Ryan Jones (Humanburger) is another myspace discovery. We actually live in the same province (British Columbia) in Canada and I’ve been corresponding with him by email for years, but I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never met him yet. I hope to change that this year.
I’ve never been much of a fan of sharpie markers and wasn’t convinced they could achieve much more than bathroom wall graffiti. Jones has proven me wrong many times over. His art is wild and violent and he will eventually be the rightful heir to Simon Bisley and Kyle Hotz. He’s been working on finishing up his comic, Wretched. Can’t wait.
First professional work (piece / year) and maybe a quick story behind it.
When I first started doing commissions around 2003 I think, I naturally started working for underground local bands around my area, I first did a pic for 3inches of blood but nothing ever came of it(don’t think they used it), then my good bro’s band Massgrave was started to record their first album. I’ve known most of them since high school so it kind of worked out hanging out with them talking about covers n all that. I started working on what was supposed to be their LP cover, it was a design that had ridiculous amounts of detail and took me over a month to do up, but it was definitely the picture that gave me the confidence to continue. The design got used on a shirt, and eventually I drew another design for their actual LP cover and the original came in the LP as a fold out poster, so it all worked out… It was for sure my first major piece I did for any band, Massgrave is known a bit better these days and have a few more LPs and splits… all good stuff, but at the time about a year or two later I got a t-shirt job for the pretty well known metal band Macabre, which got me started networking on the internet and getting more jobs than just local stuff… so after that was what really got me working with other bands and getting more gigs online… I did commissions up to late 2005 until I went to my first comic convention ‘small press expo’ in Maryland, DC with counter culture comics after doing a 8page comic for them that was published in the collaboration comic, and after that, I focused all my efforts on a full issue horror comic called WRETCHED, and I’ve been working on it ever since…
Self-taught or formally educated? (or mixture of both, mentors etc…)
I just drew all through my school years to combat the extreme boredom I was up against. I have hordes of blue lined paper that are FILLED with tons of little scribblings… I owe a lot to that for sure. I didn’t skip school or anything; I just sat there and drew all day. I figure that will make a decent artist out of anyone, haha
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?
Mainly Micron pens and sharpie markers just because they’re easy to use and, in all honestly, I hate cleaning up ink messes, haha… I have a great brush set but I haven’t used it in years, I’m starting to think of starting to mess around with it again thou…
Favorite brand of ink:
sharpie markers…
Type of paper:
I started using Bristol board a good while ago and haven’t gone back since… I love it!!
Which artists or creators do you return to for a quick boost of inspiration? Who are the masters of ink?
My 4 main artists of inspiration are Simon Bisley (drawn Lobo, Slaine, Heavy Metal, Judge Dredd, Melting Pot, ect.), Douglas Tennaple (earthworm Jim, gear), Stevo (Impetigo), Luisma (Hemorrhage)… they are definitely my main source of inspiration, but that’s not it… old black and white Conan art, heavy metal mags, EC comics, 60’s-70’s horror movie poster art, punk/metal/grindcore/classic rock album covers its all MEGA inspiring and there’s always new stuff that I come across that just impresses me even more and it reminds me why I could never stop drawing…
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 give everything I draw much thought, the white paper to finished pencil phase definitely takes me the longest to work out… making sure all the black and white will work out and there’s that fine line between detail and clarity. Then, (sometimes with uncertainty) I start chipping away at the inking phase and really after the outlines are done, the picture seems to finish itself almost… the penciling is definitely the most challenging for me, sometimes I just get way to frustrated with all that gawd damn white space staring at me, hahaha…
What’s currently sitting in your mp3 / CD player / turntable?
I listen to all sorts of stuff, anything with some heart and energy in it… I listen to mainly older metal stuff, Psychedelic n stoner Rock, n Frank Zappa Albums but again, anything that you can hear with using more than your ears… right now I got some Motorhead, At War, Birdflesh, Danzig and even some Eazy-E on the current play list… it was yesterdays actually and I’m currently too lazy to change it, haha…
What’s hanging on your walls and what is your favorite piece of art that you own (not created by you)?
I have a smaller room than I’d like at the moment, so I’m limited on wall space, haha, but a quick sweep… I have my 3 iron maiden flags which are usually the first things that go up, some original artwork by Adam Geyer, prints by artist Putrid and Splatterbeast, some Horror movie junk n my fish tanks take up the rest of the room… hard to pic a fav thou… the iron maiden art work always hits a heart note with me, but the og Adam Geyer art might be a pretty close second…
Last novel you read and last movie that you saw (that you’d recommend).
I saw that movie based on the underground comic ‘American Splendor” a few weeks back, I hadn’t read any of the comic book nor really heard much of it… but the movie spoke to me somehow, and not only was it just a well done movie, but I could relate to the story of starting my own comic and the troubles that come with the job… I should get the comic, haha
novels I don’t really read too often, or ever for that matter, someone gives me a book to read it just sits on my shelf for years and years… love comics thou…
Current and upcoming projects.
I’m working on my debut Full Issue heavy metal horror comic ‘WRETCHED’, in the vein of b-horror movies, EC comics, and thrash metal music it should be an over the top cheese ball old school gorebath. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping for, haha, it should be around the 48 page mark, all black and white and all done by myself (written, drawn, inked, lettered, published)… I’m bustin my balls on the damn thing to get it finished and its coming along nicely… I’m keeping everyone posted on its progress via my website and myspace…
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?
I would tell them the same thing I tell any body working their ass off for anything in life… Don’t ever stop following what you love doing, don’t let anyone discourage you including yourself, and involve yourself FULLY in it, like, give it everything you got, full boar… and when you have what your looking for in sight, charge like some wild beast from hell… oh yeah, and enjoy every step of the way, at least that’s what works for me…
thanks again for the great interview, been a slice for sure…
so take care and all the best
Jones
For more info visit:
www.humanburger.com
myspace.com/humanburger
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