tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12189014.post114581711011392324..comments2024-03-28T22:57:07.128-04:00Comments on ILLUSTRATION ART: DAVID LOW: TAKING AN EXTRA DAY TO MAKE IT LOOK EASYDavid Apatoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12189014.post-1146892930485894532006-05-06T01:22:00.000-04:002006-05-06T01:22:00.000-04:00Whoops-- thanks for the correction, Leif! I used t...Whoops-- thanks for the correction, Leif! I used to follow the work of the "modern Alex Ross" and I think his technical facility can be truly dazzling. However, from the work I have seen, his paintings lack soul. I have no problem with photo based art as long as the artist uses the photo as a tool rather than a crutch. There are lots of great illustrators, such as Norman Rockwell, Bernie Fuchs or C.F. Payne who start with a photograph and add to it. They are able to paint perfectly realistically but they then transform the image with their personal taste and style. The part they add becomes the guts of the painting, and is far more important than the technical precision. When I stopped following the modern Alex Ross more than five years ago, he hadn't outgrown that infatuation with technical facility. You can see it most of all by the way that his pages don't hang together as an integrated whole. Each panel is a distracting bauble, and it's pretty neat that he can paint that way, but there is little structural integrity to the page. Maybe he has overcome this problem by now. Does anyone out there have any strong contrary views on this?David Apatoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12189014.post-1146589617320621112006-05-02T13:06:00.000-04:002006-05-02T13:06:00.000-04:00Hi David;Thanks as always for your kind words of s...Hi David;<BR/><BR/>Thanks as always for your kind words of support. If i may clarify on behalf of your first commentor, he is asking your opinion on the modern Alex Ross, a former ad artist from Chicago who exploded onto the comic scene some years back with his mini-series, "Marvels", and has since then painted his way through both the marvel and Dc universes.<BR/><BR/>I too would love to hear your opinion of the currently working Alex Ross!leifpenghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07232334860061949895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12189014.post-1146500044592003022006-05-01T12:14:00.000-04:002006-05-01T12:14:00.000-04:00Hernan, thaks for flagging another artist out ther...Hernan, thaks for flagging another artist out there. I was generally aware of "Flax" but now I have gone back to take a closer look!David Apatoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12189014.post-1146499859266493122006-05-01T12:10:00.000-04:002006-05-01T12:10:00.000-04:00Thanks, Craig-- I do know the work of Alex Ross, a...Thanks, Craig-- I do know the work of Alex Ross, and people differ on his accomplishments. I have no immediate plans to do a piece on him, in part because I don't know that much about him. However, Leif Peng has a whole section on Ross in his Flickr gallery at http://www.flickr.com/photos/leifpeng/sets/1490737/ and I would recommend that to anyone who is interested. Leif has done a great service to fans of illustration by capturing tearsheets of many of the great but inaccessible illustrators and putting them on display for all to see and enjoy.David Apatoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12189014.post-1145859543928422782006-04-24T02:19:00.000-04:002006-04-24T02:19:00.000-04:00Great illustrations! Another notable caricaturist ...Great illustrations! Another notable caricaturist from the WWII period was Lino Palacio "Flax", also a master of the deceptively simple line.<BR/><BR/>-- HernanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12189014.post-1145848676630750292006-04-23T23:17:00.000-04:002006-04-23T23:17:00.000-04:00Hi, I've just discovered your site. It's so great ...Hi, I've just discovered your site. It's so great to see and learn about the great illustrators of the past and present. I really enjoyed your critique of Chris Ware. I've wondered myself whether or not he deserves as much of the praise given him but my own lack of knowledge left the question unanswered. Have you considered doing a piece on Alex Ross? I wonder how well he compares to the great American illustrators and if, like Ware, he deserves the accolades. Thanks for the great reads, CraigAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com