Mike Mignola "The Quarantine Sketchbook"

 

Artist Mike Mignola has been a mainstay and luminary in the world of story illustration particularly comic books and graphic novels for a multitude of years. He is unique in style, popularity and “rock solid.” With the rest of the nation and world he has experienced the Covid 19 lock downs and quarantines with a true resilience. His personal story within our shared (2020) isolation dilemma has become one of dedication to creativity, craft and what appears to have been also fun and a discovery of sorts.

Mignola spent much of his time and efforts during quarantine doing what began in childhood for the many and certainly for the most accomplished artists; sketching. The drawings from the many months were done for his own amusement and later he started sharing on line with his fans and followers. This led to their submissions of ideas for more sketches and experimentation. Going beyond what might have been a light-hearted frolic to the said drawings becoming donations for many charitable causes resulting in auctions.

 

The resulting images from those multitudes of hours is available now in book form (released last year) “The Quarantine Sketch Book.”   It is a delightfully misanthropic collection of monsters, absurdities and abundant curiosities. Each drawing bathed in a perfection of light and shadow enhancing a remarkable mastery of form.

Continuing here are more sketches from the volume and other drawings from Mignola for this blogs viewers. As reflecting with Mile’s original intention “Have Fun” with this page!

 

               

For additional information and a more detailed look at the career of “The Magnificent” Mike Mignola follow this link:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Mignola

The Drawings of Ray Harryhausen

  “Episode Seven: The Force Awakens” of the Star Wars series has opened to stellar acclaim and mass appeal. The last trilogy of Star Wars films were built largely on special effects, almost exclusively CGI. JJ Abrams the director/producer of this most recent effort decided (in a stroke of brilliance) to return to the original trilogy’s more authentic look of location shots, sound stage and stop motion  style of animation employed in the much beloved original trilogy. The undisputed champion of the stop motion technique was the great auteur Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen’s work influenced all of the contemporary giants of fantasy and sci-fi film makers. George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Guillmero Del Toro all list Ray Harryhausen among their biggest if not the biggest influence on their approach to special effects and fantastic film making. Harryhausen being a master and artist supreme across genres.

The films of Ray Harryhausen include Earth vs the Flying Saucers, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the unparalled telling of the Greek myth Jason and the Argonauts. Every one of these films are marvels, viewed and treasured to this day with a worldwide and respected fandom. Harryhausen’s motion art is phenomenal and his drawings and studies are phenomenal as well.

The drawings; though less known of Ray Harryhausen’s  achievements, are painstaking  gems much in line with nineteenth century text book illustration. His dinosaurs, heroes, fantastic creatures and damsels ring true and make the man’s talent apparent as a supreme artist.  His works are without color and give the illusion of fine art printmaking, harkening to an earlier era where color was more of a rarity. The look of the Harryhausen drawings add to their mysticism and their feel is for a time preceding even his own.

Ray Harryhausen films will stand as long as there are those that appreciate motion pictures, mythology, story-telling and art. The same should be true for his drawings.  His creatures that date back in time immemorial will live equally far into the future. They enliven both our hearts and our imaginations.

David Finch Pencils

                                                                                                                                      

 Lichtenstein, Warhol and Ramos “discovered” comic books in the 60’s and made large, beautiful and intellectual pieces from the imagery. Somehow the art world forgot to laud the original creators: Bob Kane, Roy Thomas and Curt Swan. A number of the original artists of the comic book genre ironically didn’t see themselves as artist either. They were happy to be working in a field they loved as they entertained their readership.  There were still others like Carmine Infantino that studied and sited artist including French Impressionist; Edgar Degas as a major influence on his style of drawing. Infantino would produce many of the most iconic and reproduced images from comics “Silver Age.” We now come to the contemporary where comic book creators are recognized as artist in their own right. Robert Crumb, Alex Ross and Daniel Clowes are definitely “Comic Book Guys” and favorites of the “High” art world as well. Another artist to watch that has all the gifts of any master is David finch. His work is to note.

Drawing is critical and the heart and soul of any great work. Go to the core of every work of refinement and you will find draftsmanship is foremost. Film, design, portraiture and scientific development depend heavily on drawing. Story boarding, studies and sketches are critical as well as informative. The mind and hand come together on page as problem solvers and developers. The act and result of drawing by hand as especially expressed with pencil is the alpha. 

Finch’s pencils are of a confidence and grace that rival any draftsman of the day. His is an elegance and refinement that transcends all labels and genres. The lines, shadows and nuances from his hand are treasures as well as joyous to the eye of the viewer. Finch’s portfolio is extensive and possesses’ many remarkable things. Some of his best are displayed here and they are to delight and to please.       

"The Greedy Child"

Mrs. Wonderley was everything her name suggested. She was joyful, energetic, vibrant…she taught with a passion and love of the thing; Art. Her knowledge of the subject ran deep. Art’s history, movements and techniques were all introduced to her students. Her classes ranged from pottery to macramé and from mixed-medium to painting, drawing and graphics. Mrs. Wonderley taught from her head but she taught mostly from her heart and love. Her gift to us was a richer understanding and meaning to what art was and could be. She inspired and was wonderful!

The methods of teaching she choose were tried and true and from the respected scientific laws of seeing. Drawings from plaster models and life were done in her art room as we learned the importance of symmetry, perspective, form and composition. There was little she missed but one of the simplest and yet most extraordinary things she did was after instruction and background on our assignments she would jump in and do her own version of the topic. There was no competition in this but she knew as did Leonardo that working with a superior more experienced artist would only make us better. The reality is that she truly enjoyed expressing herself as she continued her own learning and artistic growth. At these times she would most often create originals but copies would sometimes be her choice of expression, depending on her whim. 

On one occasion as we students worked on assignment Mrs. Wonderley chose to copy something from Picasso’s Blue Period, “The Greedy Child.” To see her copying as a drawing this master piece of 20^th century painting, this modernist marvel from a master’s hand was a thing of beauty onto itself.  She worked with a relaxed diligence that showcased her talent and ability to see and reproduce both the detail, depth of feeling and nuance of the original. It was impossible to discern any real difference between the graphic structure of the image she copied from and the image we saw unfold on Mrs. Wonderley’s paper. Her choice to copy “The Greedy Child” would increase my admiration for my teacher as well as for the masterful, Pablo Picasso.

Forty years later while walking, relaxing, passing through the National Gallery in Washington, DC my grandchildren and I would stop to sit before a work from the museum’s permanent collection. This was an opportunity to study and further enjoy a painting of beauty, worthy of deeper reflection. It was a gift of sort from me to them. I felt something wholly unique and special as we look at the miraculous, this original work of art “The Greedy Child.” I thought about Mrs. Wonderley and as we looked; the wheel turned. Within this rarest of moments I somehow knew the essence and meaning of art.

Kiki Smith and Her Drawings

 Kiki Smith arrived on the major art scene in the nineteen nineties with an exhibition at MoMA and became an immediate star. She is richly deserving of her following and her works are of a nature that is striking, compelling and thought provoking. Kiki works in many mediums and is most famous for her sculptor. It darts and dives, hangs from ceilings, attaches to walls and sometimes is disjointed and scattered across the floor. This all from what is largely the female form, plaster casts taken from her own body. Her work is feminine in theme and content but she is not a feminist of the traditional definition.  Her work is far too outreaching to be limited to a genre, too immense to be bracketed in terms. She is possessed of a marvelous, mind and creative spirit. Her work is adventurous and lively; a world treasure.

 

Kiki comes from one of the most artistically creative families in the country. The only other major American family that might be more artistic would be the Wyeths. The two families’ approaches to art are very dissimilar but they both are completely saturated with the bug. Kiki’s father; Tony Smith was a celebrated for his minimalist sculptures. Her mother was an actress and opera singer.

 

Her sisters; Seton and Beatrice, photography and theatre were their interests respectively. Beatrice died young but Kiki and Seton continue to work and support each other. The girls didn’t attend school and really had little other career choice but fortunately were gifted and internally inclined for the arts.  



The mind, body and spirit were central elements to Kiki’s original pieces. She continues to grow as an artist and her works including her sculpture have become more narrative in nature. Myth, folk and fairy tales have become central to many of her new works. These are especially evident in her graphics and drawings. “Red Riding Hood” and “Alice in Wonderland” are among her inspirations. At times she creates what could well be and truly are beautiful illustrations. These coupled with unique works that turn the myths inside out, upside down with a complete interchanging of metaphor. Her works and vision is totally original and a leap forward into unexpected places.

There is an unrefined quality and freedom to the drawings of Kiki Smith that is reminiscent of earlier artists like Marc Chagall and the more contemporary Leon Golub. Her lacking of a true academic technique adds to the charm and whimsy of her concepts in a way a more serious and structured style would only serve to distract. The over-all impact of the pieces is dominant in an illuminated text manner. Kiki is one of the most unrestrained artists working today and there is a timeless quality to everything she touches. The mystique and allure of Kiki Smith will only grow given time.

 

“It's really special when you share history with people and are in the same field. We come from a background where it's completely natural for someone to devote their life to a vision. It's an unsaid vision, one that's constantly moving and falling apart, and sometimes there are really still periods. Artists live in unknown spaces and give themselves over to following something unknown. I see that in Seton's work and in mine.”

Kiki Smith

 

Charles White; the Greatest Draftsman

                                                                                                                             

In many ways Charles White is the greatest draftsman the African/American community has produced.  White is a master of grand style. Robust, massive, detailed works that to look upon is to see into the heart of a people that have persevered for generation on faith and an unparalled inner harmony of self, god and nature. His works are intentional pieces; they are testaments to the power of dedication to the higher callings of the artist. They can sometimes be viewed as propaganda pieces but they are of propaganda of necessity and not one of exclusion or a false superiority. White; by reaching into the self and the genetic id of a people has tapped into the universality of the human spirit. In short his works speak to all nations and every human condition.

 

 

The Nineteen Forties through Seventies were White’s productive years and his style evolved and matured as his skill of craft grew. He was married for time to another luminary artist, Elizabeth Catlett. There are individual works by both artists that show a commonality of style and influences.

White was recognized on a global scale throughout his life. He was much lauded and influential as a teacher as well as a professional artist and a friend to the creative men and women of his time. His works of power, beauty and grace virtually shout to the highest of hills of joy and into the deep valleys of despair with the eloquence only the greatest of artists are able to imbue into their works.