Inspiring Line Artists

[JeffX99]

Thought the topic deserved its own thread. Share your favorite artists who inspre you with the quality of their linework and drawing or draughtsmanship. It would be great to include any images or notes on how these artists work. I think it would also be appropriate to share ideas and concepts about the expressive qualities of line such as rhythm, tension, etc.

There have been some great images and links already provided in another thread so I'll let those people share them here if they choose (even though Kjesta already took one of my favorites!).

I'll start with a few artists whose line quality I really admire:

Wayne Barlowe from his book, "Expedition".
Gil Bruvel, studies for paintings
Dean Cornwell, studies for illustrations

[armando]

Al Hirschfeld

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Ingres

[rem92]

thats some nice stuff!

[manlybrian]

Bill Watterson taught me that line work doesn't have to be perfect and refined to look solid and believable, even when doing cartoons.

Mike Mignola taught me that even using simple shapes and lines you can produce serious drama and suspense.

Doug TenNapel taught me that "quick" brush strokes can make for some very energetic drawings.

[Ariel9]

Great italian artist, his comic pages feel like illustrations, I have no idea what his process is, wish I knew.

[SoufMeng]

Tatiana Plakhova


Tim Sandys


Scott Weaver, toothpick sculptures


Tughra Mahmuds II


Matthew Cusick, map collages.


Dan Slavinsky, "A study on the Application of Soft Ornamentation and Wet Technologies on the Architectural Possibilites of a Stairway" (high-res)



Damien Hirst

[manlybrian]

I really like Tim Sale's work.

[Samszym]

This is a website that archives animation drawings, might be interesting to some. living lines library

[Misplacedhippos]

I guess I like line work with the emphasis in the right places?


Justin Gerard




Sean Rubin

[Flashback]

Rembrandt sketches:

[JeffX99]

Wow - thanks for the great posts everyone.

@manlybrian - great observations on the lessons learned from those guys.

@Ariel9 - That is some beautifully designed work! But...who is it? Really want to check out more...thanks!

@SoufMeng - Great finds there...I'll definitely be looking up a few of those people - thanks, that is what I was hoping for. And imagine that, a Damien Hirst I like and can relate to!

@Vertical - what a great link! Thanks for that. I found it tricky to navigate back out (ok, not too bad if you just hit the "home sweet home" link) so I'm going to repost the link a little higher up: Animation Production Archive

Thanks again everyone! Here's a few gems from some fellow CA members...personally I think these members are a real gold mine here but they stay tucked away in the Fine Arts forums and not many people are aware of them:

Kevin Wueste's thread

F!END's thread

Hope Railey's thread Her website
Hope's portrait of Meredith actually sends chills up my spine because of its beauty.

[TeamFox]

Don't forget the late Frank Frazetta

[dose]

There's too many!

Egon Schiele


Barron Storey


Bill Sienkiewicz


Charles Dana Gibson


Heinrich Kley

[Ariel9]

I wanted to share Schiele myself! Such haunting portraits of women.

I just realized I didn't share any actual comic page by Sergio Toppi...I'm afraid, Jeff, that I don't know much about him either, except that he's done a wonderful comic re-telling of the One Thousand and One Nights, and he's one of the less known great italian comic masters who saw their biggest success in the 70's magazines like Linus, AlterLinus, AlterAlter, Il Grifo... You can find them pretty cheap now, and they have wonderful artists, sometimes French too, like Moebius.

Another artist from back then who was extremely talented and died tragically young, much more well known here, is Andrea Pazienza, whose marker work is just amazing, but since this is about line I'm going easy on the amazingly rendered backgrounds...

[Conniekat8]

awesome thread! Bookmarked!

[manlybrian]

Oh and MC Escher, duh! How'd I forget him?

[TinyBird]

Well, here's couple... I may post more when I get to my homeputer.

Bill Sienkiewicz was already said but well, you can't have too much good stuff.
Yoshitaka Amano definitely.
I'm also personally fond of Jill Thompson's and Milo Manara's lines (though it's bit harder to find a good not NSFW example quick) as well as less "artsy" lineart of Becky Cloonan .

[TinyBird]

Oh yeah, we collected some b/w comic artwork in this thread, and there's some good lines to be seen in there too: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=222956

Also Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, both with and without colour.
Totally suggest you to check out their stuff: http://fabioandgabriel.blogspot.com/

[dbclemons]

Vincent Van Gogh. Many think only thick paint, but it's the expessive lines that put him in the history books... and being a little coo-koo.

[TinyBird]

Well, here be couple more.
Guy Davis (first five images), he has several different techniques of inking and they all look good.
Sean Gordon Murphy, already mentioned in the other thread.
Dustin Ngyen, at least his ink wash stuff.
C. Scott Morse (especially I suggest looking through his Ancient Joe comic)
and I personally really like reading old Marvel classic collections which are printed without colours, there's some awesome inks hidden in those, which, though not exactly fancy still bring a tear to my with their quality. Can't remember the artist here but it was from Ghostrider.

[Ariel9]

I love you for posting Manara, Tinybird. One of my very favourites, though his storytelling's really all about porn, with no excuse, aha.

Jamie Hernandez! I wish I could find more of his stuff. I wonder if I'm in love with the artwork because of the story though, Love & Rockets is so heartwrenching.

[dbclemons]

Bernard Partridge and Linley Sambourne were two British illustrators of the late 19th - early 20th century. Their work appreared regulary in the magazine "Punch" which these images were taken from.
...

[madbot]

I love Gustave Doré and Franklin Booth. The details in their images, line direction and ability to show a great range of values just blows my mind. I also love the narrative in Doré's works.

[blogmatix]

Vincent Van Gogh. Many think only thick paint, but it's the expessive lines that put him in the history books... and being a little coo-koo.

I was wondering when someone would mention dear, nutty Vincent... ;-)

[sanya]

While this is certainly an interesting thread, there's a lot of, uh, creative definitions of 'line art.'

[JeffX99]

Yeah, I would agree Sanya, but that's ok. I did mention drawing and draughtsmanship as well (mainly because there are a few I still want to post that aren't really "line" oriented).

[dbclemons]

Howard Chandler Christy and James Montgomery Flagg
.

[blogmatix]

And let us not forget the masters of old:

Albrecht Dürer:



Leonardo (this must be one of the most beautiful drawings ever made):



Picasso knew how to make a simple line work:



Pieter Bruegel:





Rembrandt:



Few of Botticelli's drawings have come down to us, which is a pity, for he had a wonderful sense of lyrical linear design:

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Bernie Wrightson!


Also, Will Eisner. Very far from being a favorite for technical skill, but I do love the mood and energy in his drawings. And damn, I love his rain.