We want the book to feature the very best samples from both new and established illustrators,"

Editorially, ILEX ... would prefer to see more aliens and human SF visuals -- strong, inspiring characters from modern SF -- rather than spaceships and alien vistas, although there will be space for those too.

http://downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/2009/12/scifi-art-now-book-gets-green-light.html
http://downthetubes.ning.com/profiles/blogs/scifi-art-now-book-gets-green

"ILEX tell me contributors to the other books in the series have secured work as a result of being in the collections," says John, "which I hope is incentive to artists to get involved."

[Emperor]

Well following on from my previous post I see a number of familiar names seem to be on board, both established droids and up-and-coming talent:

Mo Ali, Chris Ashkam, Martin Baines, Mark Beer, Bob Bello, Max Bertolini, Conor Boyle, Nickolas Brokenshire, Al Davison, Paul Drummond, Bob Eggleton, Gary Erskine, Nelson Evergreen, Fran Gonzales, Nicholas Gracey, Jim Hatama, Stephen Hickman, John Higgins, Frank Hong, Syd Jordan, Kevin Levell, Duncan Long, Don Maitz, John Maybury, Bill McConkey, Iain McLumpha, Tony McGee, Metaphrog, Jeff Michelmann, Ron Miller, Lee Moyer, Nemons, Mike Nicoll, Keith Page, Amy Pearson, Miguel Angel Perez, Tim Perkins, Gobson Quarter, Chris Reynolds, Rodrigo Diaz Ricci, Stev Sampson, Andrew Skilleter, SMS, Tony Suleri, Dylan Teague, Oliver Wetter, J.K. Woodward and Micha Zimmerman.

http://johnfreeman96.livejournal.com/12024.html

Gobson Quarter? Certainly sounds like a proper thug!!

And there is still time, especially if anyone has any Steampunk ideas:

http://twitter.com/johnfreeman_dtb/status/8071988241

[staticgirl]

It's not sci-fi but if you want traditional tutelage and books featuring impossibly glamorous women then Andrew Loomis' How To books are briliant. They've helped me with my art a great deal and they are just gorgeous to look at. Loomis worked as a magazine and ad illustrator in the 40s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Loomis

Although his family are protective of his work and reluctant to reissue the books (they'd make a mint if they did) or allow people to issue them via creative commons there are still bits and bobs that have leaked out onto the internet....

[Emperor]

This looks an intriguingly "different" kind of offer and a chance to get your work seen by a whole different audience and generate some press (you could even argue it'd be good for comics as a whole, so you'd be a comics ambassador):

CALL FOR COMIC ARTISTS!

firstsite wants to hear from artists working with comic imagery and media, who are interested in undertaking a unique residency as part of our next project

WHAAM! Comics, art and popular culture : Artist Residency

    * Minimum of 10 days between 12 April - 1 May 2010, to include some evening and weekend work
    * Based at firstsite, 4-6 Short Wyre Street, Colchester, Essex
    * Artist Fee £3,000 + expenses (including materials, accommodation and per diems as required)

The opportunity

firstsite is hosting an artist residency as part of their forthcoming programme, WHAAM! Comics, art and popular culture.

The selected artist should be able to demonstrate a professional artistic practice working with comic imagery and media. During the residency the artist will be expected to develop and produce an artwork that can be printed or reproduced at the end.

This artwork could take the form of a comic book or graphic novel (approx. 8-12 pages), wall drawing, storyboard, animation, projection, installation but must be rooted in the language of comic art. The subject matter of the artwork should develop from Colchester and its urban landscape, using this as a backdrop to develop a new narrative.

The total artist fee available can be used by one artist to produce the artwork; any fees associated with a collaborative work must come from the allotted budget.

The residency will be hosted in firstsite's Project Space. This is a semi-public space and the appointed artist would be expected to engage with audiences and visitors, discussing their work and the project they are developing. During the residency (12 April - 1 May) it is expected that the artist will be working in firstsite's Project Space for at least 10 days, which should include at least two Saturdays. The artist will need to run a 'masterclass' for the public (to include all ages) on Saturday 24 April.

This residency is part of firstsite's Artist Space programme which was piloted at the Minories Art Gallery and will be an integral part of the programme planned for firstsite's new building. It seeks to be process-led and developmental, continuing to occupy the space between an open studio event and an exhibition.

firstsite is open to a range of career stages, practices and activities. All activity needs to be planned and proposed to firstsite in advance so that it can be prepared for.

www.firstsite.uk.net/comic_art_callout.html

[Kev Levell]

That looks like a good opportunity...
I'm bumping this for the other arty bods in case they missed it!

[In Orbit Every Monday]

It's not sci-fi but if you want traditional tutelage and books featuring impossibly glamorous women then Andrew Loomis' How To books are briliant. They've helped me with my art a great deal and they are just gorgeous to look at. Loomis worked as a magazine and ad illustrator in the 40s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Loomis

Although his family are protective of his work and reluctant to reissue the books (they'd make a mint if they did) or allow people to issue them via creative commons there are still bits and bobs that have leaked out onto the internet....

His drafting and painterly approach puts me in mind of some James Jean. Someone else I never get tired of looking at. The Moleskine sketchbooks are formidable.

Old blog - http://www.processrecess.com/blog/blog.html

Process Recess - http://www.processrecess.com/index.php



Ol

[Emperor]

Some may deem it a little... overblown perhaps but this... manifesto from Paul Pope (in connection with his THB comic) has a lot of good points to take away and chew over.

6. POP
I used to want to deny coimcs' link to Pop Art, particularly out of a misunderstanding of artists like Warhol and Lichtenstein, who continually used comics imagery in their work. Now I believe we must embrace and assimilate Pop as our direct graphic tradition if we are going to surpass it within our own medium. Pop stoles comics. We need to steal it back, along with the crown Pop gave itself.

...

8. DESIGN CONTAINERS
There is the artform of comics, there is graphic design, there is drawing, and there is the economy of packaging ideas as products. Inspired primarily by Yokoo, and fellow artist-designer Teruhisa Tajima, I've begun to think about presenting comics as part of larger print tableaus which I'm calling "Design Briefings" or "Design Containers." I think of these as the non-linear atmospheres in which ideas float. A comics story is a narrative told in the comics medium, but a "comic" is more than that. It is an idea vehicle, a reading machine, a design container, and an art artifact. I'm approaching THB as a kind of "down loading," the purpose of which is not necessarily to tell a direct story, but rather to persuade one to the ideas of the art itself, to suggest a mood, to uncover a state of mind, to evoke a sense of the time and place in which the stories were created. To create a world. A design container is a kind of time capsule, a graphic broadcast, a signature.

9. A PROVISION
The answer to the question, "What is comics?" can never fully be answered, or answered in some way which will inhibit future cartoonists. I reject that notion of Post-Modernism which asserts that all art possibilities have been discovered, leaving us merely the freedom to recombine pre-existing elements borrowed from different sources. I find that notion truncating and jealous, and simply wrong. There are as many new art solutions as there are artists to attempt new art problems. We don't fully know what is comics, only what it has been, and what it could be. This provision is true for all the arts. All art media must have a starting point here on earth, but an end point stretching some where into infinity.

http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=6495

The mention of Pop Art reminds me of Grant Morrison's Marvel Boy series about which he said:

We've only started to experiment but already MARVEL BOY looks like nothing else around. Some of the stuff J. G. is doing is like an update of the whole Steranko Pop Art approach to the comics page. Instead of Orson Welles, op art and spy movies, J.G.'s using digital editing effects, percussive rhythms, cutting the action closer and harder, illuminated by the frantic glow of the image-crazed hallucination of 21st century media culture and all that. Comics don't need to be like films. They don't need to look like storyboards. ... I wanted to go back and explore some of the possibilities of comics as music

Granted there is more than a touch of his showmanship in there but the series is certainly interesting and exciting and the ideas they tinker with could be pushed further and expanded upon, although it'd take a lot more effort and a special artist.

The bit about post-modernism is also key - everyone seems on the look out for "the new Alan Moore" or "the next Watchmen" but that kind of thing seems to horrify the beardy bard of Northampton (no stranger to post-modern tinkering himself of course but to a higher purpose not for the sake of it) and I think he'd rather everyone take the broader inspirations and try and do something original of their own.

And in the end you can't argue with things like this:
http://pulphope.blogspot.com/2009/10/muad-dib.html

Anyway chew that over.

[uncle fester]

Some may deem it a little... overblown perhaps

I would deem it 'bollocks'

Christ on a bike, a "design container"?! It sounds like something you'd pay too much for just to put your f***ing lunch in...

Grumble, harrumph etc.

EDIT: No slight on you, Emps, obviously

[TordelBack]

Paul Pope is, and always has been, Full Of It.  Happily he's also full of arty genius, so I reckon he's allowed his bizarre self-aggrandising rants.  His Adam Strange stuff in Wednesday Comics was fab, his self-published graphic novels  like Sin Titulo were amazing, and his surreal oversized THB-related comics (such as Pig Dog Parade) were a joy.  The guy's the genuine article, for all that he spouts egotistical crap from every orifice.