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How Bad is Liefields Art?

Started by Ares,

134 posts in this topic

Artboy99

Artboy99

Posted
Posted

As bad as his proportions are, and how much I hate his " lots of scratchy little detail lines" it is the fact that he is an employed comic artist making a decent living that makes me shake my head.

 

Artboy99

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Kermit the frog

Kermit the frog

Posted
Posted
As bad as his proportions are, and how much I hate his " lots of scratchy little detail lines" it is the fact that he is an employed comic artist making a decent living that makes me shake my head.

 

Artboy99

 

all this clearly shows that this (american) medium is mainly character driven, not artistically driven.

 

regards

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Darthdiesel

Darthdiesel

Posted
Posted
Ugghh, you are all a bunch of closet Liefeld fans poke2.gif

 

If Liefeld was around back in the 40's, I'd probably be a Golden Age comic connossieur. I'm wondering what classic Silver Age covers would look like recreated under Liefeld's hand. Anyone ever have a commission done by him? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

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FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

Posted
Posted

Liefield's Three Minute Sketch, done in Baltimore in September. A quick note - He had longer lines than anybody has ever had in Baltimore, including Jim Lee at the height of "Hush" mania.

 

Liefeld.jpg

 

sorry, I can't attach it, I'll host it tonight. Here's the CAF gallery.

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adamstrange

adamstrange

Posted
Posted
I see that I haven't convinced some of you. Please understand, I am not comparing him to the greats but there were good reasons why he was so popular and so imitated.

I said Liefeld's art didn't make me want to poke my eyes out! confused-smiley-013.gif

 

Me neither.

 

But after seeing his art in this thread, I'm wondering if there isn't a need for some sort of visual memory purgative.

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jimm94

jimm94

Posted
Posted
Liefield's Three Minute Sketch, done in Baltimore in September. A quick note - He had longer lines than anybody has ever had in Baltimore, including Jim Lee at the height of "Hush" mania.

 

Liefeld%20Rob.jpg

 

sorry, I can't attach it, I'll host it tonight. Here's the CAF gallery.

 

That's actually a really nice sketch. thumbsup2.gif It looks like it was done by Michael Turner! poke2.gif

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FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

Posted
Posted
Liefield's Three Minute Sketch, done in Baltimore in September. A quick note - He had longer lines than anybody has ever had in Baltimore, including Jim Lee at the height of "Hush" mania.

 

Liefeld%20Rob.jpg

 

sorry, I can't attach it, I'll host it tonight. Here's the CAF gallery.

 

That's actually a really nice sketch. thumbsup2.gif It looks like it was done by Michael Turner! poke2.gif

 

Here's Turner's Three Minute Sketch:

 

turner.jpg

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Sharkey

Sharkey

Posted
Posted
Ugghh, you are all a bunch of closet Liefeld fans poke2.gif

 

If Liefeld was around back in the 40's, I'd probably be a Golden Age comic connossieur. I'm wondering what classic Silver Age covers would look like recreated under Liefeld's hand. Anyone ever have a commission done by him? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Actually he did this one, in conjunction with Todd McFarlane (FFBs history lesson above is quite accurate -- he was originally a McFarlane clone), which swiped ASM 2 by Ditko. Note that in the artists' sigs, they credit the homage. However, Liefeld was later often accused of direct "swipes" with no credits to the original source.

 

1046856-86.jpg

1046856-86.jpg.db3b9863d60c806dcf7003dd6b94efa6.jpg

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Sal

Sal

Posted
Posted
Liefield's Three Minute Sketch, done in Baltimore in September. A quick note - He had longer lines than anybody has ever had in Baltimore, including Jim Lee at the height of "Hush" mania.

 

Liefeld%20Rob.jpg

 

sorry, I can't attach it, I'll host it tonight. Here's the CAF gallery.

 

that "left eye closer to the nose than right eye" thing he does is really, really annoying once you notice it.

 

dude, read a freaking anatomy book just once whydoncha

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FFB

FFB

Posted
Posted
Liefield's Three Minute Sketch, done in Baltimore in September. A quick note - He had longer lines than anybody has ever had in Baltimore, including Jim Lee at the height of "Hush" mania.

 

Liefeld%20Rob.jpg

 

sorry, I can't attach it, I'll host it tonight. Here's the CAF gallery.

 

that "left eye closer to the nose than right eye" thing he does is really, really annoying once you notice it.

 

dude, read a freaking anatomy book just once whydoncha

 

27_laughing.gif It was the first thing I noticed when I saw the sketch too! screwy.gif

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lighthouse

lighthouse

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To be fair... and I really hate to say this... foreheadslap.gif

 

I don't think his art qualifies as "bad". tonofbricks.gif

 

He is extremely consistent in his style. His art is recognizable. He has his own take on the world and it comes through in his work.

 

Just the fact that you can point out so many similar "wrong" things in his art is an indication that the art isn't "bad". He clearly can draw eyes, and chooses to nearly always put the left closer to the nose than the right. That's an artistic choice, not a sign of a lack of talent. I could draw you five superheroes. None of them would have the eyes in the right place, but none of them would have them in the same "wrong" place either. Because I don't know what the hell I am doing. Liefeld, for all the grief he takes, actually does know exactly what he is doing. And yes, his art makes me cringe. But the fact remains that his "errors" are stylistic choices.

 

And when you are talking about "work for hire", all that ultimately matters is whether the quality of one piece is good enough to get you more work. His was, and has been...

 

We sit here and say that he "can't" draw realistic characters. Good luck proving that. Because as near as I can tell he isn't asked to... confused-smiley-013.gif

 

I went to college with an extraordinarily talented young artist. She had a string of emotional issues, was likely abused as a child, needed medication to function in society, and was generally pretty screwed up. Her "realistic" artwork was some of the best I have ever seen. Legitimate museum calibre stuff. But she hated doing it. So she spent all her time making weird mixed media [embarrassing lack of self control] with broken glass and coffee grounds on canvas smeared with wood glue and bondo. That girl could draw like Alex Ross and instead made "compositions" that would ferment on your wall.

 

It's easy enough to say that Frank Miller and Jim Steranko are better artists than Rob Liefeld, and they probably are. But neither one of them draws "realistic" either... That's not what they are paid to do... confused-smiley-013.gif

 

I hate Rob Liefeld's comic art as much as the next guy... But bad? I dunno...

 

 

 

And a mid-post update...

 

Just for those who are still not convinced that Liefeld's comic art is a stylistic choice. Here's an illustration he did this month of Maurice Drew from UCLA. Suck it up, haters. Homeboy can draw. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

sketch33.jpg

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mica

mica

Posted
Posted
If Liefeld was around back in the 40's, I'd probably be a Golden Age comic connossieur. I'm wondering what classic Silver Age covers would look like recreated under Liefeld's hand.
NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO mad.gif
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Sal

Sal

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...Just for those who are still not convinced that Liefeld's comic art is a stylistic choice. Here's an illustration he did this month of Maurice Drew from UCLA. Suck it up, haters. Homeboy can draw. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

sketch33.jpg

 

you forgot the "...when he's working from a photo/lightbox" at the end of your post.

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lighthouse

lighthouse

Posted
Posted
...Just for those who are still not convinced that Liefeld's comic art is a stylistic choice. Here's an illustration he did this month of Maurice Drew from UCLA. Suck it up, haters. Homeboy can draw. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

sketch33.jpg

 

you forgot the "...when he's working from a photo/lightbox" at the end of your post.

 

Which is different from Alex Ross how? confused-smiley-013.gif

 

And believe me, anyone who has ever shopped at my stores knows that I hate Liefeld's art with a passion normally reserved for Washington Huskies fans... But I doubt we have five posters on the boards (out of 7000+) who could draw better even with a photo/lightbox...

 

If anything, seeing that piece of Drew makes me hate Liefeld's comic art even more. Because it shows that he "could" be drawing art I would like to see on my shelves. confused-smiley-013.gif

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