Interview: Adam Hughes
Star TrekStargate:AtlantisFireflyClassic pin-up art is hanging in our living room, in our kitchen and in the hallway next to the bathroom. Since I have an appreciation for pin-up art, naturally I’m going to be drawn to Adam Hughes, whose work is not only reminiscent of that era, but also illustrates that strength and beauty do go hand in hand.
Here, Hughes talks about beautiful women, the flaws he perceives in his own work and where he’d like to go in his career.
PRG: I love the way you draw women. They’re beautiful, tough, and sexy, and they look like they’ll eat a good steak. On your website, you reference Vargas and Elvgren among others as your influences. What is it about mid-20th century pin-up that drew you in?
Adam Hughes: Well, I think the easy answer is, “beautiful women”. But easy answers make for dull interviews, so I’ll come up with something that makes me look smarter. I think mid-20th century pin-up art is a tad unique because it’s really the dawn of the exaggeration for effect in ‘female’ illustration. I don’t think there was a helluva lot of artistic license that Gibson took with the women of the turn-of-the-(last)century… you get the feeling that his evocative pen drawings aren’t really stretching the truth.
With the advent of lowered social mores in the 30s, 40s, 50s… the sexy aspect of women could be used to help sell stuff. Calendars, Coke, whatever. I think that it was the first time that sex appeal was allowed to creep into illustration and flout itself. So, there’s a bizarre ‘pioneer spirit’ to those old drawings. Also, since it was such a new & novel idea, there’s a wholesome quality to it, a nostalgic innocence to it.
Compare the cuties that Petty would illustrate to help sell Ridgid Tools (THERE’S a world-class bit of ironic punsterism for you) to the women in today’s ads for ANYTHING. The women in beer commercials, the women in pharmaceutical commercials, the “Oh, dear Christ in heaven, is that my DAUGHTER?!?” college girls from the Girls Gone Wild DVDs… Sexy women used in modern advertising are proactive, aggressive, and assertive. Girls from a 1940s Brown & Bigelow calendars are cute.
PRG: In an interview earlier this year, you said “women will come up and tell me that, as a feminist, they’re usually appalled by the way women are portrayed in comics, but there’s something about the way I do them thats not offensive.” What is it about the way you draw women that you think resonates with those women?
AH: I think that the feminist women who don’t get offended by what I draw are the ones who have the ability (and desire) to judge everything on its own merits, and not just respond with knee-jerk militantism whenever they come across something that might be objectionable.
By all that, I mean that an intelligent person can tell when something has been created to BE offensive, BY offensive hands. They can also tell when something is done for humor’s sake, or with a sense of playful whimsy. Hopefully, they can also tell between intentional offense and accidental offense.
I think that the women I draw are usually pretty much more than the size of any part of their anatomy, or the amount of what they aren’t wearing; I think most people can see that there’s something going on behind the eyes, and the women are characters, not just ciphers. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.
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PRG: How about with fans in general?
AH: Oops. Maybe I addressed this with my last answer. At least for straight feminists. As for lesbians and fanboys, the answer might be something as basic ‘my work resonates because everyone likes to look at pretty things’. Pretty art, pretty pictures, pretty women.
PRG: Who do you think draws/ paints the sexiest women?
AH: Damn, I always get stuck with ‘retail amnesia’. Whenever I’m sitting at home, I know EXACTLY what I want from the store; but when I GET to the store, I get ‘retail amnesia’ and draw a blank. So, when you ASK me who does the best women…. man. That’s a tough call. Man, it’s like Sophie’s Choice, but with less Nazis and more cleavage….
PRG: I’ve heard that you’re not a fan of your own work - I understand that few illustrators are fans of their own stuff. What is that you see when you look at a finished piece? What do you think needs to be improved?
AH: All I see when I look at the finished piece is missed opportunity after missed opportunity. I see all the failures, which are SO BIG, I can’t see any of the successes behind them. What needs to be improved? My sense of composition, my bravery (to try new things)… I think my inking needs work. I need a better drawing hand, some of my drawing skills are utter crap. I need to draw prettier women. Does that seem weird, coming from me? I don’t think the women I draw are pretty enough.
PRG: Your online gallery features Wonder Woman, Lara Croft and Catwoman. Do you have an affinity for those characters?
AH: I guess so. Those have been the major cover assignments I’ve worked on in the last few years; that’s why they’re on the ol’ website. Would I have an affinity for Supergirl, Black Canary, and Zatanna if I’d been asked to draw THOSE characters instead? Who knows.
I love Wonder Woman to death; 5 years of covers and I still find her fascinating. Lara Croft is one of those “I wish I’d thought that up” things… I love playing the games, and bunches of story ideas for her continue to zip around my head. Catwoman. Not a character I grew up loving, but now I’m mad about her. Selina’s such a classic noir femme fatale; she almost never needs to put her outfit on - she’s interesting just in civvies.
PRG: You’re an established and very in-demand artist. At this point in your career, what are your goals?
AH: To get back to doing more interior work… to be a better artist, continue to grow….. It’s hard to say, I’m rather ambitionless. I just kinda live day-by-day. Is it OK to have a goal that’s nothing more than “to STAY established and very in-demand”?
PRG: Your sketch books and limited editions typically sell online for far more than the buyer originally paid. How does that feel? Does that have any impact on you as an artist?
AH: It feels good! It makes me feel like I can’t supply the demand, and that the nice people out there with the crazy Franklins will continue to want what I do. Impact? Not really. I try to draw for myself, not others, so I don’t like to factor in outside influences generally. That’s not to say that I don’t consider the fans… it’s just that for me, PERSONALLY, I couldn’t function properly as a creative individual if I was constantly looking out into the audience to see how I was doing. Some artists & creative folk can do that, some NEED to. I have to just thank everyone for supporting the cause, and then go back into my cave and resume smearing wild berries on the wall…
PRG: What do you do to relax after a hard day at the drawing table?
AH:I’m not sure. After a HARD day at the table, I’m drinking heavily, and after that I can’t remember what I do to relax. I’m going to assume from the systems under that my TV that I like video games, and from the 12″ action figures on the shelf that I enjoy toys.
PRG: Can you tell me anything about All Star Wonder Woman?
AH: It’s a sensuous, ravishing bedazzlement; a heaving-bosom Harlequin romance novel chock-full of sex, betrayal, and murder. Actually it’s not. It’s a very touching story about a girl who wants to travel, and her mother isn’t thrilled. No? Well, I’m still working on it.
For more Adam Hughes art, visit his website. We do have further questions out to Hughes, but unfortunately, they caught him while he was on vacation. Those responses will be posted separately, as we didn’t want to sit on this section for too long.
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