Gotta love Mike Hoffman 0

[Will_K]

I once read that John Byne described himself as a poor man's Neal Adams.

I once read that Adam Hughes described himself as a poor man's John Byrne.

I think there's room for a poor man's Frazetta. 

I do wish Hoffman would draw tighter sketches.  I'd probably buy more often.

[ESeffinga]

This is merely my .02¢, and I don't begrudge anyone that wants Hoffman to do a piece for them, or is into what he does. Different strokes and all that.

What I see when I see Hoffman's art, is largely the same as I saw back in 1999. Some pieces show a little refinement/growth, but by and large he's in roughly the same artistic place as he was at the end of the last century. Which is, doing his whack at Frazetta.

There are plenty of artists taking the Frazetta ball and running with it. Guys like Boris and Ken Kelly started out in the Fraz-school, and have kind of made their own versions of that their stock and trade. They're pieces are usually identifiable on site (without signatures), and have their proponents and detractors. They aren't my cup of tea. Not for the ways that they are like Frazetta, but in the ways that they are not. But I give them that they their work is its own thing now.

I'm all for artistic growth. I think it's massively important for an artist to distinguish themselves and bring something new to the art world, not just use someone else's look and make new images in that vein. Every beginning artist starts out wearing their influences on their sleeve, and all good ones evolve past that point. There is craft there, but IMO it's not genuinely art, in the way that a lot of illustration isn't art. There's no personal unique word view involved. Nothing new stylistically. Nothing new intellectually. I don't think drawing Deadman as if Frank Frazetta drew him is really "art". It's tantamount to the folks that straight up copy celebrities from magazine photos. You are showing technique. But what else? The artists that interest me bring something to the party we've not seen before.

I picked the Deadman thing, because, that was me. Just under 20 years ago. I thought it might be fun to see and I placed a commission. Hoffman was just starting to plumb the depths of comic fandom commissions by drawing comic characters in the style of Frank. In fact, if I remember correctly he actually tried to deny the Frazetta influence at one point a few years into it.

I have at times been into Simon Bisley, and Alex Horley (had Horley do a Deadman), even had Ken Kelly do one. And at the end of the day they were interesting because those artists took Frazetta, internalized some of his visual language and then what comes out of them is not Frazetta, it's Bisley, Kelly, Horley, etc. But with Hoffman, I feel what comes out is like a bad copy of a Frazetta. Like a xerox of a xerox. Missing the core of energy, loose command of the medium and his own willingness to invent. Invent looks, invent scenarios, invent postures, invent musculature... It's like Hoffman wants to convey things in a Frazetta vein, but what makes a Hoffman a Hoffman, is how close to Frazetta can he get? Not very IMO. It's a soft caricature of Frazetta at best, IMO.

As a bad analogy,  but I see Hoffman more like a ventriloquist or a celebrity impersonator than an actor.

I sold my Hoffman, (along with most all of my Deadman commissions) a long time ago. And I seem to recall there was a time in the early 00s where Hoffman became a thing, and his paintings were bringing in several hundred bucks apiece. I don't mind saying I never got the appeal. Initially I just thought it would be funny. Like having the guy at a theme park draw my wife in a silly way. not as art. And after a while i just grew weary of passing it in the portfolio.

If your interest is budget Frazetta, well yeah, you get that. But it's the difference between seeing something like a genuine Velasquez painting, and seeing a $500 Velazquez hand painted knockoff from China. Sure it looks like a Velasquez sorta from across the room and with your eyes kinda squinted. But get within 10 feet and the illusion is gone. Get within 2 feet, and you see that you got what you paid for.

I can see where folks in this hobby would be into it. A sort of vaguely Frazetta-esque White Queen or Batman for a few hundred bucks? Why not. It's silly fun. No harm, and so many collectors are character driven anyway. Bad art is totally acceptable in comic art collectors because in some cases, it just has to be. We get what we get. But for folks where the art is the important thing... it might be a bit more of a stretch? I dunno.

It's certainly not for me. I no more want Hoffman's take on a Frazetta girl than I want some random scammer's take on a Bruce Timm Batman on eBay, etc.
Hoffman's certainly not trying to pass his Fraz riffs off as being real Frazettas, but it's all with a wink and a nudge. We all know what he's shooting for. 

Some folks would call that entrepreneurial spirit. Certainly a way to make a quick buck. I don't personally see it as art though. Not any more than if someone was out there painting local landmarks to look as if Van Gogh was making them. IMO it's a schtick.

 

 

 

 

[blizzardtonight]

10 hours ago, Brian Peck said:

Never have cared for Hoffman's art. Nothing special about it, seems like a poor man's Frazetta. Plus he is a real personally.

i really did like his work at the beginning and i got my very first comission done by him....a pirate girl .....i still have it and i also used to own some of his paintings.....but then something changed in his style i did not like anymore....

[mister_not_so_nice]

Hoffman is 'good and has talent'* but so are many many other artists out there. Another example is a guy on CAF that consistently posts his "poor man's McFarlane" knock-offs. There is some talent obviously there.  I've seen artists with what I would consider 'lesser artistic talent' become popular and sell their art/pages for a healthy sum. But this art was unique to them and typically tied to a story that was original and struck a cord with fans. If Hoffman (or any other 'knock-off' artist) did a creator owned book with a story that really resonated with me I'm more likely to go after the art. If they continue to turn out "Meh, that was a story, I guess" then I'll continue to look elsewhere.

So as long as they keep answering the same questions (what do they want? art) with the same answers (that same art you've seen before) they are going to get the same results (flat sales results).   Is anybody anticipating the latest release from their favorite musician's cover band?

 

 

 

 

 

*can convey a story with proficiency and consistency

[Blastaar]

I have just received the below commission from Mike and I got to say he is very professional and a solid dude. I couldn't be more happier with my commission it's exactly what I wanted. His take on the Savage Sword of Conan number 9 cover.  If you are looking for a fantasy art commission I highly recommend Mike. He's also a very interesting guy to talk to. 

[MIL0S]

If anyone is interested in buying some inexpensive Hoffman sketch pages message me, I have a stack of them...