[The Artist’s Process]

11 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

Howard Chaykin uses an unusual process these days on his independent books. He draws the main figures on separate panels, generally having assistants do the backgrounds, and then assembles the panels as pages in Photoshop. My understanding is that he is not allowed to engage in panel assembly like this on his DC or Marvel book work.

Frankly, I'm not thrilled with that process. He could be very creative in his panel designs, and using the Photoshop approach can severely limit this. I spoke to him about it, and he understood (he also seemed to miss adding them), but he pointed out that this method is quicker, and for artists, there are business considerations (time is money).

He remains one of my favorites.

That is a very unusual process. Obviously, it speeds everything up, and get him more pay, but I’d imagine it kills OA resale value. I wonder how much it bothers comic artists when they have to settle on making the art they want to make a few more $.
 

I dig Chaykin’s work, too. Thanks for sharing.

[The Artist’s Process]

Just now, vodou said:

Great idea, will be informative to many. One huge caveat: we're talking artists here so they can and do change things up a little or a lot at any time, nothing is set in stone, "how it's done" today has zero bearing on yesterday or tomorrow...per se

 

Fantastic point. Showing artists evolution would be great, imo. I’m going to add that to the first post.

[The Artist’s Process]

My addition to the thread will be about Michael T Gilbert. I was lucky enough to be able to talk with him for a while during the 2014 SDCC, and pick up a few prelims. I’m no expert, but I love Mr Monster, and I caught the artist in a chatty moment. He was nice enough to explain his process using the prelims, and it was very interesting. First, he’d start with something like this:

A pretty detailed prelim, with his initial idea for the page. Next, he looks for what improvements he can make, or what might not be working quite right. He tapes tracing paper over the regular paper, and works out his ideas like this:

Now, instead of cleaning the blade, it’s left bloody, and Mr Monster’s arm is at his side. Gilbert’s also changed the monster’s head a bit, homing in on his final image. But he still wasn’t done:
 

Gilbert decided he wanted the monster head impaled on the blade. Darker, bloodier and more striking for a splash page. This was the image he worked from for the final comic (sorry, the issue escapes me, or I’d post that image, too). A three layer prelim.
 

Considering he is also a writer, he has a similar process for dialogue:

Overall, a pretty intricate process, and I was able to snag an example of each.

[The Artist’s Process]

There was an interesting conversation in the blue lines vs blue scans thread about some modern artists, and how they produce their work. The discussion was going over digital work vs hybrid digital and pen/ink work, and it occurred to me that there might be an interest in having a broader discussion on various artist’s processes, so let’s see if that’s the case. Oh, and not just for modern comic artists, but for all time periods.

I will start it off, but I’d like this to be open to everyone, so it won’t just be me going through all the artist’s processes. Also, I don’t know them, so that thread would totally suck.

So, do you have a favorite artist that you’re knowledgeable about? Are you a professional in the comic industry? Are you an artist yourself? Please, feel free to share. If you’d like to talk about general artistic practices from different time periods, or how an artist’s process has evolved over time (ty, Vodou), I think that’d be appreciated, too. 

[Sam Grainger was one heck of an Artist]

I have a What If page pencilled by Jim Craig and inked by Sam Grainger. It’s an alternate origin issue for the Fantastic Four. 
 

And it looks like someone was practicing, bored or a big Shakespeare fan.

[blue lines and their value]

1 minute ago, malvin said:

Alan Davis does that too, so not restricted to new artists.

Malvin

Right. I’d forgotten about that, but I had heard that he liked his first pass to be on the computer.
 

Is there a thread about artists and their varying artistic processes? That could be interesting. This thread seems to be veering in that direction. 

[blue lines and their value]

7 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

That it was. Tom Fowler, Books of Magic, 2nd Series. He does the initial drawing on his computer, prints it and then inks the copy. You can see blue lines all over the inked page. The blue lines make it appear that he made some adjustments to the final page since some of them are different than the actual ink job. 

Pencils are more important to the overall design of the page, but inks give the impact and adjust the final product. I like to think of it in building terms. The inking is like the facade (brick, stucco, etc.) and the detailing (trim pieces, window styles). The pencils are the structure (foundation, columns, walls). You can make a well built building look like cr*p with bad facade/detailing work. You can cover up a mediocre construction job with great facade/detailing work.

I learned when I picked up a cover of his that Nick Bradshaw’s process is much the same. Loose “pencils” on a computer, then he prints it out in a faint red, and finishes with pencil and ink to find the final lines and add an insane amount of detail.

I wonder if that is the method for a lot of new comic artists nowadays?

[In this thread we celebrate the "Worker Bee" artist.]

I think Bob Layton fits the bill. He’s filled in on most Marvel titles, done pencils or inks, and has a ton of output. The Hercules limited series was where I really came to love his style. (And if you ever meet him at a con, he’s a lot of fun and a great guy.) Here’s an Hercules page of mine. 

[blue lines and their value]

37 minutes ago, RBerman said:

The main benefit is in production. No costs for shipping stacks of big pieces of thick paper between various members of the production team. No risk of damage or loss en route. Much quicker.

The fringe benefit is that instead of the "penciler gets 2/3 of the pages; inker gets 1/3 of the pages" arrangement, both the penciler and inker can have all of their own pages to save or to sell on the collectibles market.

That makes perfect sense. Of course it would be bottom dollar and production speed related. Thank you so much for explaining. 
 

And, yeah, I see how that would be much more equitable for both. Interesting stuff. There is a lot to the process that is fascinating.

[Adam Kubert now doing covers at 20x30]

Wow. Beautiful cover! 

[blue lines and their value]

1 hour ago, stinkininkin said:

Some of you guys are getting blue lines confused. Blue lines used to refer to a coloring process, where the hand drawn inks were printed in blue lines (at a reduced size) which would be directly colored on top of, paired with a black acetate overlay. This layer combination would then be photographed and be the final art used to print the comic, like the Dark Knight Returns example listed above. This technique is virtually obsolete today.

Blue lines can also refer to simply using blue colored pencil as either an underdrawing or even final line drawing prior to inking. It has been a process option for many many decades going back to before the silver age of comics. Some artists also use green and red line colored pencils to achieve the same goal.

Blue line for inks is where the pencils (either digital or traditional graphite) are converted/printed to blue to be inked on top of. Some artists prefer other colors to blue that can be also be removed in the production process, and even a basic grey line can work too. Not sure when all of this started to become common, but it's certainly been building over the last 10-15 years. 

Thank you for taking the time to explain. I clearly was confused by the Dark Knight example I read online, too, like that other poster. So, that’s a similar name, but different process, and the scan concerns (not being original pencils) that are being discussed up thread are different and not a “problem” for collectors until more the late 90s early 2000s. 
 

Blue pencils used to make me nervous, until I read up on how they differed from blue line that were printed for inkers to work on. Luckily, it’s not too difficult to tell the difference. If you don’t mind me asking, was the change just to speed up the process, or was it a mix of distance between artists and a new technology to help? Both? I’m curious, too.

[blue lines and their value]

1 hour ago, John E. said:

Bumping this. 
 

I’m also curious to know when the practice of a penciler scanning their page for an inker to ink on a separate board started?
 

Related, when did going all-digital become a thing? For example, Alex Maleev on Daredevil in 2004. I don’t know much about this history, would like to know more  

 

From a collector’s perspective, and from what I’ve read, is that the late 80s is when blue line scans really became more widely used. I think the first example was Dark Knight, as mentioned above. Keep in mind, though, some artists liked sketching in blue pencil, which can look very similar. Sal Buscema did a lot (most?) of his work with a blue pencil. Same with Alan Davis, and even some more modern artists like Frank Quitely. 
 

Sometimes, the blue pencil lines are neat, and can look like a scan. If so, you just look closely, and see if it’s slightly waxy, like a crayon. If it is, it’s pencil, and not a scan. In Quitely’s case, he starts out with really sketchy blue lines and finds his final lines from there, so it’s obviously pencil work. The blue lines don’t scan when they turn the OA into comics.

I’m not versed at all on the digital switch. 

[On ComicLink: Bianchi Spider-Man, Quitely JLA, Byrne Fantastic Four, Zeck Secret Wars]

Final day bump. I loaded pics of each in the first post, too. Enjoy, and stay safe. 
 

Bianchi AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1.6 PAGE 7

Byrne FANTASTIC FOUR #256 PAGE 4

Quitely JLA: EARTH 2 PAGE 23

Zeck MARVEL SUPER-HEROES SECRET WARS #12 PAGE 9

 

[John Buscema Family Owned art eBay sale final $83,100 ???]

58 minutes ago, stinkininkin said:

It's not a recreation. The line work and signature match exactly.  There are always multiple variations with recreations. This was the real deal, and looks great.

Thanks for the verification. I figured as much, but don’t feel knowledgeable enough to say definitively. It looked right to me, but I’m not a professional. 
 

Someone got an amazing piece! 

[Old art? New art? What you read (present), read (past), or simply like?]

I don’t buy a lot of comics anymore, focusing more on my original art collection. I’m super focused on a few Timely GA titles, and bizarre, hard-to-find comics that strike my fancy (like Mr A by Ditko). I tend to save up my comic want lists for conventions (mostly SDCC). It’s not a result of any perceived lessening of comic quality on my part, just a by-product of a big collection that my wife would appreciate staying merely massive, and not a sprawling hoarder nightmare.
 

Nostalgia is definitely a main focus for all my older art pages (up to the late 90s-2000), but for newer art I am primarily focusing on characters I like. That way, I’m getting art I love, and then I go get the associated comics. It helps me stay somewhat current, and keeps my collection fresh (to me). I also tend to go one new artist at a time until I get a few pieces I really like. Currently, I’m on Nick Bradshaw (Wolverine and the Thing). 

Great question!

[John Buscema Family Owned art eBay sale final $83,100 ???]

3 hours ago, Twanj said:

Was this published? What's the original?

If it’s the original Art of John Buscema cover art from 1978, then yes. Of course, it could be a recreation, but I think that’s less likely if it really was sold by his grandson.
 

Either way, it’s stunning. I’m guessing with all the updates added during the auction (7?), that some high-level collectors or dealers were able to verify. Obviously, there were a lot of big bids, so big collectors were comfortable shooting the locks off of their wallets.

[Artist that you would buy a lot more of if available]

On 8/22/2020 at 8:16 AM, joefixit2 said:

I am a broken record but Sal Buscema, problem is the prices are getting to be too high.

Agreed on Sal. To be specific, I’d snatch up his penciled and inked Thor pages if they were around. 
 

And his brother John’s Mephisto Vs (Avengers, X-Factor, Fantastic Four) pages. They are so hard to find. 

[Artist that you would buy a lot more of if available]

25 minutes ago, BuraddoRun said:

I have, and Spencer did actually email me back not too long after I inquired. Unfortunately, he told me that all his Brigman Power Pack art is sold out. I might have found someone on CAF willing to sell, but after the first response a few days ago I haven't heard anything.

Oh, sorry. They’ll come loose eventually.

Hey, I’d you haven’t already, you can sign up on comic art tracker, and add that search to your favorites. If any pages come up, it’ll show up in your daily update email. 

[Artist that you would buy a lot more of if available]

27 minutes ago, Rick2you2 said:

His lack of responsiveness is well known. But, he is also well-liked, knowledgeable and honest. I think there is a thread about him.

Yeah, he seems very nice. He was very solicitous about taking so long, and brought up similar pages to see if I was interested. He told me that he was VERY sick in February, and now he is months behind. I wouldn’t suggest to anyone not to use him, just to be patient. 

[On ComicLink: Bianchi Spider-Man, Quitely JLA, Byrne Fantastic Four, Zeck Secret Wars]

1 hour ago, FlyingDonut said:

Oh FFS. Are trying to bankrupt me all at the same time? This and the FF 120 9.8 in the same auction? Come on guys. Talk to each other please. 

Excellent! And you never even saw it coming...MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[On ComicLink: Bianchi Spider-Man, Quitely JLA, Byrne Fantastic Four, Zeck Secret Wars]

Hello, everyone. I’m selling 4 pages at the ComicLink Summer Featured auction. If you’re so inclined, check them out. Thanks. 
 

 

Bianchi AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1.6 PAGE 7

Byrne FANTASTIC FOUR #256 PAGE 4

Quitely JLA: EARTH 2 PAGE 23

Zeck MARVEL SUPER-HEROES SECRET WARS #12 PAGE 9

Spoiler

[Artist that you would buy a lot more of if available]

On 8/20/2020 at 11:05 PM, BuraddoRun said:

Well, I hesitate to add to this topic because my budget isn't super high, but I'm sure not seeing any available Power Pack interior pages by June Brigman. Some dealer sites have them listed but when I've inquired, they say they've already sold them. Even the covers, which I'm not ready to commit to, are rare. I inquired about 1 and was told it had already sold. Another shows in different places as available. But anyway, I'd love to add interiors, even just 1, to my collection. I'm currently reading the old series and really enjoying it, and she is the definitive Power Pack artist in my opinion (though Bogdanove did them justice as well). She helped create them, after all.

Have you ever checked out The Artists Choice? It looks like Spencer reps June Brigman, and has Power Pack pages. Fair warning, though, he’s really behind in responses, and can take a long time to respond. Nice guy, though, with great prices.