Realistically drawn comics

[dishes]

I've always enjoyed drawing both cartoons and realistic drawings, but I've never really dared to try and combine the two. For me, a realistic drawing has to be observed from life. I can't imagine doing a long comic with every panel striving for that realism. For one thing, it would be unfeasable to draw it all from life, and if merely some of it was drawn from life, the contrast would be too great between those parts and the parts that I drew from my imagination. For another thing, it would be hard to contain all the detail in the small panels that are typical of comics. To say nothing of sustaining it for 64 pages or doing all that research to make sure the technical details are correct, if one were drawing a war digest comic.

When I saw realistic comic art as a kid I was baffled. It must surely take longer to draw a page of a war story for Victor than a page of “Young Arfur” from Buster, and, frankly, require more skill. (More skill that I could comprehend at that age). And yet, the artists must have been paid the same page rate, or wouldn't the cover prices of the comics reflect that more?

[dishes]

Later, I rationalised it to myself this way: to draw a realistic comic, the trick is to simplify, to stylize, to develop a practiced style that gives your work a unity of appearance. It superficially appears realistic but in fact uses a sort of visual shorthand. A lot of adventure comic art would fit this pattern, but there's still some that dazzles with virtuosity, where the faces lack the tell-tale “family resemblance”, where the stylisation and simplification is so subtle as to be almost invisible.

Of course, it can be the ways artists deviate from realism that makes their work attractive. And sometimes adventure stories are drawn in a half-cartoony or fully-cartoony style and none the worse for it.

Does anyone who draws comics in a realistic style have any tricks of the trade to share?

[Lew Stringer]

When I saw realistic comic art as a kid I was baffled. It must surely take longer to draw a page of a war story for Victor than a page of “Young Arfur” from Buster, and, frankly, require more skill. (More skill that I could comprehend at that age). And yet, the artists must have been paid the same page rate, or wouldn't the cover prices of the comics reflect that more?

I know you only asked for opinions from adventure artists but if I may offer some comments that might be useful...

Humour artists are usually paid less than adventure artists unfortunately, and the rates are different from comic to comic. The cover price of a comic doesn't really have much to do with the rates freelancers are paid. The budget for originating content is low compared to the main production costs such as printing, distribution, paying supermarkets thousands of pounds to stock it, etc.

I wouldn't say humour comics take less skill, just a different skill. Whilst you're right that few humour artists could draw to a highly realistic standard, there are also few adventure artists who could draw convincing humour styles. (Brian Lewis being one notable exception that springs to mind, and Dudley Watkins another.)

[Michael Anden]

I myself try to occupy somewhere between the two styles, having originally aimed purely for more realistic approach, but for lack of time and raw talent have taken a shedload of visual shorthand. One useful thing I've noticed from this possible transgression in artistic integrity, is how extraordinary the repeating of simple of patterns are in anatomy and the rest of nature, which definitely helps speed up the drawing process.

[Phoenix]

One useful thing I've noticed from this possible transgression in artistic integrity, is how extraordinary the repeating of simple of patterns are in anatomy and the rest of nature, which definitely helps speed up the drawing process.

Is this the same thing that Will Eisner was talking about in his 1985 book Comics And Sequential Art?

[stevezodiac]

Funnily enough I was looking through some Summer Specials the other night and a recent Bash Street Kids SS had a story where the kids had gone into another dimension and were drawn in a realistic style. I'll try and scan the images if nobody beats me to it.

[dishes]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Despite asking for input from artists working in this style I welcome replies from everyone!

I know you only asked for opinions from adventure artists but if I may offer some comments that might be useful...

Humour artists are usually paid less than adventure artists unfortunately, and the rates are different from comic to comic. The cover price of a comic doesn't really have much to do with the rates freelancers are paid. The budget for originating content is low compared to the main production costs such as printing, distribution, paying supermarkets thousands of pounds to stock it, etc.

I wouldn't say humour comics take less skill, just a different skill. Whilst you're right that few humour artists could draw to a highly realistic standard, there are also few adventure artists who could draw convincing humour styles. (Brian Lewis being one notable exception that springs to mind, and Dudley Watkins another.)

I actually agree with all this, and wasn't trying to dispute any of it in my post. It's just that, as a primarily humour artist myself, I have this curiosity about the other side of the divide, which gives rise to this sort of musings and I wondered what others think.

That's interesting about humour artists getting paid less. Commiserations. (The bit about cover price was more the 11-year-old me talking).

It's true that adventure artists often find it hard to draw in a convincing humour style. Dudley Watkins is a telling example as he respected the idiom and took care to develop a completely different style (though his two styles eventually became more similar). You have to really go back to basics and simplify everything. Fred Opper is another good example. I just read the introduction to a collection of his "Happy Hooligan" strips about how he completely reinvented himself in middle age with his hilarious comic style which is completely different to his very detailed elegant 19th century cartoon style.

[dishes]

Funnily enough I was looking through some Summer Specials the other night and a recent Bash Street Kids SS had a story where the kids had gone into another dimension and were drawn in a realistic style. I'll try and scan the images if nobody beats me to it.

Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes" often did this sort of thing.

Ariel Schrag's "Potential" is interesting in that the dream sequences- and only the dream sequences- are drawn realistically.

[dishes]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Despite asking for input from artists working in this style I welcome replies from everyone!

I know you only asked for opinions from adventure artists but if I may offer some comments that might be useful...

Humour artists are usually paid less than adventure artists unfortunately, and the rates are different from comic to comic. The cover price of a comic doesn't really have much to do with the rates freelancers are paid. The budget for originating content is low compared to the main production costs such as printing, distribution, paying supermarkets thousands of pounds to stock it, etc.

I wouldn't say humour comics take less skill, just a different skill. Whilst you're right that few humour artists could draw to a highly realistic standard, there are also few adventure artists who could draw convincing humour styles. (Brian Lewis being one notable exception that springs to mind, and Dudley Watkins another.)

I actually agree with all this, and wasn't trying to dispute any of it in my post. It's just that, as a primarily humour artist myself, I have this curiosity about the other side of the divide, which gives rise to this sort of musings and I wondered what others think.

That's interesting about humour artists getting paid less. Commiserations. (The bit about cover price was more the 11-year-old me talking).

It's true that adventure artists often find it hard to draw in a convincing humour style. Dudley Watkins is a telling counter-example as he respected the idiom and took care to develop a completely different style (though his two styles eventually became more similar). You have to really go back to basics and simplify everything. Fred Opper is another good example. I just read the introduction to a collection of his "Happy Hooligan" strips about how he completely reinvented himself in middle age with his hilarious comic style which is completely different to his very detailed elegant 19th century cartoon style.

[abacus]

As well as realistic drawing semi realistic stories are also good .The US were particularly good at this with the likes of Lil Abner,Orphan Annie, Steve Canyon and so on.These ongoing soaps appealed to both young and old.In the uk these types of comicstrips were usually confined to newspapers with the likes of Buck Ryan , Belinda, Modesty Blaize, JamesBond .

[dishes]

As well as realistic drawing semi realistic stories are also good .The US were particularly good at this with the likes of Lil Abner,Orphan Annie, Steve Canyon and so on.These ongoing soaps appealed to both young and old.In the uk these types of comicstrips were usually confined to newspapers with the likes of Buck Ryan , Belinda, Modesty Blaize, JamesBond .

I wouldn't call L'il Abner or L'il Orphan Annie even Semi-realistic!

Steve Canyon is more like what I was talking about where an adventure strip is really stylised instead of being truly realistic. I can't resist saying that although Milton Caniff is numbered among the comics greats I find the faces of his characters to be really weird, like they all belong to some race as yet undiscovered by anthropologists

[abacus]

As well as realistic drawing semi realistic stories are also good .The US were particularly good at this with the likes of Lil Abner,Orphan Annie, Steve Canyon and so on.These ongoing soaps appealed to both young and old.In the uk these types of comicstrips were usually confined to newspapers with the likes of Buck Ryan , Belinda, Modesty Blaize, JamesBond .

I wouldn't call L'il Abner or L'il Orphan Annie even Semi-realistic!

Steve Canyon is more like what I was talking about where an adventure strip is really stylised instead of being truly realistic. I can't resist saying that although Milton Caniff is numbered among the comics greats I find the faces of his characters to be really weird, like they all belong to some race as yet undiscovered by anthropologists

Sorry for the confusion I had strayed off your original subject and was talking about stories which were grounded and not containing superheroes.Back on your subject ,you are probably aware that people like Frank Bellamy, Alex Raymond and others used real people as models when producing comic strips.If I can make this analogy ,that a person may spend years learning the piano before playing a Beethoven Concerto in concert and that by the same token I would think artists who work day in and day out can probably put their thoughts too paper with ease.

[stevezodiac]

Further to my earlier reply here is that picture of the "realistic" Bash Street Kids From the 1997 Summer Special.

[felneymike]

One of the research groups at my work recently moved, leaving a building mostly empty - said building with lots of lovely desks - finally! I can draw on my breaks! (and, with no internet, actually get something done).
Anyway, the building has started to fill up with new people. One guy saw my "realistic", Victor-esque artwork and started talking about how I could do artwork of cartoon dogs pulling funny faces for his presentations. I can't just switch styles like that! I did draw the odd bit of cartoony artwork when I was at school, and have vaguely considered doing a ligne-claire style "Dieselpunk Star Wars", set around Pacific islands in the 1940's, but it's not a skill you can just turn on and off.

Of course, you can't mention cartoony vs realistic, or ligne claire, without mentioning Tintin, which has pretty cartoonish characters, but identifiable real-world machines and locations in the background, though still pared down to simple blocks of line and colour. Many manga are the same, the stereotypical "big eyes" characters, but realistic (often photo referenced) backgrounds.