Frank Hampson 1918-1985
Frank Hampson was better known for his work on 'Dan Dare' a strip that ran in the 'Eagle', a British comic for boys in the 50's and 60's. 'The Road of Courage' was a lesser known strip in the same comic that was a retelling of the New Testament story.
Many thanks to Dragons Dream who had the foresight to reprint this strip in book form in 1981. A word of warning. I would not recommend this book for its theology!
The artwork, as you can see from the sample of 'Herod' was outstanding. His draftsmanship and attention to detail is unsurpassed even today.
I believe he worked from photographic references that were dramatically lit by the photographer. Hampson also traveled to the Holy land to gather picture references for this book.
I'm not sure if Hampson used a brush or nib to ink in his line-work. If anyone knows, please add a post!
My only criticism is the way Hampson depicted the Lord Jesus. He looks like Dan Dare with a blond wig on! But other than that, it's some of the best artwork I've seen! Hampsons excellent choice of models, also shows his flair for casting!
More about Frank Hampson here: Frank Hampson.
Favorite Bible Artist #2 Nestor Redondo
Favorite Bible Artist #3 Clive Uptton
Favorite Bible Artist #4 Cicely Mary Barker
5 comments:
Hampson was a great artist but his depiction of a blonde Jesus was a strange choice. Whatever motivated him to do this? Apart from this his New Testament strip was of the highest quality. I especially like his use of dramatic side lighting. An effect also used by fellow Dan Dare artist Frank Bellamy.
Paul Arnold Green who comments above has some excellent Bible paintings for sale at 'ArtWanted.com'
http://artwanted.com/search/index.cfm
Check them out!
I've been working on the new Titan Books collection of Road of Courage and Mark, the Youngest Disciple, which is due out in late March 2010 (Amazon link: http://bit.ly/6bq2XL). Both strips have been scanned from good quality issues of Eagle. I agree, the Road of Courage is a stunning piece of work: the collection will also include Hampson's beautiful Nativity illustration from the 1957 Eagle Annual.
Thanks John, I'll be adding a post on this in March!
Did you know that the face drawn & coloured by Frank Hampson which you posted here was based on a still from the "David & Goliath" film of 1960? It is Orson Welles portraying King Saul. Do a google images search and see for yourself! Interesting...
Best regards,
Alec Stevens
www.calvarycomics.com
Post a Comment