Ricardo Villagrán

Last updated
Ricardo Villagrán
Born 1938 (age 7980)
Corrientes, Argentina
Nationality Argentine
Area(s) Penciller, Inker
http://www.estudiovillagran.netfirms.com

Ricardo Villagran (born 1938 in Corrientes) is an Argentine illustrator known for his work in the American comic book industry.

An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicated concepts or objects that are difficult to describe textually, which is the reason illustrations are often found in children's books.

Comic book publication of comics art

A comic book or comicbook, also called comic magazine or simply comic, is a publication that consists of comic art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by brief descriptive prose and written narrative, usually dialog contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. Although comics has some origins in 18th century Japan, comic books were first popularized in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1930s. The first modern comic book, Famous Funnies, was released in the U.S. in 1933 and was a reprinting of earlier newspaper humor comic strips, which had established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term comic book derives from American comic books once being a compilation of comic strips of a humorous tone; however, this practice was replaced by featuring stories of all genres, usually not humorous in tone.

Contents

Biography

Early life and education

Villagran was born in the small northern city of Corrientes in 1938. Drawing being his all-consuming interest since the age of four, it was considered only reasonable that after high school he attend Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. Villagran began taking freelance art assignments for various advertising companies, printers and comic publishers while still attending college. He even continued to do art assignments during his compulsory service in the Argentine Army.

Buenos Aires Place in Argentina

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the South American continent's southeastern coast. "Buenos Aires" can be translated as "fair winds" or "good airs", but the former was the meaning intended by the founders in the 16th century, by the use of the original name "Real de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre". The Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas, with a population of around 14 million.

Commercial illustration

After his discharge from the military, Villagran began working as a commercial artist and illustrator. His list of clients grew to include the majority of the larger advertising agencies and printing houses in Argentina. In 1969, Villagran began doing comic art for Editorial Columba (Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Lima, Caracas, Asunción, Montevideo, Santiago) Codex Ediciones, Guisa (Spain), Eura (Rome), and Fleetway (London).

Villagran was elected the vice president of the Association de Dibujantes in 1970 and co-founded the Association de Illustradores. In 1974 Villagran opened his own art studio in Buenos Aires called Nippur Quatro, along with his two brothers Enrique and Carlos.

American comics

Villagran's interior artwork from Aquaman Sword of Atlantis vol. 3, #42 (March 2007). Mapofatlantisdcu0.jpg
Villagran's interior artwork from Aquaman Sword of Atlantis vol. 3, #42 (March 2007).

In 1982, Villagran traveled to the United States, to establish contacts in the comics publishing industry to obtain work for his studio. His contacts brought him work from American comic publishers such as DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Archie Comics, Comico Comics, First Comics, and Dark Horse Comics. In 1983 he met Chuck Dixon at a convention, which brought Villagran to eventually ink the Evangeline comic. Villagran also acted as a liaison for other artists from his home country and introduced Dixon and illustrator/comic artist Judith Hunt to fellow Argentine Jorge Zaffino. Between 19841987 Villagran and his studio worked with Hunt on various comic and commercial art projects; also joining her art studio, Off the Wall Studios, located in Media, Pennsylvania, for a short time. When Hunt discontinued illustrating comics and representing artists to pursue her own career in children's publishing and license character development, Villagran continued to work in American comics with Mike Manley, a former cartoonist employed by Off the Wall Studios.

DC Comics U.S. comic book publisher

DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. since 1967. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, and produces material featuring numerous culturally iconic heroic characters including: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Hawkman, Cyborg and Supergirl.

Marvel Comics company that publishes comic books and related media

Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide's parent company.

Archie Comics American comic book publisher

Archie Comic Publications, Inc. is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York. The company is known for its many titles featuring fictional teenagers including Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, Sabrina Spellman, and Josie and the Pussycats.

Exhibitions

Villagran's work can be seen at many conventions in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Diego, and Detroit. Exhibitions of his work have included Museo del Prado (Madrid), Municipal De Exhibiciones (Buenos Aires), Museo de Armas, and Secretaria de Turismo.

Museo del Prado Art museum, Historic site in Madrid, Spain

The Prado Museum is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to have one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and the single best collection of Spanish art. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819, it also contains important collections of other types of works. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and it is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world. The numerous works by Francisco Goya, the single most extensively represented artist, as well as by Hieronymus Bosch, El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, Titian, and Diego Velázquez, are some of the highlights of the collection.

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References

The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project is cataloging information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful to the comic book reader, comic collector, fan, and scholar. The GCD is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in Arkansas.