AndyB wrote:Enough. I think there is ample evidence that Jamie is a very accomplished artist. You don't have to like him, but he is a clever artist and writer, and it is not appropriate to continually call into question his professionalism as an artist.
Right in front of me is Roger's bed day from the Beano dated 21/9/13. Loads of care in composition, depth of field and perspective (including deliberate exaggeration, which is Jamie's hallmark, in both art and writing) - what I will give you is that his Roger work is nothing on his Bunny vs Monkey work.
There is a good case for having all artists' work lettered by BeanoMark and his colleagues for consistency, of course, although this would affect the layouts used by those who currently do their own lettering.
That's
your opinion, Andy - no more valid than
mine - and while his pages continue to appear in The Beano, I believe it is entirely appropriate to occasionally express what I believe is his lack of
ability as an artist (at least as far as it is manifest in The Beano) on a thread that
invites members' opinions of this week's issue. That's what I was responding to, and I don't see the difference between people continually saying how much they
enjoy an issue or an artist (and why) and me saying how much I
didn't (and why). Not unless you're kowtowing to those who resent me joining this forum simply because they'd prefer me not to be on it - on prejudiced principle and not because anything I've said ('though they seem to take exception to just about everything I say) has merited my exclusion.
And let me make it clear, I have nothing personal against Jamie Smart and have even made
positive remarks on my blog about some of his other strips on his site and single illustrations elsewhere, so to respond to my honest comments as 'though I am conducting some kind of vendetta against him is merely to buy into the immature nonsense of those who simply resent me for not sharing their views on their favourite artist and are seemingly doing their utmost to have me removed by protests of disproportionate outrage whenever I put finger to key.
The qualities which, in your view, Jamie Smart has as an artist, in my opinion are entirely absent in his Beano (and Dandy) work. I can understand why you might want to curry favour from working professionals in order to court their presence on the forum and exploit their patronage to attract members, but to do so at the expense of reasoned, measured and polite observations from 'ordinary punters' is a step too far in my opinion. It restricts the very lifeblood that a forum designed for an exchange of views and enthusiastic discussion requires to survive and thrive. Just because an adolescent who has a history (long before I joined the forum) of throwing a hissy fit whenever I voiced my opinion of his favourite artist (on my own blog) has threatened to leave, I'm now being hit with what is, essentially, a gagging order.
Does the forum belong to all members equally, or only to a select few, who view it as theirs and theirs alone, and use it to publicly extol their favourite artists and thereby court favour with them? Why are they allowed to set the agenda for the rest of us, just because we don't share their views on every issue?
I would've sent this privately, Andy, but you haven't replied to the last two private emails I sent you. Unsure as to whether you're receiving them (or not) or are simple ignoring them, I have no option to but to respond to your (what seems to me) heavily biased comment here.
