What makes a good comic book artist? 0

[Unca Ben]

Recent topics and polls have brought this question forward in my thinking:
What makes a good comic book artist?

Certainly some of the main considerations are an aesthetically pleasing drawing style, a good storytelling ability, and a good grasp of the elements of drawing: line, shape, shadow, composition, perspective & proportion, etc.

But which of these qualities carry the most weight?  Is a comic book artist just an illustrator, or is he a creator?
An artist may have a proficient understanding of the basics of good drawing and have a beautiful drawing style, but employs a poor storytelling technique that creates confusion or pushes the reader out of the story flow.
Or an artist may have great storytelling ability that leads the reader’s eye seamlessly throughout the page and immerses the reader in the story, but lacks a pleasing drawing technique that in itself may draw the reader out of the story.
Then there’s the creative aspect; such as the talent to turn out memorable, long-lasting characters or an ability to create, plot and pace an interesting story with minimal or no input from a writer.

 

So what makes a good comic book artist?  What makes a comic book artist great?

I’ll admit that for me the question is rhetorical – an understanding of the sequential art form of comic books is a must; and character creation, design and development through the artwork is equally important.  And if that artist employs a style I enjoy and shows great competence in the basic elements of good drawing, then I’m a big fan.   

Edited March 9, 2017 by Unca Ben

[Martin Sinescu]

First, learn to draw feet.

[WoWitHurts]

Just now, Martin Sinescu said:

First, learn to draw feet.

That never stopped Mike Mignola.  He clearly hates to draw feet.  There are usually some tall grass , rocks etc. throughout his books and when he does draw them they are little triangles.  A lot of people like him.

 

For me if an artist can draw an entertaining story how it's done is incidental.  Bill Sienkiewicz's art can be out there and not prescribe to traditional styles but can still be enjoyable.  Hell even Rob Liefeld has fans and his stuff can be laughable at times.  A very subjective question.

[Broke as a Joke]

Storytelling is huge.  Which makes me wonder how these variant cover only artists can even be discussed when talking about being a great comic book artist.  

[Stronguy]

The ability to do sequential story telling through your art is huge.  Pick up a comic and go through it panel by panel without reading... can you tell what's going on?  If so the artist has done his job (telling the story).  This even works with artists whose actual art is BLEH!  Take John Romita, Jr. for instance.  I really do not like the work he has put out in the past 20 years but he definitely knows how to tell a story.

[Martin Sinescu]

Storytelling is huge. So is the ability to create a striking, unique composition in one stand-alone image that creates a lasting impression. The top-tier artists can accomplish both in one cover/splash.

[Black_Adam]

I think a good/great comic book artist is one who innately understands the essence of the characters they are working on and not only captures them on every page, every panel, but elevates them.

If any wonder what I mean, just take a look at the work of Darwyn Cooke.

 

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

1 hour ago, Stronguy said:

The ability to do sequential story telling through your art is huge.  Pick up a comic and go through it panel by panel without reading... can you tell what's going on?  If so the artist has done his job (telling the story).  This even works with artists whose actual art is BLEH!  Take John Romita, Jr. for instance.  I really do not like the work he has put out in the past 20 years but he definitely knows how to tell a story.

Don Heck is another example that leaps to my mind. Most people hate his style (not me) but he knew how to tell a story.

[Ken Aldred]

Richard Corben is a great example of very strong visual storytelling to grasp the fundamentals of the story without much need to actually read the accompanying text.

 

Edited March 9, 2017 by Ken Aldred

[Artboy99]

a grasp of perspective

strong in foreground, middle ground and backgrounds

strength in different line weights to make the drawing interesting

different viewpoints ( overhead, straight on, etc. )

Creative use of panels and the layout with the panel/ page

some knowledge in anatomy

the ability to capture the mood of the story in the drawing

[jaybes]

39 minutes ago, ErMahGawd said:

Anatomy. No one wants another Humberto Ramos.

Actually wish there were more Humberto Ramos'. A good artist  knows anatomy...but a great artist knows anatomy AND how to bend it. 

[jaybes]

12 minutes ago, JumpHigh said:

You must be smoking crack. Ramos is one of THE all-time worst artists in comics. I'd rather read a comic with Liefeld art. Ramos  is the poster child for everything wrong with today's art. His Mexican Manga ruined the ASM title, and that's saying a lot.

 Welcome to be the boards. Must have been a good post if it pissed someone off enough to post here for the first time. 

Different strokes I guess. I'm bored to death with ultra-realistic art and rendering. I'll take wild cartoony art any day. 

[Spidey 62]

I understand that if the art always looked the same that it would be like the Simpsons, but there needs to be some defined outer edges to the individuality I think.  Some titles lend themselves to different styles, and while I wouldn't want Tommy Castillo drawing Spiderman, he could do a good job with a Scarecrow arc in a Batman book. But for a while it seemed like they couldn't wait to find the next newest style and just kept throwing weird stuff out there in mainstream books.

[kav]

Every bad artist that draws crud can say 'well I'm just bending things!'  Yeah no.

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by kav

[Spidey 62]

18 minutes ago, JumpHigh said:

 

You sound like the kind of guy that would say Kelley Jones is the best Batman artist ever Your tastes will mature.

This is the other name that comes to mind for me.  He was a big Batman contributor when I got back into reading.  Very hard to look at, but I know some people loved his style.  I could have dealt with it for an arc or two, but every month...it was tough.  I like my Batman in the Graham Nolan style.

[Spidey 62]

22 minutes ago, kav said:

Every bad artist that draws crud can say 'well I'm just bending things!'  Yeah no.

 

Ouch...just, ouch.  That is hard to unsee.

[kav]

Just now, Spidey 62 said:

Ouch...just, ouch.  That is hard to unsee.

Just look at those mitts.  And the neck....

[Lucky Baru]

22 minutes ago, kav said:

Every bad artist that draws crud can say 'well I'm just bending things!'  Yeah no.

 

 

Yet, his ASM pages sell and are snatched up when they come to market.

To Uncle Ben's question - if you are a publisher, then it would be an artist that meets his/her deadline and doesn't want to be paid much per page or on the backside.

[kav]

Just now, Lucky Baru said:

Yet, his ASM pages sell and are snatched up when they come to market.

To Uncle Ben's question - if you are a publisher, then it would be an artist that meets his/her deadline and doesn't want to be paid much per page or on the backside.

Maybe people are buying them so they can burn the godawful things....

[Ken Aldred]

1 hour ago, jaybes said:

Actually wish there were more Humberto Ramos'. A good artist  knows anatomy...but a great artist knows anatomy AND how to bend it. 

In this respect, Ramos is no Jack Kirby.