Guest Post - Norm Breyfogle!

Batman Zsasz: fan commission

1) What was your first published work?
That's a little tricky, depending on what you define as "published". Would a mimeographed high school project be considered "publishing"?

In Batman Family #13, 1977, my design for a new Robin costume was published. It was redrawn by DC's production department (probably re-inked on overlay after photographic reduction in size; my original was 18" x 24"and in full color): Click here  (Mine is the lower left one.)

Alonzo as Mad Prof: Cover for the European magazine "The Red Bulletin"

The first *definite and substantial* of my published works would be a one-shot comic book I co-plotted, wrote, and illustrated when I was 17 for our local college (Michigan Technological University) titled "Tech Team", which was a used as an advertisement of MTU to high schools across the nation. 10,000 copies were printed.

Life with Archie: cover #1

2) Who or what inspires you?
I'm inspired by the perennial philosophy, high concept science fiction, heroic and thoughtful writing, art, music, and comedy. Lots of things.

Basically, I'm inspired by reason, virtue, compassion, and beauty in all its forms. In short: transcendence. Also, good health helps!




Self portrait aged 13

Self portrait aged 43

3) What would be your dream job to illustrate?
A collection of my short stories and poetry, and my novel.

Bat Gargoyle: fan commission

Life with Archie: cover #4

4) Tell us a bit about the illustration(s) you've sent?
Archie #1 and #4 covers: My time (two-three years) drawing the Archie universe was one of the less predictable things I've done in my career. Being a fan of Archie at a young age, I never thought I'd draw the character for publication because I very early formed the desire to draw more dramatic adventure strips à la Superheroes, sword and sorcery, etc. But, when I found myself in between jobs in 2008 and was offered Archie work, I took it on as a challenge and ended up really enjoying it!

Bats vs Hulk: fan commission

All my Batman art in general: Batman was the second superhero I remember discovering at a very young age (the very first was Superman) and by the time I was nine I knew I wanted to draw the character, at least as a hobby. When I decided years later that I wanted to become a professional comics artist, Batman was the big goal for me, and I'm very grateful that I got the chance to draw him for publication so early in my career.

Here's an essay I wrote years ago about this iconic character and what he means to me:

Batman and Me As a child of ten, long before I realized the pen is mightier than the fist, I was so entranced with the Dark Knight that I seriously considered engineering a similar costume and going downtown at night looking for injustices to fight.

Instead, I put it all on paper.

As a fan I saw him as a master of reason, as the ultimate example of a sound mind in a sound body, as a perfected version of what I could become with enough training, as the man most capable of forcing justice and meaning into a resistant world, and as the coolest looking dude to ever dive off a roof.

As an artist I know him intimately as an ironic subversion of fascism, as a symbolic metaphor for authentic being-in-the-world, as my longest source yet of bread and butter, as my greatest professional old flame, as my astral alter ego, as an ancient dark hero archetype, as pure escapism, and as the Zorro we must all become to save the planet.

He exists only in our imaginations, but the imagination is the lever by which we can move the world, and he’s still the coolest looking dude who ever dove off a roof.

Tech Team: This is the cover to the "Tech Team" comic book I wrote and illustrated when I was 17.

Scoofie Illustrations: These illustrations were painted for the Society of St. John, a monastery located in my State (Michigan), with the hopes of it becoming a children's book project featuring mythical six-inch tall monks.

Self Portraits: Both in pastel, one was drawn when I was 13 and the other when I was 43.

"Apeman" and "Shrink": These illustrations I drew as portfolio pieces in the summer after my college years, before I turned pro and while I was working as a drafter and technical illustrator.

Prime Tug of war: My time drawing the title "Prime" of Malibu's "Ultraverse" was one of the most fun jobs of my career. This illustration was used as the cover of the Wizard-like magazine "Hero" (issue #9) and also printed inside the magazine as a fold-out poster.

Metaphysique: Cover to the first issue of my creator-owned, -written, and -drawn 6-issue miniseries "Metaphysique"

Chakra: printed in each issue of Metaphysique

Zombie: illustration drawn for a book I can't remember

War in Heaven: fan commission

5) What can we expect to see from you next (what are you working on)?
At present I'm on vacation; I'm taking the entire summer off, basically for intense exercise, diet, and sunshine.  I'd let myself go for too long, and I need this.

Oops; I forgot that I do have 48 pages of layouts to do this summer for the Bermuda-located comics company "A First Salvo"!

Not sure what I'll be doing after that, work-wise. Got some irons in the fire, but I'm not aggressively looking at the moment. In other words, I'm open to considering offers!

Batman vs Everyone: fan commission

Cover to the prestige format book "Holy Terror"

"Back to the Batman Beyond Future"

(drawn for Mexico's La Mole comic con's convention book)

Rogue Prime: fan commission depicting one of the

variations of Prime's body/look

6) If you hadn't become an artist what do you think you'd have ended up doing?
As young teen I thought I was going to be an astronomer or cosmologist or some other kind of scientist, so maybe that. But more likely, I'd have become a philosophical and science fiction writer.

Drawn for a "Club Batman" exhibit in Spain

Cover to the prestige format book "Batman: the Abduction"

Cover to "Batman: Dreamland" (sequel to "Batman: the Abduction")

7) Where can we see more of your work (web links)?
I'm on Facebook, where I've posted a good potpourri of my art (and some of my poetry and other writings, in my Facebook "Notes").

My website is: normbreyfogle.com

My portfolio page on my agent's (Debut Art) website: http://www.debutart.com/illustration/norm-breyfogle#/illustration

One can also always Google my name and find a lot of stuff, too.

Crying over Robin: fan commission

Cover to Batman: Birth of a Demon #1

Urban Nightmare

Cosmic Egg

Interrupted Sacrifice

Politics

Guest Post - Darryl Cunningham!

1) What was your first published work?
I did a couple of mini-comics in the late 80s/early 90s. Man In The Tower and Blood Relatives. They embarrass me now, although others seem to think highly of them. I met Nick Abadzis in New York at MoCCA and he seemed to think they were worth reprinting. It could happen, I suppose, as long as I never have to look at them.

But my real first published work was a short back-up strip in Cerebus. I'd sent Dave Sim a mini-comic, and he responded with an offer to print a strip, on the understanding that he couldn't pay me. Then after it was published, he sent me a cheque anyway. I felt I'd passed some sort of test, where he wanted to see if I was committed to the medium enough so that I'd produce something just for the love of it. Or possibly he just changed his mind. I don't know.

2) Who or what inspires you?
That's a hard question. When I was younger, I knew exactly what was inspiring me, because the pool of material I was looking at was so small. But now I'm pre-elderly, I've experienced so much, read so much, seen so many films etc, that I hardly know where my influences and inspiration are coming from.

3) What would be your dream job to illustrate?
I'd really just like the chance to continue to do my own work with as little interference as possible.

4) Tell us a bit about the illustration(s) you've sent?

There's a new edition of Psychiatric Tales out very soon from Blank Slate. This is a book about my experiences working on an acute psychiatric ward. It has a new cover and I've added a couple more chapters, plus a new intro.

The orange Chrysler Building drawing is a panel from the Ayn Rand strip.

And because this is Scotch Corner, I feel obliged to show the pic of a Scottish Dalek I drew.

5) What can we expect to see from you next (what are you working on?
I'm working on a huge (for me it's huge) book on the origins and aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. It's big in scope and will include a 66 page biography of Ayn Rand (a strip that is currently being serialised on Activatecomix).

Here's what I wrote on my blog about the new book...

"It will look at how the market in derivatives, and especially credit swop derivatives, caused the crash in the financial markets. It will explain, clearly, and in some depth, what these derivatives are, how and why they were developed, and how bad debt in the US housing market brought down the system.

It will look at the failure of austerity measures to solve the UK's economic problems and how these measures are being used to roll back the welfare state, creating further inequality.

It will look at how inequality in a society is bad for all in a population, including the very rich.

It will look at how the philosophy of libertarians, such as Ayn Rand, has captured the imaginations of business people and politicians on the political Right, especially in the United States, and how this philosophy has been put into policy.

And finally, it will look at at the current research into the psychological and neurobiological differences between liberals and conservatives. It will look at the psychological strengths and weaknesses of each of these political positions, why human beings have evolved this apparent split, and why this difference, when in properly balance, is useful to us as a species."

It'll be out from Myriad Editions late next year. I've probably bitten off more than I can chew, but I'm going to chew it anyway.

6) If you hadn't become an artist what do you think you'd have ended up doing?

I'd be lying in a ditch somewhere. I'm incapable of doing a proper job for long.

7) Where can we see more of your work (web links)?

I have a blog: http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.co.uk/
I'm on Facebook, and I'm on Twitter as @AcmeDarryl.

Guest Post - Lee Robinson!

1) What was your first published work?
The first work I ever did was a 12 page mini comic called ‘Anthony’ for Daniel Clifford and Gary Baindbridge’s ‘Sugar Glider’. I’d never had a real crack at illustrating a comic before, but at the time I was at college studying animation so I had some idea of visual storytelling. But I suppose the first real published work is Halcyon and Tenderfoot, which is an all-ages, four issue superhero comic Daniel and I self-published in 2012 after setting up Art Heroes.

2) Who or what inspires you?
A nice, long walk with my dog normally works these days.
It’s changed drastically as I’ve gotten older, but when I first really started getting into drawing, it was cartoons and not comics which inspired me. I’d hurry home from school to watch Dragonball Z on Cartoon Network, and then draw the characters endlessly. So for a long time it was mainly manga and anime that I looked at. That changed when I started posting on an online drawing forum called drawingboard.org, which really opened my eyes to different styles, techniques, and artists who were miles and miles ahead of me. Mick Harrison and Stephen Silver were two in particular who helped me massively and are still an inspiration today. Mick is god-like in his abilities but always had time to show me where I was going wrong and break things down for me. He still helps me out today, and whenever I’m drawing, the things he taught me about silhouette, shape, posture and readability are always at the forefront of my mind. Stephen was the character designer for ‘Kim Possible’. That simplicity which works for character design in animation is something I try to carry over into my comic work. A little saying that usually keeps me sane when it’s gone belly up is - ‘You’re in control of the drawing, not the other way around’.
Comics-wise, I can get inspired by just about anything. I’ve recently read ‘Nao of Brown’ which is fantastic, but I find Calvin and Hobbes just as appealing. I suppose the fact that there are so many fantastic artists out there is what really inspires me. If Jonny from down the road is working harder than me, then he’s more likely to get the gig than I am.

3) What would be your dream job to illustrate?
Daniel and I have a couple of great projects in the Art Heroes pipeline which I honestly think are perfect for me to draw. Daniel knows my strengths and weaknesses and writes stories around that, which is fantastic for me!
If I was doing a superhero book, I’d like to have a crack at Robin/Teen Titans.
I really think if you’re working on your own stories, then that should be your dream job, and if it isn’t, then do something else!

4) Tell us a bit about the illustration(s) you've sent?
a) Detective: If I’m working on standalone illustrations, then I try to stylise everything far more than I would with my comic work. I still attempt to tell a story, though. I never try to achieve realism in my work, but I do try to achieve believability. I probably couldn’t have made this fella anymore stylised without him looking too silly. He might do already!
b) Steampunk boy: It can often be hard to keep that energy and zip you have in your pencils when you begin to ink and colour, but this lad turned out okay. The idea here was to draw the viewer’s eye by using less detail around his face, which would be a contrast his OTT costume. Not sure if it works, but that was the plan!
c) Pirate: For my illustration work, I tend not to have any line work. This makes a nice change of pace from inking comics! It can also be easier on the eyes for a younger audience. This obviously isn’t always the case, though.
d) H&T: A double page spread from Halcyon and Tenderfoot #4.
e) H&T: This is one of my favourite pages from Halcyon and Tenderfoot. I can feel the Dragonball Z influence!
f) H&T: This is a colour sample for the Halcyon and Tenderfoot pitch we’re putting together. Line work by me, colours by the super talented Nathan Ashworth.
g) H&T: Again, another colour sample for the pitch.

5) What can we expect to see from you next (what are you working on)?
We’re working on some cool all-age projects at the moment. Some of these are our own stories to pitch to publications, while others are licensed work which we’ve been lucky enough to get a chance to work on.
The next big project will hopefully begin to take shape in the next few months. I’m super excited to get started on it. The story will follow a young girl as she tries to track down her father’s stolen invention. We think it’ll be a winner, but we would think that, wouldn’t we! I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

6) If you hadn't become an artist what do you think you'd have ended up doing?
Probably a teacher or a nurse. I’ve never been afraid to get my hands dirty, and I’ve done some weird and wonderful jobs in the summer and winter months to make some money. I’ve plucked turkeys, delivered the yellow pages, cleaned drains, dry stone walling, farm labourer, fencer, barman, worked on a racecourse and all the rest! I was never particularly good at any of them, but at least it was experience.

7) Where can we see more of your work (web links)?
My personal blog is www.leerobinsondraws.co.uk and the Art Heroes site is www.artheroes.co.uk

Guest Post - Eoin Coveney!

1) What was your first published work?

My first published work was a graphic novel called "Ireland: A Graphic History" in 1995. I pencilled it and directed a team of inkers and colourists. It was 130+ pages and we had around 7 months to do the whole thing which, in retrospect was too tight. The big plus for me was that I got to work with Will Eisner, who acted as my creative director on the project. I never show it now, as I view it as my apprenticeship. Meeting and working with Eisner was a revelation. He was such a generous and supportive man and relentlessly positive. It's only now, years later that I realise how much I learned from him- not so much how to draw but what to draw.

2) Who or what inspires you?

I take inspiration from my surroundings, film and the work of other artists, 2000AD came along when I was a young kid and it immediately became the centre of my life. Legendary talents such as Brian Bolland, Steve Dillon, Cam Kennedy and many others were my idols. Later, I discovered European masters such as Jose Ortiz, Jose Pepe Gonzalez, Rafael Aura Leon and of course the late Jean Giraud. Illustrators such as Aubrey Beardsley and Harry Clarke were also an influence.

3) What would be your dream job to illustrate?

Every time I work with a great writer or contribute to a quality publication, it is a dream. Working for clients who appreciate my work is a dream. I would love to work on a Mean Machine or Judge Death story someday. I did some concept work for a film project a couple of years ago which I loved working on. It featured an abundance of well- orchestrated action and violence, plus the screenplay was dynamite. I earnestly hope it gets made, with or without my involvement.

4) Tell us a bit about the illustration(s) you've sent?

The first is page one of a script by Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby entitled "Primus Inter Pares" published in "Overload" by Martin Conaghan. It's a brilliant script, dealing with a zombie apocalypse in present- day Britain. The story culminates in an attack on 10 Downing street by zombie ex- Prime Ministers.

Next is a recent editorial illustration for Risk magazine. The client asked specifically for a classic Frankenstein's laboratory scene. The article's finer details were not imparted to me but the aim was to describe the unnatural and dangerous financial products cooked up by some bankers. Universal have copyright on the flat- topped cranium and neck bolts, so my monster had to steer clear of those.

Following that is a sort of teaser for a script by Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby entitled "The Alienist". It's a horror story about paranormal investigators set in the Edwardian era. I can't say too much about it yet but I am delighted to be working with them again. I love their humour and the fact that it features plenty of gore is, again, a bonus! The first 2 pencilled pages from part 1 follow.

Next is a pencilled page from a graphic novel I am working on for Archaia entertainment. It's called "American Caesar" and deals with boardroom power struggles and financial skullduggery on Wall Street. It's written by Neil Kleid and we hope to have it out near the end of next year.

Finally, an illustration for Attitude magazine to which I regularly contribute. I am normally called upon to provide an illustration to accompany a short story which is great as Attitude hire some very fine writers.

5) What can we expect to see from you next?

I'll be continuing to work with Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby on The Alienist as well as "American Caesar" along with all my regular freelance work.

6) If you hadn't become an artist, what do you think you'd have ended up doing?

I can't really imagine not having pursued this as a career, largely because it is the only thing I seem to be able to do decently! I imagine I would have pursued something else artistic, probably music.

7) Where can we see more of your work? (web links)?

My personal site: http://www.eoincoveney.com/
and my folio on Illustrators Ireland: http://www.illustratorsireland.com/index.php/portfolios/gallery/eoin_coveney/
are the best places to see my latest work.
I recently joined Behance: www.behance.net/eoincoveney
I also have agency representation in London at www.nbillustration.co.uk