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February 02, 2005
Stan Sakai Rocks!
A few days ago I complained about The Amazing Joy Buzzards and its tendency towards "coloring book" style black and white art. My suggestion was to use more solid blacks. Yesterday I was reading the latest issue of Usagi Yojimbo (#81), marvelling as usual at Stan Sakai's drawings. I noticed that solid blacks were in short supply in Sakai's work, and yet I never got that "coloring book" feeling. Why not?
One of the reasons he succeeds without blacks is his keen design. Sakai's compositions are so tight you could bounce a quarter off of them. Your eye flows smoothly through all of the elements, with scarcely any moments of discomfort or confusion. His drawing hand is so free and kinetic that his tightly orchestrated layouts never look the least bit labored.
Then there's his use of pattern. Neither solid blacks nor solid whites are the norm, making their use that much more impactful. His pattern work not only breaks up the monotony of blank shapes, it also creates the illusion of three-dimensional space.
Sakai's mastery of these techniques could only have been developed through decades of pen-and-ink drawing. Dave Sim & Gerhard's work on Cerebus shares a lot of these qualities, as does Joe Sacco's more recent art. Rather than continue dancing about architecture here, I scanned a handful of panels to illustrate my point. Enjoy!
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at February 2, 2005 02:24 PM