Rob Liefeld can't draw feet
This is a subject that has been close to my heart for nearly 10 years now.
Around the mid 90's, Poncho my lil bro was big into Image Comics. I read more than my fair share
of them, Youngblood, Spawn, Savage Dragon etc. They were enjoyable reads but after a while my main
Rob Liefeld can't draw feet.
It soon became an obsession, going through all the back issues , sometimes laughing, sometimes in awe
that dodgy looking cloud of yellow smoke rids the artist of any annoying forshortening.
And when he HAD to draw feet, they usually looked like this..........
And his figure drawing sometimes threw away all the rules and invented new ones. Check out the scale of these characters standing beside each other, and that Captain America is just fuckin silly looking!
But regardless of how many times I slag his art, I still respect anyone regardless of profession who can wing their way to the top. I admire his attitude, he didn't let the fact that he can't draw feet or do proportion right get in his way. If I had waited until I had the whole drawing thing down I'd still be chasing my tail instead of just getting the finger out and giving it a try.
I'm now more interested in the fact that although he's clearly a flawed artist, he's still reached the top and is revered by thousands. I'd liken him to the pop sensation/fucknut Robbie Williams, both lacking any distinguishing or exceptional talent yet they still appeal to the masses.
In writing this piece my opinion on Rob Liefeld has changed, it's not the 'Liefeld can suck my dick' rant that I envisaged when I was just another fanboy eager to add their venom to the anti-Liefeld movement, In viewing alot of his stuff for this I've come to see his composition skills fiendishly creative and as an encouraging example to aspiring comic artists. Maybe thats why he's so popular with the kids. Maybe it's me just being another hack artist who can relate to him not being able to draw feet.
Here are two great sites that show way more pictures and info on his cliches and plagarism.
http://www.omgcomics.com/Rob_Liefeld_tribute.htm
http://julien-gautier.club.fr/rob_copie.jpg
11 Comments:
In fairness, he started working when he was pretty young and he took on as much work as he could because he wanted money for his poverty stricken family (I think his Da was dying to). He plotted, inked and penciled just for the extra money. He made his name by being able to do that and by being able to do it fast - "Fast" = shortcuts = no feet.
He picked up some bad habits by
Bob sez: Hey, fast don't equal shortcuts man, Sergio Aragones is fast. I admire Liefeld's balls for just doing it anyway regardless of talent. Check out his contemporary
work on his official site
man you're right! What a hack. Great article and great site, I've bookmarked you
The world is a very equal place because of the constraint of time on humans. For all his drawing flaws, he has many other attributes that are superior to better draftsmen. Composition and dyanmics certainly being part of that, as well as the ability to tell a story in pictures that makes enough sense, a talent alot of high skilled pin ups can't manage.
The growth of so called correct anatomy in comics is laughable. Many of the artists study Loomis and such books but lack the application. Fanboys laugh when they see 8 packs drawn by an artist an mock it as some bad 90s reject, despite many body builders have 8 packs, and some 10 packs due to gentic factors and the way the abdominal muscles are formed to begin with.
HAHA Nice try, Rob!
Hoo boy! Look at these Liefeld apologists go, eh? Dude, his storytelling is much less comprehensible than you think, and every apect of his art suck. Even his composition. Go defend someone who's worth it, retard.
Doing research...I stumbled upon a page by Jose Garcia Lopez...it seems we have another case of plagarism for that crazy Captain America cover...check it out...here.
Bob sez: Well spotted man!
Fast most certainly does not equal shortcuts. Jack Kirby was fast, and managed to keep his quality. Rob Liefeld went fast, got sloppy, and decided that the slop was the best part, and made that more pronounced.
As for his handle on dynamics, how about none? I've seen pages where people were having conversations, and they were still striking completely out of place poses. Why would you, during a conversation, spread your legs as far as you could, and then cover your groin with your fists? Because if you've been drawn by Rob Liefeld, you've probably got a myriad of lines pointing at it.
I really soured on his work when the Heroes Reborn came out. Many of the pages were white space. It's better when he puts more the effort in.
He does do sketches for people at the convention though.
The dude can draw and who even gives a crap about drawing feet? Do you guys have such a hard on for feet it bothers you that much? Before all you whiney bitches flap your gums, name your favortie artist. I'm sure they're perfect so there's be no way to point out their flaws...........
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