After every art show, workshop, or event I’m in I seem to suffer from something I can only describe as “post-artum” depression. I’m not trying to be funny here - after my final graduating exhibition in 1993 it was almost two years before I made any meaningful art. Although my post-show down time has shortened considerably over the years, I can still count on a week or two of art-less blah after a show.
So what does an artist do when she’s not making art? She reads about how other artists make their art. Yep. And this time I thought I’d invite you along for the ride.
One of my favourite books about scratchboard is the out-of-print Scratchboard for Illustration by Ruth Lozner. I think what I like best about this book, besides the straightforward instructions and clear illustrations, are the wide variety of artists, techniques and styles depicted. From Lozner’s own loose, sketchy syle to the near mechanical perfection of Paul E. Sheldon’s boards, there’s something here for everyone. Because I’ve read and re-read the book several times I’ve started to use it as a jumping off point to look up the work of artists listed in the book. A name caught my eye: Virgil Finlay. I say name because Lozner didn’t include any examples of his work in her book; only his name in a surprisingly long list of people who used scratchboard for editorial, advertising and illustration work. I’d heard of Finlay before, and had seen an example or two of his work online and thought it was amazing, but I’d never really taken it any further.
Finlay, Virgil. Self-portrait. Graphite, 1933. (Please ignore the watermark copyright image: I don’t yet know how to remove it from selected images.)
Virgil Finlay, American artist, (23 July 1914 - 18 January 1971) is probably most well know for his scratchboard fantasy and science fiction illustrations for such publications as Famous Fantastic Mysteries, Amazing Stories and Weird Tales. He worked on white clayboard, using a combination of straight scratchwork and pen and ink drawing to create fantastically intricate works.
Finlay, Virgil. The Hairy Ones Shall Dance. Pen & ink and engraving on scratchboard, 1937. (Please ignore the watermark copyright image: I don’t yet know how to remove it from selected images.)
When Finlay first sent his work to publishers he was told it was too detailed for pulp fiction illustration; however in 1935, Weird Tales took a chance on Finlay and he soon became a favourite with readers and writers alike. His work became so popular that when he served with the Army during World War II the magazines that used his illustrations hired other artists to imitate his style.
Finlay, Virgil. The Conquest of the Moon Pool. Pen & ink and engraving on scratchboard, 1948. (Please ignore the watermark copyright image: I don’t yet know how to remove it from selected images.)
In addition to his grass-roots popularity, Finlay received professional recognition for his work: he was nominated several times in the 50s for the Hugo Award (retroactively awarded the 1946 award in 1996). Despite his popularity, Finlay spent 16 hour days seven days a week drawing to eek out a living at pulp fiction rates. His work was wonderfully detailed and took much longer than simple pen drawings, but Finlay refused to sacrifice quality for speed. When the Sci-Fi/Fantasy magazines of the 30s, 40s and 50s stopped publishing in the 60s, his art was picked up by the new Astrology publishers and he became as popular in this new genre as he’d been in Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Following his death in 1971, several portfolios of his work were released and quickly became collector items.
What I admire most about Finlay is his craftsmanship. I know that in the larger art world today “craft” is a dirty word - if you call someone a “hack” they’ll engage you in a n art historical debate, but call them a “craftsman” and they react as though you’d attacked them personally. Here was a man who’s original art would rarely see the light of day, who purposely created art for mass consumption, whose art was reproduced onto some of the cheapest paper known to human kind and he spent hours, days even, on each piece. Not only was the idea behind each piece important but the execution was equally important. And I admire that.
Resources:
“Hugo Award.” March 2008. Wikipedia. Accessed on 08 April 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Professional_Artist
Lozner, Ruth. Scratchboard for Illustration. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1990.
The Virgil Finlay Information Pages. Accessed 08 April 2008. http://www.xs4all.nl/~jito/virgil-finlay/enter-index.htm
Vadeboncoeur, Jim. “Virgil Finlay Biography.” Been Publishing, I’m Back. Accessed on 08 April 2008. http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/finlay.htm
“Virgil Finlay.” Artcyclopedia. Accessed 08 April 2008http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/finlay_virgil.html
