WRIGHTSON - Lot 111

WRIGHTSON BERNIE WRIGHTSON Original illustration for the first and and back cover of The Lost Block, published by Subterranean in 1999. Signed. Inks and white gouache highlights on Grafix duo-shade paper 43.7 × 31 cm (17.2 × 12.2 in.) With this illustration, for the short story series Lost Block: The Devil with You, written by Robert Bloch - the famous author of the novel Psycho, which Hitchcock turned into one of his most famous films - Bernie Wrightson confirms what he is: a legend of comic books and illustration in the USA, who renewed the genre with a few others from the mid-1960s onwards. Heir to a line of great American illustrators such as Frank Frazetta, he draws his inspiration from the painters and engravers of old Europe, from Gustave Doré to Max Klinger. Like them, he thrives on raw contrasts, romantic depths and strangeness. This plate is a little unusual in that it uses the "Doubletone" or "Duo-Shade" technique. Once the ink drawing has been produced, two densities of screen can be added, revealed with a special chemical. This has two advantages: it avoids the laborious task of cutting with Letraset, and provides a smooth brushstroke with unexpected effects.