is there an artist you had to learn to appreciate

[DrNewGod]

I should start by saying I have zero artistic capability, even less knowledge of artistic technique (comicbook or otherwise), and therefore no standing to artistically critique. I only know what I do and don't enjoy looking at.

In the 1970s-1980s, I didn't like Gene Colan. I much preferred artists like Buscema, Perez and Bryne, whose images were crisp, vivid, and photorealistic (except for the way costumes caught every muscular cut ). Colan bugged me because he hid too much in shadows for my taste, and the images were sometimes hard to resolve. I've been rereading a lot of old Marvel and DC lately, starting from the 1960s and am now up to 1982, and it's changed my mind about Colan.

Maybe it's just the change in my tastes over time, but there are things Colan is ideally suited to. I've decided his work has a mood to it, and it worked especially well for characters like Batman and Moon Knight. IMO, he's best for stories of mystery, noir, and mysticism.

So is there anybody you've learned to love? If so, why?

[MajorHoy]

One thing I had to learn was to not always blame the main artist listed (usually the person who was doing the pencil-work) if I didn't like the art.
As I grew older and more experienced in reading, I began to realize how much different inkers and even the coloring jobs could change whether I liked or didn't like certain artist's work.

[Kees_L]

I have books of an artist who makes me physically cringe every time I open those books to look at the art. And I keep opening those books pretty regularly.

And I will at some point ask out loud why every human being always has to look like a floppy potato-faced moron. At which the artist just chuckles
and says "Don't read the book if you don't like it". At which I make fart-sounds between my lips wet enough that saliva is hitting the pages. And keep reading.

The artist is Troy Nixey, the books "Batman: the Doom that came to Gotham" and "Jenny Finn". At your own peril.

[MajorHoy]

. . . The artist is Troy Nixey, the books "Batman: the Doom that came to Gotham" and "Jenny Finn". At your own peril.

Bought the recent four issue series of Jenny Finn that Dark Horse produced. While I admit his style is . . . different, I didn't quite mind it on Jenny Finn since the story itself was a tad unusual.
Don't know if I'd want to see his art regularly on, say, The Flash or Spider-Man, but on stories that take place in a stand-alone setting, it may work out.

[Kees_L]

Bought the recent four issue series of Jenny Finn that Dark Horse produced. While I admit his style is . . . different, I didn't quite mind it on Jenny Finn since the story itself was a tad unusual.
Don't know if I'd want to see his art regularly on, say, The Flash or Spider-Man, but on stories that take place in a stand-alone setting, it may work out.

Quite agreed.
I think I can say I find the book Jenny Finn to stand out in exquisite oddness, for which the art seems perfect.
But this also goes for Batman: the Doom that came to Gotham. The artist appears to come up with artwork and visualisations which strike me as poignantly unsettling but which also maximize the reading experience in a graphical language totally of its own.
I know of art which appeared to not suit me at first but Troy's stuff is different: it keeps unsettling me and I even profoundly like how it does, which I find remarkable. As if the artwork breaks certain rules of my own aesthetics but I'm fond of it anyway.

[frankiedetroit]

I absolutely hated Todd McFarlane when he was first on Hulk and Spidey. His art work made me stop buying Amazing Spider-Man. Then someone explained to me what he was trying to do - like make Mary Jane look glamorous, since she was a model, and give the pages more energy. I eventually grew to appreciate him.

[Duskman]

I had to get used to John Romita Jr's art for Spider-Man. There just seemed something kinda chunky about his art, his faces were weird. Especially after loving Mark Bagley on Amazing, JRJ just felt awkward. Then, I dunno if I just got used to it or something, but after a while I could appreciate it for its distinctness compared to other artists, and with the right story, it could fit the tone.

[Kirby101]

I did not like Gil Kane when he first came to Marvel. To many head shots lookng up Peter's nose
I learned to love his work later, especially when he inked himself.

[K7P5V]

In the beginning, I had a hard time liking the artwork of Salvador Larroca. But later on, when I saw how much his artwork had changed while reading "Heroes Reborn: The Return" (1997), I started to really love his new and improved artwork. Unfortunately, he changed his artwork again when he became the regular artist for Fraction's Iron Man. Hopefully someday he'll go back to his previous art-style from 1997.

[KOSLOX]

Frank Quitely, Scott Kollins, Steve Dillon.

[comicscollector]

I did not like Gil Kane when he first came to Marvel. To many head shots lookng up Peter's nose
I learned to love his work later, especially when he inked himself.

I was going to say Gil Kane as well.
The first time i read the stories illustrated by him i used to think the angles he used in the illustrations were distracting,now i apreciate that because i think it made the stories more dynamic and diferent from other artist´s.
Bill Sienkiewicz art was something i learned to apreciate as well.
I remember that i disliked the art because it had a more unusual art style and sometimes the illustrations were too dark,currently i think he is great.

[dancj]

I still don't like Gil Kane's art unless it's heavily masked by a good inker. Kevin Nowlan has done the best job on his that I've seen on some Superman Elseworlds (Distant Fires I think).

When I was about 15 and thought Curt Swan was the best artist ever, I looked at The Dark Knight Returns and wondered how such a terrible artists was allowed to draw a comic. By the time I finished actually reading it, I'd grown to love Frank Miller's art.

I used to dislike Mike Mignola's art. I began to see some merit on it during Cosmic Odyssey, and then his adaptation of the "Bram Stoker's Dracula" film was just beautiful. TBH though, I'm not sure how much of that is my tastes changing and how much is his art style changing. I still don't think I'd care that much for his really early work.

[ed2962]

Frank Robbins. When I was a kid I thought his fight scenes were awkward and that he'd have people in just the weirdest poses. It just looked real odd to me. At first I simply got used to it, but later after being exposed to different types of comic art I realized that he was someone coming a completely different school of art and was trying to make his style work in that post-Kirby superhero style.

I feel Don Heck was a similar situation to a lesser degree,

[DrNewGod]

Frank Robbins. When I was a kid I thought his fight scenes were awkward and that he'd have people in just the weirdest poses. It just looked real odd to me. At first I simply got used to it, but later after being exposed to different types of comic art I realized that he was someone coming a completely different school of art and was trying to make his style work in that post-Kirby superhero style.

I feel Don Heck was a similar situation to a lesser degree,

Don Heck is another one I had to learn to appreciate. I hadn't liked his stuff until I got one of those big black-and-white marvel compendiums of Ant-Man. Somehow, it flipped my attitude toward him, and I started seeing things I hadn't noticed before, like the detail and intensity of facial expression he did. Even looking at his inked and colored stuff now, I find him much more enjoyable to view.

[MajorHoy]

Frank Robbins. When I was a kid I thought his fight scenes were awkward and that he'd have people in just the weirdest poses. It just looked real odd to me. At first I simply got used to it, but later after being exposed to different types of comic art I realized that he was someone coming a completely different school of art and was trying to make his style work in that post-Kirby superhero style.

I wasn't overly-fond of Robbins' art when I first started seeing it in things like Captain America. However, his work on Marvel's Invaders really stood out, so I don't know if he was more inspired by that subject/time-period, or if maybe it was different inkers/colorists, or if maybe I just needed more exposure to appreciate it.