By Richard Serrao
I first saw Ed Laroche’s work on MySpace when he added me as a friend and I was then introduced to his Graphic Novel The Almighty. He has a style very reminiscent of Eduardo Risso and has a very strong sense of pacing and panel layout to make any pro proud.
First professional work (piece / year) and maybe a quick story behind it.
My first Professional job was for Malibu comics back in the 90’s. I had a couple of pages in the back of the Raiden/Kano miniseries.
Self-taught or formally educated? (or mixture of both, mentors etc…)
Self taught.
Tools of the trade: Taking a quick glance over at your pens, brushes etc…what tools have you mainly been using over the last few years?
I use a mechanical pencil with 2B lead on Bristol. For inking I use various sizes of pigma micron markers, and for more organic jagged stuff I use hunt 102’s and a big calligraphy nib. Also, lately I’ve been incorporating my tablet PC in the finishing stages of production.
Favorite brand of ink:
Higgins water-proof Drawing ink.
Type of paper:
I layout my page on plain typing paper, then light table onto Bristol board.
Which artists or creators do you return to for a quick boost of inspiration? Who are the masters of ink?
Bryan Hitch, Olivier Coipel, Charles Adlard, Eduardo Risso, Al Williamson, Jaime Hernandez, Junji Ito, Adrian Tomine, Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba. I’m sure there are more but I’m spacing out.
Masters of Ink- Klaus Janson, Tom Palmer, Terry Austin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Mark Farmer.
Once a client has handed off an illustration job to you, how do you first tackle the job? A quick overview of your process.
I read the script and make notes as I go along. If it’s a good script, solutions just present themselves, then I rough it out and show the client the direction I’m taking the piece. After a few notes (hopefully), I move on to finishes and tweaks.
What’s currently sitting in your mp3 / CD player / turntable?
I’m listening to a lot of Coil at the moment and Paxahau.
What’s hanging on your walls and what is your favorite piece of art that you own (not created by you)?
I have nothing hanging on my walls right now and I’ve only ever bought two pieces of art in my life; they are both photos.
Last novel you read and last movie that you saw (that you’d recommend)?
I am currently reading Laughable Loves by Milan Kundera and the last movie that I saw that I could recommend was Star Trek. It’s the best movie of the summer so far.
Current and upcoming projects?
I’m working on my second graphic novel titled “Waveform” and at the same time continuing to sell and promote my book, “Almighty.”
What would you tell an aspiring artist who is working his ass off but still needs and wants to break through to the next level?
The more you do it, the better you become.
To find out more about Ed Laroche head over to the ALMIGHTY site, his MySpace page or check out this other interview at the Savage Critic.
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