It's funny: the head's slightly out of scale to the rest of the body, but yeah, Bachalo's Jean is the best.
Something David Brothers said the other day about him being an emotional artist (I may be paraphrasing) has led me to reevaluate my attitude to Bachalo's work. My eyes still skid off his pages, but I dig it more.
His current Spider-Man work has been, in the oddest way, squarely in the MacFarlane vein - something that has been absent from the rest of the post-Mephisto run.
Bachalo's Jean looks, astonishlngly enough, like a real woman - like one of those ladies you see at the cons. There's an almost palpable softness to the figure, an emotional richness to the face, and most amazingly of all, her frontage isn't contained and separated by boob-socks.
She's real, if not realistic. If that makes sense.
There's a precedent for a slightly larger head on a representation of a person being a slightly more visually pleasing. You see it a lot in sculpture, and I always thought it had some influence in why manga-styled, manga-influenced art caught on like it did. And Bachalo's work clearly took a turn that way post the "everyone needs to look like Lee era of Marvel comics."
So, yes, I think what you said is really astute, sometimes a more "real" representation is reached without actually being realistic.
Always liked what Bachalo did with the Pheonix costume. I know it's not any different, but there was something about the design that suited his style.
ReplyDelete...didn't know Jean Grey was so popular, great post!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny: the head's slightly out of scale to the rest of the body, but yeah, Bachalo's Jean is the best.
ReplyDeleteSomething David Brothers said the other day about him being an emotional artist (I may be paraphrasing) has led me to reevaluate my attitude to Bachalo's work. My eyes still skid off his pages, but I dig it more.
His current Spider-Man work has been, in the oddest way, squarely in the MacFarlane vein - something that has been absent from the rest of the post-Mephisto run.
Bachalo's Jean looks, astonishlngly enough, like a real woman - like one of those ladies you see at the cons. There's an almost palpable softness to the figure, an emotional richness to the face, and most amazingly of all, her frontage isn't contained and separated by boob-socks.
She's real, if not realistic. If that makes sense.
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There's a precedent for a slightly larger head on a representation of a person being a slightly more visually pleasing. You see it a lot in sculpture, and I always thought it had some influence in why manga-styled, manga-influenced art caught on like it did. And Bachalo's work clearly took a turn that way post the "everyone needs to look like Lee era of Marvel comics."
ReplyDeleteSo, yes, I think what you said is really astute, sometimes a more "real" representation is reached without actually being realistic.
I am totes going to use that excuse every time I draw someone with a unnecessarily massive head.
ReplyDelete(exc. MODOK)
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