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JesseHamm( sirspamdalot)wrote,
2012031311:04:00

Moebius.
SaturdayleftuswithoutMoebius,oneofmyfavoriteartists.Cancer,cancer...theregoesDaveStevens,DylanWilliams,Moebius,andsoon.

Butlet'sdiscussthegood.

CRAFT

ThethingwhichfirstattractedmetoMoebius'swork,andwhichIstilladmiremostaboutit,wasthathecombinedunfetteredimaginationwithastronggroundingin
realism.

Manyartistsfallintooneoftwocamps:eitherartisaboutperfectingyourcraft,andthesubjectisatrivialmeanstothatend,orartisaboutexpressingyour
personalvision,andcraftisatrivialmeanstothatend.Artistsinthefirstcamptendtocreateartthat'sconvincinglyexecuted,butlackingimagination.Artistsin
thesecondcamparemorealivetotheirimaginations,buttheirartoftenfailstoconvince.Thereasoningbehindthisdichotomyofimaginationvs.craftseemsto
proceedalongthefollowinglines.Either:

1.Thepartofataskwhichrequiresthemosteffortisthepointofthattask.
2.Masteringcraftrequiresmostofoureffortinart.
Therefore:
3.Masteringcraftisthepointofart.

Or:

1.Thepartofataskwhichrequiresthemosteffortisthepointofthattask.
2.Masteringcraftisnotthepointofart.
Therefore:
3.Mostofoureffortinartshouldnotbespentonmasteringcraft.

Ithinkthattheminorpremises(2)inbothlinesofreasoningaretrue,butthatbothconclusionsarefalse,sincetheyshareafalsemajorpremise(1).Ibelievea
correctlineofreasoningcouldbestatedasfollows:

1.Masteringcraftrequiresmostofoureffortinart.
2.Masteringcraftisnotthepointofart.
Therefore:
3.Thepartofataskwhichrequiresthemosteffortisnotnecessarilythepointofthattask.

Thisconclusionissomewhatcounterintuitive,butitfreesustomastercraftwithoutbeingenslavedtoit.Moretothepoint,weseeitstruthwhenwelookattheart
ofMoebius.

Moebiusdevotedconsiderabletimetomasteringhiscraftprobablyfarmoretimethanittookhimtodreamuphisamazingvisions.(Heestimatedoncethathe
spent80%ofhistimedrawingthetechnicallyrigorousBlueberrycomics,and20%onhisfancifulstuffhealsosaidBlueberryrequiredmoreconcentrationand
technicalfacility.)Butheneverthelesssubordinatedhiscrafttothehighergoalofexpressinghisfancies.Tohisfans,thatlatterclaimneedsnoillustration,solet's
takealookathisdevotiontocraft.

Thesefirsttwoimagesarefrom1999and2007,respectively.I'mincludingthepublishedimagesalongwithversionsthatIgraphedtorevealMoebius'suseof
perspective.
Now,whenmostcomicbookartistsdrawapage,theytendtoguestimatetheperspectivelines(i.e.,linesthatwouldbeparallelinreality,butthatareseenfroman
anglewhichmakesthemappeartoconverge).Aslongasthelinesconvergeinthevicinityofoureyelevel,andtherearen'tglaringdisparities,thecartoonist
figureshe'sonsafeground.

ButwhenwegraphMoebius'sperspectivelines,weseethathedidn'tguess.Alloftheparallellinesinthesedrawingsconvergeonsharedvanishingpoints,
meaningthatheestablishedthesepointsattheoutsetandmadesuretoangleeverylinetoitsappropriatepoint.Eventhatlittlerowofsticksatthebottomcenter
ofthefirstimageislinedupproperly.Noticetoo,inthefirstimage,thatheestablishedtheproperdistancebetweenthecolumns,representedherebytheblue
lines.(Iwon'tboreyouwiththeperspectiveruleshe'sfollowinghere,butbasicallythatbigblueXprovesthatheaccuratelycalculatedthecolumns'placement.)I'll
repeatthat:hebotheredtogeometricallyplottheplacementofbackgroundcolumnsinafantasyenvironment.Alsonoticethatthevanishingpointontheleft
occupiesthesamehorizonline(thathorizontalgreenlinestretchingacrosstheimage)asthepointontheright.Thisruleistypicallyviolatedwhenartistsguess
Moebiuswasn'tguessing.
Similarly,inthesecondimage,herepeatedlyplacesandfollowsvanishingpoints,evenwhentheyoccurwayoffthepageandhecouldhavegottenawaywith
guesses.Rememberfolks:thiswasanestablishedcelebritywithnothinglefttoprove.Hewasold,hewassick,hewasknownforhisimaginationratherthanfora
strictcommitmenttorealisminotherwords,hehadeveryexcuseNOTtoplotouttheperspectivethiscarefully.Andyethewentthroughwithitnotonlyhere,
inthesepagesIpickedatrandom,butthroughouthisoeuvreandthroughouthiscareer.

Aquicklooknowathisfiguredrawing.HereareacoupleofpagesfromastorythatappearedinHeavyMetalinthe'70s.Attherightarethephotosheusedfor
reference,toensureanatomicalaccuracy.Nowconsiderthis:thecharacterhe'sdrawingisawhimsicalwoodfairy,andinneitherimagedowegetacloselookat
her.Shedoesn'tHAVEtobe100%accurate.Moebiuswasaskilledprowhocouldeasilyhavefudged/guessedtheanatomyinthesedrawings...buthedidn't.He
dugoutthereferencephotosandgaveitthatextratenpercent.
Onefinalexampleofhisdevotiontocraft.CheckoutthiswatercolorsketchofanL.A.street,andaskyourselfhowmanyfantasyartistswouldbotherrecreatingso
faithfullysuchamundanescene:

WhydidanartistwhowassoclearlypreoccupiedwithUNrealitydevotesomuchtimeandefforttomimickingreality?Ithinkitwasbecauseheknewthatto
commandhisaudience'sfancifulside,hefirsthadtoquiettheirrationalside,satisfyingtheirsubconsciousB.S.detectorwiththeassurancethat"thisisreal."
("Howcananyoneenterastrongmanshouseandcarryoffhispossessionsunlesshefirsttiesupthestrongman?"~JC)Ateveryopportunityhethrewinalittle
somethingextraawellplottedvanishingpoint,awellturnedarmtoassurewedreamersthatwewerenotdreaming.Anditworked.Moebiusisknown
worldwideforbringingfantasiestolife,becausehewaswillingtodothemundaneworkofbringinglifetofantasy.

DEPTHINDICATORS

AnotherthingIappreciateintheworkofMoebiusishisuseofdepth.Hewasabletoindicatedepthinascenebyincludingdepthindicators:objectsandtextures
thatalertourmindstothefactthatdistancesarebeingrepresented.

BelowisaprimeexampleofMoebius'sapproachtodepth,alongwitharoughdiagramofhowaviewerseestheimage.Thedepthindicatorsrocks,boats,ripples
inthewater,birds,overlappingcloudsofmisteachreadasoccupyingadifferentplaneinthedrawing,therebyalertingtheviewertotheexistenceofthose
otherwiseinvisibleplanes.Theviewerpicturedattheleftinmydiagramcanimaginethespaceinthescenebecausethedepthindicators(herestackedroughlyin
theorderoftheirnearnesstoher,likeadiorama)givehercluestothelayersofspacebetweenherandthehorizon.

Here'saversionImadeoftheaboveimage,butwithmostofthedepthindicatorsremoved.(Theirabsenceheremimicsasimilarabsenceofdepthindicatorsin
theworkofmostartistswhoaren'tMoebius.)Makenomistake:theamountofdepthpicturedherethatis,thedistancefromtheviewertofarthestobjectinthe
background,asindicatedbythesizeandplacementofthebirdridinghumanandthehorizonisthesameamountofdepththatweseeintheoriginalversionof
theimage.Theonlydifferenceisthatthedepthindicatorsaremissing.Theresultisdiagrammedfartherbelow,wherethegirlislookingattheimage.Onedepth
indicatorthelargebirdsuggestsoneplaneofdepth,butsincetheotherdepthindicatorsareabsent,thegirlhasnoimpetustoimagine/acknowledgetheplanes
ofdepthwhichtheyrepresented.
Minustheboats,ripples,andoverlappingcliffs,theexpanseofwaterreadsasaflatbluewall.

LOCATIONSTAGING

Moebius'sapproachtodepthwasalsouncommoninthatheavoidedthe"television"approachtoenteringandexitingscenes.

Intelevision,andofteninmovies,it'sbudgetfriendlytofilminteriorscenesandexteriorscenesatseparatetimesandlocations.Thefirstcameraunitshootsa
scenebetweentwoactorsonasetrepresentingtheinsideofafarmhousemeanwhile,thesecondunitgoesouttogetexteriorshotsofarealfarmhouseandthe
landsurroundingit.Later,theshotsareeditedtogether,suchthatyoubeginthescenewithawideshotofthefarm,andthencuttomediumshotsofthe
charactersspeaking,insidethehouse.Theproblemwiththisapproach,aesthetically,isthatitcreatesasubtledisconnectinthemindoftheviewerbetweenthe
charactersandtheirexteriorlocation.Evenwithoutrealizingit,viewerssensethatthecharactersdon'tTRULYoccupytheworldoutsidetheirwindow.

Theeconomicadvantagesoutweighthisdisadvantageformostfilmproductions,butunfortunatelycartoonistshavealsoadoptedthisapproach(perhaps
unwittingly)tonoadvantagewhatsoever.Againandagainincomics,weseeexteriorshotsofbuildingsandlandscapes,followedbywaistupshotsofcharacters
whoseemoddlyseparatedfromtheirsurroundings.ButMoebiusovercamethistendency,successfullyintegratinghischaractersintotheirworldwithshotsof
varyingdistancesthatshowthemmovingthroughtheirenvironments:
Theresultisthattheworldsinhisstoriesfeelrealandwholeinawaythat'srareincomics.They'reuncommonlyimmersive.

That'sallIhavetimefortoday.I'mhopingforachancelatertodrawatributepicofArzach.(Clich?)

sirspamdalot:Process
sirspamdalot:(NoSubject)

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12comments

chuckwheel
 March142012,03:12:57UTC link Collapse

Greatarticle,Jesse.Thanksforthat.Mbiusissheergeniusandwillalwaysbeuptherewithmyalltimefavorites.Ofcoursethereasonsforhisgreatnessare
many.Asidefromitssheerdimensionality,whichyouhighlightsowell,hiseconomyoflineandbalancebetweendetailandwhitespacealsoalwaysstandoutfor
me.
Reply

sirspamdalot
March142012,09:50:47UTC link Collapse

ThanksChuck.Amentoyourpointaboutdetail/whitespace!There'ssomuchtodiscoverandlearnfrominhiswork.
Reply

attn2dtale
March292012,17:54:13UTC link Collapse

Thankyouforthisthoughtfulandpassionateanalysis.I'mstillprocessinghisloss,thoughIhaven'tinvestednearlythetimeandattentionintohisworkthatyou
have.Hewasamasterandwearethepoorerforhisabsence.
Reply

gbrombin
June92013,10:12:32UTC link Collapse

Veryinteresting:)
Iagreewiththeconsiderationshere,butit'simportanttosaythat,whenneeded,this"rules"canbebroken.Ifindmyselfmoreandmoreoftenbreakingdeliberately
theperspectiveorfeelingbetterwithabackgroundrenderedasacompleteplainsurface.
I'dliketoreadananalysisonhishatching&colortecnique:)

g.
Reply

ext_2025208
June172013,13:59:45UTC link Collapse

Thankyou,Jesse.Thisisawonderful,enlightening,dooropeningandveryrespectfulstudy.
ForhiswesterncomicsJeanGiraudusedextensivelythebookonBwesternsTheThrillofItAllforphotoreferences.
InwhichbookappearedthephotosyoushowedusandthatMoebiususedforhisnaturegirlinthe"Rimbaud"comic(Theothermaincharacter,thefatboyis
readingRimbaud)?
Reply

sirspamdalot
June202013,08:01:58UTC link Collapse

Thanks!

Thebookwas"TheHumanForminActionandRepose"(1966).
Reply

ext_2025208
June212013,07:52:35UTC link Collapse

Incredible!Wheredoyougettheseinfosfrom?
Thanksalot,Jesse.
Reply

sirspamdalot
June212013,16:37:51UTC link Collapse

Inthiscaseitwasdumbluck.IhappenedtorunacrossthatbookinsearchofgoodreferenceandnoticedthesimilaritytotheseMoebiuspanels
(andothersbesides).AcoupleofdrawingsMoebiusdidofnudemenfrombehind,fallingorleaping,werefromthatbook,aswasadetailedlow
angledrawingofanude,crossleggedwoman,andmore.
Reply

ext_2025208
June232013,17:47:40UTC link Collapse

Funny.PrettywellthesamewithmeandAlanBarbour'sTheThrillofItAll.
 Reply

livejournal
July32013,21:08:30UTC link Collapse

YourmonthlydoseofMoebius
User randy_byersreferencedtoyourpostfromYourmonthlydoseofMoebiussaying:[...]above)(1997)QCalsopointedtoaninterestinganalysisofMoebius'
attentiontotechnicaldetail[...]
Reply

Anonymous
March242014,08:58:04UTC link Collapse

Goodanalysis.TheonlypointyouforgetisthatMoebiusLIKEDtousephotoreferences.Itwasnotaboringobligationtohim.Everyartistdoesnothavethis
facility.
Reply

Anonymous
March252014,13:22:12UTC link Collapse

Greatarticle!Thanks!
Reply

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