tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post1790122920235209148..comments2024-03-22T08:03:14.052-05:00Comments on Uncle Matt's Blog: Underground comix approach to OSR artMatt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-16939085965503657662012-01-31T15:55:07.886-06:002012-01-31T15:55:07.886-06:00I'm an underground comix artist from the 70s a...I'm an underground comix artist from the 70s and animator and I've put my comix and animation together as a 'light show' for a band in a live show called Rock & Roll Rehab. If any underground comix fans would like to check out the show for FREE just come to the Hayworth Theater, 2511 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 4 or 11 at 8:00 and tell the doorman 'Neal' sent you.<br /><br />Neal Warner<br /><br />www.rocknrollrehab.comRock N Roll Rehab!https://www.blogger.com/profile/06460990712917057699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-80666639183433692622011-05-07T21:31:40.328-05:002011-05-07T21:31:40.328-05:00After I read this post, but before I went to read ...After I read this post, but before I went to read Stefan's original post over at aldeboran, I was wondering "Why is Matt focusing only on art in OSR products?" The one paragraph you quoted at the top doesn't even mention art, and indeed can be read as a much broader comment on the outsider/underground nature of what we in the OSR are doing. "Weird and perverse?" So true in many ways! :-)<br /><br />But yes, Stefan was talking primarily about art -- which BTW for me is way, way, way down on the list of things I look for, or care about, in new work coming out of the OSR.Cygnushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10394890573443379954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-78546426259682435302011-05-07T19:54:30.536-05:002011-05-07T19:54:30.536-05:00Stuart, your book jumps out not so much because it...Stuart, your book jumps out not so much because it is B&W, but because it is simple and easier to "read" (you can tell what it is) from that list of small covers. With most of the other covers, there is just too much clutter. It's as if people think more = better, so they try to cram as much as possible into the cover (a mistake I think).<br /><br />I'm not a fan of B&W covers (I think color covers is the way to go), and I'm not a fan of color interiors (B&W interiors are the way to go, because it doesn't clash with the text, which should also be B&W).<br /><br />I think this is an important point that a lot of people in the OSR miss. If places like RPGNow are your main avenue, you need a cover that reproduces well at a tiny size.Bree Yark!https://www.blogger.com/profile/06805609633299134038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-92209914440776697912011-05-07T19:19:33.008-05:002011-05-07T19:19:33.008-05:00I could have done the cover art for my book in ful...I could have done the cover art for my book in full colour if I'd wanted to, and it wouldn't have taken much more time and effort. I really like the aesthetic of high contrast B&W artwork, and I think it <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/top_100.php" rel="nofollow">helps the book stand out</a>.<br /><br />I have no doubt that many OSR publishers could do their artwork in full colour if they wanted to, but I think many (like me) use B&W not out of necessity, but out of choice. :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457050225967190052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-22785956861244353632011-05-07T17:55:01.176-05:002011-05-07T17:55:01.176-05:00Underground comics publishers (frequently the arti...Underground comics publishers (frequently the artists themselves or collectives thereof)had no choice but to print in b&w for the same economic reasons as OSR-type publishers and the start-up TSR back in the '70s. Sometimes arbitrary limitations nudge creative culture along in new and weird directions. Underground cartoonists had to contend with the howling white emptiness on the page that Marvel could fill with color and did so by inventing or reinventing a wild variety of b&w styles. Another factor is that DIY publishing allows artists whose work is unconventional to become visible (and sometimes popular) without professional art directors to get in the way!jasonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01547485448319713658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-27974911555468670822011-05-07T15:50:15.309-05:002011-05-07T15:50:15.309-05:00@Johnathan: The next issue of Fight On (#12) shoul...@Johnathan: The next issue of Fight On (#12) should have at least one article where an artist produced work first and then a writer built an adventure around it. There could be more coming out of this thread <a href="http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=fanzine&action=display&thread=4677" rel="nofollow">here</a>. <br /><br />The article I know about is based off of <a href="http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=fanzine&thread=4677&page=3#63773" rel="nofollow">Vito's towers</a>.Ndege Diamondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10132847630074370499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-20263065076564104712011-05-07T15:10:09.133-05:002011-05-07T15:10:09.133-05:00Looking back at the pre-1982 D&D artwork, you ...Looking back at the pre-1982 D&D artwork, you see a wide range of styles... foglio, wham, willingham, darlene, otus, tramp, dee, roslof, mclean, sutherland, nicholson, lockwood, jaquays, holloway and so on.<br /><br />I like that there was no coherent art direction applied to those early D&D products. The introduction of art direction, and professional artists, in 1982, was a step backwards.Aaron E. Steelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789462075611254929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-25717396143420153382011-05-07T12:32:39.283-05:002011-05-07T12:32:39.283-05:00Matt, I think there are quite a few artists out th...Matt, I think there are quite a few artists out there that are developing their own stle that does parallel the underground comix work. Stefan, Peter, ATOM, Glad, yourself - all those guys have a distinctive style that is quite different from what the bigger publishers are putting out. I'm enjoying watching the styles develop and diverge. It'd be awesome to have a "fantasy jam" were the artists went crazy and developed a wild image and some of the writer types created an adventure based around those images.Xyanthonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07902260753434100101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-52856548334056318842011-05-07T12:16:09.032-05:002011-05-07T12:16:09.032-05:00...we've already become almost avant gard, alm...<i>...we've already become almost avant gard, almost by accident...</i><br /><br />I think that's the best way of being "avant garde," isn't it? When you just do what you do instead of doing it to try to get attention? "Ars gratia artis" instead of "épater le bourgeois"? My own recent promise to myself is to try to push the envelope a little more... and make my work more reflective of me and my interests and less like a sort of "downmarket fantasy art circa 1980 with too much swipe from TSR era Erol Otus."Stefan Poaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192911890556534923noreply@blogger.com