Years, and I mean years, ago I remember having an argument
in a comic book store in Melbourne with some idiot who spent the better part of
the afternoon trying to convince me that John Buscema wasn’t as good an artist
as, say, Jim Lee or Rob Liefeld, or anyone from Image for that matter. As is the way with such people nothing I said
would sway his opinion, so I simply gave up and allowed him to ramble on and
on, much to the growing amusement of people around him. Not to denigrate Liefeld, or Lee for that
matter, but I’m sure that Rob would agree that he’s nowhere near as good an
artist as the late John Buscema. And
here’s why.
What follows are prime examples of what Big John would do to
warm up before he began drawing proper.
Most artists will go entire careers and not get near this level of
expertise, and this is John in his downtime.
This is John just fooling about, getting his poses and anatomy right
before he commits the pencil to the page for publication. This is why John Buscema was always a better
artist than the majority of his peers when he was alive, and, if alive, would
still a better artist than the bulk of those working today. Look upon these warm-up sketches and learn
something – practice makes perfect.
There wasn’t a day when John wouldn’t draw something, even if it was
just this kind of sketching. Good art
isn’t about splashy pages with lots of smoke and explosions; it’s about being
able to convey emotion into your work.
Plus John Buscema could tell you more about his art in one sketch than
anyone can in a thousand words, and if you don’t believe me, then you just
don’t know great art when you see it.
