Professional artists who seem be stuck in a rut

[pitabread]

I thought I'd start a thread on famous professional artists/illustrators who seem to have peaked and declined or are otherwise stuck in a rut.

Two that come to mind are Luis Royo and Masamune Shirow:

Royo - I used to be a big fan of Royo's art. I have a lot of his artbooks and love his earlier work. Granted a lot of it was commissioned work, but it was executed with such skill I always admired it.

Now, not so much. He seems to be locked into drawing the same generic females in grey-brown motifs with piercings, swords, etc. I've tried buying a few of his more recent art books, but it's so boring now. His older works actually had colours and landscapes and varied themes. Now it's just the same generic women and themes over and over.


Shirow - My first manga was Appleseed book 3. From that point on I was hooked on Shirow's artwork. I absolutely loved the detail B&W work in the Appleseed manga, and especially in Ghost in the Shell. And the painted pages in Ghost in the Shell were imho, his pinnacle.

But now? He's gone the CG route and this, imho, has given all his more recent art a much more "plastic" feel. What used to feel organic and inviting, now feels inorganic and sterile. Of his artbooks, I prefer Intron Depot 1 above all, because of that earlier non-CG'd artwork. CG, imho, ruined his work.

And I'm not even going to get into his attempts at erotica...

Anyway, I don't really want to totally bash these artists because I do admire their work. But I'm just amazed at how they seemed to go from creative and interesting to dull and repetitive. What happened?

[Maidith]

Possibility #1 is that they enjoy what they're currently doing, and are sticking to it until they decide otherwise, which could be tomorrow or in 10 years. Many artists, after having learnt and experimented for years, stick to a certain theme or medium for most of their life.

Possibility #2 is that they feel pressured to make a certain kind of art for their audience - after all, their income depends on it.

[Bruce Pluto]

Pitabread

I understand what you’re saying and have seen it several times. Hell, I even feel like I do it myself sometime. But consider this, it may not be a rut that an artist may be in at any one moment but rather a “comfort zone“. They are doing art that they are comfortable with at that time and maybe have unfinished business with a particular theme. The thing to do may be to render that particular theme a few times to get it out of their (or whomever’s) head.

For one thing the artist themselves have to recognize that they are doing the same thing over and over and they have to come to a point when it is time to move on to something different. Only they can do this. Of course that doesn’t help fans enjoy the new work they are putting out but give it time and it should run it’s course. An artist has to recognize this and a lot about art is challenging ones self to change direction and try something new. The whole idea of creating artwork and having people enjoy is it to create something fresh and new to capture folks attention.

Theme and subjects may be the same but the trick is to freshen it up with enjoyable twists and looks and things maybe folks haven’t seen before.

Interesting post btw, Bruce

[riceface]

wow luis royo work is amazing, i just googled it... is it digital or traditional?

[pitabread]

Interesting comments so far.

I think the point about sticking with what they enjoy is probably the best. And like Bruce echoed, it's probably about finding a "comfort zone". It just seems to me that these artists seem to have sacrificed creativity and variance in favor of reproducing very similar works over and over.

Although I suppose it really does happen to many artists. I was looking up works by a number of "fine artists" (i.e. the Klimt's, Monet's, Delvaux's, etc), and they all seem to show similar patterns of variability in their earlier work then refinement and locking in on a particular style, themes, etc.

[pitabread]

wow luis royo work is amazing, i just googled it... is it digital or traditional?

I know most of his work is traditional media. Not sure if he has moved to digital yet and/or uses digital for touch-ups.

[Ilaekae]

I personally think Royo is coasting, and has been for a while. It's happened to a lot of other people in his rep range.

The other reason is almost certainly demands being made by their following/clients to "do YOUR thing," which means don't change or we won't support you anymore. This is a common problem for artists who have a large public following...

[Mike from Toronto]

I thought I'd start a thread on famous professional artists/illustrators who seem to have peaked and declined or are otherwise stuck in a rut.

Anyway, I don't really want to totally bash these artists because I do admire their work. But I'm just amazed at how they seemed to go from creative and interesting to dull and repetitive. What happened?

The biggest danger I see as an artist is not seeing the world afresh - with that same sense of wonder as we do when we are young and feel that burning passion to tell our story. To do this we must live in the present and live life as full as possible - to experience as much as we can - and to reflect on that with the new truths that experience brings with age. It's also not being afraid to take new risks and court failure because if one thinks deeply about something - new and profound truths reveal themselves and cry out for new expressions and new techniques.

I think an artist slowly dies when they resist that impulse to live and experience. The ones that remain creative and productive to the end have carried this tourch and are not afraid to reveal what they continually discover about themselves.

Mike

[Max Challie]

I heard about test results showing that if a brain keeps learning and is actively in use, memories don't fade away.

"You don't stop learning when you grow old; you grow old when you stop learning." - Deborah Jones

[edit] I actually believe that 'old' and 'growth' don't fit together. For me, that's the difference between an old person and an elderly person, whether or not they're still learning. It's like this whole "you must be serious and mature now" expectation is set up as a mechanism to farm the perfect infrastructure of working bees. Fuck that yo, I love ice cream! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

In art and in life, it seems we end up where we began. Why do we tend to get so serious and feel the need to 'grow up', after all? Maturity doesn't mean being serious, being serious means being serious. A person can be childlike; act like a child, and also hold deep conversation. When you were 6 or 8, and you drew a monster, or a character, I bet you didn't stop and say "that sucks, because ..."

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
-T. S. Eliot

[Stoat]

I heard about test results showing that if a brain keeps learning and is actively in use, memories don't fade away.

I don't care WHAT you do...that lobe of the brain that remembers names? That sucker is TOTALLY going to fade away.

[Max Challie]

Hahaha! Yeah

[dwilliams]

It says in the back of Luis' books that most of his paintings are done in traditional media on board, usually acrylics and oils, although I'm not sure if that means acrylic under paintings or what. And I agree he's been coasting on the same themes and look for awhile.

But will I buy his next book when it comes out? Yeah, as I always do :)

Whether or not that's what he's personally comfortable with, or personally enjoys, or is "encouraged" to do I guess he only knows.

[Jem'ennuie]

I don't think Shirow is stuck in a rut at all. Why can't someone keep a certain style? Why does style need to change?

His style is freaking awesome and his ability to draw anatomy is amazing. If that's being stuck in a rut then I wanna be stuck in a rut too!

I understand your point though, you think his work is monotonous? I think when you get to a certain craftsmanship like he is, you can just choose the same style. It's not like people have stopped buying his art, he's really succesful. Why would he risk changing style if what he makes is so good? Idk, I think you're looking too much into this.

[bhanu]

I think its so much more about the fan/client base than the personal inclination of an artist.
Happens everywhere.