A few weeks ago I bought this lovely piece of artwork from the extremely talented Dan McDaid. You'll probably know him from his sterling work on the comic strip in Doctor Who Magazine - in fact there's a brand new issue just out ( no. 448 ) featuring the first part of a new story by Dan and Scott Gray - check it out! ( It features a space monkey on a flying surfboard: what more could you want? )
Anyway, when this beauty popped up on eBay I knew I had to have it. My all-time favourite hero, Spider-Man, versus the thuggish Sandman in his iconic, Ditko-designed prison duds? Oh yeah! It's such a fantastic composition - the strong ink lines accentuating Sandy's bulk, Spidey's coiled-spring pose, the play of light against dark - I love it!
It's been many, many years since I last bought any comics artwork ( some Doctor Who pages by Martin Geraghty... I'll have to post them some time soon ) so I was thrilled to see this arrive at my front door. And even more thrilled to see that Dan had added the personal touch of the above Sandman sketch on the envelope itself! Talk about going above and beyond the call of duty!
I'll leave you with a few close-ups of Dan's beautiful work. I always love to see original comics artwork... to see the process the artist undergoes, laying down inks over the ( blue ) pencil work... and it's good to share it with others, too...
Please have a look at Dan's blog if you get the chance. There's some stunning work there, featuring some very familiar characters. Tell him cerebus660 sent ya!
I love seeing artwork with the pencil lines underneath the inks. It's like getting a glimpse into the structure of the universe.
ReplyDeleteI used to collect original art from comic book artists. I was fortunate enough to meet many and always begged, pleaded, cajoled (and sometimes even paid them) to draw stuff for me.
"...a glimpse into the structure of the universe..."
ReplyDeleteOr discovering the truth of the world behind the Matrix :-)
You've summed up exactly my feelings on this subject, Mike! As I said, I love seeing the process an artist goes through to get a piece down on paper - which, of course, you've highlighted so wonderfully on your own excellent blog!