Comics Features Reviews

Through the Eyes of An Artist With Frank Quietly

When you are given the rare opportunity to delve into an artist’s creative mind, you know you’re in for a treat. Frank Quietly: Drawings + Sketches gives us insight on artist Frank Quietly‘s work from Jupiter’s Legacy, Jupiter’s Circle, Nothing to Declare, WE3 and more.

For those unfamiliar, Frank Quietly is a comic book artist who is primarily known for his collaborations with Grant Morrison and Mark Millar. Most of the work featured in this compilation contains work he did for either Morrison or Millar.

Each page contains breathtaking work regardless if it is a sample of the final product or rough sketches. There is just enough description for readers to get a sense of Frank Quietly’s progress but for the most part, the art speaks for itself. With almost every final piece shown, we are given a step by step process of how the final piece came to life. This includes images taken directly from Frank Quietly’s sketchbook, extremely rough drawings that would be hard to decipher without the aide of the final product next to it.

From those rough sketches to the final products, everything in this book leaps off the page. There is life to every drawing, every line put on paper. There’s something special about being able to get a glimpse of an artist’s working method. This is especially true when an artist allows readers to see their private sketchbooks. The variety of work is extremely wide as well. We are given covers, character designs, panels, all of which are given equal time and explanation. In particular, there are breakdowns of some rather complex moments in Quietly’s work, but it is given ample time to understand his workflow as well as visual representation.

Those looking for Batman and Robin, New X-Men, etc. may be slightly disappointed. There are a few works that cover the infamous superheroes in the miscellaneous section but there are very few and most of the book covers the works mentioned above. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from wanting to get some insight into this artist.

Fans of Quietly’s work will enjoy this book immensely as they scour each and every page, analyzing every detail the artist has left behind in his sketches. Even if you have no idea who Frank Quietly is or the work shown in the book, it’s still worth reading for anyone who is fascinated by art or who aspires to become an artist themselves. And this is especially a must read if you hope to one day become a comics creator. Getting insight on a variety of artists and their work is always a good thing, especially those with a passion for comics and/or art.

Frank Quietly: Drawing’s + Sketches is currently available from BHP Comics, Amazon, as well as local bookstores. Be sure to get your copy as soon as possible! And, if you’ve had a chance to see this breathtaking art, share with us in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!

About the author

Jonathan Hazin