Swipes of Alan Davis' art
-
- Creator/Esteemed Guest
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:28 am
Hi folks on the board. I'm a huge fan of Alan Davis and Mark Farmer's work and a comic pro myself. And it was a pleasure recently to have Alan do the covers of a couple of issues of X-Men Legacy, the book I currently pencil.
With that in mind I found it sobering to have a Surfer swipe of mine mentioned by Ilke here on the board and I was bothered enough to send an email to Alan directly. Having heard back, I thought I'd post part of what I wrote him.
"I've swiped your work an number of times and leaned on it heavily a lot of my career. I'm self taught and during a lot of periods I learned by examining my favorite artists and most prominently you. And a number of times I wanted nothing more than to do faces or shots exactly like you would. Very often my entire notion was that there's no better way to do this than the way Alan Davis' done it. Weird but that was my head-set very often."
My point to him and here is that I know ripping a guys work off is a poor way to say thank you, but it actually helped me learn to do something I love. Not to defend it at all---just to let him know I regret it and give credit where credit's due.
Best,
Scot
With that in mind I found it sobering to have a Surfer swipe of mine mentioned by Ilke here on the board and I was bothered enough to send an email to Alan directly. Having heard back, I thought I'd post part of what I wrote him.
"I've swiped your work an number of times and leaned on it heavily a lot of my career. I'm self taught and during a lot of periods I learned by examining my favorite artists and most prominently you. And a number of times I wanted nothing more than to do faces or shots exactly like you would. Very often my entire notion was that there's no better way to do this than the way Alan Davis' done it. Weird but that was my head-set very often."
My point to him and here is that I know ripping a guys work off is a poor way to say thank you, but it actually helped me learn to do something I love. Not to defend it at all---just to let him know I regret it and give credit where credit's due.
Best,
Scot
-
- Creator
- Posts: 472
- Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:13 pm
I believe the quoted paragraph in Scot's post is true to a greater or lesser extent for every artist in any medium whether they have the courage to admit it or not.
We can all spot a deliberate, straight swipe but an exact determination of when influence becomes swipe is impossible to define. To my way of thinking, whether making a definite swipe or just taking an influence from another artist, the important thing is to give due credit. I have always made a point of listing my influences, and as Eric Nolen-Weathington will attest, I insisted on having the ‘influence’ section in the Modern Masters book, because I believe so strongly that we are all part of an evolutionary continuum-- nothing originates from a vacuum. As I have said elsewhere, anyone who thinks an artist is original is simply ignorant of their influences.
The whole ‘swipe spotting’ thing has grown purely because of the dishonest handful who swipe other artist’s work but blatantly deny it. I had the misfortune to have one particular Walter Mitty hitch a ride on my coat-tails some years ago and since that time he has made the most ludicrous and pathetic justifications imaginable, some attacking my reputation, rather than simply being man enough to tell the truth. He and others like him could learn from Scot's example.
It was a genuine pleasure to read Scot’s frank honest analysis. Not only because it offers insight into the thought process and motivations of an artist (which is true for most if not all artists at some point in their development) but also to know that there are folk, like Scot, with honesty and integrity, still at work within the industry.
Alan
We can all spot a deliberate, straight swipe but an exact determination of when influence becomes swipe is impossible to define. To my way of thinking, whether making a definite swipe or just taking an influence from another artist, the important thing is to give due credit. I have always made a point of listing my influences, and as Eric Nolen-Weathington will attest, I insisted on having the ‘influence’ section in the Modern Masters book, because I believe so strongly that we are all part of an evolutionary continuum-- nothing originates from a vacuum. As I have said elsewhere, anyone who thinks an artist is original is simply ignorant of their influences.
The whole ‘swipe spotting’ thing has grown purely because of the dishonest handful who swipe other artist’s work but blatantly deny it. I had the misfortune to have one particular Walter Mitty hitch a ride on my coat-tails some years ago and since that time he has made the most ludicrous and pathetic justifications imaginable, some attacking my reputation, rather than simply being man enough to tell the truth. He and others like him could learn from Scot's example.
It was a genuine pleasure to read Scot’s frank honest analysis. Not only because it offers insight into the thought process and motivations of an artist (which is true for most if not all artists at some point in their development) but also to know that there are folk, like Scot, with honesty and integrity, still at work within the industry.
Alan
-
- Posts: 112
- Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:23 pm
-
- Site Admin
- Posts: 143
- Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 7:54 pm
- Location: Logan, UT
-
- Creator/Esteemed Guest
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:28 am
-
- Posts: 128
- Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 6:46 pm
- Location: western Massachusetts USA
- Contact:
My art is so bad that people can't even recognize that I'm heavily influenced by Alan's work and have attempted to swipe his spot blacks on occassion.
DM Jim
DM Jim
My comic is sold here:
http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product ... ts_id=4454
http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product ... ts_id=4454
Batman 1989 movie sticker #30...
http://cgi.ebay.com/BATMAN-1989-TOPPS-R ... 2559e4b89a
http://www.nslists.com/batmov2.htm
The cover of Detective Comics #575..
http://www.alandavis-comicart.com/images/tec575.jpg
http://cgi.ebay.com/BATMAN-1989-TOPPS-R ... 2559e4b89a
http://www.nslists.com/batmov2.htm
The cover of Detective Comics #575..
http://www.alandavis-comicart.com/images/tec575.jpg
The packaging for a bootleg Batman action figure from Uruguay...
http://batcavetrophyroom.blogspot.com/2 ... -from.html
...features a swipe of a Batman illo (except the head) by Davis/Farmer from Batman: Full Circle.
http://batcavetrophyroom.blogspot.com/2 ... -from.html
...features a swipe of a Batman illo (except the head) by Davis/Farmer from Batman: Full Circle.
5!
The artist of this promo piece seems to have gotten Bloodties mixed up with Bloodlust...
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?q=spo ... d=&PubRng=
The artist of this promo piece seems to have gotten Bloodties mixed up with Bloodlust...
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?q=spo ... d=&PubRng=
-
- Posts: 112
- Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 8:23 pm
Re: Swipes of Alan Davis' art
This piece, Ilke?
Re: Swipes of Alan Davis' art
This punch (top panel) from Wonder Man #15 looks awfully familiar...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MARVEL-COMIC-CO ... 2eb3dd3869
http://www.icollector.com/Alan-Davis-an ... e_i6144361
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MARVEL-COMIC-CO ... 2eb3dd3869
http://www.icollector.com/Alan-Davis-an ... e_i6144361