Masters of Anatomy

[PovertyRow]

well part of a comic artists job is to exaggerate to tell a story. The MJ on couch just looks blase, not an exaggerated expression of concern. Taken out of context if you saw that panel and the word balloon was 'yeah make me some pancakes' it would not seem disjointed.

 

Well, to me, "Make me some pancakes" would make me be "Huh? What?" in regards that panel.

 

I admit a poor artist will always exaggerate to tell a store. A good artist will use nuance and subtly as much if not more than exaggeration. Must every raised eyebrow be 4 inches above the brow line? Or is a slightly raised eyebrow more effective?

 

Exaggerated poses/renderings are insulting to the reader. They say "You are too stupid to get this. So let me make it even clearer for you."

 

Or they speak to the artist and say "I, as an artist, lack the insight to convey subtler emotions so I'll just nag it out here. OH YEAH!!! That's COOL!!!"

 

The same goes for writing as well. It is what makes some storylines really effective and others feeling like an Intro To Writing class.

Yeah, J Scott Campbell is all about subtlety because he's such a great artist. I mean, every woman he draws has a completely unique face and body. It's totally not the same chick in different outfits or anything.

 

His layouts to Danger Girl are hard to get past. It's jarring to the eyes, almost unreadable. In fact, I had to put that TPB down twice before I slugged through it. I see why he only does covers now.

 

Honestly I know nothing about Campbell and only named him because the OP did. But I like that interpretation.

[dupont2005]

Google him. Every single image you'll find is the same exact face, same exact body. When I was reading his comic there were two blonde characters, and I could not tell them apart.

 

Now, a lot of mainstream artists are pretty crappy, and rely on colored spandex and a giant trademarked corporate logo to allow the reader to tell one character from the next, but even with the miracle of color, you can't tell his characters apart if they're both the same ethnicity.

[Dr. Balls]

I LOVE J Scott Campbell's work, but I am honestly surprised that his art is being discussed in a Masters of Anatomy thread. His work is superhero cheesecake art - it's fun, looks cool and is stylish. It's very far away from anything anatomical and as much as I like his work (and have liked it since 1995), I'd be pretty hard pressed to call him a "master" of anything other than the Master of selling comics based on his cover art.

[dupont2005]

I think his figure drawing is decent for what it is. It's not realistic anatomy, but it's cartoon anatomy that follows it's own rules consistently.

 

I just think a "master" would be able to draw more than one face, more than one body type, characters of more than one age, so on.

 

Beyond anatomy, I find him to be a poor comic artist. The art of laying out a page, telling a sequential story, making things flow from one panel to the next in a clear enough way that you don't consistently find yourself reading panels out of order, that kind of thing is more important in comic art than boobies.

 

Also, can't remember if I had to turn a page sideways at any point, but if I did, that's an instant fail. I know it was popular with the 90's comics all star pedigree, but if your layouts can't accommodate the format, your layouts suck.

[adamstrange]

well part of a comic artists job is to exaggerate to tell a story.

[kav]

well part of a comic artists job is to exaggerate to tell a story.

Right there's no exaggeration in comics drawing.

[RockMyAmadeus]

J. Scott Campbell cover and his photo reference model.

 

 

She's very, very, very pretty.

 

The real girl, not the drawing.

 

I notice, however, that there is no Spiderman swinging outside the model's window.

 

[adamstrange]

well part of a comic artists job is to exaggerate to tell a story.

Right there's no exaggeration in comics drawing.

A comic artist may exaggerate to tell a story. They may also simplify to tell a story. Their job is to draw the appropriate images and arrange them in way that tells a story.

 

An indispensable reference on the subject can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Comics-Invisible-Scott-McCloud/dp/006097625X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409205137&sr=1-1&keywords=understanding+comics

[kav]

If they simply tell a story and draw Hulk like an actual human they will never see print and no one would buy it

[kav]

Ps telling me about Scott McCloud is like explaining to Kobe Bryant what a basketball is.

[Chris_Skeleton]

Yeah, J Scott Campbell is all about subtlety because he's such a great artist. I mean, every woman he draws has a completely unique face and body. It's totally not the same chick in different outfits or anything.

 

His layouts to Danger Girl are hard to get past. It's jarring to the eyes, almost unreadable. In fact, I had to put that TPB down twice before I slugged through it. I see why he only does covers now.

 

This is how I feel about Humberto Ramos. I've only read the Amazing Spiderman stuff, but all of his women look exactly the same to me.

[white_rushin]

John Romita Jr too.

 

As great as his ASM issue 36 is, the end panels with all of the men lined up look exactly the same.

[Davenport]

I LOVE J Scott Campbell's work, but I am honestly surprised that his art is being discussed in a Masters of Anatomy thread. His work is superhero cheesecake art - it's fun, looks cool and is stylish. It's very far away from anything anatomical and as much as I like his work (and have liked it since 1995), I'd be pretty hard pressed to call him a "master" of anything other than the Master of selling comics based on his cover art.

The more I go through all the portfolios the more the Masters of Anatomy project seems like a "Showcase" effort. Broad spectrum of great talent, much of who link back to deviantart.

 

For workshop material, ImagineFX puts out a line of Anatomy tutorials to fit most needs. Much of it for the cost of a magazine.

 

 

[Jeffro.]

Apparently there's some pent-up demand for good reference books..

Isn't this still in print?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hogarth!

[Sauce Dog]

J. Scott Campbell cover and his photo reference model.

 

She's very, very, very pretty.

 

The real girl, not the drawing.

 

I notice, however, that there is no Spiderman swinging outside the model's window.

 

 

Only because he posted the work in progress pic and not the final one