TGIF!

TGIF!

Thank God it's Friday!

Alan Moore

Now that we've been introduced to Alan Moore, I'd like to share his rather refreshing view of religious belief and practice.  He believes that spiritual pursuit should be decided by the individual, or that one religion for everybody doesn't make sense.  Everyone is different, and since everyone id different, we each have our own spiritual needs that we should seek to satisfy on our own.  If you don't have much of a spiritual hunger, then just get a salad and a diet coke.  But if you crave exotic tastes, then look into the ancient deities of the Mayans, Inuit, or Roman snake deities.

Moore, as I've said before, is a bit of a weirdo.  As a comic writer he has been incredibly influential on the medium, and has even been called one of the most in important contemporary writers in Britain.  Many of his comics have been turned into films, though you'll notice his name isn't on it.  Why?  Because for him, the movie is something  completely different than the comic, and he wants no part of it and thus, he gives his portion of the royalties to the other contributors.  At least he practices what he preaches.

He supports an open view of reality, religion, and personal values.  He also has some interesting views on the idea of magic and mysticism.  Simply put, magic  is Art.  Magic is manipulation of symbols, words, and ideas in order to change the consciousness of yourself and others.  This is so cool to me.  To think that being a magician is to someone who creates with words, with colors, and with objects what was not before is empowering to me.  I think I will be a magician.

Moore is a fascinating personality because he is at the same time mystical and rational.  He has poetic air bout him that is almost intimidating, yet he has a gentle sense of humor and an open mind that would invite you to join him for tea.  There are many great interviews with him on Youtube and other places, including an 80 minute documentary about him.  Here is a few (10 minutes worth) words from Kevin Smith and friends on the amazing run on Swamp Thing that Moore worked on in the 80s.

 I'll leave you with a quote from the video I linked to in the last article.  As Alan stands on stage a callous version of himself accuses him of having a messiah complex.  He responds:

"Would I have a haircut like this if I didn't?"

See you on the other side

Creators: Alan Moore

Creators

A growing list of influential Artists, Writers, Poets, Filmmakers, and Creatives.

Alan Moore

I like this guy, he's weird.  He's the oddball who cut his name out of the movie adaptations of his works and refused to accept the money for it.  He has weird religious beliefs (more on that Friday), a bizarre dress code, and he thinks comics are the best kind of art (can you guess what I think of him?). Alan Moore is one of my favorite comic writers because he consistantly challenges himself and the medium with complex characters, morally ambiguous stories, and vivid visual storytelling. To keep things brief, I will list off a few of my favorite works by him.

Creators: Yanick Paquette

Creators

A growing list of inspirational artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, and creatives.

Yanick Paquette

It's been too long since I have done a post like this, but that ended today when I picked up Swamp Thing #18 and knew I had to praise the hand behind it:  The hand of artist Yanick Paquette.

I have had his work in mind since I started doing posts like this, but today, after reading the latest issue of Swamp Thing, I just had to make his post today.  Yanick is the kind of artist I envy and wish to emulate because his work feels like it comes naturally for him to do, and yet I'm certain there is a long and involved process needed to do it.

I'll start with a cover image he did, though I'm well aware that many artists can make gorgeous covers but at the same time have mediocre interiors.  This is not the case here.  I this cover, you can see a great example of Paquette's style: Strong attention to detail and texture, drawing from life and live reference.  Its both realistic feeling yet stylized enough to look somehow better than real.  One thing's for sure, I think this is how Swamp Thing would look in real life.

Just a glance at his Interiors and you can see his strength as an artist goes beyond the cover.  the same care, texture and detail comes out on every page.  For me, one of my favorite tricks of his are his panels, more specifically how he divides them.  These exotic and colorful breaks seem to come out of the titular character himself.  And of course I won't fail to mention the monsters this guy draws.

Yikes!  Those things are fantastically nasty!

But he doesn't just draw great monsters, but also great people. He also knows how to create drama in a panel despite simplicity.  I would call his style more akin to Surrealism rather than a Bryan Hitch-like photo reference realism.  Paquette comes far enough away from his references to allow them to feel right next to his other drawn lines.

I'm a big fan of his double page spreads, he really uses them to show as much as writer Scott Snyder tells.  and that is an excellent balance to strike in a comic.

While Swamp Thing isn't the only thing he has done, it is the work I am most familiar with.  Now that his run on swamp thing is apparently over, I'm very curious about where his career will go.  Personally, I'd like to see him continue drawing monsters.

I'll leave you with a few of my favorite images.

See you soon.