Héroes de tinta

Héroes de tinta (Ink Heroes) is Ricardo Martínez’s second solo exhibition at La Fiambrera that brings together 32 original sketches and drawings in which the artist pays tribute to comic book characters that have been essential in his life and growth as an artist.

These include Felix the Cat, Snoopy, Lucky Luke, Spirit, Mortadelo, Mafalda, Batman, Popeye, Charlie Brown and Flash Gordon. His heartfelt tribute to an indisputable part of 20th-century popular culture and also to their creators, Charles Schulz, Alex Raymond, Francisco Ibáñez, Quino, Neal Adams, Hergé, Uderzo, Hal Foster, and Will Eisner.

The “Ricardian” versions of the characters have been created using the laborious technique of “scratchboard,” a form of engraving achieved by scraping with a punch or scalpel on a plastered and inked surface in which Ricardo Martínez has achieved expertise.

These vignettes feature characters that transport us back to childhood, adolescence and even adult moments as at some point the subjects have accompanied us all. An ode to these pop culture icons, just as we like it at La Fiambrera.

RICARDO MARTÍNEZ EXPLAINS…

I wanted to pay tribute to my favorite characters across the history of comics and above all, to the artists that created and drew them.

I chose the scratchboard technique which I use for almost all my illustrations. For those unfamiliar with this medium, it is achieved by scraping a blade across board covered with a layer of black-painted plaster. In other words, you start with black and gradually remove the ink as if sculpting on paper.

I tried to respect the style of each artist, first creating a base to generate volume and shadows and then working on it attempting to imitate the individual graphic style, reproducing the shaky hand of Charles Schulz in his later Peanuts years, the fluid brushstrokes of Alex Raymond in Flash Gordon or the dynamism of the lines and spots in Jordi Bernet’s Torpedo amongst others.

Some were particularly difficult, such as those of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock as they are completely outlined characters without shadows. I had to scrape the surface of the paper until it was almost white, applying minimal volume to achieve a slightly three-dimensional effect.

In most cases, I worked from sketches based on images that I consider particularly representative of each character. However, in two cases, I did not dare to make my own interpretation and opted to trace the drawings, trying to respect every line and mark as the original artists conceived them. These are illustrations from Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond, and Prince Valiant by Hal Foster. I also wanted to add an element as closely associated with comics as colour. To do this, I coloured almost all of the works with transparent watercolours directly on the board, something I’d never done before. Finally, I should say that if I were to represent all of the comics that have left a mark on me, this exhibition would needed to include at least a hundred illustrations.

I haven’t been able to include Herriman’s Krazy Kat, Burne Hogarth’s Tarzan, Joe Kubert’s Tarzan, Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates, Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby, Roy Crane’s Wash Tubbs, Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse, Alex Raymond’s Rip Kirby, Billy DeBeck’s Barney Google, José Salinas’ Cisco Kid Luis Salinas, the adventures of Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge by Carl Barks, The Masked Man, Mandrake, Dick Tracy, Calvin and Hobbes, Salt and Pepper, Wizard of Id, Pogo, Haxtur and Mathai Dor by Victor de la Fuente, El Cid by Antonio Fernández Palacios, Mort Cinder by Breccia, the wonderful Paracuellos by Carlos Giménez, Anacleto, Sir Tim O’Theo, Makinavaja, Historias de la Puta Mili, La familia Ulises, any drawing by Coll, The Moomins by Tove Jansson (my latest discovery), Blueberry and Arzach by Moebius, Rowlf by Corben, Fritz the Cat by Robert Crumb, the horror stories of EC Comics, the war stories of Harvey Kurtzman, Corto Maltés, Maus by Art Spiegelman, Condorito and Mampato from my Chilean childhood and so many, many others.

Who knows, maybe this exhibition will have a second part.