Chloë Epstein Capstone

Annotated Bibliography

1. Art Business

Bamberger, Alan. "Welcome to ArtBusiness.com." Art Business: Advisor, Consultant, Appraiser, Broker, News, Marketing. San Francisco Gallery Openings , 1998. Web. 31 Jan. 2017. http://www.artbusiness.com/index.html

This is a website I found that was created by Alan Bamberger, who is the author of The Art of Buying Art. The website goes into the importance of art galleries and the relationship between the artist and the gallery owner. It even gives you advice on how to start your own exhibit. This was one of the few credible websites I could find on art galleries because it was a website with no ads, and the creator actually seems legitimate. I wanted to find a credible source on putting on art shows and working with art galleries because this is the first time I’m doing it. I may have been to many galleries, but I’ve found there is a lot that goes into setting up an exhibit, so having this resource like this will inform me how to do so.

2. Basic Anatomy for the Manga Artist

Sanmiguel, David. Art of drawing anatomy. New York: Sterling, 2008. Print.

This is another Manga style art book that I use a lot for my illustrations. The big difference between the two books is that this manga book actually acts as an anatomy book rather than just a how to book on a cartoon style. It shows the muscles and structures of the figures like they are actual people rather than just cartoons. I always thought it was interesting and necessary to see cartoons this way as a way to understand how they move or function. This is another book I want to use to specifically draw figures in my illustrations/ comics to see how their body should look or how it should be positioned in contrast to the rest of the picture.

3. Fierce Women of Art

"Fierce Women of Art." PBS. PBS, 21 July 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2017. http://www.pbs.org/video/2365797389/

This video was also created by PBS, but instead of interviews it’s a video on various controversial female artists. It specifically talks about how female artists are underrepresented and underappreciated rather than men who constantly have their work shown in art galleries and museums. This video was supposed to commemorate female artists who fought against different types of oppression through their artwork. I appreciated the video included women from different backgrounds and of different races. My artwork features a lot of “fierce” women in it, so I would like my exhibit to represent a theme of diversity in comics/illustration. I also connect to this video a lot, being a female artist and a feminist myself. I want to use videos like these as inspiration on what the “theme” or meaning of my exhibition will be.

4. Fighting Like a Girl: Gendered Language in Superhero Comics

Davis, Rebecca . "Fighting Like a Girl: Gendered Language in Superhero Comics." Griffith University . Griffith Working Papers in Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication , 2013. Web. 3 Feb. 2017. https://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/589458/Rebecca-Davis.pdf

This is a PDF I found on Google scholar about gendered language in superhero comics. This source differs the force from the rest of my sources, because it is more about language than art, but it still has to do with my artwork because it’s about gender and sexism. The sexist tropes I see through comics and all types of media is something I would like to challenge through my artwork and I would like to show specifically through this exhibit. I write comics and use text in my artwork, so it’s an aspect of my exhibition that I would like to know more about, especially when it deals with gender. I want to break stereotypes with both my illustrations and my writing, so having this access to this source would show me how.

5. How to Draw Comic the Marvel Way

Lee, Stan, and John Buscema. How to draw comics the Marvel way. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978. Print.

I was told to buy How to Draw Comic the Marvel Way as a tool for one of my summer art classes two years ago. It ended up being one of the most helpful and informative art books i’ve ever read, specifically when it comes to illustration and comic. It’s written by Stan Lee and Illustrated by Jack Kirby who are two of the most famous comic book writers and illustrators in the world, so I think it’s a very credible source because the authors are so experienced and talented. This book has taught so much about writing and drawing comics, and how much work goes into just creating one page. As an artist it’s always good to learn from the “old masters” and as an illustrator this is who learn from. I plan to use this book in order to illustrate comic book pages and specifically drawing pictures of people fighting because its main focus is superheros.

6. Mastering Manga

Crilley, Mark . Mastering Manga . Cincinnati: Impact , 2012. Print.

Mastering Manga is another How-to book that has helped me a lot over the years. Manga/anime was one of the first places I started as an illustrator and as a result it’s style had a big impact on my artwork. You can see through my style how manga plays apart in it through the big eyes and exaggerated facial expressions. Even though my style has evolved a lot over the years, I still use this book as a character design and cartoon anatomy reference. It includes body types and proportions different from a regular anatomy book, and although I use both, this book definitely helps me as an illustrator. I will use this book for my illustrations as more of a reference for body types and different facial structures in cartoons.

7. POP ART

Osterwold, Tilman. Pop art. Köln: Taschen, 1999. Print.

This is another book I own about a certain style and medium and art, but instead of comics it’s about Pop Art, which is a medium of art I may combine with my illustrations. One of the paintings i’m currently working on is going to use a pop art style featuring the characters I have created. Some of the artists in this book i’m even going to base my work off of (e.g. Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring). This book features tons of different artists work, and a detailed history of Pop art, and it’s cultural impact on the world. I always found this type of art interesting because of how it reflects on our culture, and its influence in marketing and advertisements. Many pop artists also use illustration in their work, which is why I want to use this book for my capstone. This source is credible because of how detailed and thoroughly researched it is.  

8. Scott Pilgrim

O'Malley, Bryan Lee. Scott Pilgrim. Vol. 1-6. Portland, OR: Oni Press, 2004. Print. Scott Pilgrim .

Scott Pilgrim is a series of comic books written by Bryan Lee O’malley. It is one of my favorite comic book series of all time because of beautiful artwork and unique story. This comic has been a big inspiration to my artwork and it has shaped me as an artist. I can always tell how much thought he put through each page of the book because of how he uses shading, angle, color, etc. I have used this series time and time again as a reference for my illustrations and comics. I also love how the book is written because it is both a comedic and compelling narrative. This is definitely a credible source because it’s a widely known and appreciated series among the comic book world. This is a book I will specifically use to see how to structure my panels, and the angle of the scene I am drawing for my comic book pages.

9. The Art of Drawing Anatomy

Sanmiguel, David. Art of drawing anatomy. New York: Sterling, 2008. Print.

Although I am focusing on illustration/ and comics knowing how to draw anatomy is still incredibly important when it comes to being an artist in general. Traditional art and figure drawing is where I really began as an artist, and it is something that guided me into illustration. Up until these last three years, I had only been taking traditional art classes, so I know how important having these skills are. Many of the illustrations include figures and faces, so this is going to be a helpful when drawing more complex angles and positions of the body. The book includes photographs of models, different mediums of figure drawing, step by step tutorials, and is overall a great reference for basic anatomy.

10. The Art of Illustration

"The Art of Illustration." PBS. PBS, 03 Apr. 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.

http://www.pbs.org/video/2365688290/

I found this video on PBS and it’s a collection of interviews from various illustrators. They talk about their work, different styles of illustration, and what illustration means to them. It also shows illustrators involved in different mediums like animation, comics, and newspapers/magazines. Obviously, this source is credible because it’s a Public Broadcasting Organization which is funded by the government. While watching this video I really connected with the artists and their answers to why illustration is so important to them. Besides just showing my art in an exhibit I want to show what my art and art in general means to me. I think this is a good video to get that type of thinking started because I want my exhibit to have more of a meaning than just “I created some art.”

11. The Killing Joke

Moore, Alan, and Brian Bolland. The killing joke. London: Titan, 2008. Print.

The Killing Joke is a Batman Comic written by Alan Moore and Illustrated by Brian Bolland. It focuses on the origins of the Joker, an infamous DC villain, and his relationship to Batman. Although I don’t find the story or plot to be very strong, but I do think it has some of the most gorgeous art and dialogue i’ve ever seen in a comic book. The Killing Joke also has a lot of depictions of sexism, and poorly written female character which is why I think it lacks in overall plot/story. It features a troupe known as “women in refrigerators” which where they features a woman’s assault, rape, death, etc. as a way to further the plot. Many of my illustrations depict women and people of color, so I think this book is a good example of how not to write them into a story. I can use this book as both a reference for my comic pages, and an example of sexist portrayals of female characters and how not to write them.