So, I liked Joshua Middleton's art style when I saw it in Crossgen's Meridian.

His art evokes that fairy tale book illustration feeling. Of course, I knew he's not the first to draw this style; I've seen it elsewhere (and always liked it).

So I did a bit of Google. Wasn't easy to find examples of this art if you don't know the name of the style! Turns out it's called ligne claire, which is French because it's supposedly pioneered by Hergé, the Belgian creator of The Adventures of Tintin, a European comic.

But I knew it's older than that. Did a bit more Googling and I think I found the originator of ligne claire: Ivan Bilibin [en.wikipedia.org], who illustrated Russian fairy tales 100 years ago.




Who else has always loved this art style, but just didn't know where it all began or what it's even called?

You mean this flatter, comicy art style, pale colours with strong, dark outlines? Other artists have used it in various fashions: Mucha in his Art Nouveau style, Arthur Rackam in his famous illustrations, even Toulouse Lautrec in his posters. And I think that's a clue as to its origin: poster style artwork, illustration, art for commercial purposes.

If you look back, this style mostly started when European artists were copying and imitating the styles they saw in Japanese prints, such as the work of Hokusai (Ukiyo-e "Floating World" a style that had itself grown out of the earlier traditional ones, but was optimised for mass production via woodblock print rather than hand painting). There was a vogue for all things from the "far East", stimulated by European conquest and exploitation of these cultures. Often prints would find their way into Europe in the form of packing for other goods like decorated ceramics. To many of the artists there these were new and exciting and their work clearly shows the influence. Plus, as for the Japanese, that style works very well commercially: easier to reproduce (with the techniques at the time) and has a broad appeal.

I hope that helped. :)

-edit-
I forgot to say that it's a style I've always loved too. ^_^

Alfons Mucha actually won significant recognition a few years before Bilibin. He painted "Gismonda" for a theatrical play featuring actress Sara Bernhard in 1895, whereas Bilibin released his illustrations of Russian fairytales in 1899.



Like Ozone said, it was an art adapted for mass production and commercial use. Mucha did posters, magazine covers, restaurant menus, designed stained glass windows, jewelry, costumes and decorations for theatrical plays, postcards, furniture - even tableware!

Here are some of my favorites

Dawn:

Dusk:


Untitled:


North:

Fruit:


Lefevre-Utile: (not very ligne claire, but I love it!)

Thanks y'all. I just developed more respect for Art History, a subject I always held in the utmost contempt.

(Must be because I'd always be forced to study up on Picasso and I hate his crap.)

You shouldn't hate art history. It's not all about Picasso. It's all about illegal substances lol! It actually came as quite a shock to me to find out how glorified absinthe was back in the day. I actually remember a ligne claire ad poster of it!

Fitz
It's all about illegal substances lol!

Why use illegal substances when lead and turpentine are readily available in most artist's studios?

That is SO true. My sis must be pretty much stoned all the time - her place REEKS of turpentine. Also, my friend from college once missed her exam because the chemicals she used to make her sculpture got her so dizzy she thought it was the next day.

Looks real cool...

I love ligne claire. I also love art history. :) Thanks for sharing those great images!

I see a lot of people draw like this. Reminds me a lot of Art Nouveau. One thing I like the most about this style is the outlines, not sure why though. XD

"Ligne claire" specifically seems to simply be about Herge's comic style of drawing everything with the same line thickness... ;)
But I think we addressed the general idea that Mlai was refering to. :)

I think Laudanum was the true substance of choice for many 19thC artists. Personally I can not stand the stench of turpentine! I grew out of that early in my student days when I used to paint in my bedroom. I quickly developed an aversion to it that has endured. I suppose sleeping with that smell in your nostrils doesn't help. I'm quite sensitive to smells actually and eventually all the stinks associated with oil paints sickened me. Not the same with acrylics though, the smells are far more varied and subtle there from strong ammonia reeks to gentle mildew, either way they're far more tolerable than the crude salty, oily chemical scents of oils. :P

That style always reminds me of stained glass windows. The dark outlines are the lead separators, and the bits of stained glass were often painted to show faces and folds of clothes and other details. :) Also the light and airy coloring of that style just reminds me of light coming through a window.

I wonder if there is a connection?

Of course there is! If you read my post about Mucha above, you'll see I mentioned him designing stained glass windows.

I did see that, but I meant something more along the lines of, I wonder if these artists purposely invoke a sense of stained glass to help create a serene, fairytale feeling. :) After all, the first storytelling images to be accessible to most people were probably stained glass windows in churches. It seems one of the traits of this art style is to use softer, bright colors, which makes them look very 'light'. If someone were to use darker/bolder colors or draw an actiony type of scene I don't think it would be quite the same. I just think it's interesting to think that they probably purposefully incorporated some traits of stained glass- using people's natural associations with that type of art form, to help create their own. :)

Well the lineage from Chinese and Japanese Ink on paper art, to prints, to mainly French artists taking up the style is pretty clear and well documented. But the stain glass idea is perfectly valid, just not from the point of view of tracing the origins... More, it's part of the heritage of mainly North and Western European art in general, and it could well have provided further inspiration to artists who'd taken up this new style in the late 19thC.

Hey these are awesome. I like the style a lot.

I really like this art style too. Sorry, I thought I had more to add, but my links didn't work and I don't have time. So, sorry I can't contribute anything other than I appreciate the thread and the discussion.