Best pencilers: 1990-current - Page 3

Scottsdale Saint · 08-02-2006, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galactus

IMO, Jim Lee is nothing without Scott Williams finishing his stuff for him. The same thing can be said of Byrne, whose art is no where near as nice without Austin inking him (have you seen Byrnes self inked stuff???).

The problem with questions like this is it is rare to see actual pencils as opposed to an inked or fully finished page. Artists like Jim Lee and John Byrne have tought me the importance of a good inker to finish things off. There is also the fact that many artists mentioned (Hughes especially) don't intend for Pencils to be a finished work, so there are things missing from their artwork which are supposed to be filled in with inks and colors. So, it's hard to say how good a "penciler" some of these artists are as opposed to how good an "artist" they are.

My favorite Penciler is obviously Ron Lim, with Art Adams a close second. And I can honestly say that Rons Pencils are WAY better than anything he has had printed (though Milgrom and Austin are very good at inking Rons work). Art Adams work is unbeatable so long as he is inking himself.

while i agree that a great inker definitely enhances pencils, i don't necessarily agree that a great penciled page can't stand on it's own.

take Byrne for example, his raw pencils are horrible, because instead of actually finishing a rendered page, he goes from breakdowns straight to inks. i'm sure that they're not stick figure breakdowns, but they're breakdowns nonetheless. i call it shortcutting, he calls it an evolution of his style.

jim lee's pencils are much tighter than Byrnes's and i think they definitely can stand on their own, even without the stellar Williams inks.

galactus · 08-02-2006, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottsdale Saint

while i agree that a great inker definitely enhances pencils, i don't necessarily agree that a great penciled page can't stand on it's own.

take Byrne for example, his raw pencils are horrible, because instead of actually finishing a rendered page, he goes from breakdowns straight to inks. i'm sure that they're not stick figure breakdowns, but they're breakdowns nonetheless. i call it shortcutting, he calls it an evolution of his style.

jim lee's pencils are much tighter than Byrnes's and i think they definitely can stand on their own, even without the stellar Williams inks.

I totally think that a fantastic penciled page CAN stand on it's own. I just happen to think that Jim Lee and John Byrne aren't artists that this rule applies too. I think they need inkers to make their artwork great.

Scottsdale Saint · 08-02-2006, 07:50 PM

as far as my vote for best current pencilers, my caveat for my vote, is the artist has to actually have a decent quantitative body of work, and be more than just a cover artist.

george perez-amazing that someone could actually still be a relevant penciler this long and arguably be better now than he was twenty years ago.

john cassaday-love his sequential storytelling and how versatile he is. he can go from an incredibly detailed page, to something that has minimal backgrounds, all in serving to tell the story better.

bryan hitch-great eye for detail, and i love his realistic anatomy, sexy women without anatomy defying proportion. can't stand that mike turner's art has stagnated to the point where all his ladies look exactly the same with different colored hair.

other great artists that i put in the same category:
darwyn cooke
jim lee
gary frank
steve dillon
mike deodato

marvelboi77 · 08-02-2006, 08:15 PM

George Perez, Jim Lee, Michael Turner. But Perez is the best.

Scottsdale Saint · 08-02-2006, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galactus

I totally think that a fantastic penciled page CAN stand on it's own. I just happen to think that Jim Lee and John Byrne aren't artists that this rule applies too. I think they need inkers to make their artwork great.

the only difference is lee's pages are great before and after. byrne's pages are mediocre before and after, IMO. it's a shame as i thought his stuff up until the short run on Incredible Hulk (314-317), was some of the best stuff ever made.

his run on FF, will probably be unrivaled as far as quality and length as it was over five years of kickass pencils. it's really sad to look at any of that stuff and look at anything he's done in the last ten years. i think the only thing i've liked that he's done recently was the Captain America/Batman crossover he did a few years back.

VaultMan · 08-02-2006, 10:40 PM

Good debate goin'...

Leon · 08-03-2006, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galactus

Artists like Jim Lee and John Byrne have tought me the importance of a good inker to finish things off.

There's also the thing of an inker screwing things up.
Look at Texeira. He used to ink his own stuff and it was good, imo. Then he did a few ltd-series and let Palmiotti ink his stuff. I don't think Palmiotti is a bad inker per se, but he didn't adapt to Tex's style, so the final product was nothing like Tex's work.
And there are a lot examples for my own man, Tom Raney. He finally has a good regular inker, Scott Hanna, but before there were a number of inkers that seriously screwed his art up. Looking at someone's entire carreer, you'll notice these things easier.

joy_division · 08-03-2006, 09:30 AM

don't think that greg horn should be listed, seeing as most of his stuff is digital painting, in fact, any painters shiuldn't really be allowed

Aarrgghh!! · 08-03-2006, 09:56 AM

How is Alan Davis missing from this list?

Scottsdale Saint · 08-03-2006, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Léon 't Hoen

I don't think Palmiotti is a bad inker per se, but he didn't adapt to Tex's style, so the final product was nothing like Tex's work.
.

don't ask Darick Robertson about Palmiotti. we were talking to him at WWLA earlier this year, and he thought JP did an abominable job over his pencils for the Fury mini-series.