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LiamRSharp — MARS APE
Published: 2011-08-31 16:21:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 27597; Favourites: 994; Downloads: 0
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My first oil painting in about a decade. I lost my mojo with this kind of work because I got fed up with always drawing comparisons with Frazetta and Bisley. It's really hard to do this kind of material without people instantly seeing the connections though, so now I'm older - and less precious - I have to say it was fantastic doing this commission, and I hope I get to do many more.Related content
Comments: 264
Brilliant composition. One of my favorites. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me at the SDCC. Hope all went well with Deviant Art.
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awesome work, I wonder what the ape is thinking?
Nice colour choice
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It's hard not to see Frazetta. And it's hard not to see Da Vinci in 's work. Such iconic artists will influence not just the artists but the audience. Your work is yours, and the other artist's work is his, I don't have any question about that, though in different ways you both touched on something that Frazetta and Da Vinci did. How is that bad? I can understand the consternation certainly. I did an abstract series for my senior show in college, and while researching artists for my final paper, I came across 2 artists from the bauhous I think, whom I had never seen before, and my work was very eerily similar to theirs. I was awed, and then a little upset. I hadn't, apparently, done anything new. But my professor put it this way, that finding a connection with another artist who came before you can be a good thing, it helps validate what you're doing, it lets you know that there are connections across time and space that people will make, have made and will always make, because people are people are people. The imagery an artist uses is his language, it has vertain vocabulary, usage, grammar, and there will be artists past present and future who will talk alike. 
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Thank you. Appreciate the sentiment. I know I protest too much when it comes to that, but after 26 years as a pro you want people to go - man, that's a great Liam Sharp! Couldn't be anybody else! I know Joe Jusko feels the same when people compare him to Boris Vallejo. It's not that we don't love and admire those other guys, it just demonstrates that we still have a looooong way to go to achieve the kind of personal recognition we strive for daily. We're perceive in the context of someone else's work...
Very best, and again - thanks!
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You're welcome. And I do understand your point of view completely.
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Very professional.
The blue on gold is awesome.
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Aw, Rob... you're too kind.
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Its brilliant, and the way I see it, at least no ones comparing you to boris vallejo
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Liam, ppl comparing you to the greats can be annoying, but thats a good thing. Shows your art game is tight enough to mack Frazetta and Bisley. I'm looking to grab Aliens Fast Track to heaven and the art is nice. I been looking for pointers, sans i been active in my art work for 3 years now. The gears comic is something i miss too.
Anyways many thanks
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I love this kind of art! I've read and re-read those martian books by Edgar Rice Burroughs (as well as the Venus and Pelucidar, and other books). This type of work probably inherently prompts one to think briefly of Frazetta or Boris, but this is great on its own and is clearly your work/vision. Your works, in my view, are often different from each other. Your subjects and compositions and especially your style seem to vary and aren't limited or predictable. I can't always look at one of your works and instantly recognize it as yours. You have a wide range of mediums and styles. I think that's a GREAT thing!
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a nod to frazetta! this is well done i love the color and the balance.
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Hey, you could be compared to somebody else... Like Grover Johnson, the refrigerator repair guy who decided to do art like Frazetta with freon and copper tubing...Ya, we dont talk about him much any more.
Great Work, Liamsharp. For a sec, I thought I was looking at a Frazetta but there are differences(cough dynamics cough).
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We're all really lucky you decided to do oils again. This is a real treat to look at.
I love Frazetta and Bisley too, but you can tell this is a Liam Sharp image, dude. You've certainly got your own style. I especially see it in the woman's figure. And stuff like this puts you right up there with the greats. Really love it.
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Fantastic painting!! I like the girl and the orange light! Reminds me Boris's works
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Some people make it their goal to be compared with Frazetta. This is definitely worthy of the compliment.
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Thank you!
The thing is I grew up LOVING Frazetta, and eventually got to draw his character in the Death Dealer comic. Frazetta then broke my younger heart by hugely under-mining my art in his book 'Icon'. It took a long time to get over, but I'm there now.
(I wrote a journal about it... )
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I can see how that would sour the comparison. I'm sure you learned a lot from the experience.
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if you're getting copaired to Frazetta, it should be an honor, if not a compliment. We gotta show our love somewhere.
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Yeah, I know. I've decided to get over my issues. I grew up idolising Frazetta. That was the career I wanted. In time I got to work for him, drawing his character The Death Dealer for the comic in the 1990s. He approved every page, then went on to totally undermine my hard work in his book 'Icon' (I wrote a journal about it.) That broke my younger heart and obliterated my confidence some twelve years ago, and stopped me painting like this.
This is a big return for me to this kind of material. We all want to be recognised for who we are I guess. But the truth is I'm part of that legacy, just as Frazetta was himself inspired by the likes of Howard Pyle.
Cheers!
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Very strong composition! I see a lot of influences, in the mix, but mostly, I see Liam Sharp.
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Thanks buddy! Appreciated.
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Fantastic work! The blue and orange works really well together.
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Thank you! It started much cooler in the colours, with a blue background - but this IS meant to be Mars!
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nice painting my friend very frazetta (hope I spelt his name right)
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Thank you! Much appreciated.
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I get the ubiquitous Boris comparisons with almost everything I do. I feel your pain. The vertical composition really gives this a sense of huge scale!
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Hey Joe. To me, your style has been instantly recognisable since I first saw it in Epic Illustrated in the early 1980s! You have much more weight, texture and richness of colour to your work, plus your characters seem to be grounded rather than oddly floating... (I must admit I do love the way Boris paints ladies though. It's a very controlled technique!)
I'm getting over myself now though buddy. Taking it with grace!
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It's been decades that I've gotten the Boris comments. I still get them on here and Facebook at a regular pace. It seems that any figure that's painted realistically in this genre is "Boris-y" to people. I WISH I had Boris's rendering ability but that's drawback of acrylics over oils. 
I've gotten used to it also. You have to.
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I like the rougher render of acrylic. It's like comparing Don Lawrence with Ron Embleton - superficially very similar, but Don had much more of a gritty edge, not Embleton's super-slick blending, and for me at least, that gave it the edge.
I get Bisley all the bloody time, and that's galling because I was around about three years before him! The truth is some guys just get HUGE, and because they get seen everybody else is cast in their shadow.
You're a legend though Joe. Most people worth their salt know your work a mile off.
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