All artists grow up admiring and trying to emulate other, older artists that inspire them. In addition we are also, consciously or not, influenced by the general culture we live in. Personally I’m still heavily influenced by the French-Belgian comics style of the 70’s and 80’s. Artists like Jean Giraud and Hermann Huppen have left an indelible impression on me. Not for me the large eyes of present manga inspired characters nor their spiky hair. But, had I been twenty years younger I would probably be drawing my characters in exactly that style! What really matters is your basic drawing skills and those are easy to spot regardless of of style.
Being aware of how I’m influenced makes me very interested in how the artists I admire in their turn were inspired. What traditions and styles went before so to speak. If you are a fine artist, a few books on the history of art will generally help you in this. Along with trips to nearby galleries. But what do you do when you are an illustrator? I have yet to see a general history of illustration that treats the subject the same way as fine art is treated. Try searching Amazon and see what you find. And all am asking for is one book on the subject, not a library! Of course there are books about single illustrators and about specific topics or periods but a general, trans-national overview is difficult to come by. As an illustrator you have to piece together the background of your profession. One solution is to collect older books and magazines where illustrators were published. This is not very practial, potentially very expensive and you are never sure if you missed something important. And the illustrations alone of course say nothing about the artists themselves, their lives and their approach to their art. Which brings me to the following two blogs:
http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/
http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/
Wonderful! They differ in how they define and present their subject matter but they both go a long way in filling in gaps in my knowledge of the history of American illustration. Today’s Inspiration even deals with British and Spanish artists (being Norwegian I grew up with both European and American influences – these «European» articles are therefore very interesting and useful). Hopefully there will be more blogs out there about these and other time periods. (I know – I am thinking of it and I have a specific subject matter in mind. All I can say for now is that it will be a while before I can start posting – collecting and scanning takes time.)
Anyway, here are a two samples (out of many!) of what I found interesting in the above mentioned blogs:
1.
I knew Frank Frazetta was heavily influenced by Hal Foster (who in turn worked in the tradition of the romantic illustrators of the late 19th century). What I did not know but suspected was Frazetta’s other influences. Now I see the traces of N.C. Wyeth (goldenagecomicbookstories has a large collection of his works – previously I had only seen a few of Wyeth’s illustrations) in his compositions, his choice in colors and in how he painted specific subjects like trees, water etc. And there are other artists that obviously were important to Frazetta – the following images by Arthur Rackham made a particular impression on me.
Contrast them with this later cover illustration by Frazetta.
Growing up I adored Frazetta’s work and this is one of my favourite Frazetta images. Seeing Rakcham’s drawings puts Frazetta’s work in a different and richer perspective. I certainly do not feel that it detracts anything from Frazetta’s work – his art is the stuff of legend no matter his influences. But it gives me context and better understanding.
2.
The same goes for the second sample. Drew Struzan is a contemporary artist that I greatly admire.
© Drew Struzan
Today’s Inspiration made me aware of Bernie Fuchs, an important illustrator in the 60’s.
Add to that a book about J.C. Leyendecker that I recently read and I think I see where Struzan is coming from.
Again, this does not detract anything form Struzan’s work. On the contrary, as with Frazetta, it merely puts it in perspective and adds to my understanding of the Art of Illustration.
