Ligne-Claire
Vittorio Giardino
This self-taught New York–based illustrator conveys the human world with a ligne claire–inspired style.
We’ve long admired the tranquil, delicate scenes illustrator Manshen Lo creates with just brushes and ink. So when we found out she’s stepped into the world of animation, we couldn’t wait to see how her quietly-powerful characters moved off the page.
“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 is 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.
Comic Creator Christophe Blain
Manshen Lo is a visual artist and animator based in London. Her artistic style has its roots in East Asia, and she cites sequential art, cinematography, and the
Peter van Dongen
“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 is 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.
Everything from Jean Giraud's iconic ligne claire style to the brutalist architecture of the 70s played a role in developing this unforgettable visual style.
Garen Ewing is a comic creator, illustrator and designer best known for writing and illustrating the critically acclaimed Adventures of Julius Chancer: The Rainbow Orchid, winner of a 2013 Young People’s Comic Award.
The popularity of Tintin and the work load that it consequently generated for Herge was such that for much of the post war period the small coterie of artists he would call in to help meet delivery dates for Tintin as well as "Jo Zette et Jocko","Quick Et Flupke" and any number of design briefs, had expanded into a studio with a team of assistants, who according to their capabilities would be assigned backgrounds, research, coloring etc, etc. Amongst the earliest recruits was the opera loving Edgar P. Jacobs (he was by all accounts an accomplished Baritone singer), who was responsible for adding an extra layer of detail to much of the hitherto relatively spartan backgrounds. Jacobs was also responsible for overseeing the post war move into color which was spectacularly showcased by the serialization of "Prisoners of the Sun". The cover of "Les Cigares du Pharaon" includes Jacobs as one of the mummified Egyptologists - look for the red bow tie). Jacobs was an accomplished artist and storyteller himself and his energies spilled beyond the confines of his work on Tintin, when in 1946 he launched the "Blake and Mortimer" strip in the weekly Tintin Journal. The style that Jacobs adopted was in truth very similar to that used by Herge. The beauty of the style which is characterized by a linear emphasis rather than reliance on areas of dropped shadow had the added bonus of being more accommodating to a studio set up where diverse hands are always liable to undermine continuity. The adventures of "Blake and Mortimer" although never as successful in global terms as Tintin did garner a sufficiently sizeable audience for a succession of Blake and Mortimer albums to be issued and by the early sixties a distinctly Francophone look had been established for comics read by millions of children in Europe which was at a distinct variance to the much more superhero dominated product emanating from the U.S. It was a look which captivated and inspired a whole new generation of young artists in France, Belgium, Holland, Spain and Italy and one which one of the artists who forefronted this resurgence, the Dutch artist Joost Swarte dubbed the "ligne clair". Also referred to as "the democracy of line", because the line itself through maintaining a consistent weight, does not lend any particular import to any part of the illustration. Emphasis is achieved through balance of color with areas of strong tonal contrast being offset by areas where the color is much more laid back. The whole effect is one of great elegance, where the eye is guided by design and nuances of color. Included in the examples shown here are the aforementioned Joost Swarte, a sublime collaboration between Yves Chaland and Serge Clerc, Ted Benoit (who has created artwork for some of the "Blake and Mortimer"titles published in recent years including this color sample as well as his Private Eye "Ray Banana" who has just had a collision with an Ever Meulen articulated truck), Peter Van Dongen (the tiger sequence from "Rampoken") a wonderful Tintin spoof by Jacques Tardi (from "Les Cigares du Pharaon"), Ever Meulen with one of his wonderfully idiosynchratic roadsters and the UK's very own Garen Ewing - more on Garen shortly.
Meant to reblog this here dangit. More reference stuff I need to practice!
Joost Swarte
The illustrator on changing careers, architectural storytelling and the advantages of agencies.
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