This months Artist Highlight is Rodolphe Guenoden. He’s an animator and storyboard artist for Dreamworks. He has worked on Kung Fu Panda and the Sinbad 2d movie. But I’m more a fan of the random drawings he has done on his website and what he has done in Flight. Why? Most because I love the way he draws movement.
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He can also draw some really ugly dudes which is something I need to get better at doing.
I’m talking with Lin Visel, Magnolia Porter, and Jose Pimentia while drawing comics.
Come listen.
Hi guys,
So Dave, Spike, and I decided to start having a drawing contest. We’ll post a phrase or theme for everyone to draw. You post your submission here. Then the winners will be posted on Blanklabel’s front page and we’ll link to your site or whatever if you win.
This month I’m picking the theme. Draw something related to “This is why we can’t take you trick-or-treating”
Kel
Hey guys, it’s time for another artist highlight. This month I’m posting about Pierre Alary. You can find his blog here. It’s in French but mostly his blog is pictures. So don’t worry about it being hard to navigate. Most of you state side probably haven’t heard of him, but he’s a French comic artist and animator. However, most of you will know at least a few things he worked on, Emperor’s New Groove, Tarzan, and Disney’s Little Match Girl Short. He also has drawn Spiderman, and created Belladonna, a Sinbad comic, a comic of Moby Dick, and more.
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Right off the bat, I really like his line work and inking. He plays with line and shadows that make for a very nice effect and mood. And everything feels very lively and organic, and looks good regardless of if it’s in black and white or just line art.
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And his line art is very suited to the rest of his art. The lines being full of energy and life shows up in all the ways his characters move. They really seem like they are about to jump off the page regardless of it they are human or animal.
He also has a great attention to detail in his backgrounds and takes the time to show them off. Like if you look at crowd Belladonna is jumping over in the second picture below, everyone has a very different face. And the first picture you could probably pick out if you were in Paris.
He can also do lots of different kinds of people.
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He is one of my favorite artist out there. I just wish everything he did was translated into english.
So here is the first artist highlight series. This month’s focus is Jill Thompson, who has a blog and an art site. So if you want to see more of her stuff check it out. She has done work for the Sandman, Wonder Woman, Scary Godmother, Magic Trixie, and much more. Her most recent project is Beasts of Burden which is put out by Darkhorse.
Here are some examples you can click to make bigger:
They all look fairly different, which is part of why I love her art. She will adjusts her lovely watercolor art to the project she is working on. Because she knows that comic are a word and pictures working together to make a better feeling and tone. So not all art will work with all stories. So the moody monochrome wash is what best suits Sandman. The bright cartoony art fits the children’s book Magic Trixie. The colors of Beasts of Burden and the realistic approach to how she depicts the animals fit that series best. So when asked to do a manga story about the character Death from Sandman she changes her art to come up with this:
I appreciate that flexibility.
Also, I love how Miss. Thompson handles mood. I think the mostly monochrome look of the sandman pinups she’s done below fit the character and the scene she is capturing. There is a moody sadness there that I think the watercolor really pushes.
And mood is something she is always pushing with her work. Like the heavy shadows in this Beasts of Burden picture really pushes the tension on the group and the threat of what’s in the woods. But the brighter colors along with the expression on the animals are keeping things a little bit light. So it’s spooky, but lighter than say Dream talking to Death.
Jill also does a good job leading your eye to what is important. Like in the previous Beast of Burden picture you have the large log that forces the characters to line up front row and center. So you look at them first, then what the doberman is looking at (a giant monster frog), then you come down the picture as the other dogs look forward, as you go through the dogs you notice the ghost dogs behind them, then the cat and the jack russel’s attention brings you to the bones under the log.
She impliments the nice guiding compositions in everything she does. It comes off especially nice in her comic pages. Here’s an easy example to see it in. Trixie going down the stair case leads you to the next panel where the curve of grandpa brings you down and left where then the angle of his leg and Trixie leads you to the final picture.
And she is alway doing guiding your eye with the scenery and body posture.
She also brings things to your attention with a solid use of color and lighting. Like in the picture below, the bright light brings your eye right to the raccoon because of the contrast with everything else.
And in this picture the bright saturated flames of red and orange jump at you compared to the blue grey everything else.
This picture is also a good example of how Jill Thompson can imply a lot with simple shapes and brush strokes. The brushes in the background are just shapes, but they imply depth and detail that your eye fills in. If you scroll back up, almost all the pictures I’ve posted has this in one way or another. It’s trees in most of the Beast of Burden pages, rocks in the Dream and Death picture, and clouds or fog in a lot of them.
She also makes sure to give you just enough detail so you know some exactly what you are looking at. Every breed of dog or cat is identifiable in Beasts of Burden. And someone who knows their fashion history can probably tell you what time period each of these dous are in.
So there is Jill Thompson and way she is great. Her stuff is pretty easy to find on amazon. Personally, my favorite is Beasts of Burden (which is why that’s what I have the most pictures of). It’s about the town pets working together to solve supernatural threats. A hardcover collection of it just came out and that is probably what my next comic purchase will be.
And to finish up here is another picture by Jill Thompson just for fun. Hellboy teaming up with the Beasts of Burden animals.
Next Artist Highlight: Pierre Alary
~~Kel
Hi everyone,
I get asked a lot hey what webcomics do you read. Then when I say Gunnerkrigg Court is the only one I read regularly. By read regularly, I mean it is an update today so as I check my email and and drink my coffee, it is one of the first sites I check. It’s usually met with shock. If I extend the list to who do I read on and off Family Man, Hanna is Not a Boys Name, and Penny Arcade get add to the list. Then someone will say well you should read this one and I tell them oh I’ve read it just I don’t read it now.
Most webcomics I’m aware of and look at when someone I’m talking to brings it up. This is because usually I prefer story comics over a throw away gag (I very rarely bookmark a gag webcomic because if the strip is funny I have sends that will send me the really good ones). So gagstrips I usually only look at when a friend messages me “Have you seen today’s _____________?” And then because I prefer stories, I don’t like reading page at a time and I don’t like reading large chunks online. So while I don’t read Templar Arizonaonline, I own all the books and can tell you all about why EJ is my favorite character. Also I read chapter 1 and 2 of The Meek all in one go. I honestly probably won’t read Chapter 3 until it’s all up. (P.S. If you don’t already you should read The Meek. It’s very good)
So I don’t read many webcomics, but I’m familiar with them. Also, I won’t lie, my experience as a reader has effected how Sorcery 101 is run. I don’t miss updates because I’m sad every time Dylan Meconis is too busy/sick to update Family Man. I like to read in chunks, which is why the archive is just a listing of title pages. I am on the edge of making a new RSS feed that is just a this chapter has finished message. And I think once I’m done fixing/redoing art for Sorcery 101 books (I’m done at what will be book 4), I’m going to start a second comic that will post a big 24 page at a time once a month.
But I think it’s interesting I don’t often get “What comes do you read?” As I thought about that fact and continued to talk to people, a comment about XKCD struck me. “Randall Munroe doesn’t tell his fans, which cons he’s going to because they aren’t webcomic fans they are just XKCD fans. So if they take over the con it would kill everyone else’s sales.” I don’t know if that is true or not about Randall or his fans just the statement struck me. It’s kinda the whole a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle isn’t nessicarily a square statement. I have just approaching webcomics as part of a bigger grouping of comics. In my head there is Manga, Superhero stuff, Indy stuff, Webcomics, Newspapers, and European comics all fall under the term comics. Learning from all of them helps everyone get better. Just if you are paying attention to 1, you might forget to look at or be unaware of the rest.
So I’m gonna show you who I’m looking at.
But for the most part I’m going to avoid webcomics because since I read so few webcomics, I know the ones I would talk about are already being talked about by everyone else.
So from now on at least once a month I’m going to do a write up about an artist that I really like and enjoy. I’ll talk about why and let you know where you can find more of this artist’s stuff. And I’m sure most people who pay attention you will recognize the names from other sections of comics if you pay attention to them. They aren’t going to be super obscure or anything. Most of them are at least semi well-know. I’m also probably gonna throw in some animators and some film makers, because while they overlap with comics a bit.
So I hope they are all informative once they start up and that you enjoy them.
First up: Jill Thompson
~~Kel
So Comic Con has come and gone. Hopefully, some new people are giving this site a look. Thanks to those who already know us for stopping by. I’m currently driving and doing more driving because I’m moving. I’ll pester Dave to post all his Comic Con photos once I’m settled. Then you can see all of our lovely faces (you know you want to)!
Hey guys, the BLC forums are back up! These are brand-spankin’ new forums, so you’ll have to re-register. Head on over there and get in on this good thing we’ve got.
There’s a general BLC forum, plus one each for each of BLC’s creators. Cuz I believe in keeping stuff simple.
