Tuesday 28 April 2020

Ivy the Terrible (Beano, 2014)

Being asked to draw a classic strip like Ivy the Terrible was a great privilege as it had originally been drawn by the late great Robert Nixon. I was asked not to deviate from his style too much, but that wasn't difficult as he'd been one of my many influences anyway. 

The thing about "ghosting" an art style is that it immediately becomes absorbed into your own style, so little quirks and techniques become evident. I don't know if my style is distinctive (you can't always tell if it is yourself) but I know there's little bits of various artists in there from Leo Baxendale, Ken Reid, and Roy Wilson, to Jack Oliver, Tom Paterson, and Bob Nixon and more. 

These two Ivy the Terrible strips appeared in The Beano issues dated 4th October and 11th October 2014. Scripts by John Anderson (who's now the Beano editor) and art and colours by me. 

I've been working in comics now for 37 years and I'll delve into the archive and show some more old work soon!

******************************

9 comments:

Andy Madden said...

These are so slick! I wish you did more pages for the Beano.

Lew Stringer said...

So do I!

McSCOTTY said...

Nice art Lew. I certainly see the influence of Robert Nixon in your art and Leo Baxendale ( with a wee bit of Mike Higgs as well) whilst still retaining your own distinctive style

Lew Stringer said...

How could I forget Mike? Yes, definitely, as I was his assistant for a while.

Kal said...

Ah, you've brought to mind a question that I've been meaning to ask for ages: What's the distinction between ghosting and being on model? Is there a dividing line?

I look at both strips you've posted here and they're clearly by you. The closest thing to ghosting to my eye is Ivy in the first panel of the top strip; that's bang on Nixon.

Lew Stringer said...

"On model" is just a phrase for accurately drawing something right. So for instance an accurate drawing on an aircraft could be said to be "on model".

"Ghosting" is drawing a strip in the style of another, or at least approximating it, usually as a fill-in. It doesn't necessarily have to be too accurate. (That depends on the editor's preference.)

Mr.Smith said...

When does the beano and dandy summer specials come out?

Lew Stringer said...

Mid-May according to the website, so any time now!

Mr.Smith said...

Ok, thanks!