Chris Carlson Comic Art is a tribute to a friend and talented artist, a show of my appreciation for his artwork, and a way to share some of his work with those who are interested.
Chris Carlson was an inker and illustrator that worked closely with Artist Scott Clark in the early days of Image Comics. Chris started out with Marvel inking titles such as X-Men, Alpha Flight and others, but when Image started up it wasn’t long before Scott, Chris and several other artists made the move to work alongside what many considered the best artists and the hottest comic book publisher in the industry at that time.
I met Chris during his employment interview in the early 2000s. An artist position had just opened up at my company and Chris applied along with many other applicants. All were highly qualified, just having graduated from ITT Technical Institute, but Chris stood out because of his drawing skills. During that interview, he mentioned his work at Marvel and Image but that had no impact on my decision to hire him. I needed someone with artistic ability, creativity and most of all drawing skills. Chris’s work was way beyond that of the other applicants, and he got the job. While Chris worked for me through the early 2000s, he and I built a pretty good friendship, and it continued for many years after he moved on to work for other design houses, print shops and sign companies.
One of the coolest projects that Chris and I worked on together was for VH1. They contracted us to create a band poster for their upcoming TV special, Supergroup. The scope of the project was to create super hero style caricatures of the band members for the poster. Chris suggested we bring in Scott Clark to help out with the pencils and Scott agreed once we briefed him on the details. The artwork turned out incredible and truly captured the likeness of the band members. With Scott Clark on pencils, Chris Carlson on Inks and Color, all that was left for me was to set up the files for print and make sure everything looked great. The clients were pleased with the finished product and it was a day I remember well.
Over the years my appreciation for Chris’ artwork continued to grow. Now that he’s no longer with us, I’m grateful to have spent time with such a talented artist, and thankful to have the memories of our friendship and the artwork that he created in life.
Chris Carlson Comic Art
Many of the pieces shown here were penciled by Scott Clark, because they collaborated on many titles during their years creating comic books, so this gallery could also be considered a tribute to Scott Clark Comic Art as well. Hope you enjoy.
Chris Carlson Comic Art is part of the Artist Showcase Project by Robot Outlaw. We are always looking for new artists to include in this project so if you’re an artist, or know of an artist that would be a good fit, get in touch. You can email RobotOutlaw@gmail.com or connect with us on Twitter @RobotOutlaw