“Bill Sienkiewicz and abstract expressionism and Jim Woodring and surrealism” sound interesting to me (recently got a copy of One Beautiful Spring Day I’m itching to read). Great piece, I think Frank Miller’s art owes more to expressionist/noir cinema than expressionist art.
Aye, I wonder if Sin City reaches back past film noir into German silent cinema. There seems to be a strong graphic design influence too, but that could just be another expressionistic route. He does seem to be someone that really studies other media and thinks about how to apply it through his craft. There's an interesting article by Kim Thompson on Ronin in The Comics Journal 82 and he writes about Miller, 'his drawing is all technique and no observation. None of Miller’s panels gives any indication that he ever sat down and studied a face, a building, the way a fold of clothing falls on a robe, a leaf'. Which to me sounds like Thompson didn't understand expressionism.
Might be fun to look at Lorenzo Mattotti for a different sort of Expressionism in comics - his colour work owes more to the Blue Riders than film noir, so while his books sit near those of the inky bw expressionist Jose Munoz on my shelf, they are very different beasts
Thanks, Simon! I have so much to learn about inking before I'm ready to get into colour. I've only got one Alack Sinner comic, featured in The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics, but I've never really studied it. The closest I got to Muñoz was when I've been reading up on Keith Giffen. Funnily enough, I have looked at Mattotti's work in magazines rather than comics.
Lovely article, thanks for this. As one commenter suggests, Miller’s influence feels more like noir than anything. ‘Abstract Expressionism’ is quite specific, wouldn’t apply to any comic page I can think of? Having said that, Toppi threatens to go abstract quite a bit, so it’s interesting to consider. I’d like to say the Abstract Expressionists kept away from specifics, but Pollock and deKooning did title their paintings so they are suggesting something - just not literally? Anyway, this stuff is like dancing on the head of a pin. Cheers!
I'm writing these wee articles as I try to figure out the intentions, effect and impact of the comics work. I'm absolutely no expert, but I like taking it apart to see how it works and then I can build up my own craft.
I'm autodidactic and my knowledge of art is pretty limited. I'm relying on people correcting me in the comments. Woodring titled his work and there's a narrative there, with some kind of operating logic, so does that discount it from abstract expressionism?
Some of this is hard for me to dig into, as literally only nothing is meaningless. As meaninglessness evokes a feeling, typically horror, it then has meaning. Therein lies a story, I guess. This would be easier if I was on acid.
“Bill Sienkiewicz and abstract expressionism and Jim Woodring and surrealism” sound interesting to me (recently got a copy of One Beautiful Spring Day I’m itching to read). Great piece, I think Frank Miller’s art owes more to expressionist/noir cinema than expressionist art.
Aye, I wonder if Sin City reaches back past film noir into German silent cinema. There seems to be a strong graphic design influence too, but that could just be another expressionistic route. He does seem to be someone that really studies other media and thinks about how to apply it through his craft. There's an interesting article by Kim Thompson on Ronin in The Comics Journal 82 and he writes about Miller, 'his drawing is all technique and no observation. None of Miller’s panels gives any indication that he ever sat down and studied a face, a building, the way a fold of clothing falls on a robe, a leaf'. Which to me sounds like Thompson didn't understand expressionism.
Steve Yeowell’s drawing a Commando.
It’s still on my bucket list to do a Commando. Oor Wullie and the Broons are on that list too.
Great notes.
Might be fun to look at Lorenzo Mattotti for a different sort of Expressionism in comics - his colour work owes more to the Blue Riders than film noir, so while his books sit near those of the inky bw expressionist Jose Munoz on my shelf, they are very different beasts
Thanks, Simon! I have so much to learn about inking before I'm ready to get into colour. I've only got one Alack Sinner comic, featured in The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics, but I've never really studied it. The closest I got to Muñoz was when I've been reading up on Keith Giffen. Funnily enough, I have looked at Mattotti's work in magazines rather than comics.
Lovely article, thanks for this. As one commenter suggests, Miller’s influence feels more like noir than anything. ‘Abstract Expressionism’ is quite specific, wouldn’t apply to any comic page I can think of? Having said that, Toppi threatens to go abstract quite a bit, so it’s interesting to consider. I’d like to say the Abstract Expressionists kept away from specifics, but Pollock and deKooning did title their paintings so they are suggesting something - just not literally? Anyway, this stuff is like dancing on the head of a pin. Cheers!
I'm writing these wee articles as I try to figure out the intentions, effect and impact of the comics work. I'm absolutely no expert, but I like taking it apart to see how it works and then I can build up my own craft.
I'm autodidactic and my knowledge of art is pretty limited. I'm relying on people correcting me in the comments. Woodring titled his work and there's a narrative there, with some kind of operating logic, so does that discount it from abstract expressionism?
Some of this is hard for me to dig into, as literally only nothing is meaningless. As meaninglessness evokes a feeling, typically horror, it then has meaning. Therein lies a story, I guess. This would be easier if I was on acid.