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Post by MDG on May 18, 2020 11:47:04 GMT -5
Right. In interviews Gil Kane's said just that: he wanted to do comic book art/illustration that was closer to cinema/movies rather than portrait painting. He strove to incorporate cinematic techniques in his work. And he liked to use that low angle shot in particular for precisely the reason you mention: it was dramatic, plus it added "menace." From what I've seen in his work he'd used it here and there before the 1960s, but it was a natural for him to use in The Atom and it took off (for him) from there. Alex Ross prefers "pedestal" shots as well for the same reason, especially for team portraits of heroes. They are above us.   I always felt in the Alex Ross universe, crime runs rampant because heroes are always posing for photo shoots. |
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Post by rberman on May 18, 2020 12:53:00 GMT -5
For Kingdom Come, specifically, he was modeling it after a Norman Rockwell painting (The Right to Know) that used that composition...  Rockwell is one of Ross' big influences on his painting and Rockwell used a lot of that in his deliberately inspirational paintings...   ps That's Rockwell in the bow tie, with the pipe, on the right of the woman hugging the man. I'm confused. The faces of all those people in Rockwell's paintings look different from each other. Is that allowed in art? He really was amazing. |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 18, 2020 12:56:01 GMT -5
For Kingdom Come, specifically, he was modeling it after a Norman Rockwell painting (The Right to Know) that used that composition... Rockwell is one of Ross' big influences on his painting and Rockwell used a lot of that in his deliberately inspirational paintings... ps That's Rockwell in the bow tie, with the pipe, on the right of the woman hugging the man. I'm confused. The faces of all those people in Rockwell's paintings look different from each other. Is that allowed in art? He really was amazing. He did us models. Ross does too, though he tends to use the same models for some characters, though I suppose it is the quality they bring to that "type" of character. His Superman model also did Captain America, in his Earth X series, as I recall (think it was Cap). |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 18, 2020 12:59:42 GMT -5
ps Funny thing; when I was looking for the image, I couldn't remember the title or subject, and typed "Norman Rockwell Heroes" and eventually spotted this one, plus, a bunch of superhero Saturday Evening Post homages; but, (here's the kicker), half of them were doing homages to JC Leyendecker covers!
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Post by Prince Hal on May 18, 2020 13:49:59 GMT -5
Alex Ross prefers "pedestal" shots as well for the same reason, especially for team portraits of heroes. They are above us. I always felt in the Alex Ross universe, crime runs rampant because heroes are always posing for photo shoots. Superman left his Super-cup home, I guess. |
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Post by MDG on May 18, 2020 13:55:56 GMT -5
I'm confused. The faces of all those people in Rockwell's paintings look different from each other. Is that allowed in art? He really was amazing. He did us models. Ross does too, though he tends to use the same models for some characters, though I suppose it is the quality they bring to that "type" of character. His Superman model also did Captain America, in his Earth X series, as I recall (think it was Cap). Rockwell was often his own model--in the xmas picture, he's the guy with the pipe and bow tie. |
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Post by Prince Hal on May 18, 2020 13:58:24 GMT -5
I think this is Norman, too.  |
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Post by rberman on May 18, 2020 14:10:21 GMT -5
Superman left his Super-cup home, I guess. He's just glad to save you. |
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Post by Prince Hal on May 18, 2020 14:13:53 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on May 18, 2020 15:13:23 GMT -5
Alex Ross prefers "pedestal" shots as well for the same reason, especially for team portraits of heroes. They are above us.   Grant Morrison felt the same when he took over JLA, asking for a "pedestal" shot for the first cover:  He was reacting against the "readers are above the heroes" image that characterized the Giffen/Maguire JLA comedy years.  For Kingdom Come, specifically, he was modeling it after a Norman Rockwell painting (The Right to Know) that used that composition... ps That's Rockwell in the bow tie, with the pipe, on the right of the woman hugging the man. He did us models. Ross does too, though he tends to use the same models for some characters, though I suppose it is the quality they bring to that "type" of character. His Superman model also did Captain America, in his Earth X series, as I recall (think it was Cap). Rockwell was often his own model--in the xmas picture, he's the guy with the pipe and bow tie. I hadn't noticed.  |
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Post by berkley on May 18, 2020 15:52:43 GMT -5
I admire Rockwell's craft and technique but the content and "Leave it to Beaver" sort of blandness of his paintings rubs me the wrong way.
Alec Ross I just can't stand at all. His heroes look smug and preening to me rather than genuinely superior. Very rarely do I see anything by Ross that works for me, even a little bit. There was a Wonder Woman cover someone posted recently in another thread that wasn't bad - I meant to comment on it since I almost never see anything I can even stand by this artist.
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Post by Prince Hal on May 18, 2020 16:16:24 GMT -5
Superman left his Super-cup home, I guess. He's just glad to save you. And his boys are out out and away! |
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Post by electricmastro on May 18, 2020 16:21:30 GMT -5
David Mack’s surreal watercolors: Kabuki #8 (Image Comics - June 1999):  Daredevil #16 (Marvel Comics - May 2001):  Daredevil #52 (Marvel Comics - November 2003):  |
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Post by Prince Hal on May 18, 2020 16:30:57 GMT -5
I admire Rockwell's craft and technique but the content and "Leave it to Beaver" sort of blandness of his paintings rubs me the wrong way. Alec Ross I just can't stand at all. His heroes look smug and preening to me rather than genuinely superior. Very rarely do I see anything by Ross that works for me, even a little bit. There was a Wonder Woman cover someone posted recently in another thread that wasn't bad - I meant to comment on it since I almost never see anything I can even stand by this artist. Agreed about Ross. A little of that goes a very long way. They do look smug, like they're all doing us a favor. As for Rockwell, well, yes, he is homespun and corny , but I always think first of this painting, "The Problem We All Live With," when people mention how all-American his work is. That's little Ruby Bridges trying to go to school in New Orleans in 1960, escorted for her own safety by US Marshals.  There's also this one, about Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman, civil rights workers trying to register voters, who were murdered by KKK members in 1965.  And one more, "Blood Brothers," after Manet's "Dead Toreador," which depicts two dead marines in Vietnam (Rockwell was opposed to the war, but generally kept that opinion to himself. More to rockwell than has generally met the eyes of Americans.  |
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Post by Prince Hal on May 18, 2020 16:32:40 GMT -5
Oops, forgot. Here's the Manet for reference.  |
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