Flash Gordon for PSF

[k0b13]

Flash Gordon for a PSF against necenarro.
Layout- (I hope it's clear enough)


This is the only layout I have done. Will update it soon.

[scmarooney]

Composition-wise it definitely has a Frazetta thing going on with the hero standing with a wide, heroic stance, and the hot-nearly-naked-babe clinging to his leg, in the background a castle and Ming the merciless glowering in the background. Looks like a good start k0b13! I'll be interested to see how this one turns out!

[k0b13]

Thanks scmarooney.

[Bruce Lee]

You know, every time I see this sort of Frazetta-inspired layout, it just has a humorous connotation for me, because it's been imitated and parodied to death by artists for decades. This isn't meant as a slam against you, k0b13--I've drawn this layout a dozen times myself. lol. Whether you're aware of it or not though, this sort of layout derives from one single source: Frank Frazetta's 1960s BARBARIAN painting, which featured Conan atop a pile of dead bodies with a maiden at his feet, lying against Conan's leg. It's an extremely macho image:



That image was so infamous, many artists began to imitate the layout and basic set-up. It would show up in comics all through the 1970s and early 1980s....



This sort of image was wildly popular by the early '80s--so popular in fact, artists began to make fun of it by parodying it. Feminists also dogged it for being the ultimate macho fantasy/ego trip because the woman is almost always depicted as being nothing other than a sex object at the feet of a male figure. It's not at all politically correct, so any time someone shows a girl holding onto a guy's leg, someone is bound to throw a rock at it....unless your goal is to make fun of it. Somehow it becomes more acceptable if the image is used in conjunction with humor.

The 1983 National Lampoon's VACATION movie poster parody of the image:



And to this day, it will show up as a movie poster--almost always for a humorous film:




When the Hildebrandt brothers did a similar homage to that Frazetta pose for their STAR WARS poster, they gave Princess Leia something to do other than to serve as leg drapery. She's actually carrying a gun, and looks ready for action:



So why the history lesson? Well, I think that if you're going to delve into doing a Frazetta homage (or a homage of the Frazetta homage), you should probably do something a little different with it.If you're going to portray the girl as a sex object at Flash Gordon's feet, it's probably going to come off as being a little sexist to some. It might also come off as a being a humorous sort of illustration to some, because it's been parodied so much. If you depict the girl actually doing something--whether it's holding a gun, wielding a sword, or doing something other than just clinging to the hero's leg--you'll probably be doing yourself a solid. I'm not suggesting that you should have to give up on the notion of making the girl sexy, but I don't think it's necessary to make the female appear...well...helpless and useless.

And no...I'm not at all politically correct, but the world we live in is. I think it's important to show a certain amount of respect for others..know what I mean? At the same time, respect is a two-way street. Respect is something that must also be earned. Usually I'm a guy that tries not to step on too many toes, so I'm just trying to offer up some friendly advice here. I personally have no problem with Frazetta's original image. It might be my favorite Frazetta painting, in fact. I just want to make you aware of the baggage that this particular layout carries. If you're not concerned about that sort of thing, it's cool with me, and I can respect that. In the end, it's just a drawing...right?

I hope you do well in the PSF, man.

[ajkarp]

Wow Loston! Thanks for the summer school class. I'm a big Frazetta fan and I never knew that his Barbarian painting was the start of the hero/subserviant naked girl motif! I guess one is never to old to learn new stuff.

[richdraws]

It goes back way further than Frazetta.

Yeah bitches....

[k0b13]

Thanks Loston. This isn't supposed to be a homage to anyone. Frazetta is a favorite artist but his biggest influence is that I don't use photo references much too. So by that influence I haven't used any of his paintings as a reference. This layout was done in 1minute or so lol.
And the common thing among all of them is the triangle composition, not the content (in my opinion). That's what I have tried to do too. It's a triangle composition. Frazetta used it a lot in his work, almost 90% of Mignola covers are in triange composition.
I have done a hellboy recently in triangle composition and I was thinking someone will say I swiped or referenced some of his covers maybe, But I don't swipe or draw from other artists work. I know that since I am drawing from memory most of stuff, it will have it's own something and the end result won't just be a mock up.

[k0b13]

Digital pencils-

[darqjakob]

hey,

I don't think Bruce Lee was saying you swiped it/referenced it intentionally. That wasn't the point of his comment at all. The point (from my understanding) was that if I chose to do representational painting of a can of baked beans against a white backdrop someone might say "hey, that looks a lot like it was inspired by Any Warhol's Campell's Soup Can!" They might say--- it is so similar that it seems borderline boring/overdone/cliche. Doesn't matter if it's intentional or not.

You are saying it was quick layout sketch, which is fine, that is what they are for. But you placed the sketch on here to see if the layout inspires people, and it doesn't do that, at least for me. It takes a character and style we are familiar with and puts no new life or energy into it. So whether you want to pay homage or not, you are, and that was my first thought when I saw the layout.

Only do this layout if you want it to come off as a tribute, otherwise, in my opinion you should change it.

[Telekinetic Ketchup]

tribute, or parody like with evil dead.