Watercolors, Jackson Pollock and the 5 Most Interesting Artists at Comic Con 2014
It’s the end of San Diego Comic con, and I feel like a wounded but victorious soldier returning from a great battle. I got about 6 hours of sleep total during the convention, had to camp out for over 12 hours to get into Marvel’s movie panel, and nearly got trampled to death trying to buy a Teenage Mutant Ninja Sponge Bob. I did, however, get to see the entire cast of the Avengers, was in the same room as Harry Potter and came home with about $1000 worth of incredible art pieces.
With over 200 talented creators in one space, I couldn’t walk 2 feet without seeing pieces that made me want to take out my wallet and give the artist all my money (which I did, multiple times). And while I purchased work from nearly twenty different artists, these are the 5 I was most impressed by:
Jim Calafiore
Jim Calafiore experiments with a different look for his superhero art. “It started as a personal project for my home,” he told me, “and now I do commissions for other people.” He has created a style that is Jackson Pollock meets comic books, which he paints on 12” x 12” canvases. At his booth, his pieces were displayed in a 10-foot high grid because “when you put them up it should look like a sort of art installation”. And it really does. I walked away with 9 prints for my own home, which he helped me arrange by color-scheme.
Livio Ramondelli
If you’re looking for quintessential comic book art, look no further than Livio Ramondelli. His was one of the first booths I came across, and it set a high bar in terms of quality and creativity. He paints fantastical scenes with vibrant colors but manages to make it look photo realistic. His work is fun but bold, which he creates through a process of “first sketching with pencil and inking on paper, then digitally painting with Photoshop.” He enjoys the “possibilities digital tools open up for what you can do and what you can create.” Looking through his portfolio, he’s created some pretty spectacular pieces.
Keron Grant
Keron Grant is a New York based comic artist who has done a lot of work with Marvel comics. His table caught my attention immediately: displayed prominently in the center was a gorgeous watercolor of Superman (which “Marvel commissioned me to do for the Man of Steel movie” he explained, nonchalantly). His distinctive, flowing style really stood out in Artists’ Alley: where comic art tends to use sharp edges and bold lines to convey movement and strength, Grant uses the soft gradients you can achieve with watercolors to communicate the same idea.
Steven E. Gordon
This is where I totally just geeked out. Steven E. Gordon is one of animation’s greats—his work on series like X-Men: Evolution is legendary. His masterful combination of straight lines with curves rivals the art of Bruce Timm (of Batman: The Animated Series fame).
He’s been one of my favorite artists for over a decade, and the chance to meet him in person left me babbling incoherently. Obviously, I bought every print at his booth and commissioned him to create an original piece for me (after all, how often do you get original art from THE Steven Gordon?). These days Gordon has moved away from animation. “I work on storyboard art for movies” he told me. “Right now I’m doing a live-action version of The Jungle Book.” With Steven E. Gordon on the creative team, you better believe it’ll be a great movie.
Sho Murase
I came across San Francisco native Sho Murase’s work by accident about 30 minutes before Comic Con ended. I’d gotten lost while heading back to Steven Gordon’s booth to pick up my commission, and I’m so glad I took that wrong turn. My first impression when coming face to face with Murase’s booth was that her pieces were reminiscent of ancient Japanese paintings with a modern twist. Sho describes her process as a hybrid of physical and digital— “first I paint the image, then scan it and digitally enhance it.” This amalgam of different styles and techniques in her work is very appropriate for Murase, who herself grew up in two different cultures.
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
The artists above were by no means the only exceptional artists at Comic Con, and it was hard to narrow this list down to just 5. However, Calafiore, Ramondelli, Grant, Gordon, and Murase are a great representation of the talent and creativity you will find at this convention. They are the visual embodiment of infinite diversity in infinite combinations: though they all work with similar themes—superheroes, ninjas, robots, disney princesses—each has a unique style that adds to the creativity and variety of art that is characteristic of Artists’ Alley.
Part of the reason they’re at Comic Con is to sell their work, but they mostly attend because they love what they do and want to share that with other fans. Interaction at artists’ tables are rarely just about exchanging money. We talked about how they got into art, discussed how they go from a blank canvas to a jaw-dropping piece (often with a live demonstration) and shared stories about our favorite characters. Money is an incredibly small part of the equation—the connection you create with others who love the same things you do is paramount.
Posted by Shambhavi Kadam
