Last night I was working on my Concept Art portfolio, coming up with new characters and costumes and the like, when I took a five minute break to look at some reference and to get some inspiration. What I read, I just HAD to share today. This one artist put into words my WHOLE philosophy of comic art and design.
I do a lot of photo realistic work for freelance and for different clients, but for my comic work and now video game experimentation, it's hard to explain my "style". Probably since college, I have been trying to put my philosophy into words. SO many times I would get critiqued, and not that I didn't appreciate it, but a lot of times, the reviewer just didn't understand my style, my exaggerations and my reasoning behind a lot of my art. I got a lot of, "oh, an arm wouldn't do that in real life", or "draw more 'realistic' comic book heroes". I finally found an artist that explains EVERYTHING I truly aspire to. He did it for me, and I have to THANK him for that.
The artist is Skottie Young, and this quote came from his OZ PRIMER book published by Marvel Comics. Please read this, and know that I am forever in his debt for putting into words what I could not. Much like Skottie, I am not saying this is how everyone should treat their art, but this is exactly what I do, and why my art is what it is.
Questionnaire: Do you think your style lends itself to the kind of evolution it has gone through, more so then it would for a more "realistic" artist?
Skottie Young: Well, I can't really compare because I've never been able to draw in that other way. I'm not a representational artist. I consider myself a cartoonist. Rather then draw what the world looks like, I prefer to draw want I want this other world to look like. The good news about that is it gives me a big playground to work in. I can stretch the mouth to look like an inner tube, or just make it a little line. SO in a way, it's not whether or not it's easier to evolve, it's just whether or not I can push a little further.
When I was younger, I heard the term "too cartoony" thrown around a lot. It made me nervous that I needed to tighten up and refine my work. The times I tried that I felt very limited. I mean, my hat's off to the guys that can do that. I'm not trying to say what I do is better. It's just that this is what I'm capable of doing. When I've tried to draw more realistically, it wasn't fun. Instead of imagining things, I felt I was trying to mimic things.
So within the frame work of what I do, it's about challenging myself to see what else I am capable of. And there are a lot of failures that people don't see. By no means does every new thing I try come out great.
Thank you Skottie Young, I could not have said it better myself. You were a HUGE inspiration to me before I read this article about you, but now, even more so.
Thank you for letting me share.
Now, back to work,
CjB
