I'm reminded of when the artist who did Zippy the Pinhead, what the hell is his name, Bill Griffith, wrote a tirade against Richard Corben & alot of the underground fantasy artists coming up that what they were doing wasn't underground, because it didn't deal with emasculated sexual frustrations & the dilemnas presented by wearing glasses or feeling uncomfortable in new jeans (my words, not his). I think RAGMAR (where is that dude?) spoke of this as well, about a piece of mine, about capturing the youthful enthusiasm for the heroic characters & the classic stories & loving all of the things that we loved before we decided that they were played out or somehow immature. This Space Ork embodies my youthful loves that have all come flooding back to me. The chainsword is speaking to me in particular these days. I'd love to have one.
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Yeah, that Bill Griffith thing is in the book REBEL VISIONS. He and Art Spiegleman loathed the fantasy stuff.
Honestly, I never decided to stop being interested in all the stuff from my youth, but I just found myself not relating to it in the same way. I can pull out the Corben comics when I feel the desire, but I'm more likely to get excited about the new ACME comic. Or, if I'm after some genre excitement, I'll read some sci fi novels or look through some Kirby comics.
I read loads of choose your own adventure books when I was a kid. So I became really good at creative writing at school (my writings were always read in front of the class and I was proud). I always searched in the dictionary for words I didn’t understand because I wanted to know about the hidden things. The teachers said: your vocabulary is very rich… But all the word were related to death, evil, morbid feelings, gore and violence!!! I’ve just gone up the apple and pears to pick some of those books to give you a list of illustrators: John Higgins, John Howe, Russ Nicholson, Philippe Munch, Brian Williams, Donald Grunt, Philippe Mignon, Les Edwards, Noël Chassériau, David Gallagher, Alan Langford, Henri Galeron, Ivan Miller, Nik spender, Terry Oakes, Christian Broutin, Philippe Mignon.
Luke, i think i read that Bill Griffith piece in an old underground reprint first, then maybe in Blab or something, then was reminded of it in Underground Visions... yeah. It's an interesting piece. Obviously, to each their own in terms of reading materials... however, just based on some of the ambivalent feelings you've expressed lately, although it seems like they are going away, & not to give you advice, but Chris Ware is a soul-killer, no matter how clean his lines are. Logoeme (is this a reference to potatoes?), i love how side-conversation this is... i recognize a bunch of those names from other work they've done... Russ Nicholson is amazingly amazing. Always loved David Gallagher's stuff... Ian Miller is an obvious god... were you reading "Fighting Fantasy"?
Yes I was.
We could argue about Ware all day, I'm sure. I see what he does being more in tune with contemporary fiction and design than the kinds of drawing that I really want to go after.
I happen to think he's really good at telling affecting stories. Acme #19 is a masterwork, imo.
I am able to appreciate what he does without having to feel like I need to do anything like it, or feel like I'm signing on to a certain ethic. I have really catholic tastes. I'm not an aesthete who needs to surround himself with the right kind of imagery. Not saying you are, mind you, just saying I don't need everything to fit perfectly into a concise vision based on associations of "like".
Lately, I like everything from textile design, to arts and crafts furniture, to sci fi book covers, to bedroom black metal, to Louise Bourgeois, to Canadian pastoral image makers,to Ed Ruscha, etc., etc.,.
I don't want this to sound antagonistic, but the idea that these things represent to others, or to myself, ideas about what kind of artist or person I am, is sort of immature. Maybe that's not what you're suggesting, I don't know.
Chris Wares' fiction, to me, is far more involved than a sound bite about banality and depression. Those elements are there, sure, but it's used toward explorations of life that seem very real to me. It's also very entertaining.
What can I say? Maybe I'm just getting old..
Luke, you got me on being an immature aesthete for sure. Maturity still equals boredom to me. Like Chris Ware.
I just think you're single minded when it comes to art and culture. I like that about you, I just can't do it myself.
Secret: I only appear to be single-minded.
I just mean that you don't seem to let things float too much- you either love it or have zero time for it.
I think that whatever Sean's approach is to art and inspiration works for him. 'Cause he's one productive bastard.
Agreed.
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