We heard Jack Kirby talk about not having the right outlook for fine art, lasting only 1 day at the famed Pratt Institute. But that doesn't mean he didn't indulge in painting for his leisure, nor that he did not have the facility for "Fine Art". There was simply too much art bottled up in the man to release it that slowly.
When painting, he often favored what is, for me, the hardest medium to work with - water colours. I can only assume his speed helped him there. I have to cheat. (I work digitally, and so can alter the laws of physics governing paint drying and dynamics) That he so well mastered such a difficult type of painting in his spare time just impresses me all the more.
So let us take a pause on this fine Sunday afternoon and just enjoy the paintings of Jack Kirby. Not surprisingly, some were combination of inks and watercolours, for expanded comic style paintings of familiar(ish) superheroes like Captain America...
...and Coal Tiger (You can call him Black Panther)
Some combined his collage work, too, as these paintings of Metron and Darkseid of the New Gods:
The gods roamed through Kirby's paintings...
Some of his paintings from the late 60s, before heading over to DC to unleash the New Gods foreshadow his work to come. Given the time frame and psychedelic styling, i call them his Acid Gods, but Jack didn't need the LSD to create them.
Or, how about Acid Kree?
Or a home for the Acid Gods?
Captain Glory looks like he knew those acid gods...
This is delightfully titled When It Is Spring:
The Mechanoid appeared briefly to ask a question previously, here's a better look:
Probably one of the oddest pairings for me is Jack Kirby and the NFL. Here's Fran Tarkenton and a true Fantasy Football League player:
Always finish big, they say. So here's a Galactic Head (Not to be confused with a Celestial Skull as we saw in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie - but that traces back to Jack, too)
all art by Jack Kirby, painted over time
No comments:
Post a Comment