Ashley Wood Special (4) 16:41

 

 

WARNING: If you take offense in pictures containing nudity and strong language, which could be considered in bad taste, I suggest you just skip this post.

Ashley Wood’s painting style could be seen as a direct descendant from painters like the impressionist and expressionist movement. A touch of Monet and Toulouse-Lautrec, a good dollop of Schiele, you get the idea… No surprise then, that he has a more than fleeting interest in the female form…

 

 

Ashley Wood Special (3) 12:47

 

 

One of the nice things about the work of Ashley Wood is the consistent graphic design it seems to surround itself with. What I didn’t know is that often, someone else happens to be responsible for the graphics, and that someone else happens to be a Belgian: a guy named Tom Muller. Take a look at the work here (probably not all of it is by Muller, I’m not always sure…) and if you want to see some more, check out Tom Muller at www.hellomuller.com.

And if you just came in, also check out part 1 and part 2, the previous installments of the Ashley Wood Special.

 

Ashley Wood Special (2) 14:23

 

 

Besides being a prolific comic book artist, Ashley Wood is also a painter. On his blog he regularly posts what is on his easel that day. Finished pieces sit happily next to work just started. It seems he’s always working on something. He says:

 

I have to paint everyday, one day out, and it will take a week to get back into the zone, and that’s a week of self hate I can do without !

 

I love these photographs. Not only do you get a glimpse of the guy’s studio, you also get to see lot’s of the work up close and in different states of completion.

In case you are wondering: yes, I do know most of the paintings have robots, warriors or scantly clad ladies as their subject matter. Did I suddenly turn 16 again?

I remember reading about a painter - although I don’t remember who it was, sorry -  who explained why he liked the sort of paintings he liked most. He said he didn’t really enjoy abstract paintings, because he missed the subject matter, the possibilities of a story that a more figurative painting could have. And he didn’t really enjoy highly polished hyper-realistic paintings either, because he missed all the more abstract, painterly qualities like smears and brush strokes which often are so beautiful to look at. He liked work that had both: figurative work with a rough touch, so you’re mind could shift between seeing a yellowish stroke op paint and seeing the painted knee that the yellowish stroke evoked.

Scantly clad ladies, huge robots and blue that can’t decide whether it would turn red or not, what more can you want from a painting?

 

 

Find the first part of the Ashley Wood Special here.

Ashley Wood Special (1) 13:02

 

 

Ashley Wood is an Australian (comic book) artist who’s work has ranged from the UK and US comic book market over to everything from toys, computer games, film, TV and advertising to fine art gallery shows.

This might just be me, but I found him to be an artist who you never could quite grab hold of. His work was always around, in my local comic stores for example, but it seemed to appear and disappear without any rhyme or reason. One day there would be a new comic series but you would find two issues and then: nothing. Or suddenly there would be four or five gorgeous art books, all hugely expensive (for my budget at that time), which you would thumb through every time you visited the shop. It seemed he was always doing something cool, but then something happened… Did he quit? Did the series get cancelled or was put on hold? I don’t know. I soon gave up on trying to figure out what exactly was happening and contented myself with what I could get my hands on (or could afford).

I’m delving in the big pile of work and projects of Ashley Wood in this x-part series of specials. I’m not going to even try and be somewhere near complete. There is too much stuff (like the toys) that don’t really interest me. Luckily there is also heaps of stuff that does.

As an introduction, today, a random selection of comic books to get acquainted…

You’ll notice Wood is not the man to go to for delicate rendered artwork. Most of his drawings are rough and sketch-like. He explains (in an answer to an emailed question, on his blog):

 

I use markers and calligraphy pens, some watery paint and ziptone on paper.

There are no sketches as they are the sketch 99% of the time ( sometimes I’ll doodle a small rough, really basic if its a dicky compostion ), they are drawn directly onto paper, light-boxing is for lesser types plus its more to draw twice :)

Thats the skill to me, not the final image, but the process of making it. Its where the fun is and the danger…

 

Sometimes these sketches end up as the final artwork, often they are accompanied by or enhanced by some painted stuff or digital effects. At first glance, you would think this makes for comics that aim to impress, but I’ve found that Wood very often manages to produce some very good storytelling with his way of working.

 

 

Can’t wait? Check out Ashley Wood’s blog or site ( or toy production blog if you must) for lot’s more work. Or check back here once in a while for the next installment of the series.