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This installment: Hard Shape Realism
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Hard Shape Realism: The school of art I call hard shape realism takes an extreme interest in the play of light and dark. Shadows are interpreted as solid blacks, which are reworked to reveal the underlying geometric (or abstracted) shapes behind them. The edges of solid blacks are left sharp, or interrupted slightly by small lines of shading (as in Stuart Immonen's work). The details are often sharp, but the overall effect is often rough.
A lovely Inked drawing by Stuart Immonen
Stuart Immonen often shows that an interest in light and dark doesn't require a deeply shadowed world. He often uses his areas of black to add crackle to the page. He has a wide range, going from angular to organic (The progression in his Superman run) or solid blacks to classic linework (as seen in the present and flashback sequences in his Silent Thor issue) He has worked on Legion of Superheroes, Adventures of Superman, Action Comics, his own Shockrockets (with Kurt Busiek) and Thor.
Wolverine and Magneto TM and copyright Marvel Characters, Inc. |
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A page of the original art from the (upcoming) Batman/Deathblow series by Lee Bermejo. In the finished version a lot of dark colors are used with a heavy emphasis on browns. Though it looks lovely, its' not the way it has to be! Vibrant colors can work great, as seen in Immonen's work. Bermejo's worked on Gen-13 and Superman/Gen-13.
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A still life from Michael Lark's comics adaption of The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler. I'm not sure if this guy fits in here because he generally goes for a slick appearance and often removes shadows to give a sharper feel. Anyway, his Scene of the Crime piece in 9-11 vol. 2 fit in so nicely I had to include him. He's also worked on Terminal City, which has a futuristic art deco choice of subject matter.
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The cast of Challengers of the Unknown as drawn by John Paul Leon. Leon, who worked on Static, Challengers of the Unknown, and Earth X, is an admirer of Mike Mignola, Alex Toth and Jorge Zaffino, as well as Walt Simonson and Peter O' Donnell (Modesty Blaise). In some of his close-ups he reminds me of Andy Warhol's silkscreen heads. His recent Static Shock series pushed this style to the limits, with rough shapes swimming in seas of black.
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The roots of the style: It's hard to place, because this seems such an intuitive sylistic path. My guess is that the central influences would include Jim Steranko, who introduced a new level of noir flavor to comics. Unlike these artists, he had more of an interest in realistic shapes and a slick surface appearance. Other masters of light and dark are Will Eisner (The Spirit), alex Toth (Zorro, various) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy).
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