Talk:Ligne claire

Chinese art

I think the "Ligne claire" style was inspired by Chinese art. If I'm correct, the article should make that clear.

You may be correct, but I haven't found any evidence for it. Does anyone have any sources that might indicate this? I can see what Mr. 213... means by it, but I don't want to add this unless I am sure. Mikkel 05:31, 6 May 2005 (UTC)

It might be and the frienship of Hergé with Tchang may have played a role.... Ericd 17:27, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Geoff Darrow

When I merged this and Clean line style, I brought over a reference to Geoff Darrow. In his article, it says that his style is inspired by Japanese cartoons and 1950s americana. Which is correct? Ligne claire or the ones mentioned? Mikkel 05:31, 6 May 2005 (UTC)

Whoo-hpph! Replying one year later, anyway, Ligne Claire is not exactly defined, but is classified vaguely as an art style with clear lines and spaces that is easily readable, and in those aspects aren't too different from common designs in both Japanese cartoons and 50's Americana. Personally, I think Geof Darrow's style could be a little too stuffed with details etc. to be real Ligne claire (Even more so than his cited inspirations). 惑乱 分からん 23:39, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

His style was already developed by then. In his earlier work, he did have a rougher style. From the Chinese art that I've seen (and I've seen a lot), it is certainly not all like that simple, clear style. I doubt there's any influence. The Chinese didn't do everything first, despite what they'd like us to believe. 70.50.55.217 15:34, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Images?

Wouldn't adding some images to bits such as this one

Contemporary use of the ligne claire is often ironic. For example, van de Boogaart used the simple, clear style to set up a conflict with the amorality of his characters,[...]

help illustrate what the editor is trying to say? CatBoris 16:38, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

I guess he means that the style in Tintin etc. is considered somewhat sweet and innocent, nowadays, and therefore newer artists often make use of the style ironically with deliberate notions of ambiguity. 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 16:41, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Webcomics

Is the Perry Bible Fellowship's fairly frequent use of ligne-claire worth mentioning? It usually makes the shortlist of best-webcomics, and also continues to have widespread popularity in spite of the author being lazy and updating once per whenever he feels like it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.173.192.87 (talk) 13:25, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't think it's a "typical example". There are better examples out there. 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * (talk) 14:26, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Strong colors

Hmm, the phrase "strong colors" actually seems slightly half-true. The classic ligne claire series such as "Tintin" and "Blake and Mortimer" mostly has a rather subdued and slightly matte color scheme. It's colorful, but it's not as garish as some American comics from the same period, and gradients are basically non-existent. Scott McCloud wrote something about this in his color chapter in "Understanding Comics". Compare the Tintin image in the article. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 20:26, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Files for deletion/2011_March_28#File:General alcazar.jpg

Check WP:NFCC. All opinions welcome. Thank you. ^walk victor falk ^talk 19:13, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Steve Rolston

Canadian artist Steve Rolston could/should be mentioned. Warren Ellis called him an "ascended master" of the style (http://twitter.com/#!/warrenellis/statuses/73736413568450560) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.165.151.52 (talk) 05:25, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

His style isn't typical for the school. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 09:28, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Image example

The illustration isn't very good. I don't think it's suitable as an example of a typical ligne claire comic. Isn't thera a fair use example that could be used? 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 09:32, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Even if Moulinsart have problems with using Hergé images (a pity, since Hergé basically is the originator of the style), there should be a lot of other suitable images to use from artists such as Bob de Moor, Roger Leloup, Jacques Martin, Ted Benoît, Joost Swarte and Willy Vandersteen. Yves Chaland is not such a good choice, since the "atom style" largely is a reinterpretation of the 50's Marcinelle School. (Joost Swarte coined both the terms "ligne claire" and "atom style" and considered the two styles to be counterparts to each other.) 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 13:48, 19 November 2013 (UTC)

I have the same criticism against the current image, apparently made by Hannes Neubaber. It looks more like an interpretation of the 80's hip atomic school style by artists such as Yves Chaland, Serge Clerc and Ever Meulen than typical ligne claire. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 12:35, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

The current illustration (Yves Chaland) with its wide variety of line weights is not a great example.Panchamkauns (talk) 07:28, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

Hergé being ligne claire model…

It should be stressed that the LC descriptions applied to Hergé’s art are all post-facto - he himself didn’t describe what he did as being set to any school or style of art, and was constantly evolving and changing how he drew; examination of his art actually shows that it rarely conforms to the ideals which comprise LC. The article points out that early books were in a different style to later ones, but really no two are alike, and none adheres strictly to the tenets defined by Joost Swart. So while it may be attractive to talk of the style and Hergé’s art as if they were interchangeable it isn’t the case. For example, Hergé does use hatching - you will find it throughout the series; initially he used it to define things like a black sleeve on a jacket (see the Thom(p)sons and Haddock, where an arm against a black background will have hatching), and indeed he later removed that aspect from his drawing. But he continued to hatch under cars to depict speed and shadow right up to “Tintin and The Picaros”, so it was still there. Line weights *do* vary as well - Snowy is a good example, as his fur is usually a lighter line than that used for Tintin (it can also be seen used for the bear cubs in “Destination Moon”). Colour is used effectively to render shape and volume to some objects (from the mushrooms of “Shooting Star”, who are not only airbrushed to give shape, but the distinctive red spots exist only as part of the colour not the line art, to the shiny metal bowl of Calculus’s sonic weapon, and on to the Henry Moore sculpture in “Picaros”) and shadows beneath characters in “The Crab with the Golden Claws”. Hard inked shadows are drawn in in the walk in the woods/ campfire sequence in “Castafiore Emerald”, but are avoided entirely in the earlier “Prisoners of the Sun” in the night trip to the ship to look for the Professor, demonstrating that Hergé would use whatever stylistic techniques he felt necessary to provide the result he wanted, not that he was fixed on a set of rules, or on some constant progressive quest, discarding as he went. If you want an example from someone other than Hergé where “clear line” would not necessarily be something that those cited as exponents would recognize (as something they stuck to rigidly), then E.P. Jacob’s celebrated Blake & Mortimer adventure, “The Yellow “M”’ also has a good example, where in the scenes set on the London docks in the fog, cranes in the background are only drawn in pencil, and were deliberately left un-inked (the boards are marked to the effect, so that the printer would know it was deliberate), so that when reproduced they would be less well defined, and thus all the more atmospheric. Jock123 (talk) 17:51, 17 November 2015 (UTC)

These are valid points, but in the grand scheme of things I think they are minor deviations, and Hergé hews much closer to the style as described than most artists do. Panchamkauns (talk) 07:28, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

Bruce Eric Kaplan

Bruce Eric Kaplan (BEK) of The New Yorker always struck me as an example of the Belgian clear line style. Felicity4711 (talk) 01:32, 23 June 2018 (UTC)