Nate Doyle

Nate Doyle is a dear friend of mine. We work together at Forbidden Planet, a comic store in Manhattan. Talking with Nate about art has helped me through more insecure moments with my own work then I can count. While the artwork I make couldn't be more different then Nate's, we both love comics in the same way. My own love for all types of drawing and cartooning seems more sane when I talk about it with him...he's one of the few people that is equally excited about Dragon ball Z AND the most avant mini comic currently making the rounds. Working where we do, we're constantly surrounded by drawings. Nate really helped me appreciate this and let it seep into my art.

Nate is also an incredible artist---I hesitate to even mention our friendship in fear of obscuring my admiration for his talent. Nate, I think, is a wonderful storyteller. When i look at his work, I can't help but read it. It reads itself...and this is in spite of its often heavy brushwork. usually, the only comics that read effortlessly to me look like Tintin---thin lines. Nate's work is thick, but still reads so easily. I also get out of Nate's work what I get out of Blutch: such enthusiasm for drawing that you cant help but want to make comics yourself right away.

You can find out more about Nate's work here:

http://ndcrookedteeth.blogspot.com/

His minis are available through Sparkplug Comics Distro. The Archer was called one of the best minis of the year by Fantagraphics' Eric Reynolds.


1. can you describe your drawing routine---how often you draw, how many hour per day---how you break up the day with drawing?

Usually I'll either plan on doing some work, or spontaneously decided that I'm going to draw, paint, etc. once home from work, or finished reading or something like that, I make an attempt to draw or do a comic everyday, but realistically that never happens, so I try to at least do something in my sketchbook. I usually start with something in mind, either from what happened during the day, a song or from something I just read and then go from there. Most of the time my drawing just consists of getting out of habits and actually looking and thinking about what it is I'm actually drawing. When I really get some momentum I can draw easily for hours, I kind of lose track of time, but probably an average of two or three hours when I do get some work in. I'll wake up get some food, put on a record and go, or when I get home from work later in the day I'll just plop down in front of the desk and escape from retail jail...

2. how much revision/editing do you do in you work?

A lot of that I guess, I tend to ask for opinions or show my work while its in the process to get a better idea of how people are going to read the comic, if there are story telling issues, what doesn't work for the drawing and so on. With a longer story I usually revise the thumbnails two times, and cut or add panels where it seems like the story and panel composition will benefit. As for illustration or just sketchbook drawings, I can be pretty anal with how one line can look, or something like that, I always have a whiteout pen or some of that deleter white ink around, because most of the time I'm never satisfied or happy with how things turn out...

3. talk about your process---do you write a script or make up the drawing as you go?

Lately with a long story I've yet to really start I've outlined the whole thing, which is new for me to have completed. Most of the time if I write it all out first, I get too overwhelmed by the fact that it's all just words with no images, so I prefer to work it all out at once, sometimes having an image on the paper makes the writing process much easier and go smoother. And a lot of story ideas come from notes I find in my pocket weeks later or from simple sketchbook drawings. So, most of the time its images and words at once, that seems to work best for me.

4. do you compose the page as a whole or do you focus more on individual panel composition?
It's a little of both. I like to have some panels stand out individually, but I also really enjoy how the images can all work together on the page. I feel that's an integral part of comics, panel-page composition can emphasize elements in the story that make it more impactive to the reader, it also makes it more interesting to work on, manipulating not just an image in a frame, but several or more frames as one larger piece.

5. what tools do you use (please list all)?

mechanical pencil (for fine line stuff)
blunt 6b pencil
G-pen (small-similar to hunt 102- and large nibs)
pentel brush pen
dr martins hi carb ink
deleter white ink
muji brand white out pen
sizes 2, 6, 8 brushes
colored pencil, markers, watercolor paints (any brand, whatever looks best)

6. what kind(s) of paper do you use?
I use 12" x 9" watercolor paper, it's rougher than most bristol, so I can get some decent brush effects out of it and is what I've been working on lately I also like 14" x 17" 500 series vellum, that too has some heavy fibers and I like how it takes the ink I use, it gets really rich blacks. So I guess the rougher the paper the better it is, I hate plate or smooth bristol, I feel like I have no control over my tools.

7. do you read a lot of comics? are you someone who reads comics and then gets ectied to make more comics---or is your passion for making comics not linked to any particular love for other comics?
Yeah, I read way too many, it's sort of overwhelming when I look at the piles I have laying around of read or half read books. And I try to read a lot of different genres and whatnot. As far as foreign books go I dont hesitate to pick up untranslated books, I feel that by just studying the art and visual story can help one learn an intense amount and even encourage an almost natural sense of story telling. I definitely feed off the energy from reading a good comic, or looking at interesting/exciting drawings, sometimes I keep a pile of books handy that have been getting me thinking around my desk to light that spark and keep me motivated. It weirds me out when people who make comics don't read them...what's the point in having no interest in something you have a passion for?

8. do you make comics for a living? if not, how do you support yourself, and how does this relate to your comics making process?

No, I don't, unfortunately. I work 40+ hours a week in a comic shop, its kind of a bummer because even though I'm surrounded by books I love I come home wiped out with no interest in drawing due to late nights or bummed days...I wish I could spend less time at my job and more time at my desk or wrapped up in a sketchbook.

9/ do other artforms often seem more attractive to you?

Ehhh, I get torn between music and comics a lot. Being in three bands and stuff is pretty time consuming and makes finding time for drawing a bit difficult, its nothing I'd want to do professionally it's just for fun. But I'm always fascinated with illustration or fine art stuff, film too, but I don't think I'd really prefer it.

10. what artwork (or artists) do you feel kinship with?

A lot of artists I grew up admiring, Bill Watterson, Akira Toriyama, Nate Powell, a lot of whom (Powell and Watterson especially) I read interviews with now and find it exciting that we share similar opinions on social, political and artistic topics. But my friends who make comics and who I talk to about making them are people I have obvious kinships with and those relationships and admirations are very dear to me.

11. is a community of artists important or not important to you?

Yes, having a group of friends, teachers or peers to discuss/critique work, or just to socialize with who are doing the same thing is insanely encouraging and rewarding.

12. what is your parents/family's reaction to your work?

They're very supportive, a couple of things I've done have been published and they are so psyched to see it, buy multiple copies and funny things like that. My whole family is actually very encouraging, although they think the stories I write are too sad. They've never read Crooked Teeth though, and sometimes I think it should probably stay that way...

13, what is more important to you---style or idea?

This is a tough one. I think a story's style really depends on the idea behind it, y'know? But sometimes beautiful drawings are more than enough, especially since I don't speak French or Japanese, but the drawings are amazing.

14. is drawing a pleasure to you or a pain?

Goes both ways, sometimes its the most gratifying experience I've ever felt to draw, and other times I want to put a bullet in my head.

15. when you meet someone new, do you talk about being an artist right away? do you identify yourself as an artist or something else?

Never "artist". I dunno, its not something I say right away a lot, generally when asked "What do you do?" I'll say I play music or draw comics or something along those lines.

16. do you feel at all connected to older comic artists like steve ditko or jack kirby---or does this seem like a foreign world to you?

Not so much Kirby or Ditko, but cartoonists I know whom are older, who I look up to, seek advice from, I do sense some connection. When I had Mazzuchelli as a teacher in college I feel we bonded a lot as far as being excited about comics, old and new and talking about story ideas, techniques and not so exciting things such as paper, but still maintaining that enthusiasm for the topic. I can't say if I feel that way because of personal relationships with cartoonists or not...Its all sort of foreign in that way.

17. do you ever feel the impulse to not draw comics?

No, the idea of never drawing again makes me upset.

18. do you draw from life?

Yes, a lot actually. I like figure drawing a lot and drawing on location is something I'm quite fond of.

19. do you pencil out comics and then ink? or do you sometimes not pencil?

For more serious things I always pencil first, the tightness varies a lot on what's going on in the panel or how excited I am about it. But for diary or sketchbook comics I'll pencil very little, just things like angles or when I'm less confident in what I'm about to draw.

20. what does your drawing space look like?

Sammy Harkham

Sammy Harkham's work as a cartoonist and editor in the early 2000's remains one of the reasons that I care for comics in the way that i do. And i think a lot of cartoonists my age feel this way too. The skill and achievement of Harkhams early work was clear and easy to comprehend---it was good, thoughtful drawing---but his approach seemed pretty radical in comparison to the major figures of art cartooning at the time. It incorporated, to my eyes at least, what I admired as an artist in John Porcellino and what i admired as a reader in Roy crane. Linking those two styles of drawing was, and continues to be, a pretty powerful idea to me: new ways of drawing with an old school idea of craft.

Harkham's work as an editor is strong enough that it almost rivals his influence as a cartoonist (I think he's enough of a virtuoso in both areas that neither project is obscured). Harkham embraces clear storytellers and powerful image makers. As simple as that sounds, it's something that many people in the cartooning world remain unable to do. Often the argument in comics circles revolves around basic-cartoony-Little Lulu style work as being the only worthwhile approach vs. the notion that imaginative image making is clearly more important.

Cartoonists, I think, just by our very nature care about both things: we like images and we like stories. But the way we like both of these things isn't simple...there's a lot of degrees of mixing the two. Kramers Ergot is the articulate statement we were all waiting for.

Harkham writes and draws the series Crickets, from Drawn and Quarterly (although I think there will be a self published issue soon?).

http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/artStudio.php?artist=a43cd41abb84fc

Find out more about Kramers Ergot here:

http://buenaventurapress.com/books/bookBPB-18.php

1. can you describe your drawing routine---how often you draw, how many hour per day---how you break up the day with drawing?

I go into work around nine in the morning and stay till five. I spend anywhere from 1 to 6 hours a day drawing comics. right now my schedule is kind of nuts because of my family. In the past, I would get going later in the afternoon and work solid for about 8 hours in to the night. I have two small kids now, so for the time being, I have to make it happen during set times.

2. how much revision/editing do you do in you work?

I guess a lot. I will often redraw panels, or completely change things. right now, on the big strip I am working, each page takes awhile. so looking at a page for so long, you often get new ideas/better ideas as you work. usually I get to a better pace as I work on something, like two pages a week, and the revisions and editing, lessens somewhat. I think it has to do with getting comfortable with the world your creating and can trust your instincts better as you progress in a story.

3. talk about your process---do you write a script or make up the drawing as you go?

larger strip ideas sit around in my brain gathering material over a year or two. and when it feels like I have enough to go on, I will start. I don't usually thumbnail scenes before hand. I might work out a rough page count and figure out a set template for the strip, or a specific scene -three tiers or four tiers or whatever. again its just to set limits so as to wrap my head around how I will get the thing done.
for the strip I am working on now, I have a handful of scattered scene ideas, a setting, a basic plot, particular lines of dialogue and a handful of images (made up and found) and as I work on a scene, the idea usually changes and shifts from the initial idea, and usually leads to new ideas and new scenes. if I finish a scene, and don't know what comes next, I'll jump ahead to a part later in the story and then work backward. working like this makes the process much more fun since its discovery as I go as opposed to just executing something already worked out before hand.
but there are also comics where I will thumbnail the whole thing first. usually if its an idea that only warrants a page or 2. content will guide how long something should be-some things feel like they should only be so many pages. so it depends on what it is. I dont have a set way.

4. do you compose the page as a whole or do you focus more on individual panel composition?

More the latter, a bit of the former.

5. what tools do you use (please list all)?

4b pencil, dr. martins black star hicarb ink, tachikawa school pen nib no. 5, any eraser, 1.40 rapidograph pen, artist tape(which is bullshit stuff-all my pages have tears from removing tape), pen-o-pake, a handful of assorted sized brushes, t-square ruler.

6. what kind(s) of paper do you use?

3 or 4 ply bristol board cut to 11x15.

7. do you read a lot of comics? are you someone who reads comics and then gets ectied to make more comics---or is your passion for making comics not linked to any particular love for other comics?

I read a lot of comics. but am mostly inspired by reading older strips like gasoline alley, little orphan annie and wash tubbs because of the seemingly laid back approach of those strips and how bound up they are with the fundamentals of the craft for me. also, I still find inspiration from the books that made me want to be a cartoonist when I was fifteen. probably because it puts my consciousness in the same place it was at when I was younger: eightball, I never liked you, rubber blanket, the early jim and frank stories, tank girl, little orphan annie, thimble theatre, the jew of new york, black hole, and that big smithsonian book of newspaper comics.
the most recent comics I found inspiring on that level would be C.F.'s Lowtide #6, anders nilsen's Big Questions #3, super monster #14, Gay Nerd, Alias the Cat, and the ron rege collection Against Pain. Rege's one of the most inspiring, forward thinking cartoonists working-so much of what he has introduced to comics or expanded on, is taken for granted as a given today. I think he has shaped modern alternative cartooning as much as anyone. he has brought so much to comics, to the point that his influence is felt even in cartoonists who have never read him.

8. do you make comics for a living? if not, how do you support yourself, and how does this relate to your comics making process?

I make a bit of money from comics, but I do a lot of other stuff -help run a bookstore, and revival theatre, sell original art, do illustrations, do the odd freelance editing/curating thing, and do weird hollywood gigs that pop up for artists who live in los angeles-designing/storyboarding/writing. lots of fingers in lots of pies. they all influence my comics because I am coming into contact with so many people and work that I may not ever see if not for these assorted jobs.

9. do other artforms often seem more attractive to you?

sure! there is only so long you can toil at something and continually fail at, and still have the energy to keep trying. but so far, I am committed.

10. what artwork (or artists) do you feel kinship with?

Charles Willeford, Leonard Cohen, Will Oldham, Knut Hamsun, Shary Boyle, Emir Kustarica. Obviously I am nowhere near those people as an artist, but I feel a kinship to how they portray the world in their work. Visually, I am obsessed with Richard Scarry, Kathe Kallwitz, Tibor Gergely, Gustaf Tenggren, William Eggleston.

11. is a community of artists important or not important to you?

Well, its nice to talk to people about drawing problems and comic things. I have two people I bother regularly, one shares a studio with me, the other is in another state. That's about it as far as regular art talk communications. Like probably everyone else who makes stuff, I know assorted cartoonists and artists who I consider friends who I speak with or see once in awhile, and most of them I find inspiring in some way, but they are scattered all over the place and I don't see them regularly. Is that a community? I don't know. I would guess a community is one of locals sharing a desk, but now with the internet, maybe the definition has changed.

12. what is your parents/family's reaction to your work?

I don't really know.

13, what is more important to you---style or idea?

The style something is rendered in totally informs and effects how an idea is expressed. so both.

14. is drawing a pleasure to you or a pain?

Drawing is totally fun. Drawing comics though is mostly problem solving, which cam be fun.

15. Is there a particular line quality you enjoy in other peoples art or try to bring to your own art?

I like drawing that looks casual and somewhat dashed off. Basically any drawing of Pig Pen.

16. do you feel at all connected to older comic artists like steve ditko or jack kirby---or does this seem like a foreign world to you?

I feel connected in that they worked hard making comics and honing their crafts, just like we do today. Of older mainstream comics, I love Jesse Marsh's work very much.

17. do you ever feel the impulse to not draw comics?

Too much. But you're bound by your ideas, and if your ideas are comics, there you go. You don't really have a choice in what you do.

18. do you draw from life?

I am always making these resolutions to draw from life every day and never keep to them. I could draw plants and chairs all day. I probably do a couple life drawings a week.

19. do you pencil out comics and then ink? or do you sometimes not pencil?

there is always some penciling first, but how much shifts around depending on the panel. I tend to go back and forth-pencil a bit, ink some, pencil more, ink more, etc till its done, then I do more and ruin it. then on to the next panel.

20. what does your drawing space look like?

Theo Ellsworth

I saw very happy to see The Village Voice pick Theo Ellsworth's Capacity as one of its top comics of the year---it makes Ellsworth story (a self taught artist who pushed himself to focus and make his art the central thing in his life) all the more enjoyable. I first came across Ellsworth self published issues of Capacity and was told that he somehow supported himself by making zines and selling them at art fairs. Whether this is true or not, it's interesting to think how it very well MIGHT be true for someone like Ellsworth. Ellsworth deserves the often batted around term "dedicated." He's also that rare artist whose work instantly appeals to an average passerby a a book store, and the most seasoned, critical aesthetic vet.

Here is Theo's publishers website:

http://www.secretacres.com/

and theo's website:

http://www.artcapacity.com/home.html

1. can you describe your drawing routine---how often you draw, how many hour per day---how you break up the day with drawing?

I try to spend as much time as possible drawing everyday. It's a constant battle. There's always a list of other things I should be doing, but drawing comics is what I want to be doing. I try to get up in the morning and get right to work. On good days, I'll work maybe 10-13 hours. I have periods of time each day where I have to make myself completely unavailable (no phones or computers) just so I can sink into my own world and live there for periods of time with no interruption. If I didn't live with my girlfriend, there'd be a lot of days where I just don't see anyone. Other days, I'm running all over town doing chores, trying to get my left brain to help me keep my life in check. Other days, I'll draw all day with friends, which helps me feel less isolated and strange. The goal is to make art whenever and wherever I can.

2. how much revision/editing do you do in you work?

It's all just based on feeling. Some stories will feel like they flow right away, so I won't mess with them. Other ones, during the drawing process, I'll realize how awkward the story reads and start revising it as I go. I don't do preliminary sketches. I do it all right on the page, drawing lightly at first, them more boldly as I gain confidence in what I'm doing. Once a panel is inked, I very rarely go back and change anything, unless there is a spelling mistake.

3. talk about your process---do you write a script or make up the drawing as you go?

Stories come to me in flashes. I go on a lot of long walks and bike rides looking for these flashes. When something comes along that feels like it has potential, I'll replay it in my head and try to look at the scene from different angles, figure out it's rhythm and flow. Then I'll just sit down and draw it. With longer stories, I'll sometimes write down some dialogue or notes, but details always end up changing a bit once I'm drawing the actual page. I've never done thumbnails of the pages first. It works better for me just to get right to the actual page.

4. do you compose the page as a whole or do you focus more on individual panel composition?

It's a little of both at the same time. When I'm starting on a story, I try to picture the way the story should flow, where I want the reader to have to turn a page to see the next scene, how a full spread of two pages will look. This is all done during the beginning, scribbly stage. Once I'm drawing more carefully, I focus in on each panel and try to make them individually satisfying.

5. what tools do you use (please list all)?

Mechanical pencils, Rapidograph pens with india ink, magic rub eraser.

6. what kind(s) of paper do you use?

I've been using bristol board for comics. Anything that takes the ink well and doesn't bleed is great. I use to just draw on whatever I had on hand, but I've spent hours working on pages only to find that the paper doesn't take the ink very well, but by then there's no going back. I'd just have to go ahead with it.

7. do you read a lot of comics? are you someone who reads comics and then gets excited to make more comics---or is your passion for making comics not linked to any particular love for other comics?

I love reading comics. Reading good comics definitely gets me thinking and gets me excited to get to work. I feel the same way about reading a good novel, seeing an inspiring film, work of art, or architecture. Comics seem to be a place where all the stuff I love can merge into one creative focus. So yes, I read a lot of comics, but I try to take in other kinds of work just as much or more.

8. do you make comics for a living? if not, how do you support yourself, and how does this relate to your comics making process?

I would love to make a living making comics. That's my goal. Right now I'm getting by on just my art, which feels like a good start. I sell my work (prints, zines, comics, original art) at an outdoor art market on the weekends, here in Portland, OR. I also teach drawing workshops a couple times a year. I contribute to a lot of gallery shows. I do some random illustration work sometimes. Making comics is the most challenging and satisfying aspect of my art for me. It's also the most time consuming, and takes the longest to make money, so it's always in danger of being put on the backburner while I try to make my rent.

9/ do other artforms often seem more attractive to you?

I do a lot of other art forms. Print making is fun. I've dabbled in music. I'm really interested in animation, especially stop motion animation, and miniature set building. But there's something about the freedom I have in comics, and how many of my interests and passions comics seem to be able to encompass, that I really do see it as the central art form for me.

10. what artwork (or artists) do you feel kinship with?

I feel a huge kinship with Outsider Art. Adolf Wolfli is one of my favorite artists of all time. Artists like Ferdinand Cheval, Martin Ramirez, Augustin Lesage, Johann Fischer, and Henry Darger keep me going. I'm also in love with a lot of ancient and tribal art. I love Hopi Kachina dolls, the northwestern indian ceremonial costumes, Thai art, ancient Indian art, Mayan art. I could go on and on. I think the common link between all this is the concept of making art as a necessity. Art as a vital function of being alive. That, and the sense of care and intricacy in the works.

11. is a community of artists important or not important to you?

It's very important. I've never felt like I really belonged to any big group, and usually get uncomfortable and disappointed when I try. But a lot of my close friends are artists, and I love getting together and drawing with other artists. I've been collaborating a lot more with friends lately, and it's really expanded my horizons. It's always reassuring to be around other people to think about the same kind of stuff from different angles than me.

12. what is your parents/family's reaction to your work?

My family has been pretty wonderful. They've been encouraging and supportive for a long time now. I'll probably never really know if what I do is really there thing or not, but they know it's what I need to do.

13, what is more important to you---style or idea?

I guess that would bring me back to one of the things I love about ancient art. Style and idea seemed to serve the same function. Every color and line was part of the original intent and reason behind the work. The idea gives meaning to the style and the style gives life to the idea.

14. is drawing a pleasure to you or a pain?

It's a huge pleasure. my brain just seems to start overflowing and consuming me if I don't draw. Drawing slows me down and gives my mind a place to focus. I love the state of mind I get into when I draw. The act of drawing seems to help me in every other aspect of my life. If I didn't have this outlet, I'd probably be a miserable, retched person.

15. when you meet someone new, do you talk about being an artist right away? do you identify yourself as an artist or something else?

For the lack of a better term, an artist is what I am. When people ask, I usually say that I write and draw comics. A lot of the time when I meet new people, I find myself trying to remain a mystery for as long as I can and just learn more about them. It's not that I don't want to share, I just learn a lot more by listening to other people. I spend all day off in my own world, so I often find myself trying to steer conversations away from myself and get other people talking.

16. do you feel at all connected to older comic artists like steve ditko or jack kirby---or does this seem like a foreign world to you?

I love Jack Kirby. I've been picking up a lot of collections of his work lately. His character designs and the worlds he created were so endlessly inventive and weird. The stories themselves can be hard to get through, but his work gets me more excited than just about any other cartoonist. I'm still not super familiar with Steve Ditko, but I've been wanting to check out the work he did on Doctor Strange way back when. I think there's a lot to learn from the older pioneers of comics. And a lot to be unlearned.

17. do you ever feel the impulse to not draw comics?

No, I want to draw comics more and more. When a page is feeling too challenging, I'll just sit and doodle for awhile, but I couldn't imagine a better job for myself, really. I just need to find a way to make it my full time job.

18. do you draw from life?

When I'm out in the world, I find myself taking note of things: a interesting windo on a building, someone's posture, a certain face. But for the most part, when I sit down to draw, it all just comes from my imagination. Every once in awhile I'll use a reference, but the drawing never looks much like the reference. Mostly, I'm really interested in drawing things from memory. If you try to draw a tiger, relying only on the image you can conjure in your head, you'll end up with something a bit distorted, but far more interesting than if you try to reproduce something from a photo. It depends on what you're going for though.

19. do you pencil out comics and then ink? or do you sometimes not pencil?

With comics, I almost always pencil first. The pencils are the thinking stage of the work. But when I ink, I always end up elaborating a bit. I never end up following my pencils exactly. it's more fun that way.

20. what does your drawing space look like?

Aaron Renier

Aaron Renier is the Eisner Award winning author of Spiral Bound. He's also a dear friend of mine. I've always loved Aaron's art, from the minute I saw it. he's like the guy you would sit next to in elementary school that could draw anything---only he's followed through on being that guy and ended up as a consumate illustrator and first rate storyteller. When I look at Aaron's art, I see all the manic interest of a precocious kid---knights, weird animal characters, impossibly involved story lines---turned into highly elegant artwork. I am eagerly awaiting his first book of a projected trilogy, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, coming soon(ish) from first Second.

Here is Aaron's website:
http://aaronrenier.com/

Above art from the forthcoming Walker Bean book. Colors by Alec Longstreth.

1. can you describe your drawing routine---how often you draw, how many hour per day---how you break up the day with drawing?

The first thing I do in the morning is turn on NPR in my studio. I'll let it run in the background as I make breakfast, and while I'm gone walking Beluga (my dog). As long as it's going I have this calling to get to work. When I sit down at my table... around 10:00 I set my alarm for 4 hours. I try to get as much penciling as I can get done in that time. I always have a cup of coffee next to me, or a glass of water. I have signs on my door telling me I cannot bring in my laptop... because it gets way too distracting, and... for the MOST part I listen. About 3 days a week I go and do this at a coffee shop. Sometimes just being in my house is too distracting. Around 2:00 I stop for a late lunch. I can check my email... watch the Daily Show or if there is a new Office or 30 Rock on Hulu.com . At 3 I set my alarm for 3 hours and I try to tighten my pencils and start to ink. Sometimes I can finish a page at the end of this time. I usually ink to a book on tape... or I have listentoamovie.com playing in the background or Pandora.com (Yes my laptop has made it into my studio if this is going on) At around 6 I stop to walk Beluga and go to the park and have dinner. If I'm done with my work I go see what people are up to, but if I'm not around 8:00 I usually try to finish my page... maybe watching a Netflixed movie, or listening to a book on tape. This time I'm usually replacing my coffee or water with something... stiffer. This is a bastardized version of Alec Longstreth's schedule http://makecomicsforever.blogspot.com/2005/10/schedule.html

2. how much revision/editing do you do in you work?

I do very little editing with my art. I have come to really like the mistakes I make, and only white things out if I really made a mess. With text I edit quite a bit. I'm always looking back and thinking somebody doesn't sound right. My portfolio books are filled with post-it notes trying to remember all the changes I want. But sometimes I look back and want to throw away the notes because my idea to change it was dumb... but I leave them so I can think about it longer... because future Aaron will be a wiser Aaron.


3. talk about your process---do you write a script or make up the drawing as you go?

I work on a rough draft... and usually a second rough draft. But before I even start a draft I keep these recipe cards with ideas on them. Just single random thoughts I have... like... "Monster in pond" and plot ideas like "stucky is better sculptor than turnip." And eventually as I get more and more of these ideas on cards I can lay them out and shuffle them around and decide what goes and what I need to come up with and then eventually the entire idea comes to me.

When I get the story stuck in my head I draw it out with stick characters just focused on my pacing and my story. I go through it once in a composition notebook. Then I wait a few days and reread it. Then I go through it with a fine tooth comb looking for ways to make it better, and become more focused on my layouts. I also work this way when I go to my final art. I look at what I originally wrote, see the problems with it, and try to correct the problems.

4. do you compose the page as a whole or do you focus more on individual panel composition?

I try to compose the two page spread as a whole. I usually have both pages from a spread on my desk at one time. I am very interested in how each page flip looks.

5. what tools do you use?

I draw with regular #2 leaded pencils, although I should probably draw with a harder lead. I've inked most of the book I'm working on now with a Pentel Pocketbrush pen. I love it so much. All of Spiral-Bound was inked with Superblack Speedball ink, with a #2 watercolor synthetic brush. I letter with 08 Microns, and I do odds and ends with my Rapidographs and my Rotring art pen. I need to get a new fountain pen. I also have been using a razor blade to scratch up my drawings. http://drawman.blogspot.com/2008/01/razor-blade-inking-technique.html very fun and makes my drawings even more organic ... and I use white out to make white lines. I love the foam chisel tip.

6. what kind of paper do you use?

I draw on 500 series Strathmore Vellum, but sometimes art supplies don't have it... so I sometimes use whatever I can get. (14x17)

7. do you read a lot of comics? are you someone who reads comics and then gets excited to make more comics---or is your passion for making comics not linked to any particular love for other comics?

I love comics so much! I haven't been reading a lot lately, but I'm always excited to go get more. When I'm really into my own work I don't read many others. My reading has usually something to do with what I'm working on. Nonfiction and nonfiction used coffee table books are what get me interested in drawing. Books about boats, and animals and bugs. Children's encyclopedias. Big photo books on single topics.

8. do you make comics for a living? if not, how do you support yourself, and how does this relate to your comics making process?

I make money with my comics, but I really pay my rent doing illustration work.

9. do other art forms often seem more attractive to you?

More attractive that I would leave comics for them? No. I very much feel like this is what I want to do.

10. what artwork (or artists) do you feel kinship with?

With my friends who are creative. Most of them are cartoonists, but I have many friends from college who do fine art painting, sculpture, conceptual work, printmaking, photography, music... and I'm very interested in what they do. I was the cartoonist in my school... and they in turn are interested in what I do.

11. is a community of artists important or not important to you?

Very important. I've moved five times in the last 10 years and every time I move I strongly consider what kind of artist community is there. I love being challenged by the people I know.

12. what is your parents/family's reaction to your work?

Very supportive, but I always think they would have been happier if I would have gone into advertising. My mother thinks I have a good mind for thinking of... advertisements. She is wrong. But everybody really loves what I do, and when I get jobs with things they've heard of ... like Nickelodeon... they really think I've made it.


13, what is more important to you---style or idea?

Idea. I think my style comes along with idea... it's along for the ride. My work keeps growing, but I don't think much about what cool new way I can draw eyeballs or something. I sincerely try to draw as best I can. What comes out of me is what I am capable of. The more elaborate my ideas the more I challenge myself to draw different things.

14. is drawing a pleasure to you or a pain?

Both. But there is nothing more pleasurable than being happy with a drawing. It makes my feel unbelievably amazing.

15. when you meet someone new, do you talk about being an artist right away? do you identify yourself as an artist or something else?

I don't tell people what I do unless it comes up. I never say "artist" because I think that sounds pompous. I love saying I'm a cartoonist. I don't need to us a more vague word to describe what I do. "Artist" describes everything from basket weaver to naked bungee jumping. I'm a cartoonist.

16. do you feel at all connected to older comic artists like steve ditko or jack kirby---or does this seem like a foreign world to you?

I feel very connected to the artists I grew up loving. John Severin, Bill Watterson, Herge. I feel very connected to them.

17. do you ever feel the impulse to not draw comics?

No. I'm frightened by the idea of not doing them. Terrified.

18. do you draw from life?

I used to more. I need to start going to figure drawing again.

19. do you pencil out comics and then ink? or do you sometimes not pencil?

Always pencil. The only thing I don't really pencil are repetitive things like a pile of rocks, or water. If it's a texture type of thing I go at it straight with ink.

20. what does your drawing space look like?

Lisa Hanawalt

Everyone is talking about Lisa Hanawalt's comics these days. I didn't know anything about her until seeing her mini "Stay Away from other People" which was an instant hit for me. Her drawing is, obviously, amazing. Her comics also appear in Arthur and I hear that she will have a comic coming out from Buenaventura Press soon. ...here is her INTENSE website:

http://lisahanawalt.com/blog/

more comics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lobsterrags/sets/72157611338823732/

1. can you describe your drawing routine---how often you draw, how many hours per day---how you break up the day with drawing?

On a good day I'll draw for 7 hours or more with short breaks and lots of coffee. But I’m easily distracted by books, the internet, hangnails, piano, and chatting with other creative friends who have the same problem.

2. how much revision/editing do you do in your work?

I do some editing, mostly with the text, but I'm impatient when rushing to the inking phase (the FUN part) and make a lot of dumb mistakes that could probably be avoided with further revisions. On the plus side, I've gotten better at making excellent mistakes.

3. talk about your process---do you write a script or make up the drawing as you go?

Usually: funny images or words will pop into my head while I’m driving, walking or waiting to fall asleep. Then I’ll storyboard them in my sketchbook, and if they still seem like sharp ideas a week or month later, I’ll do a tighter rough and light box them into presentable drawings. But sometimes I just wing it, sketchbook style.

4. do you compose the page as a whole or do you focus more on individual panel composition?

It completely varies from comic to comic. I’m trying to get better at composing images within delineated panels, but sometimes it feels unnatural or forced... like I’m trying to follow some arbitrary comic-making rules instead of just drawing the way I want to. It’s a good challenge though.

5. what tools do you use (please list all)?

Ubiquitous Pentel Pocket Brush, just switched from Microns to Copic Multiliners, waterproof ink + crappy nibs, an old Altoid box converted into a portable watercolor kit by my friend Rob…the best is trying out tools that other people recommend.

6. what kind(s) of paper do you use?
Bristol or watercolor paper. Sometimes I experiment with marker paper, get disastrous results, and avoid it for a year until I forget how awful it is and try it again.

7. do you read a lot of comics? are you someone who reads comics and then gets excited to make more comics---or is your passion for making comics not linked to any particular love for other comics?

I definitely love comics, but I think my passion for making them developed more as a way to combine all of my other interests: illustration, fiction, comedy, creepiness, etc. I just mush all those things together, and I get to magically define the result as “comics.” It’s such an inclusive category.

8. do you make comics for a living? if not, how do you support yourself, and how does this relate to your comics making process?

Right now I'm living off savings from my last secretary job and doing occasional pet portraits, but I'll definitely need to get another crappy job soon. Or be more aggressive about getting illustration gigs. My parents are also incredibly supportive - thanks Mom & Dad, I would be totally screwed without you.

9/ do other artforms often seem more attractive to you?

I’m happy to dip my paws into many different areas of interest without achieving expertise in any of them...but I wish I had time to be a better musician.

10. what artwork (or artists) do you feel kinship with?

I’ve felt a kinship with Renee French since reading “Marbles in My Underpants” in high school. That’s when I realized that you can tell any story, no matter how disgusting or perverted, and it’s valid as long as it titillates you...or something like that. Also gross ideas can be illustrated in incredibly elegant ways.

Lately I've been feeling kinship with anybody who can tell a really good dick joke.

11. is a community of artists important or not important to you?

A warm and fuzzy sense of community is extremely important to me. Making art can be so solitary, it’s a joy to talk to people at conventions and art shows, or break up the routine with drawing parties.

Actually, I’m painfully shy when meeting other cartoonists, but everyone I’ve met so far has been friendly and encouraging so I should probably get over that and stop being such a wiener.

12. is there a particular line quality you like---thick/thin/clean/etc?

Crazy thin, outlined with thick, super clean. I also enjoy drawing with a looser, sketchier style, but I don’t think I can pull that off as well.

13, what is more important to you---style or idea?

Ideas are the most important, but they have to be executed well. I have to admit that almost every time I draw, a voice in my head is going, "This idea is completely retarded, but if you draw with enough flair and technical skill, nobody will notice! SO MAKE IT PRETTY,” and then that voice goes on to call me a bunch of awful, derisive names, which I enjoy.

14. is drawing a pleasure to you or a pain?

Pleasurable core wrapped in some painful layers of self-doubt and responsibility.

15. when you meet someone new, do you talk about being an artist right away? do you identify yourself as an artist or something else?

Yes, because sometimes people react oddly to that information, and that’s entertaining for me. I told a chatty, kooky Trader Joe’s cashier (aren’t they all) and he stood there and made me draw his face on a grocery bag while all of his other customers waited in the checkout line. So...sometimes it backfires.

16. do you feel at all connected to older comic artists like steve ditko or jack kirby---or does this seem like a foreign world to you?

Foreign. The artwork is awesome to look at, but I've never been into the stories of those superhero comics...I grew up with Sunday funnies like Gary Larson and Bill Watterson, plus perverted doodlers like B. Kliban and R.Crumb.

17. do you ever feel the impulse to not draw comics?

Sometimes I want to stop trying to make it work as a career, but I would never stop drawing. It’s like a compulsive disorder that happens to be charming…luckily.

18. do you draw from life?

Whenever possible, because it makes for a more lively drawing and I lean too heavily on those danged reference photos for sure!

19. do you pencil out comics and then ink? or do you sometimes not pencil?

Anything I feel nervous about has to be penciled, but I like to keep the roughs loose and jump in with ink as much as possible. I get a kick out of improvising anything super-structured and visually complex, like cars or electronics. Like, I’ve drawn them elegantly, but they still come out completely wrong or wonky in some way… I don’t know why that tickles me so much.

20. what does your drawing space look like?

Aidan Koch

Aidan Koch is the artist behind the mini comic Warmer, which I thought was one of the strongest minis of the year. Koch, for me at least, sort of come out of nowhere...but that seems to be happening a lot these days: people producing their first or second mini and already having a great degree of authority to their art. Find out more about koch and her work at her website:

http://www.aidankoch.com/index.php?/project/news/

1. can you describe your drawing routine---how often you draw, how many hour per day---how you break up the day with drawing?

It depends on my projects, but I draw between 20minutes and 8 hours a day. When I'm working towards a show or do a drawing lesson over coffee, it adds up. I'm in art school also, so I usually divide my work up just between projects. Work on homework, work on a big painting, work on sketches of people, work on comic pages. It's a good variety between sizes and mediums to keep me going for a long long time. It often requires some drinking though.


2. how much revision/editing do you do in you work?

Extremely little. The more I edit, the more I regret. There's a sincerity in the original lines that I hate to fiddle with. If I do change something, I often draw right over it or use one of my crappy erasers that smudges the page. That way at least there's a history built into the drawing. I can remember why I did what I did.


3. talk about your process---do you write a script or make up the drawing as you go?

I took a break from comics for a while and ended up making some zines instead. I got into the process of just writing for documentation's sake. I found that I navigated towards lists and statements. By pairing these with images that made sense to me, I kind of found my voice. From there I think I was able to go back into sequential work maintaining that voice pretty fluidly.


4. do you compose the page as a whole or do you focus more on individual panel composition?

I panel off the page first and let the first couple drawings inform the composition of the rest. I think it's really important to consider the pacing and quality of each page.


5. what tools do you use (please list all)?

Cheap mechanical pencils....color pencil and gouache


6. what kind(s) of paper do you use?

Moleskin notebooks. I have like four going at once all the time. I try to divide them into being different things, but then I just go crazy and get them confused. I like the creaminess of the paper though and it's cheap enough that I'm not scared to mess up on anything. That's important.


7. do you read a lot of comics? are you someone who reads comics and then gets ectied to make more comics---or is your passion for making comics not linked to any particular love for other comics?

I never read comics until I started making them. My friend BT Livermore started a comics collective called Robopocalypse which I joined two years ago, right when I started doing comics. It made me a lot more aware of what people are doing and got me going to conventions and events. I like reading them a lot now, although I'm still extremely undereducated in that world. I think what made me most excited about doing them is just the ability to create something artistic that is so accessible. It's fun to make copies and go around to the local shops and mail them to friends and be part of such a funny little community.


8. do you make comics for a living? if not, how do you support yourself, and how does this relate to your comics making process?

I've done some calculations and I think I make some profit from them...but that amount is probably gone after an hour at a bar. Right now, I am living off of some savings, assisting a fashion designer, selling art, and pedicabbing (bicycle taxi). The variety of tasks relates to how I approach art I guess. I like doing as much as possible all the time, going back and forth between different things. I do whatever suits my emotional state at the time.


9/ do other artforms often seem more attractive to you?

I think it would be beautiful to work in a print shop in the Alps grinding stones and printing lithographs.


10. what artwork (or artists) do you feel kinship with?

My favorite artist (to varying degrees at various times) is Odilon Redon. He fills my heart with magic.


11. is a community of artists important or not important to you?

I guess I probably don't realize how much importance it's had on me because I've always had such a community. Both my parents and sister are artists and crafters and I'm in my last year at art school. I've always had an incredible amount of support and influence. Sometimes I feel like I just want to talk to someone who's a lawyer or model or dermatologist or whatever just to feel more sane. And then I do (pedicabbing is great for that), and I feel okay again to sink into my world for a while.


12. is ther a particular line quality you like---thick/thin/clean/etc?

I guess I like using the least amount of lines to describe a shape or form, usually thin.


13, what is more important to you---style or idea?

When I buy comics and zines, I pretty much do it based off of style. I have a lot of anxiety as a reader. I'd rather have something I can look through quickly and appreciate whenever than something I am forced to delve into before I can enjoy it. I freak out if I have to do that, unless I'm on vacation.


14. is drawing a pleasure to you or a pain?

It's the most redeeming quality of my existence.


15. when you meet someone new, do you talk about being an artist right away? do you identify yourself as an artist or something else?

Avoid. This is Portland, Oregon though. Everyone does art or music. It's more fun though to try and just exist as a personality and see how I hold up.


16. do you feel at all connected to older comic artists like steve ditko or jack kirby---or does this seem like a foreign world to you?

Like I said I never read comics growing up, so it's hard for me to think about what they did. I haven't read many older comics and I'm pretty positive the way that I work is not reflective of them either. I appreciate knowing how they've influenced other people that I like though. It always trickles down in one way or another.


17. do you ever feel the impulse to not draw comics?

I stopped when I was going through a big stylistic shift. It was a very introspective time and I couldn't figure out how comics could possibly fit in. I just did tons of big paintings and abstract drawings. As that settled down though, I think a niche just kind of opened itself back up. Now I think about comics all the time.


18. do you draw from life?

Almost exclusively.


19. do you pencil out comics and then ink? or do you sometimes not pencil?

I just like pencil or colored pencil.


20. what does your drawing space look like?

Zak Sally

Zak Sally is drawing my favorite comic on the stands today: Sammy the Mouse. I picked it as my #1 comic of 2008 when the Daily Crosshatch asked for a top five list. Here's the blurb I wrote for them:

"Some people mentioned to me that they were initially put off by Zak Sally switching his drawing style for this comic. And it's hard not to miss that ultra precise style. But there's just something about this series. This is the comic that proves the "drawing in comics is writing" idea better then anything else. There's a certain sacrifice of visual aesthetics for storytellings sake...but the storytelling is so good and the story is so rich (one of the richest in ideas comic I've ever read) that the aesthetic of the drawing BECOMES beautiful. It's really something. Sometimes I can't get over characters in novels...I really think about and care for certain literary creations in the same way I think about close friends. Rarely can I say that about a comic...except this one."

Sally is also the publisher behind La Mano, which is the best small press comics line around. Currently, they are batting a thousand, since every book Sally puts out is pretty much perfect. Dead Ringer is one of the strongest comics to come out in a while, and Sally's choice to publish it in a very distinctive way is a rare case of bold design enriching a comic instead of calling attention to itself.

Find out more about La Mano and Sally here: http://www.lamano21.com/



1. can you describe your drawing routine---how often you draw, how many hour per day---how you break up the day with drawing?

in those ugly days when i was trying/ hoping to eke out an existence drawing comics full-time i was...well, come to think of it, there was so much hustle and busywork involved that i probably only ended up DRAWING a bit more than i do these days (when i am gainfully employed as a teacher 30-odd hours a week...).
how it seems to work now is that...at least on Sammy, i finish an issue and then a couple months go by where i dont have a thought in my head. then i panic because i have no earthly idea what's going to go in the next issue, and i walk around thinking "you're FUCKED, you're TOTALLY FUCKED" for a couple of weeks until i somehow force myself to sit down with my notes and put pencil to paper and then i realize that i've got more material than i know what to do with, and start banging it out...
usually the end of the process, inking/ finalizing the issue, requires 6-8 hours a day (or more likely, whatever i can get in...) for a few months.
for everything else, i just commit to something i can't weasel out of, thereby creating an externally imposed deadline. neat, huh?
long way of saying that there's very little rhyme or reason; i spend my life trying to make more time in which i get to draw comics.

2. how much revision/editing do you do in you work?

it feels like i do more revision and editing than i do drawing; and i think that's actually the most important part of the whole thing...anyone can come up with "ideas"; it's roping those ideas into something that makes sense (aesthetically and otherwise) where the rubber hits the road, and i'm editing and revising at every and all stages of the work.

3. talk about your process---do you write a script or make up the drawing as you go?

Feels like during my (over)long "learning curve" years (soon to be collected by Fantagraphics...) i was kind of unconciously trying to make comics every damn way-- starting from just...single images or drawings in my sketchbook, some piece of crappy writing i'd done while drunk, whatever. in some cases i'd even write the words out and then just constantly "edit" the thing as the storytelling (such as it was...) came along, seeing how the words and pictures came together (or didn't, depending...) and in the end the original words would have all but disappeared.
it just started out from an image or an idea or...something, and just crawled into completion in whatever way seemed most difficult or stupid. it never felt that i ever landed on an actual PROCESS, which is maybe good and maybe bad, who knows.
i'm really happy with the way i work now, which is, to me, a sort of pure COMICS writing. i start with some crappy 14 X 17 marker paper and just...start the thing. i have my notes and my general idea of where it needs to go and acouple things i've GOT TO hit plot- wise, but there's no script, no pre-drawing thumbnails or anything: i'm just "writing" it in comics form, words and pictures all at the same time, on the page in no particular order-- sort of working the beginning, middle and end of the issue at the same time, and then i put them all up on the wall so i can see the whole thing as i'm working on it.
anders nilsen came over to my studio once when he was in town and saw the set-up and said "wow, you put up all your pages too? i thought i was the only guy who did that...", and i was like "really? i just assumed EVERY cartoonist worked this way." maybe it's just cartoonists who grew up in minnesota, i don't know.
anyway, i'm constantly looking up and referring to it, and the whole thing gets worked pretty organically; sometimes i'll start hitting inks on a scene that i'm real sure about while maybe...i'm still in rough doodles on other parts. i just keep working the whole thing until until it gets to this point where...it's this odd thing where all of a sudden an issue turns from a collection of scenes that i HOPE will come together into what almost feels like an...algebraic equation. it just clicks into focus, it all makes sense.
i cant finish an issue until i get that thing. and god help me if i fake it.

4. do you compose the page as a whole or do you focus more on individual panel composition?

well, with the bass ackwards way i'm working now, it seems like i end up spending a LOT of time on just...composing the actual panel BORDERS, as weird as that sounds; i'm thinking about what's gonna go IN them, of course, but it seems to me like that's this skeleton of how i'm attempting to lead the reader (and myself) through the page and the story...seems like i spend a lot of time making slight shifts and balances, a little bigger, a litle smaller, to the left, etc etc.
and then there's always all this tweaking of the compositions within the panels as you go, and...i'm sure any cartoonist will say they try to work the overall page as a design while they work, but... it's always a balance: try to "design" your pages TOO MUCH, and the storytelling can suffer at the design's expense. don't pay enough attenton to the overall design of your page and it can look like unbalanced crud.
i just realized that i should be cartooning instead of writing about it.
too late now; it appears that i'm on a roll.
>
>
> 5. what tools do you use (please list all)?
let's see: i somehow ended up using these 01 02 "Liner" brushes, where the brush fibers are about twice as long as the normal length. i have no idea how i landed on this, i guess i just picked some out of the "sale" barrel and came to to like the way they feel.
then i do my horrible lettering with a...well, issue 1 of Sammy was a standard Hunt 102 nib (but the japanese version, because the standard Hunts are FUCKING GARBAGE oh it makes me so mad...), on #2 i switched to a rapidograph, but nothing i do keeps it from looking shitty, so i'm semi-resigned to that (and totally opposed to computer lettering, so i'm screwed. and so are YOU, dear reader.). i keep switching ink, too; get it, let it sit on the radiator for 3 weeks, cry. get more. hear about different, better ink. cry.
i recently got one of those Pentel brush pens-- the P-10, and i love it so much i'm seriously considering doing the next issue with that. i love the way the thing feels, but i'm concerned about the ink; not dark enough, and can't get a good word on how archival the stuff in the cartridges is.
aside from that, the regular: .05 mechanical pencil, pentel stick erasers, pro white, an exacto for cutting out bad drawings, etc.
i used to use beer, as well.
and tears. buckets of tears.
(UPDATE: since i started writing this thing out-- about 2 MONTHS AGO now-- i've decided i'm gonna do the next issue with the Kaimei brush pen; the $30 version, not the $60. also, am trying out this Ph Martin's Pen White, which is about twice as expensive as the regular stuff, but seems to flow real well through a nib or whathaveyou, so i'm gonna give that a shot as well...)


6. what kind(s) of paper do you use?
the "process' i've developed is just so retarded: there's so many problems with it, but every time i try to change it, i just go back to the same thing...i suppose the things i like about it must outweigh the significant drawbacks, but...anyway.
like i said, lay it out and work it over on rag 14 x 17" marker paper, then i ink on transparent Vellum so i can shift and change composition on the fly or mess with my underdrawings.
i like the way the Vellum takes ink, but the ink does wrinkle and shrink it a bit, which sucks. i'd do this same process but substitute Bristol for the Vellum to avoid this problem, but the idea of lightboarding the whole thing makes my skull hurt.
so, that's my "black" or my line art on the Sammy stuff (which is actually just 100% opacity of the 2 Pantones i chose for the series...); then i make copy reductions of the pages to print size and do pencil/ graphite overlays for both my Blue and Brown plates (which gets all those in-between gradations)....convert them to duotone and comp it all together, and there's a finished page.
every time i describe it, it seems more absurd; i basically draw each page 3 times.

7. do you read a lot of comics? are you someone who reads comics and then gets exctied to make more comics---or is your passion for making comics not linked to any particular love for other comics?

i'm almost embarrassed by my love of reading comics.
not embarrased so much as...i'll go to the library and read crappy superhero comics (or, i'll try to, unless they're just TOO BAD to finish...) before i'll, you know, watch some dumb TV show. it used to be a very...serious thing for me, reading a comic, but now i find that... i guess it's really just an enjoyable way for me to take in information, whether it be high art or mindless junk culture (in either case, i'm glad society has "progressed" to the point where i no longer have to look at those ugly ADS glaring in my face in the middle of a story....LOST? i netflix it. comics, i wait til the book collection--with the junk, anyway. i know, it's heresy.).
ok i take some of that back. some stuff is still pretty irredemably bad, and i cant read it. but really that goes for comics of any stripe: some "indy" art- comics these days are as guilty as any other genre.
but All-Star Superman? in a HEARTBEAT, sir.

8. do you make comics for a living? if not, how do you support yourself, and how does this relate to your comics making process?

comics: nope.
maybe someday. it's better now than when i first sort of... really threw my hat in the ring, so to speak, but nothing near a liveable wage.
i was a musician for a living for many years, and i remember going through seattle on tour when i was thinking real hard about leaving my then-band, and having lunch with my pal (Fantagraphics books') Eric Reynolds, and saying to him "ok, tell me the truth: is it possible to make a living doing the kind of comics i do?", and his immediate and unequivocal response was "No."
it's one thing to hear that and another to find it out yourself.
being shit broke and working on your art when you're 25 is one thing: doing that while having a wife, kid, dog, car, and mortgage payments is a whole 'nother can of worms; you can kiss your freewheeling bohemian days goodbye for good, and welcome the pure terror of not having health insurance into your world. anyway, was barely, BARELY scraping out a bare minimum month to month, while slowly sliding into credit card debt.
this year i got offered (and took) a full-time job teaching comics at a college here in mpls, so i've got a salary, benefits, all that stuff at least temporarily ( and strangely, i'm getting comics projects done as well...).
and no; the irony of the situation is NOT lost on me.

9. do other artforms often seem more attractive to you?

no.
hell no.
for the first time in my life, i ENJOY making comics. there's nothing i'd rather do (art-wise).
i don't want to make movies (sorry, "Films"...), or make "Fine Art" (gggggrrrhh...). when comics are good, there's nothing better. nothing.
(...i made a record a while back, all by myself, which was...strangely enjoyable, but...maybe i spent too much time in that "industry"...)

10. what artwork (or artists) do you feel kinship with?

johnny p.
dylan williams and sparkplug. a lot of folks, really; some of whom i've know through 'zines or comics for... coming up on 20 years now i guess. but i don't think of it as "comics" or "'zines" per se, more like anything that comes down the pike that's got a certain... thing to it, be it comics or zines or art or music or whatever. the older i get the less specific it gets. johnny p. just emailed me an interview with Ian Mackaye, and i still just... think that guy and his take on the way to make your stuff and move through the world with it in an honest and sustainable, no- bullshit manner is still incredibly inspiring to me. same as when i was 16, and 22, and 28 and 35.
i still get horribly excited whenever i run into a... 'zine, or a comic, or a band or anything really that seems... like it's own thing, out of nowhere.
i'm not explaining this right; i feel that kinship with a lot of different folks, for a lot of different reasons.

11. is a community of artists important or not important to you?

it is. and it isn't.
there's really a lot of cartoonists here in minneapolis; it's kind of amazing. and for the most part, i really like seeing those folks. same with when i go to conventions like SPX or MOCCA or whatever, i feel the same way-- here's this group of folks, and some of 'em i've known in some capacity for almost 2 decades now; i'd be lying if i said there wasn't some snark and whathaveyou (seems to happen in any extended group...), but by and large it's great to see folks and see what they've been up to. REALLY great. even at San Diego Comic Con (and this year was my first), i have to say that despite the raw INSANITY of the thing i somehow had this inexplicable warm and fuzzy feeling about it all (even though that's a much more, uh...let's call it "varied" group than, say SPX or APE...).
with that said, the only cartoonist i talk to on a real regular basis is John P, and... we talk about comics sometimes, not all the time.
but when it comes to CREATING the stuff, it's just... deeply rooted in me that this is something you/ i do ALONE; the idea of sitting around drawing with other cartoonists is like...i can't get my head around it. for me, it's akin to trying to take a dump while someone's standing next to you; you could DO IT, i guess, but it doesn't sound like fun. for me.
knowing that stuff is out there, that people are in their rooms all over the world, scratching away... that IS important to me. very. it's like a shared experience of, uh, solitude. i see or talk to kevin huizenga once every 3 years, but...i know he's busting his tail, probably at this very moment, you know?
and, of course, i feel that with every single person who has done something with me on La Mano, on an extraordinarily deep level.

12. what is your parents/family's reaction to your work?

hard to say.
we should ask them.

13, what is more important to you---style or idea?
how about "STYLEdea"?

you know, i really...don't care, generally: what's important to me is that whatever it is has a considered and consistent internal logic and integrity to it, whether it's...you know, "naive" or beautifully rendered or cartoony or whatever. as long as it works. and something "working" is pretty non-quantifiable, really; if we could put a name on it, everybody would do it, right (and obviously, THAT'S not happening.).
i will say the one thing that brings out a real ugly side of me is my reaction to works that... are ALL STYLE; stuff that i feel are purposefully working in a "cool" trend or "movement" or whathaveyou. where, rather than searching out thier own thing, an artist consciously apes some current "trend". working through your influences is one thing, but that insincere, halfassed bullshit just makes me want to tear flesh.
maybe that's harsh...i guess i just think of bellbottoms or those outfits Duran Duran wore.
sure you look "cool" now, but eat too much of a trend and be prepared to get shit out the other end a decade later, clowny.
see? this is a bad side of me. we should move on.

14. is drawing a pleasure to you or a pain?
these days, it's mostly...pretty great.
there's not a lot of room in my life for hand-wringing about it anymore... i just don't have the time.
so, even when it's a pain, it's... a pain that i'm CHOOSING, right? it's something that i GET TO DO, and that makes me a lucky guy, as cheeseball as that may sound...

15. when you meet someone new, do you talk about being an artist right away? do you identify yourself as an artist or something else?

16. do you feel at all connected to older comic artists like steve ditko or jack kirby---or does this seem like a foreign world to you?

i'm gonna answer both of these at once: i say i'm a cartoonist.
i think it's a lot easier to say that now than it was, say, 10 years ago; there's a lot more understanding of what a cartoonist is these days...it doesn't require a half-hour preamble of "NO, not like in the papers, and...no, not like superheroes either, and...not pornography, really...maybe...uh...". to be honest, my love and appreciation and AMAZEMENT re: Kirby seems to grow every year...i just read that "Strange And Stranger" book about Ditko, and his stuff too, is just...pretty fascinating, even when it's...um. unreadable.
obviously, what they do is so different from what i do that it's beyond description, but at the same time...i'm doing EXACTLY the same thing they did, somehow. i mean, King- Cat and...Devil Dinosaur. laugh all you want, but it's still comics, and i'd say there's way more in common between Johnny p and Kirby than Kirby and... Rob Liefield or whomever, you know?
it's this strange feeling of "belonging" to this thing that... i can't explain: like this club that chose YOU, not the other way around, and that nobody is quite comfortable yelling "HEY!! i'm a CARTOONIST!!!", because we all know it's a pack of weirdos. but at the same time, i'm real proud of it. it just takes a very specific type of wingnut to persevere in the seriously debased and pissed-upon form of comics, to continue at it when there's always a million reasons (...better money, recognition, fame, the respect of-- well, ANYONE....and just the semi- insane amount of consisitent EFFORT it takes to get a comic done...) to quit.
there's also this tradition of invisible people in an "industry" that's measured in its relative worth to, you know, kiddie porn or juvenilia or just plain old trash culture that i find insanely rich and fascinating (and also crushing and brutal): it's a history that encompasses everything from Schulz to Crumb to Kirby, to Herriman and Dirty Plotte and 'zine culture and punk and hippies and Al Capp yelling at John Lennon, and...well; rampant alcoholism.
it's like co-habiting the isle of misfit toys, but i'm honored to be part of that.
in no way am i putting myself in with any of the aforementioned geniuses in terms of my COMICS, but i do... i feel like a cartoonist; like, at the end of the day, i'm part of that.
when you describe yourself as a "Cartoonist", it means not just you but Segar and McCay and Deitch and Los Bros and Ware and Hankiewicz and Herb Trimpe and Briefer and Chris Cilla and...you get the picture, even if the person you are SAYING IT TO doesn't.
it's kind of a big deal, to me.

17. do you ever feel the impulse to not draw comics?

for most of my life, i had that impulse every 30 seconds.
now, it's never. ok not never; there's always some moments of debilitating horror and panic, but now that i'm 200 years old, it feels like i can work with some confidence that i'm going to come out the other side.
turns out the trick is that you just KEEP WORKING.

18. do you draw from life?
not nearly as much as i should, but yes.
i keep a sketchbook that turns over every couple years.
i wish i drew in it more.

19. do you pencil out comics and then ink? or do you sometimes not pencil?

i think i covered that pretty well earlier, but...
no, i never just go straight to ink. there's always something there, underneath.

20. what does your drawing space look like?

as if i haven't rattled on long enough already, a word about my "drawing space"; i rent a space that also holds the La Mano offices, print shop, warehouse, and shipping area. it's about the size of a garage, and i've got a small space in back cordoned off for drawing.
i'd always thought that having a "studio" away from home was a frivolous waste of $ (i.e. "if you can't do it at home, you're a SISSY!"), but found that, at least for me, working at home was just a world of distractions (and this was BEFORE i had a son running around like a maniac...) and excuses. i found that when i was actually paying $ to have a space devoted to this thing i called my "work", 2 things happened: 1) there was no longer any excuses or distractions and 2) the fact of paying $ for this space filled me with such guilt that i HAD TO use the space wisely to justify that expense. it might just be a psychological distinction, but my studio is now the place i go to WORK, and it's made a world of difference in my productivity.
so there.
i had to write that all out because everyone else's drawing spaces are, like, on their beds or the floor and it makes me feel like a ....maharajah, or the secretary of funnybook defense or something.