The only artist whose work I copied and traced on a regular basis when I was growing up was the Italian master Gino D’Antonio. Due to British publishers’ reluctance to give artists and writers a credit, I only knew him as one of the ‘good’ artists, and it was always a thrill when I’d find a new book by him on the newsagent’s carousel.
Here are some of his pages from an adaptation of ‘The Odyssey’ that appeared in Tell Me Why, and a selection from the 120 page tour de force that is Frontline Super Library #4 ‘Trouble Shooter’.
The first time I read ‘Trouble Shooter’, aged thirteen, I knew the world had changed. Doubtless the same emotions that shook Julius II the first time he beheld the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
The following detail – from the top panel in the above page – is one of my favourite pieces of drawing ever. Still a source of inspiration and despair, though more usually the latter as the years go by.
27 November 2011 at 16:11
Mike,
Did you see the Commando covers exhibit at the Army Museum? Loads of beautiful cover art…
30 November 2011 at 00:07
D’Antonio is stunning – I’ve been hoping that Commando might reprint some of his early stuff like they’ve done with Victor De La Fuente who I really like too. I’ve a theory that every comics artist should have to draw War stories first because they demand everything of an artist – drama , detail , action , emotion and no fudging! I think that’s why so many artists from the 1960′s/70′s were so good.
Ade