Onward Towards Our Noble Abstraction: The Growing Minimalism of Mike Mignola and Hellboy in Hell

[middenway]

Read it here.

[mscorley]

I read this earlier, and I have to say as an artist I am blown away each issue with how he is able to show so much and create such depth and emotion with such limited lines. Its a really amazing thing.

I don't think I read the articles where people said he's getting lazy, but if thats true those people just don't understand art and the mastery and skill it takes to do what he's done with Hellboy.

[middenway]

I don't think I read the articles where people said he's getting lazy, but if thats true those people just don't understand art and the mastery and skill it takes to do what he's done with Hellboy.

Those people need a slap.

[zevious zoquis]

It's a sad fact that there's a significant portion of the population that just doesn't "get" minimalism. Its true in music and videogames and film too...they don't understand the appeal of the effort to "say more with less." For myself, when I look at artwork in a book that leans too far in the other direction (the ultimate example maybe being something like Liefeld I guess with his obtrusive over-abundance of lines that do nothing) it starts to feel a bit like I can't breath. It's oppressive. There's a few artists (guys like Jack Davis or Wally Wood) who are good enough for that not to be the case, but ftmp I tend very much to prefer less detail and a more minimalist approach myself...

[Clayton]

Really enjoyed this article. Having said that, I like my artists like I love my beer. I'm not stuck on one particular type and I'm fairly keen on trying something new.

[Kees_L]

Those people need a slap.

It's a sad fact that there's a significant portion of the population that just doesn't "get" minimalism.

Meh, to each their own.
I much rather aim to involve my time or attention towards thoughts or stuffs I could find inspiring and welcome, than just limiting things as much as claiming things would somehow need to be bad or a letdown.

I think I know what is meant with "minimalism" but I don't think any such means to represent things just blandly or non-intricately or any the more randomlike.
Like how minimal music or art will be imploring on interpretation and experiencing it only the more.
Whereas any bombasticalness or uber-detailedness would not neededly make anything more striking or more appealing or more established at all.

I think I could see that mr Mike Mignola's Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, or Ironwolf, or the Hellraiser story would seem more about containing realistical elements to some detail, yet with being particular or "difficult" about such at the same time. Eventhough other contemporary examples might be showing other perpectives still, such as The Jungle Adventure or LotDK: Sanctum or the Swamp Thing backup or such.

Like how only some stuff would seem detailed, but with much conflicting sparsity coming along with any such quite simultaneously. Like how glasses would never reflect or see through, even if some detailedness or realisticalness would be showing.

Whereas for the Hellboy books more and more otherworldliness would become to be in order. More storytelling and less staticly 'within-the-ordinary'-ness I'd think. As how any weirdness or sparsity or fictitiousness would still be correlating with a reader's sense onto reality or an onlooker's interpretational aptitude effectively.

I don't think that a story like 'the Third Wish' or 'the Island' would be presented any less intricately, but since it takes place either underwater or despite any real world around, despite whatever normalities or realities, it's only logical that any room for detailedness or how to depict things inherently becomes reserved to function or implement effect as how it would be.

Any second and every detail becomes either part of the narrative, or would be left out in order to be creating whatever focus as part to any perspective the story would be needing.
That's being more purposefully focused, more rather than any being less detailed. That's being intricate and subtle and fully engaged more rather than not.

I think I like how each story or arc within Hellboy seems to amount to being its own thing rather much.
For me SoD by itself contains all the characters to like or favor with all the fretting for their demise such as for Bruttenholm and all that. Whereas everything to follow as seeming its own thing as either proving blunt and on the money as much as the Corpse or the Iron Shoes. To dead nazi castle historical explorers, to wolf parables, to wayward journeyings, to drinking with skeletons, to epic ancient Arthurian/pre-Celt warfare, to bleeding statue sculpting comebacks, to Mexico, Appalachia, or what cinematography, to Hell if not beyond...

Plus it's not a bad thing an artist or creator would evolve, or be finding themselves subject to whatever form of influence or change - or how engaged would they even be in their work?

Any sucker could be to agree to all that, if only they'd be aware of such enough, or maybe not minimalists. But I'd call those over-minimalists. Over-minorly maximalists? I think I've met my quotum for now.

[middenway]

My comment was meant to be tongue in cheek. Although all my favourite artists are good with their economy of line. (Hergé!)