Man, and Sy Mead ... my childhood heroes are disappearing.
I would pick up the odd Mad magazine from the grocery store (or Rexall Drug) if I had enough allowance money. I had been drawing since I was a small kid (like everyone else) but as I got to be about 11 or 12 I started seriously trying to draw people: the hardest thing for me to draw well.
One style of art stood out for me in Mad magazine. The artist drew people in a realistic way. They were caricatures to a degree, but not off the scale like Don Martin. The poses and facial expressions were natural, the lines minimal but enough to convey a degree of realism.
I looked at how Mort Drucker drew the clavicle on a woman, as an example — just a little serif, a small arc with a long tail — and I started drawing clavicles like that.
And on and on.
I've come to believe that an artist's "style" is a result of all the little tells they've stolen from other artists (perhaps tempered by their own artistic shortcomings?).
I often wonder where Mort Drucker and other contemporary artists got their style from. Use of line weight from Winsor McCay? Crosshatching from John Tenniel?
No doubt Mort Drucker has influenced thousands and thousands of artists. He will be missed but his art will always still be here.
I've come to believe that an artist's "style" is a result of all the little tells they've stolen from other artists (perhaps tempered by their own artistic shortcomings?).
Pro artist, you are pretty much spot on, except for not including a certain number of stylizations invented while working from life. I like to say that when you can rip off eight people in the course of one drawing, you have your own style.
I learnt recently that the creator of Lupin III was influenced by Drucker and Aragones and the way that manga/anime looks makes so much sense now.
Beautifully said and totally agreed on all points. Mort Drucker was a next-level talent.
I started buying Mad in the late 60's at the local 5 & dime store, back when you could actually buy stuff for 5 cents! (candy mainly).
When I started buying Mad, I didn't really relate to the movie parodies, but even then I could tell that Mort's illustrations were beyond good! He was a master, truly. He deserved every accolade and then some.
I would pick up the odd Mad magazine from the grocery store (or Rexall Drug) if I had enough allowance money. I had been drawing since I was a small kid (like everyone else) but as I got to be about 11 or 12 I started seriously trying to draw people: the hardest thing for me to draw well.
One style of art stood out for me in Mad magazine. The artist drew people in a realistic way. They were caricatures to a degree, but not off the scale like Don Martin. The poses and facial expressions were natural, the lines minimal but enough to convey a degree of realism.
I looked at how Mort Drucker drew the clavicle on a woman, as an example — just a little serif, a small arc with a long tail — and I started drawing clavicles like that.
And on and on.
I've come to believe that an artist's "style" is a result of all the little tells they've stolen from other artists (perhaps tempered by their own artistic shortcomings?).
I often wonder where Mort Drucker and other contemporary artists got their style from. Use of line weight from Winsor McCay? Crosshatching from John Tenniel?
No doubt Mort Drucker has influenced thousands and thousands of artists. He will be missed but his art will always still be here.
That's an actual legacy.