There is a lot of 'bad' art today, but whatever, I just think it is amusing that the bad art the OP came across is modern superstar Mike Deodato Jr.
There is a lot of 'bad' art today, but whatever, I just think it is amusing that the bad art the OP came across is modern superstar Mike Deodato Jr.
Most 90's babies are much better now.
You were always perfect, Capullo.
I don't blind date I make the direct market vibrate
I still think the Epting/Palmer art on the 90s Avengers was some of the best Avengers artwork in their history.
I had an issue with Jim Lee where (at that time he seems to have worked passed it now) nobody could ever look relaxed. Everything was a muscle flexing pose after muscle flexing pose.
Liefield well does anything really need to be pointed out about his 'art'. His ability to draw both front and back of women in one bone-breaking position was mindbogglingly terrible. He also seemed to think that everybody has at least 200 teeth in their jaw
this always gave me a few laughs - https://www.progressiveboink.com/201...efeld-drawings
It is interesting to look at early work and see how it evolves, but when I was a kid I probably would have tried copying some of his stuff. Also looking at some stuff from that period you have to take into account how the change in coloring was really making a difference (good and bad) and this was pretty early in digital colors.
For sure.
"The Marvel EIC Chair has a certain curse that goes along with it: it tends to drive people insane, and ultimately, out of the business altogether. It is the notorious last stop for many staffers, as once you've sat in The Big Chair, your pariah status is usually locked in." Christopher Priest
Absolutely. I mentioned the technological advances in printing earlier. This was the introduction of the kind of colour gradients we take for granted now.
Personally I think budding artists could still learn from looking at that image. The way that the lines and the anatomy are entirely serving the posture of the figures is an object lesson in expressing emotion and intent. Where I find some modern Deodato lacking is with his move towards a 3D mannequin style he began to loose some of this ability to pose characters emotionally. However I think he has worked through some of that now. He is beginning to do some very interesting work combining mannequins and photo filters with his obvious ability to tell a story.
Last edited by JKtheMac; 05-14-2019 at 10:14 AM.
90s comics were infamous for promoting artists who lacked storytelling ability, but could (kinda) draw pin-ups. The had little real artistic training other than drawing actions posed. So when it came to quiet scenes -- they were ill-equipped. That's why you can look at Golden Age artists -- and still get a feel for the atmosphere -- even if the style of art seems date. Too many 90s artists had a style (copied from better artists) but no storytelling ability. Style ruled then -- so it wasn't as obvious as it is today just how bad some of those artists were.
I think one factor might have been that the 90s saw both a rise in the status of the artists (compared to the writers, but also to the editors), as has been mentioned earlier here, but also a noticable influx of artists who had learned to draw primarily by imitating other comics. That contributed both to the relative sameness of style and the impossible anatomies.
Now, there is nothing wrong with learning to draw by imitating other artists, but you still need some variety, given by classical schooling, croquis, studying different styles, and so on.
«Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])
The superstars were great, problem was, too many inexperienced young guys were hired and flooded the shelves with weak art.
Marvel didn‘t know how to cope with the loss of talent, neither did Image fill the demand at keep up the quality.
The 90s was a boom period so a lot of stuff got shoveled out that would normally have. There's also a lot of great stuff that got a chance because of this.
Tends to be how booms go.