Oh, Liefeld. Pouches and angry constipated faces. And horrible, horrible proportions. How this man gets pro jobs, I shall never, ever figure out.

As a long time comic book/graphic novel reader, I approve of this message.

---------------

Alt chars: Daevra, Alynore, Lormar, Aerella

Horde alt: Linnadia

Oh man. That guy nearly ruined Deadpool for me. How he was ever hired by Marvel is completely beyond me.

 But yes, I lol'd! And think that it's true. With even mild practice, it is not hard to be better than Rob Liefeld.

Inspired by Liefield, I have decided to emulate him!

Behold! To the left, the before-Shryn, how I would have drawn her without Liefield's guidelance. Five fingers. A smile. Feet. Straight back!

To the right! ....well, I'll let it speak for itself.

Yes, I have been drinking.

PS: the first one to suggest Shryn does in actuality resemble the right version will die after catching sensitive body parts in a dryer-hot zipper.

----
"Do you know what the definition of a hero is? Someone who gets other people killed. You can look it up later."

((

I can see plenty of things that are wrong with the drawing, however there is one thing you've forgotten to mention... he sold it. Ayep, folks can grouse all they want about its quality, but to be a working artist you have to be able to sell your work. Yes it maybe crap, but the man made a living off it. So we can joke all we want, but he's laughing all the way to the bank to use an older cliche. There was a market and he exploited it. So budding artists, if you care to be more than starving artists take a lesson from Mr. Liefeld's sucess. Comic art is a business and in Mr. Liefeld's case that business is giving form to the sexual fantasies of young males. There's a lot of them, they have coin and they're just waiting for someone to come along and take it from them. That someone can be you.

))

((I think you're putting way too much seriousness in this thread. Not only that but I think people were critisizing his talent, not his business sense. Encouraging artists to take the lessons of doing the bare minimum to cater to a profitable audience is unwise and unrealistic.)

 I personally see nothing wrong with the drawing.  In fact, if I am going to be critical, her chest could be bigger.  I eagerly await the day where we have progressed to the point where the female figure is drawn with only a chest, buttocks and a couple pouches.

A quick edit; yes, this is an open invitation for you MS Painters to satisfy my curiosity and draw a boob-butt-pouch girl.

 You know what I find interesting.  All the fun stuff above with folks drawing their character then drawing it in Liefeld-style?  The Liefeld ones are, in my opinion, more interesting, detailed and creative than the stick figures or cookie-cutter drawings. 

Liefeld may or may not be anatomically correct, and of course he takes all kinds of shortcuts. It's comic book art; it's not gallery art (not saying the two can't cross over, but comic book art is rarely art-for-art's sake.)  I'd be curious to see if Liefeld COULD really draw if put to it. He certainly does a lot of things a whole lot better than I do.

ZOMG SERIOUSNESS! =O

____________________

Just call me Artie, dear.

Whatever one may choose to say about Mr. Liefeld's talents, I can't deny that attempting a picture in another artist's style is hella fun. Hence, without further ado, I present Aedran, with her very own Liefeld makeover.

((Ahaha I can't keep a straight face looking at it!))

A lot of those Image books Liefeld started aren't popular, or still circulating. The Marvel books? People are buying those titles for characters they've followed for X number of years (or decades), sometimes regardless of writer and artist. The medium hasn't been for youth for a long time; many of the readers are young to middle aged men and women who started reading young, but the stories and characters have matured (and darkened) quite a bit.

For me, the art is too integral to the comic format to put up with painfully contorted characters, characters that I can't tell who they are, sloppy backgrounds, etc. I have dropped titles I normally follow if the art and/or writing, or both, are suffering under someone who got their job based on connections and not actual ability (which also includes being able to get out decent art and writing on time), or if they simply have no handle on the characters and the theme of the book. I have better books and other things to spend my cash on.

It may not be the most respected medium out there (and various awards groups have changed their rules so a graphic novel can't win again after some of the notable ones like Sandman), but people do enjoy them, some stories do breakthrough to mainstream, and it's still a professional writing and artistic job. There are several comic artists who can draw more realistic characters (even if still exaggerated compared to real life, and in silly costumes), detailed backgrounds with proper light and shading, and integrated props, while still meeting monthly deadlines. I know several of the artists here could if they had Liefeld's apparent connections.

Liefeld may be "living his dream" and making enough money to pay his bills plus a bit extra, but even among less mature readers, his art and writing aren't popular, and are regularly complained about and mocked in comic communities. The real trouble is, too many readers are attached enough to the characters and titles that they don't think to show the company their displeasure by writing in, or simply not buying until the creative team is changed again.

---------------

Alt chars: Daevra, Alynore, Lormar, Aerella

Horde alt: Linnadia

(just popping in after a bit of a hiatus, apologies!)

Oooooh, this is a loaded subject. 

Jackson Pollock, Picasso .... I could not understand why these two men were legends. It took me until years after college till I really appreciated these two men. Now I love them and admire what they did. :)

When admiring (or dismissing) Picasso's work, for example, examine his pre-cubist work. He was a master.

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael,
but a lifetime to paint like a child”

 ~Picasso

It's not what they did but how they did it, and very most importantly, WHEN they did it. I cannot deny the rediculousness of all three of these artists (ie, included Mr. Leifield here) when you get right down to correctness and technique, but there is something that they did at the right place and time to get noticed.

It does blow me away that some artists with very clearly no talent get work, but like Eridah said it does have alot to do with getting in front of the right people and knowing how to sell yourself. 

BTW: Doodles in this thread = AWESOME. Especially the booby-face pockets one. F'ing BRILLANT. ;)

------
Horde Mains: Rakesha, Luneaus
inkjetcanvas.deviantart.com

Commission Info Available Here!

I'm actually going to have to agree with Eridah & Artisania. While success does not equal "talent," it's problematic to claim that an artist is bad because they don't adhere to a certain set of standards. It's certainly within the audience's right to object to a work because it doesn't meet those standards, but dismissing the work entirely is absolutely myopic - especially when one considers that the artist isn't creating in a vacuum, but is creating/creating for an audience. Rather than making categorical statements about what an art must do or be, I think the audience ought to be a little more willing to engage with art on its own terms.

I really need to find a basic humanoid drawing guide. He can draw way better than me. <_<

((

As much as I am chuckling at the doodles, I think nearly everyone has missed the point of this topic.

Yes, I was poking fun at Liefeld. He is an easy target.

But what I was really getting at is that if you are self-conscious about your art, and you resist showing it to anyone because you are afraid of criticism, take a cue from Rob Liefeld:

Be bold.

))

--
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.

((

OMG. I may owe Mr. Liefeld an apology. Apparently there are human women who look like that.

))

--
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.