Besides "The Gang of Usual Idiots at MAD Magazine", the strongest influence on my drawing style is Robert Crumb. To me, he's a God. An icon of creativity that does not follow convention, says and draws what he feels, with no reservations. Totally true to himself. While I may not agree with his interpretations or views, his artwork is flawless. Each piece stands alone.
For the past five years, holed-up in his home in France, R. Crumb has been working on cartoon-izing (aka illustrating) the entire Book of Genesis. Yes, as he states on the book "All 50 Chapters". I've not seen the entire book, but the images I have seen are amazing. Crumb draws very quickly, with a minimum of revisions. His execution of ink to paper is definite and defiant at the same time. What you see is what you get.
So, when it comes time to illustrate the three sons on Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth who else does Crumb draw the likeness of but Shemp, Larry and Moe. Of course! Make perfect Crumb sense.
This new Crumb visual interpretation of the Bible has drawn criticism and comments from every nook and cranny of religious leaders. The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who writes about pop culture and who has seen excerpts of the book, says "I just think it's fantastic that a protean mind like R. Crumb is translating the Bible into a new language, a new idiom. Just as was done with the Vulgate (a popularized translation in the fifth century) or the Latin." "Yes, there's some stuff there that's a little lascivious, but that's R. Crumb. The Bible is the world's oldest soap opera, filled with sex, violence and rape, particularly the Old Testament."
While Crumb has never admitted to being a Christian, he states in an interview with USA Today, "I'm a spiritual guy. I'm not an atheist, more an agnostic."
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