Saturday, October 23, 2004

Out of the inkwell

Here's a stunning comparison. The first picture is the Dan Jurgens pencil sketch of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, I picked up recently. The second is the exact same drawing after a beautiful inking job by veteran comic artist Josef Rubinstein. Pretty incredible, huh?



As amazing as the art is the manner in which this project unfolded. Joe Rubinstein spotted this drawing in my online gallery at the Comic Art Fans site, and e-mailed me to ask whether I might be interested in commissioning him to ink it. I leapt at the opportunity to have one of my pieces worked on personally by an artist who, at one time or another, has worked on just about every major character in the Marvel and DC pantheons.

I shipped the artwork off just before I left for southern California last week, and it was completed and back on my desk by the time I returned home. And, as you can see here, Mr. Rubinstein's results are nothing short of spectacular. He'll be taking on my Dan Jurgens Booster Gold sketch next.

2 insisted on sticking two cents in:

Blogger Unknown offered these pearls of wisdom...

A good inker is worth their weight in gold. Or hot pizza whichever they like better ;-)

11:33 AM  
Blogger SwanShadow offered these pearls of wisdom...

Anyone who doesn't understand how important an inker is to a finished piece of comic art should take a look at Jack Kirby's work over the years. Because Kirby was so prolific, especially during his Marvel years, his stuff often got inked by whoever was standing around the Bullpen that day. When they passed his pages to a good inker — Joe Sinnott, or Chic Stone — Kirby's art displayed the power and dynamism for which we remember him. When he got stuck with some no-talent clown just going through the motions — Vince Colletta comes to mind — it looked as though Kirby could barely hold a pencil.

As you can see here, Joe Rubinstein's one of the true giants. He's also one heck of a nice guy, too, based on my dealings with him.

1:08 PM  

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