When one talks about influences in someones artwork, it’s always a tricky thing. Is the artist paying homage, or simply ripping off another artist? Does his style originate from another or is he copying? I wanted to mention this right off the bat because Mike Hoffman is often accused of being a Frank Frazetta clone, and looking at his artwork one would be inclined to agree. The influence is more than obvious, not just the subject matter, but the artistic style itself. In fact, if you look up the book on Amazon.com you will find mostly negative reviews that slam the book because of its lack of originality. However, I will let you decide if this lessens the artwork or not and just focus on what the book offers and let the art stand on its own. This book was published in 1999 by SQP Publishing and is the first of 2 volumes called Sorceress, and one of many Hoffman artbooks available. The entire book is comprised of black and white pencil drawings, (no inks) and only the cover presents a full color painting. The subject matter is sword and sorcery with a heavy dose of jungle girls and prehistoric scenes. Like the title implies, the book is mostly devoted to the female form, though there are a few drawings without women, the bulk of the art features Frazetta-like women who are for the most part topless or completely nude. Hoffman likes his busty girls, that’s for sure (and who doesn’t?).
I have to say that I myself like Hoffman’s style, it’s clean and uncluttered with a very good sense of form. His tonework is subtle and doesn’t “gray out” his figures with too much shading, letting the linework take center stage. His depiction of women is idealized to be sure, as it is with most fantasy artists, but he never goes overboard and his figures always retain a sense of reality that grounds his work and gives it more power. Another thing I like is that, besides Frazetta, Hoffman seems to be influenced by the Warren magazines of the 70’s, which gives his art a retro feel that I just love.
