Influences

Richard Corben has got influences from several other artists. Here are the major ones.

Color technique

Maxfield Parrish
Frederick Parrish (later adopt the name Maxfield) was born in Philadelphia, U.S.A. in 1870. He is best known for his color (people speak of “Parrish blue”), but his earliest work was B&W. Earliest color Parrish illustrations were mostly B&W drawings with color oil glazes added to prints of the originals. The invention of “process” color (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) paved the way for more consistent methodology. Parrish, like many other artists experimented with the best painting techniques to accommodate these new methods. [insert taken from web site, Maxfield Parrish Biography]Mr. Corben’s overlay color system is a modern reproduction of Parrish’s technique where he essentially painted three layers of transparent color (essentially reproducing the color separations done in the printing process) over a B&W base layer. Each layer of color was separated by a layer of varnish. Parrish originals have brilliant lighting to them as the light is able to get “into” the painting and then bounce out through the layers of color.
Maxfield Parrish was mentioned with Mr. Corben’s painting, “Enchanted Treasure” (“I was inspired by a similar effect [the stark bright light on the sand] in — ‘Cave of the Forty Thieves’, an illustration from ‘The Arabian Nights.'”). And in an interview, The Magic World of Richard Corben by Rudi Franke in Voice of Comicdom #17 (1970).

Illustrations

Hannes Bok (1914-1964)
Hannes Bok was a cover artist, illustrator, author, and astrologer. He painted almost 150 covers for pulp magazines, as well as hundreds of B&W illustrations. His overall work is described as “highly stylized, and his human figures are angular and almost Byzantine”. His first artwork was the cover of Weird Tales (Dec. 1939). He shared a Hugo award with Emsh in 1953 for best cover artist. [insert taken from Internet]Bok was a huge fan of Maxfield Parrish; he even carried on a correspondence with him for years.

Gray tones

Jack Levine
A comic artist (50’s). Of his gray tones, same as with John Severin.

John Powers Severin
An American comic artist, illustrator (50’s, “Mad”, and for EC, before EC worked for Kirby and after for Stan Lee and Marvel). Born 1921. Of his gray tones, same as with Jack Levine.

Old masters

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
An Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet.
Among others, Mr. Corben has been mentioned his passion on classical painters. Michelangelo was united to his own painting, “Under the Oak” (“– [A] loosely derived from the figure of Isaiah on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel”).

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669)
A Dutch painter.
Rembrandt was mentioned with Mr. Corben’s painting, “Wizard’s Dreams” (“The figure and the general structure was inspired by — ‘Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem'”).

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
An Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, mathematician, and scientist.
Was mentioned in his interview, The Magic World of Richard Corben by Rudi Franke in Voice of Comicdom #17 (1970).

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (c1565-1609?)
An Italian painter.
Was mentioned in his interview, The Magic World of Richard Corben by Rudi Franke in Voice of Comicdom #17 (1970).

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
A German painter, and engraver.
Was mentioned in his interview, The Magic World of Richard Corben by Rudi Franke in Voice of Comicdom #17 (1970).

Jan van der Meer van Delft aka Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)
A Dutch painter.
Was mentioned in his interview, The Magic World of Richard Corben by Rudi Franke in Voice of Comicdom #17 (1970).

(François) Auguste (René) Rodin (1840-1917)
A French sculptor.
Was mentioned in his interview, The Magic World of Richard Corben by Rudi Franke in Voice of Comicdom #17 (1970).

New masters

In his interview, The Magic World of Richard Corben by Rudi Franke in Voice of Comicdom #17 (1970), he also mentioned for his influences: Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, and Alex Toth.

For Spanish favourites Mr. Corben counts: Victor De la Fuente, Carlos Giménez, Alfonso Font, Fernando Fernández, and Vicente Segrelles [in an interview in 1984 [SPA] #47 (1982)].