Buscema and Alcala on Conan- the Ultimate Collab?

Art Stuff:  Spent more time drifting this week, reviewing my gallery, browsing those of others, and inquiring into the works and lives of different artists - among them Jack Hamm and, once, again, John Buscema.

I remember my introduction to Hamm more than a decade ago.  And I recall the myriad questions I had at that time about how to proceed with inking.  When I look at his work, now, it's all very clear.  I have no questions.  I know exactly how to proceed.  Not because I figured out how Hamm did it, or how Loomis did it, or how anyone else did it - but because with years of fumbling, I learned to do it my way.  And in doing it my way and paying close attention on all fronts, I observed the common pathways, as inking is highly circumscribed, limited in terms of what can be done, so doesn't take a genius to see how one's approach to it differs from, or mirrors, that of others.  That's especially true when one studies the Golden Age illustrators, which enables him to trace styles to their roots in the matrix, as it were. 

So, as part of me is satisfied with how far I've come, another part takes account of the shortfall.  While I look at some of my work and think, "I'm there", I look at others and think, "not even close."  In terms of fluency and technique there is still a disconnect between sketch and rendering that drives me up the wall.  I think the confusion is, perhaps, in my own mind concerning whom I am trying to emulate, a comic book artist, or a Fine Arts illustrator? 

Speaking of which, I took the opportunity to look closely at John Buscema's collaboration with Alfredo Alcala on Conan.  I paraphrase a tribute in Alter Ego by a notable industry professional who describes it as 'something done by Joseph Clement Coll, if he had been reborn and decided to draw comic books.'*  We're not talking an elaborately rendered splash page here and there, but panel after panel, page after page of what is by any standard Fine Art.  It's like Wrightson or Frazetta on steroids - the kind of thing that makes your heart sing and sink at the same time.  Sing, because it's beautiful.  Sink, because you thought you were almost there when, by comparison, you've barely just begun and, most likely, won't live long enough to press much farther.

So any confusion between comics and Fine Arts is established in reality by artists like these.  And it may be made worse by the wrong notion that one can "cheat" art by picking comics over Fine Arts as an easier path to success.  I know that's what I had in mind when I was a kid.  I thought Fine Arts was too much for me.  Painting?  Over my head.  I didn't realize that art is art.  To be any good in any given part of it, one yet has to become familiar with the whole.  The difference between the cartoonist and the Fine Arts Illustrator is like that between the Rodeo Clown and the Bronco Buster: the clown is likely an experienced Bronco Buster educated in fooling the crowd into thinking what's difficult is easy.  Whatever area of art one picks, he will be challenged to realize his full potential with effort and passion that is all-consuming.  There is no "easy" way to do that.  

Other Stuff:  Bad news is that the snow's on the roads, so that's the end of bicycling.  The good news is that I'm growing some butt muscle.  LOL.  It's that or a tumor, and I'm pretty sure it's not a tumor.  It took only nineteen months of grueling rehab, ballet exercises, MMA and bicycling to make that little bump.  And while it's only good for moving my leg about three inches to the rear left corner, it boosts my spirits. I may be progressing at a snail's pace, but progress is progress.  LOL.  
 
A Note of Curiosity:  From April through July I put art on hold while I started a program of "extreme" physical rehab during which I returned to martial arts.  And during this time the weekly journal turned into a martial arts blog.  I posted videos about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, karate, aikido, kendo, etc., and reminisced about the good old days. Oddly, during this time of zero art posts (and zero interest in art) my stats jumped.  I say, "oddly", because this website is for art and artists, not for "martial" artists.  And now that the martial arts thing served it's purpose and I'm back to the normal routine, which includes doing artwork, I see a noticeable drop in views.  I don't understand it.  It seems that there are people here engaged in interests other than art.  Who knew?  Makes me wonder if those tough guys from the gyms were secretly reading the blog.  

Here's another odd thing about it - with all the views the martial arts blog attracted, there was virtually no interaction concerning it.  Same with the mice back in 2013-2014.  Of course, that's a little different - mouse blogging is not for the masses.   
_________________________________

NOTES

* The exact quote is as follows:

In a couple of issues of the early B+W Marvel magazine Savage Tales, John Buscema drew some Conan stories that were inked by Alfredo Alcala.  When I saw them, I couldn't believe the sheer beauty of the images.  It was as if Joseph Clement Coll came back to life and taken to drawing comic books.

                                           --John Workman, Alter Ego, August 2002, P.  15-B