Jaime Hernandez’s Two Distinct Drawing Styles [comics]

Two examples of Jaime Hernandez’s drawing styles: the early style (“Locas Tambien,” 1981, top) and the more mature (“Jerusalem Crickets,” 1987, bottom). His early style was filled with tiny lines for shading and texture, while he later adopted a cleaner style in which (I think) he uses his lines more selectively and more boldly. His early style was really impressive, but it seemed like he was still finding his voice and working a lot of things out.

Here’s some of what he says about this: “People have never forgiven me for getting rid of all those little, tiny lines… but they don’t know how hard it is not to put in a lot of lines. … Where in the early days the lines just fit the drawing, now I’m I’m balancing a lot of little lines in one corner, and putting less lines in the other corner. … Now I guess with less lines to work with, the more I put them to work.” From The Love and Rockets Companion (2013).