Off the Bookshelf: Art Books, a Visual Treat

Redartz: Comics, obviously, are a visual medium. Composed of images, in combination with text; both elements working together to produce that unique art form we all know and love. And many of us have, on our bookshelves, collected volumes of comic stories: whether a gigantic Omnibus, or a small digest format. Graphic novels, Masterworks, TPB's, there are many formats and many names. All of these showcase the complete union of word and picture that is the comics medium.

For consideration today, however, I'm concentrating only on the artistic side of comics. "Just the pictures", if you will. In the space of a couple months, I've added two such books to my humble library. 
First off, "The DC Comics Art of Brian Bolland". 

 This gorgeous volume came courtesy of a huge discount sale at a local outlet store. The book is brimming full of rich reproductions of Bolland's fine penwork, represented mainly by the covers for which he is best known. The breadth of his career is covered, from the early 80's to the 2000's. What I found particularly interesting are his discussions about the technical aspects of drawing, and his 'behind the scenes' tales involving his DC comics work. Here are a couple examples of what lie within the pages...

A wonderful collection of Bolland's artwork, and a great book I'd recommend to any art aficionado. 

My second book was acquired most recently: "DC Comics' Comic Art Colouring". 

As opposed to the Brian Bolland volume, this book is 'just for fun'. You probably are familiar with the current popularity of 'adult coloring books'. Even my mother loves to exercise her creative side with them. Well, once I saw this at a Half Price Books store, I couldn't resist it. The whole book is comprised of black-and-white reproductions of various DC comic covers, panels, pages, and even some actual page swipes from vintage childrens' coloring books. Some great covers are featured, and also some rather pedestrian ones. My only minor gripe with this book is the overwhelming focus on Superman and Batman. Probably 90  percent of the book depicts one or both of them. There are, though, JLA appearances, Green Lantern, Atom, and others. I'd have thought they'd give Wonder Woman more print here, she doesn't get a single page to herself. 



Anyway, what could be a better relaxation pastime (and, for an artist, a good skills sharpener) than doing a bit of coloring? With that said, here are a couple shots from the book, including my first attempt at a page. Incidentally, I changed the color scheme on that Justice League cover; the original purple robot and dark green background didn't work for me...

So there you have two different examples of art in comics, have you more? Again, there are many great books out there on the subject; here's a few more to kindle your thoughts.

Show and Tell: Fan Art, or Let's See Your Drawings...

Redartz:  In the course of our comics fan careers, many of us have tried our hands at writing/drawing some comics ourselves. Perhaps it was tracing the figures on a favorite cover. Maybe we were  covering our schoolwork with sketches of favorite characters. Some may have actually tried to create actual stories featuring some notable heroes and villains. And some may have created stories and characters all their own. All are satisfying creative outlets for the inspiration provided by our four color hobby.

And in recent years, the growing popularity of  "adult coloring books" adds a whole new opportunity to participate in comic creativity. Check these out:

 

 Today we will look at some examples of just such 'fan art'. To begin with, here is a clever story courtesy of our friend Pfgavigan. Enjoy!

 

Redartz:  I've designed many comic-related cards for my wife, for Valentine's Day and other occasions. Also, every year  I try to design a greeting card for the holidays. Sometimes they are serious in tone, other times lighter. Here are two which reflected a bit of my comics affection (some might call obsession). 

 

How about the rest of you? Have you made some drawings, done a few sketches, made a comic? If not, given the chance, what kind of character would you most like to work with? What kind of story would you tell? Unleash your inner Englehart, your buried Byrne; tell us all about it.