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Comic Art Styles

Spider-Punk

By Sanford Greene

Kraven

By Maria the Wolf

Spider-Gwen Cover

By Skottie Young

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Showing the Invisible & Visible

Sometimes superficial resemblance, but the lines communicate a message to the audience

Different cultures have different symbols

Distorting the background or surroundings helps reader understand the character’s inner states

Popping Veins = Anger

Comics are visual medium and authors use their art and symbols to help us understand not only what we can see, but what we can’t see. For instance, if something in the story stinks the audience reading the comic won’t be able to smell it, so creators try to visualize that smell. How could a creator show that a trash can or skunk was smelly? What could they do visually to symbolize or represent this smell? They could draw stink lines on top of the trash can or on top of the skunk. Creators don’t just try to represent invisible sensory details - they also try to reflect emotional states. This technique is really common in Japanese comics, Manga. If a character is sleepy they might have a snot bubble, if they lust after another character they might have a nose bleed, if they are angry they might have the crossing or y shaped intersection of veins on their forehead. These visible symbols of invisible senses or emotions can change depending on the culture, as is seen in American and Japanese comics.

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Lines Create Meaning:�

Passive & Timeless

Proud & Strong

Dynamic & Changing

Unwelcoming & Severe

Art styles are made up of a series of lines or brush strokes - these styles and lines help to communicate a mood in the story. Artists are essentially type cast for comics of specific genres or moods. The following explanations of types of lines are based on the explanation of comic creator Scott McCloud. While some of the examples are a little confusing, if you continue reading comics, they will start to make more sense. For instance, if lines are straight and horizontal in a comic, it can create a feeling of timelessness or calm, passivity. If those horizontal lines shift to up and down, it can show strength of a character or scene. When lines are skewed and diagonal, they help to represent a change in a character or mood. And when there are sharp edges and jagged corners, like the fourth example, it communicates a feeling of severity.

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Lines Create Meaning

Warm & Gentle

Rational & Conservative

Savage & Deadly

Weak & Unstable

Honest & Direct

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Analyzing Lines

What do you notice about the lines in Sean Gordon Murphy’s art? What do these lines tell us about this image? How do they impact our understanding of the events?

Batman White Knight

by Sean Gordon Murphy

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Analyzing Lines

What do you notice about the lines in Chrissie Zullo-Uminga’s art? What do these lines tell us about this image? How do they impact our understanding of the events?

Miles Morales by Chrissie Zullo-Uminga

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Disclaimer

The art styles we are going to discuss are complex, but the notes have been simplified – the next few slides on art could take an entire year long course of study to fully understand them.

We only need to know the basics of these art styles to see how art movements have influenced different comic artists’ work. The following examples of artists’ work has elements of these art styles, even though their art might not exactly fit into the art style definition.

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Realism

Subject of painting looks as it appears in real-life
Trying to depict subject accurately and honestly
No embellishment or added emotion
Strips subject of glamour and excess
Often focuses on poor or working class to show truth of world
Sets composition and lighting to emphasize subject

Kingdom Come by Alex Ross

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Expressionism

Angular lines, thick strokes
Extreme angles
Flattened forms
Garish, jarring colors
Distorted views
Themes of instability and emotionally charged atmospheres

Hellboy by Mike Mignolia

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Impressionism

Emphasize artist’s perception of subject matter, not just the subject matter itself
Captures the image of an object as though someone just caught a glimpse of it
Use of contrasting or complementary colors
Focuses on accurate depiction of lighting, use of movement, and unusual angles
Manipulation of color, tone, and texture

Daredevil by Alex Maleev

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Abstract

Doesn’t attempt to represent an accurate depiction of reality

Explores the relationship of forms and colors

Achieves effect by using shapes, forms, colors, and textures

ODC-Y by Christian Ward

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Abstraction

Doesn’t attempt to represent an accurate depiction of reality
Process of removing characteristics, focusing on essential characteristics
Retains an air of whatever it is that prompted the idea
Reduce subject to dominant colors, shapes, forms, or patterns

Arkham Asylum by Dave McKean

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Analyzing Art Style

Is there color, and, if so, what is the palate?
Is the style cartoonish, abstract, realistic, expressionist, impressionist, etc.?
What does that tell you about the world the creator(s) are depicting?
Are there backgrounds? If so, are they detailed of schematic?
Does the point of view remain constant, or does it vary? If so, how?
Does the art focus your attention on particular actions? How?

Black Panther by Brian Stelfreeze