There’s a peculiar syndrome among artists that parallels the discussions of many a record store clerk, except amongst artists “have you heard” becomes “have you seen.” Depending on whose chin is wagging, you might come away with the names of a couple of Argentinian comic artists, a slew of nineteenth century naturalist painters, or someone’s favorite Japanese printmaker.
In no particular order, other than alphabetical, we present to you this weekly feature about artists who help power our pencils.
Massimo Carnevale
Massimo seemed to have gotten his start on the Italian horror comic Dylan Dog. His work can currently be found gracing the covers of Vertigo’s Northlanders series. His impetuous line work is a perfect compliment to his exquisite use of color. (An additional link to his gallery.)
Travis Charest
Travis started as an early Jim Lee imitator. Later he traveled to a Mississippi crossroad where at midnight he traded his soul for the devil’s right hand.
Joseph Clement Cole
Another king of Ink, where Franklin Booth was precise, elegant, and delicate, JC Cole was loose, expressive, and bold. What’s all the more infuriating is that most of his work was supposedly done strictly from imagination, with the aid of a Jacket over his head.
Dean Cornwell
The only thing that might be better than one of Cornwell’s beautiful chunky brush paintings are one of his incredibly precise and structurally exaggerated drawings. A student of the great Harvey Dunn and later of Frank Brangwyn.
Frank Craig
His medieval historical paintings are evocative of E.A. Abbey’s passionate use of red. He has a graphic, constructivist quality to his work.
Nicolas de Crécy
French comic book artist whose work served as the design inspiration for the quirky animated film, The Triplets of Belleville.
C O L O P H O N
Lydian, a calligraphic sans-serif by book designer Warren Chappell (1938, American Type Founders), and ITC Founders Caslon, based on punches cut in the early 18th century by William Caslon, one of the first great English type designers.
We are Kurt Huggins and Zelda Devon. We live in a pocket-sized apartment in Brooklyn where we collect neat, weird things. Our home is abundant with books, old furniture, mismatching tea cups, and a cat named Cipher. We both illustrate stuff for money so we can continue to invent stories, buy shoelaces, watch puppet shows, and eat sandwiches.
Wot, no Walter Crane?
I am loving this series!
An older artist (1910s-20s) is Harry Clarke, who illustrated lots of Edgar Allen Poe and other gothic stories.
Looks like there’s lots of comic book artists in the letter ‘C’
Corben, Crisse and Caza, (the last two are both French comic book artists, Caza is also know for some pretty nice book covers). CLAMP should also be mentioned, not one artist, but a circle (group of mangaka) that created some incredibly popular manga in the last 20 years or so.
And to go further back in time (and out of the comic book field: Chagall and Cézanne
I like my history illustrated. For 16th Century France, look to the Clouets, father and son, Jean Clouet and Francois Clouet, portrait artists who covered everyone in the French Renaissance from Francis I to Catherine de Medici.