The Moebius complex
In my last post - @marty-art commented that my style seems to be very influenced by Moebius/Jean Giraud. And it is true!
I have learned a lot from Moebius, even though he never was my favourite, he has meant a lot to me technically. Maybe even more than some of the cartoonists I love much more. The work of Moebius is stunning, beautiful linework, impressive sense of the human anatomy, but first and foremost with an easy flowing grasp of complex compositions. Like a comic version of Tiepolo or Fragonard. But I also found that there was something artistically immature about his oeuvre. Also on the basic level of some of his drawings. He loved the line but too often he forgot the larger picture, the balance between black and white.
I still love when he was inventive and psychedelic and simple and (more seldom) funny. Le Bandard Fou is great for example.
A person that I was discussing Moebius with on Diaspora brought this interesting point up:
"... on a very subjective point of view, I find he’s kind of convinced of his own talent, and everyone is kneeling in front of him (at least I feel that in France), that may also lead to a kind of laziness I guess."
What I see is more like some sort of opportunism that might be connected to the immaturity I mentioned above. I recently saw a documentary about Moebius/Giraud and this clip is about when he made a superhero comic with Stan Lee. It is funny how his own enthusiasm about being in the sacred halls, is contrasted by Jodorowsky, the Chilean avantgarde artists that he worked with on both film and comics, and US artists like Mike Mignola and Jim Lee, who are much less enthusiastic about the US comic scene.
But strangely I have used and copied Jean Giraud a lot, which might seem strange with all those lukewarm feelings.
Firstly, I shouldn't say 'copied' but 'influenced by' ;)
I am forever influenced by things in my work and even without trying, my art history background comes rushing foward and when I begin a new piece my little catalogue of times/styles/artists/movements pops up and tells me, "Well, that is very 1890 French schoo" or "That brushstroke is very like the American portraitist of the late 19th century" and so on. Of course I tend to sort of live in an eternal beaux art, late 19th century world, so it's no surprise much of my inspiration is born from them (born not copied ;) )
Anyway, I love your style and as I am not that up on very many comic artist it is all fresh to me. Even when I love to do my stark black and white drawings (and I go in and erase a LOT of mid tones and tell myself, NO, only black and the page you hear me) it always ends up looking like a second rate Beardsley with I am rather fine with, as he was one of my favourite with pen and ink, so again, my love of a thing can't help but slip into my mind and hand as I work.
This year I am trying, as my art resolution, to force myself to focus one one of the ways I like to work to make a larger body of work in a more singluar style. It will inevitably seem to be 'inspired' by the past, but c'est la vie or c'est de l'art.
I'm not sure there is any original things left to make in this world, as we are rather at the end of a civilized time. Maybe after the Singularity, the hybrid beings will create a new visual expression.
You are right of course, I use copied and stole and such words that are not really correct, but do reflect my disambigous feeling towards a certain aspect of what I do: my inability to choose a style. There are many artists that has influenced me through the times, and as I was mostly a painter it has been Velasques, Tizian, Picabia, Troels Wörsel, Otto Dix, Constable etc. etc. that was my main focus. But now I have rediscovered my old teenage drawing influences and have returned to wondering about Moebius. I guess this is a way to work with art, to kick it continuously from all angles trying to make sense of it. I have friends who are of the monomaniac type, digging down into one eternally black hole - that is another way, and a way that has been idolised throughout modernism.
Like you I am also looking a lot at the art nouveau, pre-Raphaelite, Jugend and Skønvirke artists these days... and Beardsley of course. I have periods where I jump into places where I would not have looked a year previously, often places that are overlooked or looked down upon. I kind of live for those jumps.
Humans have reinvented themselves since the prehistoric times. I am looking forward to what happens next in your art; be it pop-colour or black on white.
Hehe, great to see you made a little comment into an in-depth post! :)
There's a lot to say about Moebius, which you did, and I guess I agree to a certain level: visually he's absolutely great (and I think his surreal stories are among the best as well) but he can get lost in his own tales as well.
I like how you compared him to the Beatles, very important and influential, yet not directly. I guess I have the same with some artists, who have influenced my way of painting, without me worshipping their every canvas.
That being said, my collection of Moebius has its place in my collection :)
Obviously I have a lot of Moebius in my collection too :)
Even my untrained eye recognizes that you two have something in common.
Glad you shared this.
Blueberry and laziness...I like it, or more like i’m lovin it. The desert sections of Chihauhua Pearl is my favorite, fantastic ink and color, no need for any story, pure mood. The first picture in this post is a perfect blend of You and The Danish artist Palle Nielsen!
Yes, the Blueberry albums with Charlier were great. Chihauhua Pearl was the one album that survived in our collection and it was always lying around somewhere. The toilet, the floor of the chaotic, untidy room of my brother. The same was true for another western album - Jon Cartland, River of the Wind. The last one is still lying in my parents toilet and I looked at it while home for Christmas, realising that I never read the second part...
I prefer the name creatively unordered room ☺
I know of Moebius through Jodorowsky's comics. He is a great artist and I love his style very much :)
I can definitely see his influences in your style, @katharsisdrill :) A great muse, to be sure !
I was blown away by the "John Difool" series and since then kind of a fan of Moebius. To get to know your opinion about his work is definitely interesting. Maybe his superstar-status made him a bit lazy and arrogant, on the other hand his influence wouldn't have been so lasting, if he wasn't exremely good in his work (despite his attitude).
He was increadibly important to us back then too, and I do not think that you can dispute his greatness as an artist. But still I never really was turned on, like I am by other artists. I have the same with The Beatles. I like and respect their music, I even admire it, but I never really got into it in the same way I have with other artists.
It's funny, that you mention the Beatles, because I was thinking about the exact same comparison ;-)
They will be mentioned in an upcoming page of a comic you follow. Gwen likes them because she heard them at granny's place, but she never realised that half of them are dead...
Good one. I didn't realize, that even 'Pussy Riot' covered that song:
Also didn't know, that Charles Manson was a Beatles fan.
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