There are guys who can draw and then there are guys who can DRAW. And after those guys, there are these other guys who can DRAW women—damn well, I might add! That's Adam Hughes.
Adam falls in a long line of illustrators who create exceptionally beautiful images of the fairer sex—Gil Elvgren, George Petty, Vargas, Dave Stevens. And we put him right up there with all those folks! The grace and expression he's able to capture in the female form is masterful. Not many artists see it...the way he sees it.
Dwight and I have known Adam in passing pretty much since he moved to Atlanta from New Jersey. He was one of the early members of a local art collective, Gaijin Studios and I believe, that's where I first met him.
I was visiting Gaijin (The Honeycomb Hideout) with a buddy back in 1994 and wandered into his space as if invited in.
"Umm, Power Girl."
"Wow, you draw pretty good, man!"
**curious look on his face**
Later, after my 'genius' moment, I went out and bought his runs on Maze Agency, JLA, Legionaires and a pant load of covers (sorry about the visual).
Dwight says his conversion took place upon seeing Hughes' short, but sweet stint on Dark Horse's Ghost series.
About ten years ago, Adam stopped doing sequentials and became a cover artist exclusively. This wasn't by choice. Many of his clients began to only comission him for cover work. We, like the rest of his fans, started feenin' for more gorgeous interiors, but happily made due with his many Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Tomb Raider pieces.
Now, one of the things that makes today's interview so special is, it's Part I of a II-Parter. We had a long, fruitful conversation with the man and lots of cool stuff came out of it, so we decided to break it in half.
The other thing is—he had us in stitches! Adam has a serious wit and he's quick with it, too! I'm sure many of his fans don't get to see that side of him, so brace yourselves. We had a blast hanging out with the guy and we hope you enjoy listening in!
**Many thanks to Ms. Allison Sohn for her help in facilitating Adam's appearance on SiDEBAR. It was invaluable.
And for this episode, we played snippets of The Tubes' She's a Beauty. Hey, the three of us are '80s kids—what did you expect?!
Click here to download the show.
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