Style, to death…
Welcome to a new week.
This week we would like to start to discuss style.
Style has been talked about by numerous artists, art directors and fans of art on so many occasions that it could be considered to be a done-to-death-topic. Nevertheless we’d like to bring it up in a two-part blog to showcase some of the more interesting styles out there that do not fully fall within the mainstream of western culture. At the end of these two articles (or possibly in a third installment) we will discuss what we can take with us from these different styles and see if we can use it to further our own styles.
This week and some other articles on style
This week we will talk about Western artists and some styles of Western origins. Next week we will bring up some Eastern artists and their styles.
For some interesting articles on Style in general, there are some to be found through Muddy Colors.
Here are a few:
http://muddycolors.blogspot.be/2012/06/style.html
http://muddycolors.blogspot.be/2014/06/honing-your-vision-ruminations-on-style.html
http://muddycolors.blogspot.be/2013/05/walt-disney-on-pursuing-style.html
Western Styles
When it comes to western styles, these ae the styles that most of the readers of this blog have grown up with. You see it on a daily, or weekly, basis. You have seein it in comicbooks, storybooks, museums, and game-art. These are the ones you all know about, and if we mention just a few well known examples you will immediately have an idea of what they would look like.
To mention some of the contemporary ones.
The above artists and their styles have already had a huge impact on western styles in general. In some cases, like with Frazzetta and Jones, their respective styles have influenced whole generations, where as the others are inspiring on a grand scale, even if they might not have influenced entire generations. These artists, of course, stand on the shoulders of their own artheroes, whether early 20th century american popular artists like James Montgomery Flagg or N.C. Wyeth, or earlier masters ranging back in time to El Greco and Fra Angelico.
Point in case unique styles
Let us take a moment to mention two artists with unique styles that are worth taking a closer look at.
Rocketeer – Mike Mignola/Dave Stewart
Mike Mignola has a very distinct style, based mainly on solid fields of colour or shades.
Visible in his Hellboy-series, the most prominent part of the style is how black and white is used to create drama, often the “white” areas are filled with a solid colour (mostly aptly added by Dave Stewart) to create different ammounts of shade. Mignola also uses a very bold sense of shapes. His characters could almost be seen as charicatures with their oversimplyfied traits, more so then most comicbooks. But it is a great style because it conveys a lot of feeling. The bad guys look bad already at first glance. The Good guys (and gals) are very evocative in how they look and the style shows how every persona feel very well just through poses and how they are drawn in any given situation. Mignola have also mastered texturing in this style. Often making extraordinary large beasts look like they where made out of concrete or some sort of stone-material. Esotheric or non-physical beings, beams, or energy is often illustrated in a very solid fascion, but the way Mignola adds texture will tell the viewer that this is something special.
Spells Are Hard – Justin Gerard
Gerard has a playful style, filled with humour. Where most illustration today is moving towards more realism, Gerard manages to make his illustrations not only have an element of humour but also mintain a very good sense of colour and saturation. Gerard also mixes traditional sketching an painting with digital very effective, often giving his works a very nice textured feeling. To an extent one can see the same playfulness and humour as in the works of Paul Bonner, but where Bonner works exclusively with traditional mediums, Gerard has learnt to take full advantage of both traditional and digital mediums.
When going to see Gerards works, be sure to also take a look at the works of his wife, Annie Stegg Gerard, who is an accomplished artist as well.
So that’s a quick look at some Western Styles that are unique. Do you have any other artists with styles you find unique? Let us know in the comments!
Next Week
Next week we will take a look at some eastern artists, both contemporary and historical, to see if we can use them to help further, and find our own unique style.
If you have any suggestions on artists we should look at please let us know through the comments below, or through our Facebook page. or Twitter Page (dont forget to hashtag with #dontfeartheclown on Twitter!).
Sketch and a WiP
Here is a sketch for the next Primarch and a WiP of the illustration for the Ars Scribendi winner. Next week we hope to be able to show you even further evolutions of these two.
Commissions
If you are interested in private commissions we have three slots open this week.
For more info and contact, go to the bottom of the About page and send us a message through the contact form.
Tell us what you think about todays blogpost. Use the form on the about page (link in sentence just above this) or through our Facebook page. or Twitter Page (hashtag it with #dontfeartheclown) We’d love to see your input!
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