Thursday, January 14, 2016

This woulda been my "Monsters & Dames" submission

...but I (1) didn't finish it in time and (2) cancelled my table at ECCC this year.

(SAD FACE)

I was inspired by a book of art by this guy:


Georges Barbier,  a French homme from the early 20th Century.

What I love best about his stuff is it's sexy.

My piece is deliberately NOT sexy (I'm such a Puritan); I wanted the girl to seem very young and non-sexualized (but I failed to get that real youthful look--she's still too old!).

I wanted to do the piece not only to celebrate his style (or "ape his style," if you prefer),  but as a challenge to myself 'cuz he is doing all the things I am NOT good at...and hacking away at this for the last two weeks made me realize just how deficient I am! I'm very un-graphic, esp'ly when dealing with the figure. He's got this very effective simplified way of doing people that is really beyond my ability. And his colors are very schematic--again, something I'm not good at at all. I can't resist trying to "model" things.

Humbling!

On the other hand: SATAN!
p.s. Rick, Tom, I have no idea what romance book provided the source for that Xmas image that I re-purposed--but it worked great! Thank you, Tumblr!

6 comments:

Rickart said...

It's always great to branch out... some art I love because it speaks to my own predilections and talents (Walt Simonson) and others because I'm specifically UNABLE to reproduce anything like it (like Cubism). It's always good to branch out and try new stuff.
All this said, I really like the image you came up with. Even if you don't think it sufficiently "aped" what you were trying for, it's still a pretty evocative image, and the addition of earbuds gives it a more modern flavor.

Tom Moon said...

I love your image too, precisely because it's similar to that turn-of-the-century stuff, but ONLY similar. I like that it's got a bit of modeling to it and seems a cross between styles. It's so hard to altogether suppress our own reflexive tendencies when trying to imitate a style. It reminds me a lot of Kay Nielsen's art that I'm a big fan of, and your girl's pose immediately evokes Maxfield Parrish's paintings. You know the ones I mean:
http://www.artsycraftsy.com/parrish/mp_morning.jpg
http://www.artsycraftsy.com/parrish/parrish_stars.jpg

Tom Moon said...

Marty, your cancelling your table at ECCC makes me sad and ALMOST makes me regret not printing up a bunch of my stuff and stepping in to take Rick's place at the table... ALMOST!

MrGoodson2 said...

I love it. That huntsman bad guy is a subtle menace. Kind of work if you get a nice social spread with it, might get you commissions requested for this look. Great spot illo style for a magazine.

Sorry you guys aren't storming the ECCC again. Do it next year with Gorgon.

Surly Bird said...

Beautiful work, Marty! And Tom, you got my attention with Parrish...still my favorite of the 'Golden Age' of Illustration. Was lucky enough to see some originals when there was an exhibit in San Diego when I was there. Max didn't disappoint.

Davis Chino said...

Thanks guys! Tommy, you SHOULD feel sad!! We will miss our Seattle romps with you and Patty and Rick and co.!