Humble apologies, for my long absence.. I've spent the past couple of weeks, hurriedly completing my 'CFA-APA' contribution! The deadline was November 15th. And I only got it sent out via FedEx, this aft.. Fortunately, our Editors always afford us, a little bit of wiggle room!For those that don't know.. An 'APA' is an 'Amateur Press Association'.. A kind of an old-school Fanzine, published by (and for) it's own Membership.. In our case, it's a sophisticated group of 'Original Art' collectors/enthusiasts. We only ever publish 55 copies or so, about 3 times a year.
Each issue, features a different "theme" for articles to follow. And this time 'round, it was: "International Comic Art".. So I chose to write about Daniel Torres. One of my favorite-est European artists!
Normally, writing my article comes pretty easy.. But truth-be-told, I knew very little about Daniel Torres.. Outside of the fact that he was from Spain; and that I liked his work a lot..I found relatively little info about him, online. And what I did.. was all written in Spanish. A language which I am definitely not fluent in!
Last week (fortunately), I was able to purchase the new 'ROCO VARGAS Sketchbook' at my comic-book shop.. It's excellent!! I can't recommend it, highly enough! And that helped me sort out some of Torres details for my article..
I had a hard time just picking out a few JPEGs from the book to showcase here, on my Blog.. I only scanned the cover and a few interior pages.. It's a 48-page hardcover, that is loaded with conceptual sketches, color comps, vehicle & character designs.. And even storytelling 'page breakdowns' that you can compare to the finished books, if you have them..The English-language translations were all published as: 'ROCCO VARGAS'.. with an added "C" to the name. The earliest stories started out as a kind of swashbuckling Space Opera.. But later issues, informed us that 'ROCCO' was in fact a mild-mannered Science-Fiction writer named: "Armando Mistral"; who just happens to get drawn into a lot of adventures, mystery, and intrigue..
I actually own relatively few of the books, myself.. As Torres' work is notoriously difficult to find on these North American shores! If you enjoy the 'Clear Line' style popularized by artists like Yves Chaland and Eddy Vermeulen.. Give Daniel Torres' work a look,-- you might really enjoy it, too!
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8 comments:
Did you just take the last one from the Beguiling?
As a matter-of-fact, I think I got the FIRST one!
Those scamps at 'Beguiling' make me pre-order with the PREVIEWS Catalog.. So I knew this one was coming.
They thought it'd be funny.. So one of those smartasses actually wrote on the shrinkwrap: "To Rich.. With LOVE, Rocco!"
hardeeharhar
Truth is.. I only saw one (possibly 2) other copies. So yeah, you may be shit outta luck. Ask 'em to reorder it, I guess?
Hoping to pick that one up myself someday.
Love Torres work.
I found your blog thru the drawing board -- I very much appreciate those vehicles -- especially the retrofuturistic 40s ones... Are there anymore retrofutur-y designs you'd like to share?
Thanks for checking out my Blog, Jeremy.. Hope you found my 'Drawing Board' notes helpful!
There are more retro-futuristic Vehicles in that 'Roco Vargas Sketchbook' if you can find it? Most comic-book shops don't have copies.. And I haven't seen an announcement from 'Bud Plant' on it, either.. So it may be a hard one to locate.
Thanks for visiting.. Come back OFTEN! heh
Daniel Torres is a god. I first found him when I was a tiny sprog who found a copy of Heavy Metal with his shit in it. I forgot about it for ten years til I found another copy of the same. I forgot about it again til now, and here I find your page. Mistake to say I forgot it, cos Torres' work sunk deep into my art. This type of illustration is about to make a substantial comeback, and its overdue. So much of the shit i see these days is so uninspired. Torres really took chances, with lines, color and narrative. Yeah, thats it, he's a heavily narrative comix artist. and i think thats the difference.
yeah i'm a big fan of daniel torres i have 4 of their books and plan to find the remaining 2 or 3. I didn't know about this sketch book- i must have it!!!
Here is another page from it. Beautiful! http://24.media.tumblr.com/05807ad8e036bb40bd77deffbc67c174/tumblr_mjfew5QQCc1rppt42o1_1280.png
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