thank you and another question

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deanis45
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 6:11 am
Location: China

thank you and another question

Post by deanis45 »

Dear Alan Davis

Thanks for answering my last question. I do appreciate you taking the time to satisfy the curiosity of a total stranger like myself. And your insights really have helped me better understand the comic book art form.

Recently I received a copy of the (Alan Moore wr.)Captain Britain paperback that was drawn by your esteemed hand. This was very interesting, I was totally surprised though I can observe a signature style resemblant of your later work its so different in regards to proportion action, figure work, perspective. You had grown so much by the time you were doing Excalibur.

I know you have criticised your early work as being "not competent"
This lead me to want to ask you what do you credit with this big development in your technique?

To be as prolific an artist as you are you obviously have a good work ethic. Do you credit your development to hard work? Or was it gradual observations that you made over the years. Maybe both is the obvious answer.

But my question simply put is. How important is hard work to developing a comic book artists technique? Can cranking out those pages day after day help an artist even when they personally don't believe they are competent.

It doesn't hurt your drawing to do that, I'm sure, but is it "essential"?

Perhaps you can shed some light on this for me.


Dennis Prichard.
Alan Davis
Creator
Posts: 472
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:13 pm

Post by Alan Davis »

I know you have criticised your early work as being "not competent" This lead me to want to ask you what do you credit with this big development in your technique?
Dennis, I have never really regarded myself as an illustrator so the drive to make ‘improvements’ in my art were to better accommodate what I wanted to achieve in storytelling. This may seem like an obvious thing for someone who draws comic art to say BUT there has been a huge shift towards putting illustration before story and this does have a significant impact on the spirit and evolution of the art. It’s the difference between drawing a dramatic/rendered/realistic/flash (whatever) image of a man in a Batman costume (for instance) as opposed to trying to capture the essence of the Batman. The enjoyment of working in comics is the challenge of trying to do just that.

To be as prolific an artist as you are you obviously have a good work ethic. Do you credit your development to hard work? Or was it gradual observations that you made over the years. Maybe both is the obvious answer.
I don’t really have a very good work ethic—that is I don’t keep regular hours. I work when the mood takes me—or a deadline looms. I enjoy the process of storytelling to much to be a really good professional.
Hard work and dedication are obviously important BUT working hard doesn’t guarantee improvement. I believe focus and single-mindedness helps because jumping on bandwagons and chasing trends can lead to running around like a headless chicken. Observation is crucial, and honesty with yourself. It is easy to be swayed by compliments and other people’s enthusiasm. Give your critics as much weight, or more, as you do your supporters.

But my question simply put is. How important is hard work to developing a comic book artists technique? Can cranking out those pages day after day help an artist even when they personally don't believe they are competent.
I suppose you could say ‘Don’t work hard work smart’. Cranking out pages was useful in the days when comics were about story and meeting tight deadlines was compulsory-- And illustrative values were less important. Cranking out pages CAN teach an artist how to focus and what to focus on but just as easily, an artist can develop a bag of uninspired shortcuts and cheats.

Alan
deanis45
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 6:11 am
Location: China

Post by deanis45 »

Thanks again for the well rounded reply.

Any kind of worthwile undertaking is never as simple as just plain hard work I suppose.I more and more agree with the idea that illustration is like a kind of problem solving and if you can't learn to enjoy this process then improvement isn't going to happen. Maybe you would agree?

Recently I received the essentials no. 1 silver surfer mostly due to your speaking of this series so highly. I'm well impressed. I love the surfers idealistic angst and its all so wonderfully larger than life thanks to John Buscema's beautiful illustrations. I always thought that comic books had gone through some evolution and old comics before the late 80's weren't really up to scratch Buscema's visual storytelling definitely shows thats not the case.

Anyway until I've got another curiosity itch to scratch.

Yours Sincerely
Dennis Prichard.
Alan Davis
Creator
Posts: 472
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:13 pm

Post by Alan Davis »

Sadly there are many people who don’t have access to the wealth of really fantastic art done throughout the history of comics-- and around the world. There are those who fixate on the flavour of the month with a zealot’s blinkered vision and ignore the near infinite possibilities that comic art has to offer.

I’d agree absolutely that enjoying the process is crucial to any worthwhile improvement. Parrots can imitate without understanding in exactly the same way as a cheat can appear to have real artistic ability by making a composite of stolen images. Understanding how to create the imagery requires serious application.

Alan
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