Wednesday, February 07, 2018

THAT CLEAN, SHARP LOOK (day 3)


Continuing our daily series of artists who draw in a slick, polished style...

One current comic artist who draws sharp as a razor is Sean Murphy, creator of series such as Tokyo Ghost and Punk Rock Jesus.



Note how Murphy's range encompasses the sleek speed lines and mechanical drawing for that boat as well as the imagination and courage necessary for that heavy brush treatment of the explosion:




Murphy clearly loves to draw; he often inserts splash pages with ambitious architectural drawings and grand themes requiring great craftsmanship and rare technical drawing skills.






He's also not afraid of crowd scenes and angle shots.  Here a group of adoring fans hound a character...


...causing her and her bodyguard to take refuge in a public restroom.




There has been some discussion in the last few posts about the importance of "organic unity" in art and not just resting on skilled draftsmanship alone.  Murphy gives his stylish drawings a consistent dynamic look with his slashing brush strokes and aerodynamic forms.  This is high energy drawing by an artist with the resources to operate safely at high speeds.








8 comments:

Ibrahim R. Ineke said...

Modelling in the penultimate picture puts me in mind of the work of John Watkiss ( what i know of it ) . I assume he got featured here before?

kev ferrara said...

Murphy is really great. So much life in his work, great instincts, solid knowledge base, eats reference for breakfast, knows exactly what scale to articulate on for the medium...

There's a YouTube clip of him working that is well worth seeking out. He's free as a bird.

James Gurney said...

Great drawings, and thanks, Kev for the YT recommendation.
It's funny you describe SGM as having a clean, sharp look, because I don't know if he sees himself that way.
About 4 minutes into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYfm43FVz-M
he describes a breakthrough where he was going for just the opposite. He says "I was drawing more like my dirty, artsy self and less like the clean style the art director wanted."

kev ferrara said...

Hey Jim and everybody interested...

These are the SGM videos I was referencing, starting 6:15 into this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpOelUJqLA4&t=365s

And then continue from the start of this one, all the way through to the end...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oO2J2ponho&t=469s

MORAN said...

Awesome artist. I didn't know his work.

David Apatoff said...

Ibrahim R. Ineke-- I see what you mean about Watkiss. I like his work, but haven't done anything with him here because I don't have access to originals or other images that haven't already been all over the internet, and I don't have any special insight to contribute. (Many would say that hasn't stopped me before.)

Kev Ferrara-- excellent videos, thanks. I wasn't aware of them, but it's very interesting to watch Murphy at work.

James Gurney-- thanks, great catch. I'm not sure what Murphy means by drawing "dirty" but I view that complex city nightscape, with its perfect perspective, perfect shading, and crisp architectural details, as "clean" drawing. No self doubt or indecision, no quavering or scratchy lines. In the drawing of the restroom, Murphy has drawn the individual tiles on the floor and the individual locks on the door, all captured consistent with the crazy angle of the room. All of Murphy's drawings have kind of a "noir" look, with deep shadows, speed and violence. Perhaps that's what he means.

Laurence John said...

i also thought of John Watkiss as soon as i saw this work. the huge-shouldered, small-headed bodyguard character even bares some resemblance to the main character in 'Ring of Roses' drawn by Watkiss:

http://carabas.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Ring-of-Roses-preview-2.jpg

Ibrahim R. Ineke said...

Laurence John- that is exactly which Watkiss it reminded me of: that protagonist. I suspect even thought i was looking at a Ring of Roses panel in the split second before reading the caption...