Deciphering Artists Signatures

[levi]

I really admire seceral pieces of Art in the HERO products unfortunately there is no artistic index in these books and I cannot make out some of the Signatures the Artists use in their pieces. Do you folks have an index or a way I can decipher which artist has produced which piece?

[Steve Long]

No, not really. The best I can suggest is to compare the sigs to the artists listed in the creds and try to match 'em up. If you have questions about specific pieces, I can tell you which is which. Once you learn their various styles, it's not too hard to tell who's who.

[BobGreenwade]

For some of them you have to just pick out the initials, or find the art on the artist's website. Nate Barnes and Andrew Creamens, as examples, do tend to be pretty legible.

The only one who interests me, but whom I'm having a hard time deciphering, is the artist who did the Denebians (and various other illos) in Alien Wars. A little investigation and guesswork leads me to think it's Jonathan Davenport, but I'm not really certain.

[keithcurtis]

Mine are marked KAC:
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~KeithCurtisDesign/KAC.gif">

Keith "A" Curtis

[Ben Seeman]

Originally posted by BobGreenwade
For some of them you have to just pick out the initials, or find the art on the artist's website. Nate Barnes and Andrew Creamens, as examples, do tend to be pretty legible.

The only one who interests me, but whom I'm having a hard time deciphering, is the artist who did the Denebians (and various other illos) in Alien Wars. A little investigation and guesswork leads me to think it's Jonathan Davenport, but I'm not really certain.

That is John Davenport.

[levi]

Originally posted by keithcurtis
Mine are marked KAC:
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~KeithCurtisDesign/KAC.gif">

Keith "A" Curtis

Keith, you have some of the best pics I have seen in the series and your sig I knew. I also know Storn who also does great work. The one I am trying to decipher has a very crisp, stylized look to his/her work. I first noticed it in the USPD pp. 175, 186, 194, 201, 222, 226, 234 & 253. (forgive me if I missed some)
I then got VIPER:CotS and continued to see this (to me) undecipherable sig on pp. 2, 48, 55, 56, 58, 61, 81, 82, 135, 144, 149 & 155. (again pardon omissions) Another collection of great work. I like the way this artist varies the Camera's POV (such as the Oculon pic on 149).
Today I got my Herophilethy hands on the Fantasy Grimoire and continued to note some strong illos by this same artist on pp. 44, 57, 124?, 129, 156, 163, 185 & 209. This book, BTW has one of NATO's best IMO pg 213.
On a related note I have always supported the fact that Hero books save production costs by having all interior illos in B/W. Mostly because Andy, Keith & Allen do such a great job of choosing the most interesting and highly detailed illos for the books.
BTW Keith, how do you retain your objectivity when you have done art for a book you are doing layout on? Or is it just that Steve and Darren are such control freaks that they choose all the illos for each book?...lol

[Steve Long]

The only one who interests me, but whom I'm having a hard time deciphering, is the artist who did the Denebians (and various other illos) in Alien Wars. A little investigation and guesswork leads me to think it's Jonathan Davenport, but I'm not really certain.

Several of them are by Jonathan Davenport; he signs his with a sort of Zorro-Z type square symbol. The others are by Nick Ingeneri.

[Steve Long]

USPD pp. 175, 186, 194, 201, 222, 226, 234 & 253

That's Jonathan Davenport. Note the previously-described "Davenport Square."

[Steve Long]

BTW Keith, how do you retain your objectivity when you have done art for a book you are doing layout on?

Well, just to be clear, Keith doesn't do layout. He does illustration. Andy, and/or Allen, do the layout, using the illustrations Keith and other artists provide.

Or is it just that Steve and Darren are such control freaks that they choose all the illos for each book?...lol

All the artists are provided with specific descriptions of each illo they're supposed to do, though often the descriptions are sufficiently vague to allow for a good bit of artistic license on their part. We don't just say "send us X illos on this subject"; if we did that, the art wouldn't match the text very well.

Besides which, it would lead to chaos, chaos I tell you! Good God, man, you don't just let artists do what they want. That is a recipe for the collapse of civilization!!!!!

[Jhamin]

Originally posted by Steve Long
All the artists are provided with specific descriptions of each illo they're supposed to do, though often the descriptions are sufficiently vague to allow for a good bit of artistic license on their part. We don't just say "send us X illos on this subject"; if we did that, the art wouldn't match the text very well.

Besides which, it would lead to chaos, chaos I tell you! Good God, man, you don't just let artists do what they want. That is a recipe for the collapse of civilization!!!!!

And anyway, remember that the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the Mona Lisa, and many other masterpieces were originally commissioned pieces made to the specifications of others.

Who knows, a hundred years from now art historians may have very pretentious discussions about how “Powerarmor Smack-Down” may not be one of Curtis’ most distinctive pieces but is historically interesting due to the stylistic influence of Storn’s “Armadillo Rhapsody”

[Jhamin]

Double Post

[BobGreenwade]

Originally posted by Steve Long
Several of them are by Jonathan Davenport; he signs his with a sort of Zorro-Z type square symbol. The others are by Nick Ingeneri.

Yeah, I'd managed to figure out Nick's signature based on name, website, and other factors. (I really like his outfit for the Jhinu, by the way; she has a little DNA thing going on the front design. I've decided to make a character inspired by that illo, albeit a villain for my Terran Empire-era game.)

The illos of Jonathan's that really impressed me were the large-scale pictures, like those on pages 16, 20, and 46. Wow.

[SCUBA Hero]

Originally posted by Steve Long
Good God, man, you don't just let artists do what they want. That is a recipe for the collapse of civilization!!!!!

Hee hee!

New sig!!! Andy's off the hook!

[keithcurtis]

Originally posted by Steve Long
Well, just to be clear, Keith doesn't do layout. He does illustration. Andy, and/or Allen, do the layout, using the illustrations Keith and other artists provide.

This is correct. I am not a Hero Games employee. Andy was kind enough to extend a layout credit to me on USPD, due to the design work I did on the common frame. Entirely too generous, I assure you.

Keith "Would like to have Chris' draftsmanship and Storn's spontineity" Curtis

[Darren Watts]

Originally posted by Steve Long

All the artists are provided with specific descriptions of each illo they're supposed to do, though often the descriptions are sufficiently vague to allow for a good bit of artistic license on their part. We don't just say "send us X illos on this subject"; if we did that, the art wouldn't match the text very well.

For the curious, here's a few sample art requests I sent along with the Millennium City manuscript. In total that book had about 100 of these short descriptions. The first two letters describe the size (Whole, Half or Quarter) and alignment (Horizontal or Vertical) of the requested piece. Requests marked "portrait" mean it's the first and definitive picture of an ongoing character, so care must be taken by the artist to show the character more-or-less straight on and in full to define his costume and appearance.


" HH: Battle scene, as the Champions and Binary Man (see Champions Universe, p.120) take on a female Morbane. The Morbane, a lovely young brunette, hurls blasts of magical energy at our heroes, who circle looking for an opening. Witchcraft should be prominently involved in the fight.

HH: The Homestead recreation room. Several of the Champions, plus Kinetik and Dr. Silverback, relax. Silverback is telling a funny story to Sapphire and Defender while gesturing with a drink in his hand. Kinetik is teasing Ironclad while he struggles to aim his pool stick on the team's billiard table. Nighthawk sits alone in the corner, looking out the window. Witchcraft and Denise Dumont are watching TV.

QV: An "Info Kiosk." A high-tech streetcorner newsbooth like they have in cities like New York, except in this one features computer flatscreens showing the news, private internet access booths (like airport phonebooths, with opaque privacy screens), as well as a booth from which a vendor sells magazines, sodas and candy bars.

QH: Musical performer on stage at an outdoor concert, while revelers dance in the background.

QV: A Millennium City street corner, framed to indicate the massive height of the surrounding buildings and the maze of walkways connecting the buildings above the pedestrian's head.

QH: A high-tech fire truck in action, with robotic limbs handling the foam sprayers while human workers in hazmat suits and masks shout orders into wrist-communicators near a burning building.

QV: A press conference, where Mayor Biselle (see above) and several aides are taking questions from representatives of the media. Cameras and microphones should be small and high-tech looking. The reporter from WTFS is being particularly aggressive in her questioning.

QH: (Portrait): Cavalier. A powered-armor hero. "The Cavalier battlesuit is blue with gold highlights. The helmet is thick and well-braced on the shoulders, but the rest of the suit is clean and streamlined. The visor of his helmet can slide up into the housing, to fully expose his face when he wants the cameras to get good shots of his winning smile." Eric himself is a handsome white man in his early 30s. Even though the shot is a portrait, he should look like he's "posing" for cameras.

QV: A "Nar-Cola" delivery truck, dropping off its latest supply at a corner convenience store. A driver is loading pallets of the stuff onto a handtruck. The side of the truck shows an ad for "Nar-Cola Extreme Blue Sports Drink - Fuel Up!"

QH: (Portrait): Dr. Silverback. "A male mountain gorilla, standing approximately 5'6 and weighing about 550 lbs. He is covered with short black fur that fades to silver on his upper back. While he can stand upright if he wants, he slumps over into the typical knuckle-walking stance when he's distracted. He wears a white lab coat over a loud Hawaiian shirt and tailored shorts, and has goggles perched up on his forehead. He should be smiling and friendly in appearance and posture." "

You can see there's a fair amount of freedom for the artists in many of these requests, while others are very detailed. Andy takes these lists from the writer and/or editor and assigns them to artists based on their own interests and established abilities, workload, and Andy's random, capricious whim.