COMIC BOOK DRAWING MISTAKES

I love the drawing mistakes on old comic book covers. Here (above) a tiny car drops off a dead man who, if he were standing upright, would be taller than the door. His girl, who has a gigantic left leg, backs up to a miniature staircase. It's all goofy, but it works...for me, anyway. 

I don't mind mistakes when they're funny.

I guess that's why I like early comics. They're full of mistakes! How do you like the hand in front of the girl's face or the inappropriate (and no doubt unintentional) grab?

The most frequent mistakes had to do with perspective. Lots of early artists had trouble with it.  What do you think of the panel above? The shooters in the foreground appear to be standing on ladders.

I'm glad editors let them get away with it. It meant that artists felt free to try drastic angles. Sure there were artists who didn't make mistakes, but that's because they played safe and avoided shots that were hard to draw. That's cheating the reader.

The best artists eventually figured out perspective but their later work never had the guts of their earlier stuff.  Even famously smooth DC artist Carmine Infantino (that's his work, above) had trouble with perspective when he first started out. I like his early work better. 

Stunning Exorcist-type head turns (on the bald guy, above) were often combined with bad perspective. The guy in blue appears to be standing on a stack of telephone books.

It's my belief that gutsy but primitive art prompted writers to write better stories, but I guess making the argument for that would require a separate post.

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BTW: I've got a lot of work to do around the house so my posts might be a bit irregular for a month or so. I'll get on a normal schedule just as soon as I'm able.

NEIL ADAMS

Neil Adams is a great super hero artist, no doubt about it, but I prefer a simpler approach, probably because I come from a comedy background. The superhero artists I like include people you probably never heard of, in fact, I don't know some of their names myself. 

I like the artist who did this panel, above. I'm guessing it's Jack Cole. I love the way the character takes giant Kirbyesque strides as he walks, but his torso is fairly normal. He's talking to the camera, but it's easy to imagine that he's talking to a friend who's taking giant strides beside him. I'd like to see walks like this animated. 

Here (above) a different artist suggests a wonderful animated walk. The pipe smoke makes it even better. 

Who did this one (above)?  It's one of my all-time favorite comic book runs. We're told the character is frightened out of his wits yet his lower body seems to be calmly standing in place. Does it work? Mmmmm....I have to admit that for me...it does. 

I'm guessing that the artist posed in a mirror for the picture, but the mirror was one of those tiny medicine cabinet mirrors and he couldn't see his lower body. 

In art school they always emphasize strong silhouettes, but this artist (above) prefers the opposite. His character's pointing arm is lost within his overall shape. A mistake? Maybe...but it's kinda' funny.

Maybe evil characters should have to earn their earn their silhouettes. A certain kind of character (above) could start a story with arms tucked inside his body shape then acquire stronger silhouettes as the story deepens.

This character's (above) great! His neck seems to be broken so his head stands perfectly upright even though his body leans forward. I like it, though. It makes him more interesting. I also like the way the guy's head sits on his right shoulder. Genius!

Check out the way his head (above) turns to face the woman beside him. It's the Exorcist method of head turns where the body faces forward while the head rotates to a profile. 

Above, the guy in the airplane is back again, this time with a flat body and a volumetric head. Veeery nice!

The kind of artist I'm talking about relishes unconventional fight poses. He experiments with all sorts of ways to give and receive a punch. 

When fisticuffs don't work the characters might resort to biting and strangle holds. Hey, nobody said the superhero life is a bowl of cherries. 

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COMEDY FIGURE DRAWING MODELS: SLOUCHERS

I love comedy figure drawing models who slouch. A good sloucher, like the one above, suggests a story. 

She could be the sultry but bored girl of the lurid 50s paperbacks...or she could be a sweet and innocent college student who can't figure out why men are always acting strange around her.

   

Here's (above) another good sloucher. I'd team her up with a Mr. Meek-type. 

Imagine her casting an angry, brooding look at him while he cheerfully vacuums in the foreground. 

 The best funny slouchers are usually models with good poise. It takes skill to be a good sloucher, even when you're portraying someone with a lack of skill.

 For comedy modeling I usually prefer draped models but for adults who are this skilled I'll make an exception.

The best models parody slouching...they make a cartoon of it. You don't want real slouching...that's depressing.

You'd think kids would be good slouch models, but most of them aren't. In this pose (above) the kid suggests no story, projects no personality. It's worth repeating...it's not enough to slouch, you have to be an interesting person who slouches.

Ah, now we've got something. This kid (above) is a mischievous sloucher. She has a secret that she won't tell. A story is implied.

Haw! Take an interesting kid sloucher...draped, of course... and put her on oversize furniture and you have a terrific combination.

This model (above) isn't old, but it's fun to imagine an old model taking a pose like this. I think of him as a grouchy old man in a waiting room. He's sitting next to a bothersome kid who he tries to ignore.

Old people can be good comedy models but they have to have some interesting attribute apart from their age.

My guess is that some of the best old comedy models are actually young people pretending to be old. Theirs is a caricature of the real thing, and that's what comedy is all about.

FIGURE DRAWING MODELS / COMEDY

Can you take one more art school post? I hope so, because there's more to say about this. 

I said before that female models are more fun to draw, and that's true, but for comedic drawing you'll need to know how to draw men...different types of men...and that means draped male models. Let's see what iconic types there are to choose from.

Well, there's the intellectual type (above). Bring a sheet for the toga and get a good caricature of the model's face.

Intellectuals are noble and are always lost in thought even when facing hurricane-force winds.  Thinking poses are fun to draw.

Such a man always climbs rocks to get the eagle's view. Draw this pose small and add the rock later.

Intellectual types sometimes turn out to be evil, so you'll need a model who can do evil poses. Be creative with the lighting.

In a scenario like this one model can take both poses.

You'll also need models who are slobs. Have a wife-beater t-shirt handy in case the model didn't bring one. An accompanying female model would be nice for this. You could do a take-off of "Street Car Named Desire."

 Slobs are fun to draw. It's a law of nature: the more refined and delicate your girlfriend is, the more likely it is that she has the brother from hell...an over-the-top punk rocker.

If your group can afford two models then try a romantic theme...the thrill of the first date.

I picture the girl as an Imogene Coca -type.

Do you dare try this? Yikes!

Could a funny girl model play a guy in some type of sketch? I dunno...maybe. I'd try a skinny female with an oversized, floppy mens suit. I love to draw wrinkles.

You'll need to know how to draw leading men-types. Chick magnets, too.  

And heroes, draw heroes, but don't do the Marvel or anime-types...they're too common. 

If you need a horse you can always draw it in later.

Muscular models are great, but it's hard to get double duty out of them if you can only afford one model and want to do Mr. Meek in the same session.

Remember, heroes have big jaws!

How do you find models like these? If you're an artist you probably know one or two versatile models who can do most of the things I've described here, and can even bring useful props. Some models like doing stuff like this.