Ligne claire

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An example of ligne claire, from the Swedish-language version of Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin and the Picaros

Ligne claire (French for "clear line") is a style of drawing pioneered by Hergé, the Belgian creator of The Adventures of Tintin. It is a style of drawing that uses clear strong lines of uniform importance, and does not emphasize selected objects by different thicknesses of line, by shading, or by cross-hatching. (For this reason it is sometimes also called the Democracy of Lines.)^{[citation needed]} Additionally, the style often features strong colours and a combination of cartoonish characters against a realistic background. The use of shadows is sparse and all elements of a panel are delineated with clear black lines. The name was coined by Joost Swarte in 1977.^[1]

History

Origins: Hergé

Hergé started out drawing in a much looser, rougher style which was influenced partially by the famous American comic strip artists of the late 1920s and 1930s.^{[citation needed]} It was only after World War II that his drawing style evolved into ligne claire. For Hergé, the style was not limited to the drawings but extended to the story: the plot must be straightforward.^{[citation needed]}

The Brussels school

Much of the "Brussels school" started to use this style, notably Edgar P. Jacobs, Bob de Moor, Roger Leloup, and Jacques Martin, many of whom also worked for Tintin magazine.

The ligne claire style achieved its highest popularity in the 1950s, but its influence started to wane in the 1960s and was seen as old-fashioned by the new generation of comic book artists.

1970s and 1980s resurgence

In the late 1970s however it experienced a resurgence of interest, largely due to Dutch artists like Joost Swarte and Theo van den Boogaard, who had come up through the Dutch underground comics scene, as well as the French artist Jacques Tardi. Henk Kuijpers was also successful in his application of the style.

In the 1980s, Yves Chaland, Ted Benoît, Serge Clerc and Floc'h relaunched the Ligne claire style in France.

Contemporary use

Contemporary use of the ligne claire is often ironic. For example, van den Boogaard used the simple, clear style to set up a conflict with the amorality of his characters, while Tardi used it in his Adèle Blanc-sec series to create a nostalgic atmosphere which is then ruthlessly undercut by the story. A recent serious clear line artist is the Dutchman Peter van Dongen, who created the Rampokan series about the Dutch colonisation of Indonesia.

Ligne claire is not confined to Franco-Belgian comics. British artists such as Martin Handford; American artists like Geof Darrow, Jason Lutes, and Jason Little; and Spanish artists such as Francesc Capdevila Gisbert ("Max") have also used it.

Notable ligne claire books/series

Hergé

• The Adventures of Tintin
• Jo, Zette and Jocko
• Quick and Flupke

Others

• The Adventures of Freddy Lombard — Yves Chaland
• Alix — Jacques Martin
• Bardin the Superrealist — Max
• Barelli — Bob de Moor
• Berlin — Jason Lutes
• Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot — Geof Darrow
• Bingo Bongo et son Combo Congolais — Ted Benoît
• Blake and Mortimer — Edgar P. Jacobs
• Cesar and Jessica
• De Ontdekking — Eric Heuvel
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Dry-White — Jacques Tardi
• Franka — Henk Kuijpers
• Hector and Dexter (a.k.a. Coton et Piston and Katoen en Pinbal) — Joost Swarte
• Julian Opie's Portraits — Julian Opie
• Kurt Dunder — Frank Madsen
• Professor Palmboom — Dick Briel
• The Rainbow Orchid — Garen Ewing
• Rampokan — Peter van Dongen
• Sam Bronx et les Robots — Serge Clerc
• Shutterbug Follies — Jason Little
• Sjef van Oekel — Theo van den Boogaard
• Spike and Suzy (a.k.a. Bob and Bobette, Willy and Wanda, and Suske en Wiske) — Willy Vandersteen
• Tintin pastiches — Yves Rodier
• Where's Wally? — Martin Handford
• Yoko Tsuno — Roger Leloup

See also

• Franco-Belgian comics

References

External links

• Klare lijn international — News on ligne claire comics (in French)