Making Vintage-Inspired Art

[Nikki Darling]

Hello! I'm new to this lounge and new to vintage btw, but I am recently out of art college and have a BFA in Sequential Art. I've been pretty lost, artistically speaking, ever since college. I still draw cartoons, mainly cute animals, creature designs, or fashionable ladies. But I needed inspiration outside of comics (which was basically 80% of my major). Sooooo... I discovered vintage children books and their beautiful illustrations.

The problem is, I know nothing about how these artists created their work! What paints did they use? How did they even print these detailed colored copies?! I remember being taught how there used to be basically a sweatshop full of older ladies just to color comics for print back in the day, so some of these older children's books just blow my mind.

I've tried using gouache paints like in Tigerbuttah. Aren't these the freakin' cutest illustrations ever?? But I just can't get the amount of control I want with it. Maybe I am using the wrong brushes? (PS, Seqa Art did NOT cover painting...)

I'm thinking maybe something like the one below would be using watercolor and inks, which would be much more fitted to the way I work. Of course, I could easily just whip up something like this digitally, but that seems so wrong. Creating vintage-inspired art with... a computer?!

Also, I love using colored pencils, and I admire Geneviene Godbout's artwork. It's cute, and seems vintagey and storybook like to me!

And on top of all of this, I wanted to ask everyone: What do you think makes a piece of artwork feel vintage? Could I paint subject matter that is modern, yet still achieve a vintage feeling?

Which ones do y'all like? Any other thoughts?? (By the way, welcome to the goings-on of my mind for the past few months! )

 

[herringbonekid]

How did they even print these detailed colored copies?! I remember being taught how there used to be basically a sweatshop full of older ladies just to color comics for print back in the day, so some of these older children's books just blow my mind.

the full colour illustrations above would all have been printed using offset lithography, after having the artwork photographed and colour separations made.

old comics were printed differently; the areas for each colour to be printed were created on acetate overlays. scalpel blades, Rotring pens, zippertone (or 'Letratone') were involved. it was very time consuming.
you can read more about it here:

http://www.comicartistsdirect.com/articles/coloring.html

 

[MarkJohn]

I'm not sure he counts as 'vintage' as such, but I adore the work of Raymond Briggs (of The Snowman fame), who works in coloured pencil, to amazing affect... his book Ethel & Ernest based on the life of his parents, is an incredibly touching work, and When the Wind Blows is a powerful, if rather disturbing piece. I tried to do some work in a similar style, but fall miles short.

Well worth a Google if your not familiar with his work...

 

[Nikki Darling]

the full colour illustrations above would all have been printed using offset lithography, after having the artwork photographed and colour separations made.

old comics were printed differently; the areas for each colour to be printed were created on acetate overlays. scalpel blades, Rotring pens, zippertone (or 'Letratone') were involved. it was very time consuming.
you can read more about it here:

http://www.comicartistsdirect.com/articles/coloring.html

Oh, lithography! I really should've guessed that, actually... (Sorry printmaking professors D: D:!) Still, lithography is quite involved as well :O

I've been taught about applying the zippertone with exacto knife, not that any of us ever used that method. Didn't know about the acetate overlays or anything else. Very fascinating, great information on that link there! Thank you.

I suppose in cases like printing artwork- technology really is a lifesaver.

I'm not sure he counts as 'vintage' as such, but I adore the work of Raymond Briggs (of The Snowman fame), who works in coloured pencil, to amazing affect... his book Ethel & Ernest based on the life of his parents, is an incredibly touching work, and When the Wind Blows is a powerful, if rather disturbing piece. I tried to do some work in a similar style, but fall miles short.

Well worth a Google if your not familiar with his work...

Wow. I'm blown away by Raymond Brigg's work. His snowman art looks very familiar, but I haven't seen anything else of his. I definitely want to pick up Ethel & Ernest now, I love comics that relay real-life experiences since I think they make some of the best stories. I actually can't think of any comics that I've read that use colored pencils, so it's very awesome discovering this! Thank you!!

 

[MikeBravo]

Hello! I'm new to this lounge and new to vintage btw, but I am recently out of art college and have a BFA in Sequential Art. I've been pretty lost, artistically speaking, ever since college. I still draw cartoons, mainly cute animals, creature designs, or fashionable ladies. But I needed inspiration outside of comics (which was basically 80% of my major). Sooooo... I discovered vintage children books and their beautiful illustrations.

Which ones do y'all like? Any other thoughts?? (By the way, welcome to the goings-on of my mind for the past few months! )

I just love the trees in the top left corner. They look similar to the ones in Warner Brothers cartoons

 

[MarkJohn]

Wow. I'm blown away by Raymond Brigg's work. His snowman art looks very familiar, but I haven't seen anything else of his. I definitely want to pick up Ethel & Ernest now, I love comics that relay real-life experiences since I think they make some of the best stories. I actually can't think of any comics that I've read that use colored pencils, so it's very awesome discovering this! Thank you!!

My pleasure... glad you like his work.

 

[LocktownDog]

A lot of illustrations from the first half of the century are dry brush watercolor.

 

[Mocheman]

I'm also an artist (degree in illustration) and here's a blog I visit frequently:
http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/
If you search back through the archives you'll find information on many illustrators. There are techniques and interviews with the artists. I think you might find some of the information you're looking for.

 

[Nikki Darling]

I'm lovin' the feedback

And Mocheman, that blog is amazing. It will certainly entertain me for a long time.