Sunday, June 7, 2009

Style

Thanks for all the fascinating and helpful comments in yesterday's post about the subject of teachers drawing on top of student work.

To follow up and finish, here's a twelve panel cartoon called "Style," by A. B. Frost, published in Scribners in 1891. Note that the young artist asks the older artist to rework his piece, so he has only himself to blame for the calamatous result. (Click to enlarge.)


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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 7, 2009 at 12:39 PM

    That's a great great cartoon.

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  2. SteveJune 7, 2009 at 1:03 PM

    Thanks for posting this! I love the expressive, over-the-top body language and facial expressions -- even the hair gets into the act. I especially like the panel in which the "expert's" arm motions are a blur and the final panel; devastated despair. A.B. Frost is one of my all-time favorites. Connecting back to an earlier post about the relative importance of line vs. "tone," Frost's work is eloquent testimony to the power of line.

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  3. Erik BongersJune 7, 2009 at 5:43 PM

    The exaggerated body language is indeed great. Except for the fourth frame where the older artists request the tools by sticking out his hand sideways without facing the younger artist.
    So the younger artist is not taking the initiative here. A subtle but important diffence in the plot.

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  4. Christine WalkerJune 7, 2009 at 5:54 PM

    And yet it's still funny.
    Did you notice how much the younger artist resembles Andy Warhol?

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  5. frank gressieJune 7, 2009 at 5:55 PM

    why is that canvas slightly tilted by the top? reduce glares or something? anyways, great cartoon, although he could have done that in less pictures haha!

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  6. James GurneyJune 7, 2009 at 6:50 PM

    Erik: Yes, I think you've got it right. The obsequious young artist is handing the materials to the old guy at the latter's request, and maybe against the younger artist's better judgment.

    It's amazing how such subtleties of acting can be conveyed by a master draftsman. I love the way the young artist echoes the old guy's poses all the way along until the breaking point.

    Frank, yes, hanging the top of the canvas forward is for glare reduction.

    If you like A.B. Frost and want to see more, check out the inexpensive Dover reprint called "The Bull Calf and other Tales." As Steve said, he is the master of line and over-the-top exaggeration...though by today's standards, some of his stuff isn't exactly politically correct.

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  7. Kendra MeltonJune 7, 2009 at 8:58 PM

    that's amazing, especially after the last post. Thank you!

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  8. Jesse HammJune 8, 2009 at 4:40 AM

    Love it! The last panel made me laugh out loud.

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  9. jesusest@gmail.comJune 8, 2009 at 12:44 PM

    It is funny, I am an art teacher, and I constantly do take the brush of my students hand to correct what ever they are doing bad. I keep painting their painting until they take the brush from me. at that moment, I know they are ready to do the job fine. Is the same as when you take the toy from a kid hand to play yourself, they get mad

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  10. Erik BongersJune 8, 2009 at 6:00 PM

    Jesus Estevez, you just gave a whole new twist to the art student/teacher debate of the last two posts.
    It's quite a provocative approach!
    (and thus I kinda like it)

    The Karate Kid Teaching Method (irritate-your-student-to-perfection-and-from-obsequious-to-proud) applied to arts.

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  11. treplovskiJune 10, 2009 at 5:23 PM

    And now I know who was Michael Witte's big influence!

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