ILL HAVE THE SPAGHETTI WEBBINGS and MEATBALLS!! Ive told this story before, but for some of you out there ill repeat it once again... Years ago, when I was drawing the Amazing Spider-Man for Marvel Comics, I had begun to make some different artistic interpretations of how I wanted Spider-Man to look on the pages of the book. Some of the things I did was to make his eyes much bigger, to add more black into the blue areas of the costume, to make more of the web design on his face and chest so it looked like there was a lot more webbing than usual. But the one place I was really able to make my impact on the character was with his webbing. Up to the point when I took over the book, ever artist had drawen the webs so that they looked like three or four long lines with a bunch of Xs inside them. Okay, that had served the company well for nearly three decades, but I wanted to do some drawings where Spider-Man could shoot his webs towards the camera and it would still look believable (given the context). So, I had remembered a drawing I had seen years prior, when I was just a young collector that was pretty cool and from there I began my trek to reform the webbing being shot from Spideys hands. First I wanted it to feel like something (like a rope being made), then I wanted it to be REALLY long so Spidey had to climb up it (like a real Spider) and bunch some of it in his palms. Kind of like a rodeo cowboy with his lasso. Anyway, I began that look right from the start of my run as the artist on the book and over time the webs got longer and longer. Then during one of my visits to the Marvel building I was called into the Editor-In Chiefs office. This wasnt the first time I had been in his office to discuss Spider-Mans new art direction, but because I was messing with their icon character there were some who thought what I was doing wasnt quite appropriate. On this day the conversation was going well, but I could sense some frustration in the chiefs voice. Finally, he just couldnt contain himself and he said, Todd...I need you to stop doing those...those...those damn spaghetti webbings!! WOW! You see, up until then, though I had been drawing them that way for years, I hadnt ever given them a name. But now there I sat in the Editors office and he, who was an italian gentleman, blurted out the perfect name for them: SPAGHETTI WEBBINGS. It was perfect! I ended the conversation by telling him that I would stop doing them that way - - - then immediately went out and began drawing the next issue with the spaghetti webbings TWICE as long as before! (***quick note: if your boss asks you to do something you always say you will do it, even if you arent planning on doing it. That just makes things less complicated upfront.***) And the rest, as they say is history. In fact, after all these years the webbings are still patterned after the look I brought to those pages. Go figure. Below is a photo of a page of original artwork I did years ago for a trade paperback collection with Spidey and Venom (who I co-created...but thats another story for you and the deviantART crowd). The composition on it has lots of debris, but I was always looking for ways to make an image look detailed without having to pull out a ruler. The second image is a close up of the spaghetti webbings I drew. As you can also see, there was no easy way to draw them if you didnt want to cross any of the lines. But hey, I was young and time didnt matter as much back then (or I wouldnt have doubled the web design on the red part of his costume either. Duoh!) Enjoy. TODD
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 05:48:25 +0000
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