To refresh everyone's memory, the Ligne Claire art style can be distinguished by its use of strong, clear lines, limited contrast, a lack of any real shading, and uniform attention to detail across the entire panel. As Comics Scholar Dafna Pleban notes, "by forgoing shading with ink, the artist creates a depth of field on the page that brings equal amounts of focus to the background and foreground." Additionally, the Ligne Claire style employed by Hergé in Tintin often features characters devoid of descriptive visual detail set against the backdrop of highly detailed, realistic scenery.
There are actually many benefits to adopting this method of visual storytelling, especially if we keep in mind that The Adventures of Tintin was intended for younger audiences:
1: First and foremost is the ability to censor violent or upsetting scenes through the use of the silhouette. Whereas obviously not all images of violence are censored in these bande dessinée comics, it is important to note that when Hergé does choose to censor images through the use of the silhouette, it is a seamless transition that doesn't call attention to itself.
I believe this is mostly due to the fact that Hergé's regular shading style is highly reminiscent of the silhouette (in keeping with the Ligne Claire art style). View images of "silhouette censorship" and regular shading below:
Silhouette Censorship [pp. 7]
Regular Shading [pp. 16]
2: Secondly, the Ligne Claire art style lends itself to the voyeuristic perspective discussed in McCloud's Understanding Comics. When discussing iconography, McCloud denotes that in Japanese comics, the use of detailed backgrounds and simple characters allows readers to superimpose themselves onto the main characters and feel as if they themselves are experiencing the events depicted in the story. An illustrative example of this aspect of Ligne Claire is shown below:
Do you find yourself vicariously experiencing the events depicted in this image? [pp. 127]
3: Another benefit of Ligne Claire is the range of action that can be expressed in such a small panel. As seen below, the uniform attention to detail in both the foreground and the background enables viewers to absorb Snowy's quizzical expression, Tintin's leap down the mountain, and the action of the film being recorded in the foreground all in the same panel. If this panel was not drawn in the Ligne Claire style, the action depicted would most likely have to be drawn out into two or three panels.
One panel, many actions [pp. 82]
4: Finally, the Ligne Claire style also lends itself to a more concrete sense of setting. Many times, shading can be suggested by the selection of colors that compose the panel as opposed to crosshatching or the silhouette-style shading denoted above. As such, the artist is able to suggest a more vivid sense of place to the audience --- without obstructing part of the image with crosshatching or solid ink-blocks, Hergé is able to suggest darkness in the image below without limiting the readers' visual description of the setting.
Shade-less Shading [pp. 4]
For more images that constitute this Ligne Claire style, feel free to watch the following YouTube video:
That's all for now. See you guys next week!
-Matt
Matt, this was a very insightful post. I agree with you that Hergé's ligne claire helps tell his stories in a manner this is just as clear and straightforward as his drawing style. Had he drawn his comics with more hatching and visible shading, it probably would have given the Tintin series a somewhat "darker" and less childlike feel. The simplicity of the vibrant colors against the heavy ink outlines really play down the violence of some of the action sequences. And I like your point about the role silhouettes have in censoring or masking this violence. As you mentioned in your third point, ligne claire allows the reader to more easily absorb each element of the panel. Hergé tends to cram a lot of details into each panel, especially for the larger-sized ones that serve as "postcards" of "exotic" locations. So, I think it was very clever of him to draw in this style because it creates a feeling of consistency between the less and more heavily-detailed panels.
ReplyDeleteMatt and Eunice, I agree with what you both pointed out. The Ligne Claire style does allow for an easier reading and a lighter feel as opposed to cross hatching or something similar. It interests me that Matt points out that the ligne claire is very good for the portrayal of simple color in the strips, allowing the reading of background/foreground to be interpreted from the color. We learned in class, however, that Tintin was originally written in black and white. That particular style would not allow the viewer to as easily perceive background/foreground especially in more complicated scenes.
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