For this essay, I have chosen to look at the work of Fiona
Staples. She is a Canadian illustrator who mainly works in the comic industry.
Her first published work ‘Amphibious Nightmare’ was released in 2005 as part of
a 24-hour comic anthology (A 24 page comic that has to be completed in 24
hours). This led to her working on ‘Done to Death’ in 2006, along with writer
Andrew Foley.
Done to Death, Written by Andrew Foley, Illustrated by
Fiona Staples, Published by Markosian in 2006.
After this she mainly contributed to other established
comics, providing the line art, colour or covers.
Jonah Hex #66, Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin
Gray, Illustrated by Fiona Staples, Published by DC in 2011
Red Sonja #1, Written by Gail Simone, Illustrated by
Walter Geovani, Cover by Fiona Staples, Published by Dynamite Entertainment in
2013
It’s her work on ‘Saga’ however, that really established
her. ‘Saga’ is the critically acclaimed, Sci fi comic, written by Brian
K. Vaughan. The currently on-going
series has won three Eisner awards, as well as a Hugo award for best graphic
story. It is wildly successful, with first print issues often selling out. Part
of its success was because of Staple’s relatively large creative freedom.
While Vaughan had thought out designs for certain characters
or objects or scenes, for most of them he just asked Staples to draw whatever
she felt worked best. For example, with the main characters Staples was merely
told that the characters were young and attractive, and that Marco (the male
character) should have Ram’s Horns. Her desire to draw organic objects rather
than mechanical also lead to the main characters flying around the galaxy in a
wooden spaceship rather than a more ‘normal’ one that Vaughan might have
envisioned.
Saga #1, Written by Brian K. Vaughan, Illustrated by
Fiona Staples, Published by Image Comics in 2012
Being a young artist (26 years old), Staples wouldn’t have
experienced the big change from traditional artistic methods to digital ones.
Indeed, Staples tends to work almost entirely digitally, claiming that all of
her professional work has been 100% digital since 2008. Having played around
with Photoshop since she was a child, the experience shows in her work… She’s
not called “one of the best female artists working today” for nothing.
The programs that she mainly uses are Manga Studio and
Photoshop, doing the line art in Manga Studio with a tablet and then the
colouring in Photoshop. While it’s not true for all of her work, when she has
more creative freedom Staples tends to employ a style similar to that of some
animation, with an almost sketchy background and solid characters that contrast
against the background.
Saga #1, Written by Brian K. Vaughan, Illustrated by
Fiona Staples, Published by Image Comics in 2012
I would guess that
part of the reason behind this style is that she has to complete a lot of her
work quickly because of a deadline. She has more time to complete a cover, so
that is given a much more detailed, painterly style. Staples does mention
wanting to do a comic in that sort of style some day.
Staples lists anime as one of her defining influences, along
with videogames and more specifically the work of artists such as Taiyo Matsumoto,
N.C Wyeth and Howard Pyle. I would argue that the works of N.C Wyeth and Howard
Pyle had the largest influence on Staples, as her work draws heavily from them.
They were both American Illustrators (Wyeth actually being a pupil of Pyle),
both with fairly similar styles (likely because of Pyle teaching Wyeth).
Paul Jones Whiskies, Illustrated by N.C Wyeth in 1935
The Last of the Mohicans, by N.C Wyeth in 1919
Like Staples, Wyeth used a style that had heavy emphasis
placed on the characters, with a lot of detail placed on the characters, their
actions, body language and expression, while the background seems kind of faded
or sketchy in comparison to the characters. This also seems similar to
animation; however Wyeth was alive in the early days of animation, which
wouldn’t have progressed enough to the point of having the detailed characters
unless you count things such as Phenakistoscopes or flickbooks, some of which
had highly detailed drawings (probably because of the small amount of frames
required).
Phenakistoscope disc by Eadward Muybridge
Considering that the Phenakistoscope was invented in 1831
(and was mainly considered a toy for children) and Wyeth was born in 1882, it’s
highly possible he came across one of these devices, or perhaps even owned one
and it inspired him. Staples seems to take this style to a logical conclusion,
seemingly putting in only the barest of necessary details for the background,
focusing almost entirely on the characters and their actions:
Saga #1, Written by Brian K. Vaughan, Illustrated by
Fiona Staples, Published by Image Comics in 2012
Pyle on the other hand seems to do something similar,
however on some of his illustration works he puts less detail into the
characters as well, seemingly putting the most effort into the character’s
faces, to truly get their expressions across:
The Buccaneer Was a Picturesque Fellow, From ‘The Fate of
Treasure Town’ by Howard Pyle, published by Harper’s Monthly
Captain Keitt, Illustrated by Howard Pyle for Harper’s
Monthly
This is most likely because that, like Staples he had to
keep to a deadline, and reasoned that the expressions were the most vital part
of the illustrations to get the point across. His other illustrations that have
more detail to them seem to be similar to Staple’s covers, in that he probably
had more time to get them done and so could put more effort and detail into
them.
His usage of expressions is what I feel inspired Staples the
most from his work. Staples is renowned for her mastery of facial expressions,
being able to express the character’s emotions without even needing words.
Below is a sort of example, where the prisoner being interviewed is speaking in
a foreign language, but you can still clearly make out his meaning.
Saga #3, Written by Brian K Vaughan, Illustrated by Fiona
Staples for Image Comics in 2012
I would guess that her excellent usage of expressions is
born from her entire creative process. I mentioned earlier how Staples works on
multiple digital art programs, but before she does any of that she heavily
references every single one of her character drawings, more often than not by
taking photos of herself acting out the poses of the characters in question,
whether they be a disgusting ogre or a robot with a television for a head.
Aside from poses, she also heavily references the facial expressions, by also
photographing herself acting out the same expressions.
I feel that this method has its pros and cons (well, for the
expressions anyway. Referencing bodies in this way doesn’t really have the same
drawbacks). While the characters do come across as incredibly expressive, and
the reader can almost instantly tell what they’re thinking, it does have a
side-effect of every character’s face looking fairly similar as they’re all
referenced from Staple’s own face.
Another one of Staple’s influence’s is the work of Japanese
illustrator Taiyo Matsumoto. More specifically, his manga Tekkonkinkreet and
its anime adaptation in particular.
Tekkonkinkreet, Directed by Michael Arias, Animated by
Studio 4°C, Designs by Taiyo Matsumoto, released in 2006
Unlike Staple’s work, the background in Tekkonkinkreet is
highly detailed, with more detail going into it than the characters. However,
like Staple’s work it does sort of all blend together, seeming largely
unimportant and irrelevant in comparison to the characters. The characters in
Tekkonkinkreet aren’t as detailed as they are in Staple’s work, but they do
share several of the same, important qualities, such as bold, almost flat
colours with only slight shading (or full on flat colours in Tekkonkinkreet),
as well as largely expressive faces (although in a much more cartoony manner than in
Staple’s work).
Tekkonkinkreet, Directed by Michael Arias, Animated by
Studio 4°C, Designs by Taiyo Matsumoto, released in 2006
The original Manga of Tekkonkinkreet doesn’t seem to
have had much influence on Staple’s style. However, I feel it has had an effect
on what she will tend to draw. Tekkonkinkreet seems to be very surreal, with
almost deranged facial expressions, aliens, animal themed hats, all set in this
sprawling, crumbling metropolis of insanity.
Tekkonkinkreet, Written and Illustrated by Taiyo
Matsumoto, published by Shogakukan
Staple’s work, especially in Saga (where she gets a lot of
creative freedom) tends to edge towards the surreal. In her other work, it doesn’t
show as much because she was likely on a very tight script. Working with Brian
K. Vaughan however, gives her much more creative freedom with the characters
and backgrounds. With this freedom, Saga is full of all sorts of surreal ideas,
such as anatomically correct androids with television heads, a bounty huntress
that is half giant spider/half Venus De Milo, trees that grow natural
rocketships, and a giant, hairless, blue cat that can tell whenever someone is
lying.
Saga #9, Written by Brian K Vaughan, Illustrated by Fiona
Staples, Published by Image Comics in 2013
Now it’s likely that Staple’s isn’t responsible for entirely
all of that, and was simply illustrating what Vaughan scripted. However as I
mentioned earlier, Staples does get a large degree of creative control, often
with Vaughan telling her to draw whatever would look the best. This leads to
the main characters flying around in a wooden rocketship as opposed to a plain
old metal one. Vaughan even says that the comic is split 50/50 between him and
Staples, so I think it would be reasonable to assume a large part of the
surreal nature of Saga comes from Staple’s influence.
Staples mentions video games as one of her primary
influences too, even going so far as to say that some of the best artists today
are working in game design. She mentions Final Fantasy 12 as being her
favourite game, having finished it multiple times. The character
designer/concept artist for Final Fantasy is Yoshitaka Amano (He’d stepped down
from doing both of those by Final Fantasy 12, but still provided promo art and
the logo design for 12). Amano’s work isn’t like that of a typical concept
artist, many of whom used to (and still often do) work in a very sketchy style,
only trying to get the basic idea of a character across for the 3D modeller or
sprite artist to make into the actual game. Others tend to go for a fairly
realistic style, to make it easier for the 3D modellers and such. Amano on the
other hand uses elaborate copper plate or lithograph printing for his lineart,
and then colours it with highly watered acrylic, to achieve an effect similar
to watercolour paints.
Concept art for Final Fantasy, by Yoshitaka Amano for
Squaresoft Entertainment, 1987.
King of Darkness, by Yoshitaka Amano for his artbook
Maten, 1984.
Staples doesn’t
outright name Amano as one of her influences, but considering that she said
that some of the best artists today are working in video games and that she is
a big fan of Final Fantasy, it’s reasonable to assume that his work has
influenced her in some way. Both of their illustrations share some elements, so
it’s not out of the question.
Like Staples, Amano
tends to make these bright characters, usually with little shading. When he
doesn’t go all out on the background, making a vast surreal landscape then he
goes even further than Staples does, often having no background at all other
than a few vital objects. This might not be a stylistic choice however, and is
simply because it’s concept art and only the character is needed. Other than
that is just the sheer surrealism of all of his work, with characters wearing
these odd, overly elaborate outfits, and these vast, strange backgrounds that
are almost incomprehensible at times.
Fiona Staples’
illustrations have also been compared favourably to that of Leinil Francis Yu,
another comic book illustrator who works mainly with Marvel, but has also done
quite a bit of work with both DC and Dark Horse Comics. Like Staples he nowadays
works almost entirely digitally, but with one key difference: He hand draws all
of his lineart with a pencil, and then adds the colour via photoshop. I’m
unsure as to whether or not he inks the pencil lines by hand or digitally
however. He still does work with a fair amount of work with entirely
traditional media too, often pencilling, inking and colouring with acrylics or
markers.
His first professional
piece of comic art was released in 1996, but he was born in 1977. He probably
would’ve grown up using traditional media, and as he started to get into the
business there would’ve been a big switchover to digital. I could see something
like that throwing someone off, but he has learned to combine the two into a
winning style that has won him a lot of critical acclaim.
Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk Cover, Illustrated by Leinil
Francis Yu for Marvel Comics in 2005
Batman, Illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu
Like Staples, he
has these bold, detailed characters standing out or contrasting against a
rather featureless landscape. His characters however seem far more detailed
than Staples’, with much heavier lines… perhaps because of his usage of
traditional media for the line art? It’s likely just a stylistic choice though.
After looking at
all of this, how all of the different works of artists who mostly worked in traditional
media inspired an artist who works almost entirely digitally, it makes me think
about the future of illustration… or at least comic book illustration. We’re now
moving into a generation of illustrators who will probably have had a chance to
explore digital methods while they were growing up… who will probably grow up
being as used to it as regular, more traditional methods like drawing or
painting.
Fiona Staples is
one of them, having used Photoshop since she was growing up. As time goes on, I
can see more and more growing up with the same opportunities as her. As the
world becomes more connected, the chance of exposure for work increases.
But where does this
leave those who work in a traditional media? It surely won’t be going anyway
anytime soon, but digital media has really taken off in the comics industry. It
allows the illustrator and colourists to work much quicker, which works well
when there is a constant monthly deadline for a new comic. I can see line art
largely keeping it’s traditional method as well as the digital one, because
there wouldn’t be much of a difference in time between drawing on paper with a
pencil and drawing on a tablet with a stylus.
Traditional methods
of colouring though, be it painting or printmaking will probably fade out of
the mainstream comics scene (if they already haven’t already). Compared to the
digital method it’s just not as quick. That’s not to say it will be gone
entirely though... I can still see it continuing in indie graphic novels and
the like.
Bibliography
