Brush with Passion: The Art and Life of Dave Stevens

(Hardback)

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Description

Brush with Passion charts the career of Dave Stevens, one of the most beloved and influential of all comic illustrators. He discusses his beginnings as a comic artist, the struggle to bring The Rocketeer to the big screen, his work as a storyboard artist for Raiders of the Lost Ark and Michael Jacksons Thriller video, and other career highlights. Equally renowned as a pin-up artist, Stevens also recounts his friendship with reclusive model Bettie Page. Along with a wealth of iconic paintings and previously unpublished artwork, the book features commentary by comic book greats Todd Schorr, Richard Hescox, Michael William Kaluta, and William Stout.

Reviews

"Dave Stevens was the last artist of an innocent era when showing less and teasing more was the way to eroticism. He was much more than that, of course. His artwork burst with the heroic innocence and determination of an America that existed fully only on the printed page and the movie screen. Even when drawing some bondage or spanking scene, his art was human, lively, caring." -- Heidi MacDonald "It's been more than 30 years during which I have stood in hang-jawed wonder and delight at Dave Stevens' singular beautification of the universe." -- Harlan Ellison "Dave Stevens' brush is an alembic, distilling the essence of the past with the edge of the future, never allowing the authenticity of his nostalgia to succumb to imitation or pastiche. In other words: Hubba-hubba! We likes!" -- The Wachowski Brothers "[Dave Stevens] is my best friend in the whole world, bar none!" -- Bettie Page "Dave is not only a stunning craftsman but is also a master of design and form. He has an intuitive ability to capture sensuality with a few delicate lines, to make the complex and elusive look simple, yet impossible to imitate (believe me, I have tried). It is this ability to see a little deeper, this sensitive and unique vision that makes Dave Stevens a true artist among artists." -- Brom

Author Bio

Illustrator, comics creator, film designer, pin-up artist, and painter, Dave Stevens had both the respect and admiration of fans and his fellow professionals alike. The list of people and projects on his resume reads like any creative's wish-list come true: he worked with Steven Spielberg on Raiders of the Lost Ark, George Lucas on Star Wars, John Landis and Michael Jackson on the Thriller video, Doug Wildey on a variety of animation projects; with Chuck Norris, Mel Gibson, and, of course, 1950s icon Bettie Page. In 1991 Stevens' wildly popular comicbook, The Rocketeer, was turned into a Disney film starring Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelley, and Alan Arkin: though it garnared lukewarm boxoffice receipts at the time, the movie has become a beloved and influential cult classic (see the blockbuster Iron Man for an example). Credited as the person primarily responsible for revitalizing the public's interest in 1950s icon Bettie Page, he not only befriended the reclusive model, but saw to it that she profited from the publishers using her likeness. Before his untimely death in 2008 from leukemia, Stevens had been working closely with Spectrum's Arnie and Cathy Fenner on his definitive career retrospective. Featuring art, comics covers, photos, and Stevens' own commentary spanning 35 years--including many previously unpublished drawings and paintings--Brush With Passion also boasts essays by William Stout, Jim Steranko, Michael Kaluta, Richard Hescox, Todd Schorr, and a host of others. More than an art book, more than a biography, Underwood Books is proud to be the publisher of this landmark collection, both a celebration of and a tribute to a remarkable talent.