Arthur Lipsett

JEAN GIRAUD May 8, 1938 - March 10, 2012

"...de l'électricité l'éclair, de l'éclair la lumière.”

Geof Darrow Part 2: Heir to "Ligne Claire"

“Ligne claire”(“clear line”), exemplified in the ‘sequential art’ of artist Georges Prosper Remi under the pen name “Hergé”, is the single most difficult stylistic approach in which to illustrate ‘sequential art’. The draftsmanship and compositional challenges it presents are daunting, and the manner in which it exposes the artist are unforgiving. An artist has a much more difficult time concealing technical and narrative design flaws in the absence of stylistic marks or large areas of solid black. Today, many artists using “ligne claire” are either reductive in their interpretation or derivative in their approach.

The technical vulnerabilities that the style risks exposing, while significant, are nothing when compared to the manner in which "ligne claire" reveals any deficiencies of investigation or any disconnect between narrative elements and an underlying metaphor. The approach's success only reaches its full potential when an artist possesses the capacity to do both.

Geof Darrow’s work is a truly exceptional example of “ligne claire” in ‘sequential art’, because of the way that his artwork utilizes “linge claire” in a manner that speaks to the time in which we find ourselves living. Darrow’s ability to use this visual language to create a unique voice is largely the result of his inherent authenticity as an artist. Through his work, Darrow is able to accentuate the radiance of the ‘commonplace’ and, very often, the banality of the ‘sacred’.

Darrow’s art displays a profound sensitivity to our modern surroundings, and how overwhelmingly complicated they have become. The visual quality of his artwork acknowledges the relentless nature of modern life and its constant bombardment of sensory stimuli. It is intellectually lazy to classify the complexity and density, present in some of Darrow’s storytelling imagery, as a shortcoming because it fails to abide by the modern belief in the sanctity of simplicity. Darrow’s ability to share his observations and idiosyncrasies, as well as his ability to conjure modern visual metaphors, allow his “ligne claire” work to transcend the twentieth century ideal of paternalism and formula at the expense of nuance and investigation.

While “ligne claire” master Hergé’s art and its ongoing significance, are both a source of celebration and lamentation, what is often overlooked is that his art’s value, as an essential touchstone for us today, is based largely on it being a portrait of the time and place in which it was created. Unfortunately, the popularity and influence of Hergé’s work has inadvertently codified “ligne claire”, as a method, and tethered it to Hergé’s voice as an artist. It is the work of Geof Darrow that has begun to liberate “ligne claire” through the international influences that inform his work, and his ability to examine the cultural landscape as it transitions into the twenty-first century.

It is fascinating to view Hergé’s work and his vision of the twentieth century, today. One can see how its simplicity can be a soothing respite from the twenty-first century and its many complexities(both visual and literal), and it is almost certain that this simplicity was equally soothing to an audience experiencing the horrors of the twentieth. It is similarly soothing for aspiring 'sequential artists' to adopt Hergé's established style and avoid the decades of struggle it took for Hergé to arrive at it.

What Darrow offers us now, is a much-needed affirmation of how our surroundings have changed in the age of industrialism. Darrow’s work allows us to examine a visual landscape teeming with mass-produced, complicated, and instantly disposable packaging and products, that(were they handmade) would surely provoke us to examine them. As Darrow creates visual facsimiles of them by hand, he enriches these objects and calls our attention to them.

The sum of these qualities make Geof Darrow the heir to “ligne claire”. His most compelling work yet is his ongoing series, “The Shaolin Cowboy”. Its trans-genre stream of consciousness narrative, creates mythic imagery inspired by everything from Shintaro Katsu’s “Zatoichi” to Sergio Leone’s Westerns.

If one is interested in exploring the relationship between Hergé's and Geof Darrow's work further, it might be helpful to begin by comparing "Les Adventures de Tintin" and "The Shaolin Cowboy". In particular, noting that both artists include a similar white animal sidekick that seems to always be a step ahead of the protagonist, and the different manner in which the two artists have used sharks as a metaphor in their stories.

EIKO ISHIOKA July 12, 1939 – January 21, 2012

"...and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest"

Geof Darrow Part 1: "The Art of Attention"

Geof Darrow's art has made great contributions to both ‘sequential art’ and cinematic conceptual design. The success of his work is often misunderstood as being achieved by its abundance of what many refer to as ‘detail’. The term ‘detail’ is far too inclusive or inaccurate to be used to describe the quality of Darrow’s work that makes it great. Praising his work for the amount of ‘detail’ it possesses would be shallow praise, and it would overlook what is truly exceptional about Darrow’s work. Geof Darrow’s supreme qualities as an artist are his power of observation, the depth of his investigation, and his ability to translate his insights into art. What makes his work truly exceptional is Darrow’s practice of “the art of attention”.

Below are some examples of Darrow’s conceptual art from the Wachowskis' film series “The Matrix”. The art is a product of fantasy, and while it possesses ‘detail’, the art is not driven by a need to create quality by means of its quantity of marks. Instead, Darrow utilizes his years of observation, exploration, and investigation to inform the visual metaphors he is charged with communicating.

What differentiates Geof Darrow, as an artist, is the quality of the individual elements his designs possess. They do not weaken or distract from the meaning he is intending to convey as a whole, because of the intelligence he brings to the visual choices he makes.

The “used future” that was a hallmark of the film “Star Wars” in 1977, is one of the most misunderstood aesthetic concepts of modern visual design. ‘Detail’, in the work of the novice artist (and the mind of the incurious) depicts worn or broken objects that cannot be imagined as new or whole, and visual elements that assault the viewer without informing them. Geof Darrow's work has a truly unique capacity to enrich any viewer or student willing to investigate and acknowledge the level of ‘attention’ that informs it.

If we all practiced “the art of attention” that Geof Darrow brings to his work, our own work would be better for it.

In a lecture entitled, “It Doesn’t Matter if You Die for It”, which I have embedded the second part of below, Jiddu Krishnamurti articulates “the art of attention” beautifully from 02:00.

Eiko Ishioka Featurette for Tarsem's "IMMORTALS"

Below is a short featurette on Eiko Ishioka, an artist I showcased in a previous post. It would be impossible to overstate her brilliance.

"VERTIGO" Envisioned: Storyboards from Alfred Hitchcock's Masterpiece

Below are a collection of storyboards from Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece "Vertigo" that utilize a breathtaking redwood grove and the brightness of day to create a haunting scene and a palpable sense of foreboding.

Here are the storyboards created for one of the most finely crafted sequences in "Vertigo." Masterful images in their own right, they showcase the brilliance of the sequence's framing and the supreme quality that comes from an artist understanding the camera's ability to paint in broad and graphic strokes.

Below is the scene as it unfolds on film.