Artist Adam Schmidt Talks Illustration, Tools and Technique

By Jason Thibault

Adam Schmidt is an accomplished illustrator based out of Brooklyn, NY and has quite a unique style that shines through on any project or assignment that he tackles. For this third series of Masters of Ink interviews I wanted to make sure to include a healthy dose of illustrators and Adam was at the top of the list.

What inspired you to first start drawing? Did you struggle in your formative years or did it come easy to you?

I really can’t remember when or why I started drawing, it is just something that I have been doing my whole life, but I am sure my dad played a part. He was actually my art teacher for my first three years of elementary school, and as result there were always encouragement from my parents. As for my formative years, I feel like I am still in the middle of them.

First professional work (piece / year) and maybe a quick story behind it.

I was taking an editorial illustration class my final year at RISD taught by Chris Buzzelli, and he had somehow convinced a very game art director to basically have our entire class audition for an illustration about new journalism for a collegiate magazine . My piece ended up being the one selected. Looking back, it was a total disaster. The drawing was pretty janky and I had never colored anything digitally before, so it wound up looking like neon vomit. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun, and it got me thinking that maybe this was something that I could actually succeed at.

Were you self-taught or formally educated? (or mixture of both, mentors etc…)

A mix of both, I graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design‘s Illustration program and I have taken classes at various other institutions, but in the end, if you want to improve and absorb the lessons of your instructors you need the ability to teach yourself. The best teachers preach self reliance and provide you with a framework that allows you to instruct yourself . Fortunately, I had many great professors at RISD, and I shudder to think what my work would be like without the help of Jon Foster, Nick Palermo, and Chris Buzzelli in particular.

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?

Mostly all different kinds of brushes, from series 7s to cheap brushes that come in packs of five, if it keeps a nice point I’ll use it. But my favorites are definitely my beloved Kamei and Pentel brush pens, which I am constantly abusing.

How has your toolbox evolved compared to when you first started out?

Things haven’t really changed very much for my toolbox when it comes to ink, I went through the vast majority of my schooling aspiring to be a painter, and I had never really worked with any ink until a few years ago. I only went into the illustration department because they happened to have the best painting instructors. Eventually, I realized that illustration was where my real aspirations laid, and ink drawing was something that had a lot in common with my painting. The only real difference from when I started and today would be my computer and Wacom tablet. Previously, all of my inking was done over gouache or silk screened colors.

Favorite brand of ink:

Yasutomo Sumi is my favorite, but I’ll use almost anything that isn’t too watery.

Type of paper:

Bristol, hot press water color, or stone henge printmaking paper depending on what’s needed.

Which artists or creators do you return to for a quick boost of inspiration? Who are the masters of ink?

Mazzucchelli, Mignolla, Powell, Kurtzman, Caniff, Kirby, Bernet, and Loomis.

Once a client has handed off an illustration job to you, how do you first tackle the job. Could you give us a quick overview of your process?

Every job is a little different, but it always involves carefully reading the brief and trying to conceptualize a visual solution. Something that will serve the editorial needs of client while at the same time creating a nifty image. Often I start with words, trying to wrap my head around the all of the possibilities and move on to loose sketches. Eventually the bad ideas get weeded out and the sketches get more refined. The best ideas get sent back to the AD and they let me know which I should take to final. From there a brush and ink drawing is made with some acrylic painting for texture. All that gets scanned into Photoshop where I color it.

What’s currently sitting in your mp3 / CD player / turntable?

I listen to a ton of different stuff but recently I have been favoring: A.C. Newman, Beck, Band of Horses, Belle & Sebastian, Blitzen Trapper, Built to Spill, Constantines, David Bowie, Deertick, Eagles of Death Metal, Explosions in the Sky, Dirty Projectors, Elliott Smith, Elvis Perkins, JAMC, James Brown, Johnny Cash, Kaki King, Low, Mew, Mastodon, MGMT, New Order, Phoenix, Sun Kil Moon, Tallahassee, Wolf Parade, Yo La Tengo

What’s hanging on your walls and what is your favorite piece of art that you own (not created by you)?

I’ve got a lot of junk hanging all over the place, but my favorite stuff is some pages from my friend Jason Hoffman’s comic MINE and some ridiculous inks by Wesley Allsbrook.

What’s the last novel you read and last movie that you saw that you’d recommend? Which movies and books do you always return to?

Last novel read was the always satisfying Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, and the last movies that I really loved would be Let the Right One In and Pixar’s Up. But for repeated viewings/readings I always go back to The Royal Tenenbaums, Blade Runner, Sandman, and The Name of Rose.

Current and upcoming projects?

Presently I am working on a bunch of personal projects, a few random illustrations here and there, a little piece appearing in this month’s Complex Magazine and Plan Sponsor Magazine, plus an ongoing poster project involving a Spike Lee anniversary festival. Basically, things are pretty busy, but I am really striving to improve my craft and express more with every drawing.

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?

Well, working constantly is definitely the most important thing, but as someone who is also trying to break through to that next level myself, I can definitely say that all of the not so much fun stuff is just as crucial. Promoting yourself, setting up meetings, blogging, updating the website, making cold calls, going to interviews, submitting portfolios, building a rolodex, networking, and everything else besides making the actual work takes constant hustle but pays serious dividends.

For more information on Adam Schmidt visit him at http://www.aschmidtstudio.com/ and read his blog

The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

By Jason Thibault

LAST UPDATED: FEBRUARY 23, 2010

Late in 2008 I was curious about which comic companies were still accepting submissions. In an act of pure masochism your friends at Optimum Wound visited the websites of every known comics publisher over the past two months. Back in 2004 Tom Spurgeon over at The Comics Reporter had posted an insanely useful resource page on getting published in comics. It’s still highly recommended reading. It’s been over four years and we wanted to see what had changed. To our surprise we found over 50 places that you could still send your writing and art samples.
We compiled this list from several issues of Diamond Previews and a couple of publisher directories.

A few points of order:
1. Be sure to click through the links and review each set of guidelines thoroughly to see if you should be sending samples there and if you’ve put your package together correctly. Some places accept emailed submissions while others are strictly by mail. I’ve attempted to provide a brief description for each company.

2. Due to the economic downturn some of the publishers below may stop accepting submissions and worse, close their doors for good. We’ll try to stay on top of it. ***Note: Marvel and several others have already stopped accepting open submissions.

3. I probably missed a number of publishers and will be happy to add them to the list if contacted.

4. Although a lot of major book publishers have thrown their hat into the graphic novel publishing game you would require an agent to even get reviewed. And here is an amazing list of Literary Agents Who Represent Graphic Novels.

5. Writers are going to have a tougher go of it as usual. The majority of companies out there are looking for artists but there are still a significant amount of them that will accept writing proposals.

6. I decided to break this down into several categories. The BIG 4 comic publishers, the independents (further broken down into 3 categories: arthouse, genre and misc.), manga publishers, book companies, adult category and finally magazines.

7. DO YOUR RESEARCH before deciding to submit to a publisher. Seek them out in Google, check out comic forums. Are they a reputable publishing house? Would your book or style fit in with their’s.

THE BIG 4 COMIC PUBLISHERS

DARK HORSE still welcomes your submissions, and all submissions will still be reviewed. Dark Horse has one of the most detailed and elaborate submission processes out there. They mean business. You’ll need to download the Submission Agreement and make sure you send in a signed copy along with your other materials. Be sure to read through all of their submission pages as there’s an amazing amount of useful info on there.
Writers will need to send in a synopsis as well as the full script for a short story or the first 8 pages of a full-length series. Artists should send in 5-6 consecutive story pages. Same goes for inkers. Dark Horse will provide sample pages to ink if you send in a large 11″x17″ self-addressed stamped envelope.
Colorists need to send in 5 pages of sequential art. They want to see how you handle different types of storytelling. Letterers can submit at least 5 pages of story to show diversity of balloons and sound effects, as well as font choice. In addition, please show examples of italicized and bold text.

DC COMICS has an annual TALENT SEARCH? They only look at artists and you need to hit up either the New York Comicon or the San Diego Comicon. The DC TALENT SEARCH program is designed to offer aspiring artists the chance to present artwork samples directly to the DC Editors and Art Directors. The process is simple: during your convention visit, drop off photocopied samples of your work. If DC like what they see, a time is scheduled for you the following day to meet a DC editor personally to discuss your portfolio.

Sorry writers – no dice. At this time, DC Comics does not accept unsolicited writing submissions.

ZUDA COMICS – Zuda is DC Comic’s genre webcomics portal. Zuda holds a competition once a month. Each month there will be ten new comics available for readers to evaluate, discuss and vote upon. In addition, the winning comic from each month goes on to become a new, ongoing series. Comics are strictly presented in a 4:3 ratio (or screen that is 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall. In order to enter creators must read and sccept the submissions agreement.

IMAGE COMICS only publishes creator-owned material! Only submit original material, not something utilizing existing Image characters. Image Comics accepts only PROPOSALS for new comic series or graphic novels, etc. For writers DO NOT SEND your script or your plot unaccompanied by art — it will be discarded, unread.
They DO ACCEPT inking, pencilling, lettering, or coloring samples. They’ll keep them on file if they’re interested for future consideration and may hook you up with other creators if and when the occasion presents itself. The books Image publishes are creator owned/creator generated properties and they DON’T PAY PAGE RATES. It will be up to you to strike a deal with whomever you end up working with. Image takes a small, flat fee off the books they publish and the rest goes to that comic book’s creative team. How that profit is split up is entirely up to the creators involved.
A PROPOSAL should contain A typed, ONE PAGE, synopsis of the ENTIRE series or story arc. Send photocopies of fully INKED and LETTERED pages (any size). AT LEAST five pages that are fully inked and lettered. Color is OPTIONAL. Include a cover mock-up.

MARVEL COMICS is still no longer looking at submissions.

Their original guidelines paraphrased as they were listed in early 2009 : Writers send an inquiry letter, detailing your writing experience and why you would like to write for Marvel. Based on your inquiry, they may ask you to submit a sample of your work.

Artists – If you have a website with your work on display, please send us a link to your website using the Marvel Art Submissions email address. Submit no more than 5 pages of sample artwork. If you submit by mail, send clean 8 1/2″x11″ photocopies of your sample pages.
3 or 4 pages of sequential action, 2 or 3 pages of character-driven storytelling and 1 page of cover art or iconic character poses.

For Inkers: Don’t send samples inked over your own pencils. Send copies of the original pencils along with your inks so they can see what you started with. Use samples done over several different pencilers. For Colorists: Don’t send samples colored over your own line art.

**UPDATE - Marvel has now posted the following on their submissions page:
Due to an unprecedented number of unsolicited art and writing submissions, Marvel has altered its open submissions policy effective immediately. Marvel has remained the only major publisher to continue accepting open submissions, however that practice has been halted as we review our strategies for accepting future submissions.

Independents Part 1.) Arthouse & Literary Comic Publishers

ADHOUSE BOOKS is a small press outfit and are pretty selective in what they choose to publish. Your work would have to “feel” like an AdHouse book. Only submit finished or near (75%) complete work.

Blank Slate Books (WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS, SPARKY O’HARE) are always looking for new comics material. They’ll accept submissions by email or standard mail.

BLURRED BOOKS is seeking experimental, alternative and/or underground work by both emerging and established artists operating at the intersection of art and comics for the “online comics” area of its website, for its Blurred Vision series of printed anthologies, and for its annual Blurred Vision group show at the ArtLexis gallery in New York City. Submissions may be anywhere from one page to twenty-eight pages in length, and should not have been previously published (with the exception of self-publishing, which is fine). Submissions may be made via email, via an emailed link to an existing website where the work is displayed, or via photocopied submissions.

DRAWN & QUARTERLY (LOUIS RIEL A COMIC STRIP BIOGRAPHY, OPTIC NERVE), welcomes submissions for various publishing venues. The new talent forum (Drawn & Quarterly Showcase), the regular anthology (Drawn & Quarterly), and a seasonal selection of general graphic novels, comic books, and comic book series. They do not review scripts. They accept email samples and mail in submissions.

Fantagraphics Books (LUBA, LOVE AND ROCKETS, EIGHT BALL, BLACK HOLE, USAGI YOJIMBO) want to see an idea that is fully fleshed-out in your mind, at least, if not on paper. Please submit a minimum of five pages of completed art (high-quality reproductions only, please — no original art!) so that they can get an idea of what you deem a finished. Also include a synopsis of your storyline and, if a serial, a brief note stating approximately how many issues you have in mind.

Gestalt Publishing (#UPDATE: Gesalt is not actively seeking submissions at this time) is an independent publishing house in Australia with an eye for quality in content and production. They are are not actively seeking submissions at this time. HOWEVER if you would still like to send an unsolicited submission for their consideration, be sure to check out the books they’re publishing. If you honestly feel your work is of the same (or better) standard then feel free to submit.

INSOMNIA PRESS (BURKE AND HARE, CANCERTOWN) is a young UK indy publisher and we are currently accepting submissions from writers and artists – independently or as teams. They publish complete graphic novels and art portfolio books and all of their books are creator owned. For most of their books they put creative teams together. Their books are aimed at teen/mature readers and most have an 18+ age rating. With each book they look to publish something which is unusual, literate, challenging and thought provoking.

NBM (LITTLE NOTHINGS, NO PASARAN) is recognized as one the highest quality graphic novel publishing houses in America. We launch 1 to 2 new artists a year. They are interested in most everything from fantasy to humor, including erotica, mystery, general fiction. NO superheroes.
They like complete packages and do not match writers with artists. They have no need for illustrations alone including covers. They do need translators from French, Spanish and occasionally Italian and computer letterers
Send a one-page synopsis of your story. For the art, send copies of a few finished pages or pencils for the project or at least of previous work in the same style you plan on using. Don’t send a complete finished .

NEW RELIABLE PRESS is a small press publisher based out of Vancouver, Canada. Submissions can be mailed in and they will look at works in progress as long as you send in a minimum of 10 completed pages.

SECRET ACRES is a cool little site that takes submissions and also distributes mini-comics.

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS takes on complete projects. Just send them a xerox copy of what you’d like them to look at. Don’t send image files to their email addresses. Also don’t they cannot accept scripts or plot synopses, unless they are accompanied by a minimum of 10-20 completed pages (i.e., fully inked and lettered comic book pages).

Independents Part 2.) Genre and Pop Comic Publishers

Unfortunately, AAM MARKOSIA (RITUAL, STARSHIP TROOPERS), is no longer accepting submissions without an invitation. However…if you are a colorist, letterer, penciler or inker…they have a number of talented creator-owner/writers who are always looking for a artist team to work with. If you don’t mind back end deals, try contacting one of the writers through their forums and maybe you can get together on something that way, which is one of the best ways to get published anyway.

ALTERNA COMICS INC. (#UPDATE: Alterna Comics is NOT actively seeking submissions at this time) (JESUS HATES ZOMBIES) would like you to send 5 or more sequentially completed pages as well as a series/issue summary to Peter Simeti, Publisher. You retain 100% of your creative rights. They only acquire publishing rights in order to get your book out there. Creators receive back-end royalty pay for their works (no page rates) and the profit split is 60/40 with 60% going to the creative team.
Alterna Comics publishes black and white books with color covers. Alterna Comics carries all kinds of books and is welcome to every genre; big and small. They promote aggressively online and each creator promotes locally through signings, shows, and conventions. They’re looking for books that are original in story and art.

AMAZE INK/SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS (JOHNNY THE HOMICIDAL MANIAC, GLOOMCOOKIE) accepts unsolicited submissions by mail and email. They only review projects. They do not accept scripts without artwork, or art samples without a story. If you are only a writer or only an artist, you need to find someone to work with BEFORE submitting your project.

A.N.A. COMICS is continually seeking new talent and projects for their print and online endeavors. They’re always on the lookout for pencilers for their in-house comic book projects. And although we don’t hire as many inkers, colorists, or letterers as they do pencilers, they occasionally hire for those positions. All artistic styles are welcome. A.N.A. Comics books are a varied lot, so they’re not hooked on one style of art. For Pencils and inks you should send in at least 4 pages of sequential art;
AND THE WRITERS? Currently A.N.A. Comics is looking for creators that have Web-comics, or creator owned projects they would like to have help developing and put out under a united banner. That being said, we are not hiring writers who are not already attached to a creative team.

APE ENTERTAINMENT (SCARLET VERONICA. SISTA SAMURAI, WIND RAIDER) is constantly on the lookout for fresh new talents and projects. Ape Entertainment employs freelance talent from all over the world. They are always on the lookout for pencilers for their in-house comic book projects. They occasionally hire inkers and colorists. Ape’s primary interest is in creator-owned properties. We publish a number of properties that come to us from outside sources. They’re in the market for one-shot comics, mini-series, and graphic novels. All genres are considered, from “all-ages” to “mature readers” and all points in-between.
They’re NOT currently hiring writers who haven’t already assembled a creative team of their own.

APPROBATION COMICS (CHAOS CAMPUS SORORITY GIRLS VS ZOMBIES) are currently accepting submissions from talented Pencillers, Inkers, Colorists, Painters, and Letterers. Send 3 to 8 pages of sequential art. Submit samples showing your ability in one discipline only. If you’re selling yourself as a penciler don’t send inked and colored pages.

ARCANA STUDIO (GAUZE, GREATEST AMERICAN HERO) will accept FIVE-PAGE SUBMISSIONS FOR A COMICBOOK that you want to find a home for. They do not accept ‘pitches’ or scripts but only completed books that are professional looking.

Archaia Studios Press is interested in publishing creator-owned comic books in the fantasy, horror, pulp noir, and science fiction. ASP does not hire freelancers or arrange for freelance work, so submissions should only be for book and series proposals. ASP is primarily interested in full-color projects, but proposals for black & white projects will also be considered.

ASPEN MLT INC (ASPEN SHOWCASE, FATHOM, SOULFIRE) is a small company and have very few openings for artists in the course of a year, but do not be discouraged. Keep submitting. They want to see your work. Send only hard copies (photocopies/print-outs) of your work. Links to websites/virtual portfolios are acceptable as well.
PENCILERS, inkers and colorists: Submit no less than 3 pages of consecutive sequential storytelling.
WRITERS: Aspen Comics does not accept unsolicited writing submissions, synopses, or scripts. Any unsolicited writing submission sent will not be read.

ATLANTIS STUDIOS (CRYSTAL WAR, TALES OF LARA CROFT) primary business is the creation of work-for-hire science fiction, fantasy, and action-adventure sequential art for a variety of clients such as publishers, film makers, video game developers, advertising agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.

AVATAR PRESS INC (CROSSED, ANNA MERCURY, DOKTOR SLEEPLESS, NO HERO, NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD) is a leading independent company which publishes a wide variety of comic books. Avatar is always looking for talented freelance artists, and often has a range of work in a wide variety of subjects and genres available. If you have a web page or online gallery of your work available, sending Avatar Press editor-in-chief William Christensen a link to that is a good place to start.
WRITERS can send an 8-12 page story with panel to panel descriptions and in full script format. COLORISTS need to send samples of your work on a Zip disk or CD.
Avatar Press is always looking for quality creator-owned projects. Much of what they publish is creator-owned. The ideal submission will include an overview of the story, a detailed plot synopsis, sample script pages, character designs, and sample art pages (panel to panel continuity).

BloodFire Studios is taking writing and art Submissions. Inkers do not ink over your own pencils. Have someone else pencil some pages for you or buy sample pencils from your local comic shop and ink over those. Make sure you include copies of the pencils with your package. Submission can be sent via email but ONLY AS HYPERLINKS.
Writing submissions should be submitted in a script format like a play or movie (novel and short story formats are usually passed over). BloodFire Studios is looking for new colorists.

CAMPFIRE (INVISIBLE MAN, MOBY DICK) began publishing in 2008, under the Campfire imprint, with the vision of creating graphic novels of the finest quality to entertain and educate readers. Graphic novels are published under four categories; Classics, Originals, Mythology and Biography. They have two basic competitions where writers can script a page and artists can illustrate a page.

Catastrophic Comics (The Greatest American Hero) are always open to great artists, inkers and colorists.

Cellar Door Publishing specializes in the publication of high-quality illustrated literature and graphic novels. They’re looking for all genres and age groups. They encourage creators to experiment with format and content, though it is not required. They accept a limited number of submissions for books without illustrations. This is generally reserved for books that are either unique in content or controversial in nature, or literary projects that can be released in a serialized format.

They currently accept unsolicited submissions via online submission form and comic book conventions only and NOT through traditional mail.

COMMITED COMICS (JACKRABBIT, JAVA!) is an independent comic book company who accept entries from pretty much every category including writers, pencilers, inkers and digital colorists and letterers.

CREATOR’S EDGE PRESS is continually seeking new INDEPENDENT talent and projects for their print projects. They’re always on the lookout for INDEPENDENT artists for our comic book projects. All artistic styles are welcome. CEP’s primary interest is in publishing stories from pre-assembled creative teams. They are definitely in the market for one-shot comics, mini-series, graphic novels and web comics. But are not looking to publish an ongoing series at this time. BUT WHAT ABOUT WRITERS? They are not hiring writers who are not already attached to a creative team.

D. E./DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT (DEATH DEFYING DEVIL, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA CYLON WAR, BOYS, RED SONJA, HIGHLANDER, LONE RANGER)
WRITERS: send an inquiry letter, detailing your writing experience and why you would like to write for Dynamite Entertainment. ARTISTS: Please submit no more than 5 pages of sample artwork. PENCILERS: Just send pencils. Do not send inked, colored or lettered pages. COLORISTS: Don’t send samples colored over your own line art. PAINTERS: If you are submitting samples of fully-painted (traditionally or digitally painted) cover work, keep in mind that Dynamite Entertainment covers tend toward iconic shots of single characters rather than groups of characters or storytelling elements.

Dare Comics does not accept unsolicited submissions. Always send an introductory email first and we will let you know if we’re interested in seeing your work. You can contact Dare at info@darepictures.net

DARK ELF DESIGNS accepts new story submissions on a creator / contract based payment system. Sean new artist submissions via E-Mail and add a link to where they can find your artwork somewhere on the web.  Or send hard copies. Dark Elf Designs publishes ONLY creator owned properties and do not hire paid freelancers at this time. They are also willing to look at writing proposals.

Digital Webbing is a huge community of creators, fans and publishers. This is a link to their collaborations section. And here’s the help wanted section.

DMC Comics Lld has been publishing the anthology NEW GROUND on a bi-monthly basis. They take submissions from New Zealanders only.

GEMSTONE PUBLISHING’S (UNCLE SCROOGE, WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES) requirements are character-specific, so confine submissions to material relating to Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Uncle Scrooge, and their supporting casts.

Moonface Press (click “About Us”) takes artist submissions. NO PAY. Send some photocopied samples of your work to the address on the ‘Contact Us’ page, at least two pages of which should be fully-inked sequential comic art pages.

NETCOMICS (100 PERCENT PERFECT GIRL, ADVENTURES OF YOUNG DET) will take work from aspiring creators. If the editors think that your work is at least worth a try, they will publish your work on their web site as online content. If responses from users and reviewers prove to be good, they can publish your work as printed book and have it published in overseas.

Nifty Comics is taking submissions. Page rate for finished artwork is $15/page. They pay half of the total art fee once half the artwork has been turned in and the remainder upon delivery of final art. All work is work for hire. Writing proposals should be no longer than five pages. Pencilers, Inkers, Letterers, & Colorists can send photocopies of original illustrations.

Orang Utan Comics Studio is currently recruiting writers by invitation only. Orang Utan Comics is currently looking for pencillers, inkers and colourists for their various projects, and their Studio.

Papercutz is looking for artists versed in the manga style as well other comics styles good for kids! If you are ready for prime time and to become a star on one of our properties, send us a couple pages either as 72 dpi jpegs or mail hard copies. To a lesser degree they’re looking for for inkers, colorists, letterers and scriptwriters.

Penny-Farthing Press accepts writing submissions. Pencillers are to provide 3 to 5 consecutive penciled pages showing your story telling skills and versatility. Inkers can submit at least 3 to 5 samples showing interior page work and any other work that shows your ability. Include copies of the pencils with your samples.

RED HANDED STUDIOS publishes a very small number of comics. They ARE looking for talented creators who can meet deadlines and would like the chance to play their characters. THEY DO NOT ACCEPT unsolicited writing (that is plots, scripts, whatever) samples! This means if you’re a writer and you want to take a shot at writing for Red Handed Studios, you need more information. THEY DO ACCEPT inking, pencilling, lettering, or coloring samples. Send in 4-7 sequential pages to help them decide. If you’re an inker, make sure they know that and send in the pencils you inked as well.

REBELLION (2000 AD, JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE)

Writers – Send ONE short Future Shock plot outline (no more than a page), along with a full script or published story to show you understand comic book format. Do not send in proposals for new series unless you are an established professional. New writers begin by submitting Future Shocks – five-page science-fiction stories with a twist ending.

Artists – send COPIES of your work. Pencillers should submit 4-6 COMIC BOOK PAGES in order, showing the progression of a 2000 AD-style story through a series of pictures. Don’t send pinups and paintings. Inkers should submit photocopies of both your inks and the pencils you have inked, so that we can compare the two. Colourists should submit 4-6 pages of fully coloured comic-art on CD or Zip disk. All 2000 AD colouring is now done on computer using Adobe Photoshop, except for fully painted art.

RED 5 COMICS (Atomic Robo, Neozoic, Zombies of Mass Destruction) is a new publisher of both in-house and creator-owned comics. They’re looking for talented freelance pencillers, inkers, colorists and letterers. Submissions should include at least five (5) pages of your best sequential storytelling art, not just sketches or pin-ups. Initially, they want to see your work online.

ROUGH CUT COMICS go to “CONTACT”(Rose Black and Society) accepts inquiries from artists, but be warned they’ll tell you what they think.

SCAR COMICS (Madam Samurai) are working hard to bring exciting creator owned comics  and high quality publications to a readership that demands the best. They are always on the look out for original stories from talented creators, who wish to get their own book published. They pay for the printing and marketing of the book. You provide a completed graphic novel and they can help with design if this is not to your strength. Once the book is published, and the costs incurred by Scar Comics are made back through sales, they split all profits with the creator/s 50/50.

SEPTAGON STUDIOS (Scorn, Masks) are always looking for quality creator-owned projects from all genres; however, they are not interested in the classic or typical superhero genre at the moment. They strongly recommend having a creative team (writer and artist) already assembled.

SHADOWLINE COMICS is Jim Valentino’s division of Image Comics. Don’t submit projects that have already been submitted to Image Central. They prefer 3 to 4-issue mini-series. 1-Shots or OGNs will also be considered. They want books that are DIFFERENT from what they are already publishing.  Send in 5 fully completed pages, and a cover.  Include a one-paragraph synopsis of what your story is about.

STUDIO 407 is accepting submissions for original, completed comic or graphic novel projects. They are only considering completed projects. All genres are welcome except. Final artwork must be press quality and able to be printed on standard comic book size/format. You can send your book in .pdf format.

Time Bomb Comics publish a wide variety of comics from a wide variety of genres – science-fiction, thriller, mystery, romance, horror, superhero, adventure – and they want to build up a team of committed writers and artists to help achieve that. Writers send in a fully scripted 5-page story.
Artists send in 5 pages of sequential artwork.

Transfuzion Publishing publishes primarily graphic novels and anthologies. No periodical comics. For the graphic novels, they are looking for collections of previously published material or original graphic novel material. The material must be presented as “ready to print”. For the anthologies, they are seeking only completed stories. All books are owned by the creators.

TUMBLE CREEK PRESS are looking for pencillers who also ink their own work, penciller/Inker teams and inkers, letterers, and colorists. Sorry writers, no dice.

ULTIMATE COMICS GROUP accepts artist, inking, colorist and cover/pinup submissions. Five or six consecutive story pages is adequate. Colorists need only send in three.

VISIONARY COMICS is now only looking for finished books, meaning a complete stand-alone one-shot, graphic novel, or mini-series that is essentially ready for publication. Visionary still will provide editorial guidance on making changes to the book however, we want to see a team effort to get the book done before we will get involved.

WARPTON COMICS (MESSIAH, REVENANTS) has been publishing comics since 2000. They accept  proposals from writers and submissions from artists.

WILD WOLF ENTERTAINMENT (click on “Submission Guidelines”) are currently accepting submissions for all Comic Book Genres but must be over 40 pages in length. Include a Short Synosis of the overall plot , at least 5 finished pages (both Penciled & Inked ) You will retain ownership of you plot and art submissions.

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC is currently accepting artwork submissions. Pencilers mail 3-10 COPIED pages of artwork (no originals). Inkers mail 3-10 inked pages (no originals) along with copies of the pencils you have chosen to ink. Colorists mail color copies (no originals) of 3-10 colored pages. These pages should not be lettered. Letterers mail copies (no originals) of 3-5 lettered pages.

Independents Part 3.) Anthologies, Studios and Related Sites
ASYLUM PRESS (scroll down on the left until reaching “SUBMISSIONS”) IS LOOKING ARTISTS for their annual horror anthology THE ASYLUM OF HORRORS. If you draw in the style of Berni Wrightson, Tim Vigil, Kyle Hotz, Kelly Jones, Mike Mignola or have a dark and moody style please send small jpg samples. See page for specifications. If you have a website of sequential art samples send them the link. Jobs are for two to ten page horror stories that must be penciled, inked and lettered (using a digital comic book font). Completed pages will need to be delivered on disc as 300 dpi PSD (Photoshop) files.

Imperium Comics are currently accepting submissions for Trailer Park Of Terror. Writers send in full scripts of 5-8 page self-contained horror stories. Pencillers, Inkers, and Colorists: submit at least 3 pages of sequential art.

KRAZYBOV COMICS is an anthology looking for completed black and white strips of any genre and any length, be it three panels or four hundred pages. The comic has a very international flavour with contributors from Europe, South America and Indonesia. Stories are welcome from every continent but must be in English. Don’t be shy, send it in. A downloadable template is available on the submissions page. Completed strips to be delivered by email. The comic is freely distributed in London with adverts to cover the printing costs. Contributors receive a copy of the book.

Ronin Studios is not a publisher but in fact a non-profit independent publishing label. Their regular titles are creator owned and operated. Please include a brief synopsis of the book and sample script, pages and concept art. They also have an anthologies section.

MANGA PUBLISHERS

ANTARCTIC PRESS (GOLD DIGGER, LAND OF OZ, NINJA HIGH SCHOOL) prefer you to be an artist versed in penciling, inking, and writing. As publishers, they prefer creators who can do it all. If you can’t ink your own work, but they like your pencils they’ll team you up with an inker but the royalty will now be spread between you and the inker. The same deal applies if you work with a writer. If you can do it all, then it’s better for you and for them.
Submit ONE COMPLETE ISSUE (22-30 pages) of rendered (penciled, inked) SEQUENTIAL art. They tend to prefer a MANGA / ANIME style but will review your work regardless.
For writers submit 1- to 4-page typed STORY SYNOPSIS and/or TREATMENTS.

DEL REY MANGA (AIR GEAR, ALIVE, FAIRY TAIL, GACHA GACHA NEXT REVOLUTION, PAPILLON, PRINCESS RESURRECTION), are always looking for new creative talent, so they accept and review unsolicited submissions from writers and artists. They will review either proposals for original, manga-style graphic novels or portfolios of artists who are proficient at drawing in the manga style.
If you’re a writer, try to attach an artist to your project. If you’re an artist, send in samples. Del Ray is looking for artists who are capable of executing a book-length, manga-style narrative. Show them some manga pages!
TRANSLATORS: All translation at Del Rey Manga is handled on a freelance, out-of-house basis; They hire both literal translators and adapters, as well as translators who are capable of adapting their own work.

GO COMI! (THREE IN LOVE, ULTIMATE VENUS) accepts resumes for freelance adaptors, translators, and layout artists interested in working on manga.

ITCH PUBLISHING is based in the UK, and is focused on the local manga scene. They’re happy to consider submissions from outside the UK though, especially if they’re good. They can’t pay you a lot of money, but they’ll can get you a great looking book.

KITTY PRESS MAKA MAKA says that people are free to send submissions at anytime. They are not actively taking submissions for inclusion in the Kitty Universe, but may in the near future. They keep all submissions on file in case they start to hire at a later date. Accepting submissions from writers, pencillers, inkers, and colorist, or combinations of these.

LIME MEDIA (HAWAII STAR MANGA PROJECT) is looking for new, original comic/manga stories for publication. They welcome all comic creators, especially Hawaii’s artists (and former Hawaii residents) to submit story proposals for consideration. They respect Creator’s rights, and use only CREATOR OWNED properties. They are currently accepting proposals for comic projects, illustrated fiction, and non fiction such as convention coverage or manga/comic/game and other product reviews.

P2 Manga LLC is a small Manga company started up in July, 2008. If your’e submitting an artist package, they are looking for 10-20 completed pages both inked and toned.

SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT LLC (#UPDATE: Alterna Comics is NOT actively seeking submissions at this time) is currently accepting sequential art related samples drawn by artists in authentic manga style. WRITERS – NO DICE – For legal reasons, Seven Seas Entertainment will not accept any unsolicited series proposals and/or manuscripts.
ARTIST/WRITER TEAMS
If you have an existing webcomic/webmanga or other sequential art samples that are currently on the web, then you may follow the guidelines outlined in the artist section above.

TOKYOPOP (*UPDATE – TOKYOPOP is NOT accepting submissions at this time.) is looking for creators who can deliver tight, punchy, well-paced Pilots that entertain and introduce a new property. A Manga Pilot may be the first chapter of a planned graphic novel, or a self-contained side introducing the property. Download the Submissions Release Agreement. All submissions should be sent via mail or courier. They have one of the most elaborate submissions policies so be sure to review all of it.
WORK-FOR-HIRE PENCILLERS, INKERS AND TONERS go HERE. And they also have a helpful page for MECHANICAL SPECIFICATIONS GUIDELINES.

VIZ Media’s Original Publishing Department welcomes professional pitches for original comics submissions. Don’t submit anything based on any of their titles. Only submit high-quality photocopies or discs with digital files Download a Submission Release and mail your work and the signed Submission Release in.

INDY DISTRIBUTORS AND MICRO PRESSES

Bodega Distribution (*UPDATE - While they get things in order, they’ve decided to take down the shop for a bit.) is a comics and minicomics distributor. It is run by Randy Chang who used to handle the mailorder for Highwater Books. When Highwater shut down at the end of 2004, Randy decided to take over the remaining stock and create his own comics distro.
Bodega Distribution will accept submissions for minicomics or books for distribution.
They also distribute to retail outlets.

MICROCOSM PUBLISHING (SNAKEPIT) is not so much a publisher but more of a micro-press distributor. Microcosm is a place that may be interested in distributing your mini-comics. But be warned they reject 90-95% of what is submitted to them.

ADULT (18 Years and up) PUBLISHERS

CLASS COMICS INC (RAPTURE) is always looking for quality creator-owned projects. Their goal is to broaden the line of Class Comics titles to include works by other creators. Your project should feature a strong Gay overtone, but does not necessarily have to be adult-rated.
COLORISTS send samples of your work via email and please make certain that the files are at least 1200 Pixels wide by 1800 pixels high at 100 dpi. ARTISTS If you have a web page or online gallery of your work available, sending a link to that is generally a good place to start.
INKERS Class Comics is currently looking for inkers with a smooth style, and with the ability to follow a penciler’s line, while being able to make technical and critical decisions.

EUROTICA/AMEROTICA (FIRST TIME, SHADOW & LIGHT, SPIDER GARDEN) has the same policies as NBM.
Eurotica is recognized as one the highest quality graphic novel publishing houses in America. They launch 1 to 2 new artists a year. They like complete packages and do not match writers with artists. They have no need for illustrations alone including covers. They do need translators from French, Spanish and occasionally Italian and computer letterers
Send a one-page synopsis of your story. For the art, send copies of a few finished pages or pencils for the project or at least of previous work in the same style you plan on using. Don’t send a complete finished .

LAST GASP (BARFOOT GEN, SWEET WISHES), specializes in unusual and extraordinary high-quality books in the fields of pop culture; pop surrealism & lowbrow art; comics & graphic novels; erotica; photography; and poetry & literary fiction.
Last Gasp does not generally accept or publish unsolicited submissions. However, if you would like to send a proposal read their guidelines. Writers send a proposal, including outline, introduction, illustrations list, sample captions, and text/sample chapters Artists send duplicates of sample illustrations or photographs.

RADIO COMIX (*UPDATE – Submission Guidelines appear temporarily taken down) (FURRLOUGH, GENUS MALE) only accepts proposals from complete creative teams. We do not assign writers to artists, or vice-versa. All stories are fully creator-owned. They don’t publish any color comics. Radio Comix publishes anthropomorphic, independent, and adults-only projects in all genres (except superheroes). They prefer creators to submit stories for our anthologies before publishing stand-alone series.

WHITE LIGHTNING PRODUCTIONS will only consider *COMPLETED* artwork for comic or webcomic publication. They do NOT accept sample pencils or uncompleted pages. Blind submissions for comic publication should have the first thirty pages completed for graphic novel publication, the first ten pages completed for webcomic publication, or the entire short story completed for anthology publication.

YAOI PRESS LLC (*UPDATE – SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED) seeks to publish yaoi manga graphic novels and art books of the highest caliber. Yaoi Press books are printed from left to right. Most books published by Yaoi Press are designated ‘Mature Readers’ meaning they must be appropriate for readers aged 16 and older. They seek to publish more ‘Adult Only’ books in the future and are no longer seeking ‘Young Adult’ projects.
They are seeking artists for their Adults Only and Mature Readers art books. Artists – In addition to demonstrating solid manga-style sequential art skills, artists must be able to draw beautiful men.
Writers – Queries are open. Please query info(at)yaoipress.com with a short synopsis of your project before submitting a full proposal.

BOOK PUBLISHERS

Arthur A. Levine Books won’t accept unsolicited manuscripts for novels but they will look at picture books, the first two chapters of a novel and illustration samples. They look for strong writing, beautiful artwork, authentic emotion, and ideas or perspectives not seen before, and they enjoy working with debut authors and illustrators.

Sterling Publishing is a book publisher. Write a proposal explaingin your idea. Enclose an outline and a sample chapter of the proposed book along with sample illustrations where applicable. For Children’s books, please submit full manuscripts. No e-mail submissions.

TITAN PUBLISHING takes submissions under a number of different categories.
NON-FICTION ART & COMICS REFERENCE: They are looking for strong proposals for these titles, preferably creator or character-led. They prefer writers who have a proven track record in this area, and good contacts in the art & comics world. They also have a number of licensed publications already contracted.
COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS: The majority of their graphic novel titles are licensed from overseas publishers or acquired through agents but do publish a growing number of originated graphic novels. You can send initially a brief synopsis and covering letter only, not a full manuscript.

VEI Press accepts both manuscripts and art samples. If you have a manuscript and/or a set of art that you believe would fit with their portfolio, then contact them. They pledge to back to you quickly with thier decision to either pursue the project or not.

Verso is a book publisher that will look at your submissions. They’re looking for maximum 10 page proposals and not complete manuscripts.

MAGAZINES

HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE will look at artwork. The majority of their featured stories are reserved years in advance for established European artists. They are mainly looking for short stories between two to eight pages. They’ll look at any Heavy Metal-esque ideas you have, but short stories have the best chance to get in and be placed quicker.

TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING (Write Now!, Back Issue, Alter Ego, Rough Stuff & The Jack Kirby Collector) is a magazine publisher that could be a really could place for a writer with passion and knowledge of the comic industry to cut their teeth.
If you have an idea for a book you’d like TwoMorrows to consider publishing, e-mail publisher John Morrow. They request you send a 1000 word (or less) proposal, including a detailed description and highlights of the project, who you see as the main audience for it, and a breakdown of the chapters of the book.
For details on submitting art and articles for their magazines, contact each of their editors directly for the submission requirements.

COMIC AND CARTOON SYNDICATES

CREATOR’S SYNDICATE distributes a great variety of continuing features, such as comic strips and panels, columns and political cartoons, and are constantly on the lookout for quality features. If you have a cartoon or comic strip you would like them to consider, they will need to see at least four (4) weeks of samples, but not more than six (6) weeks of dailies and two Sundays. As a general rule, drawings are most easily reproduced if clearly drawn in black ink on white paper, with shading executed in ink wash or Benday® or other dot-transfer.

KING FEATURES SYNDICATE is always happy to look at new comic features for possible syndication. Send 24 black and white daily comic strips. It is not necessary to send Sunday comic strips. If they like your daily comics, they will ask to see sample Sunday pages. You should reduce your comics to fit onto standard 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper.

TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES accepts submissions for comics and editorial cartoons however, they accept extremely few and generally only from already established creators.

UNITED MEDIA are always interested in new comic ideas. They would like to see 18-24 PDF samples of your work, both black-and-white and color, so that they can judge its consistency. Six strips to a page for dailies is ideal. As a syndicated cartoonist, you’ll be expected to file electronically, so this is good practice! For all types of submissions please include a short note about yourself and your work.

UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE is always looking for great new comic strips. They prefer four to six weeks of samples of a proposed feature so that they can judge the quality and consistency of your work. As long as the material is clear and easy to read, it may be submitted in any form.

THE WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP accepts comic strip / panel and editorial cartoon submissions. Send at least 24 cartoons. Use letter-sized paper for your submission.

and finally Optimum Wound does not accept submission because we’re jerks…and overworked.

Jason Thibault is the publisher of Optimum Wound Comics and wrote a survival guide for comic artists. For other useful posts on comics, art and creating you can follow him on Twitter.

Ho Che Anderson tells it like it is

by Jason Thibault

I first read the work of Ho Che Anderson back in the 1990′s when I ran across the first volume of his King trilogy in an indie bookshop in Montreal. Soon after I bought I Want to be Your Dog (from Eros) at my local comic shop and became a lifelong fan. Many years went by before I ran across Ho again. This time it was Danijel Zezelj who hooked me up with him by email. We got Ho to write a blurb for the back cover of Rex.

When passing through Toronto last summer I couldn’t resist looking him up and finally meeting the man in person. We shared a couple of beers downtown and engaged in a 2-hour conversation. I followed up by email (which is how I conducted this interview). The portrait below is the only photo thus far in the Masters of Ink series that I’ve taken personally. What follows below is 4000 words that are equal parts inspiring and heartbreaking. I want to read me some Godhead.

First professional work (piece / year) and maybe a quick story behind it.

That’s a bit of a tricky story. The first comics work I got paid for was a Grendel story I did in 89. For reasons I no longer remember the company, Comico, immediately shelved the project. Then later that year they hired me for another Grendel story, this one written by Steve Seagle. This would have been summer ‘90 I drew it, came out by the end of the year. So that was the first time I ever saw my work in print. I was 20, I’d been trying to break into the biz since I was like, 16. Who knew that job would be the start of nineteen years of pain and torture? And it wasn’t until ‘98 I think that that first Grendel story I did finally saw the light of day. By that time Comico had folded, Dark Horse was now publishing Grendel, and the internet was only beginning to slowly take over every aspect of our lives. A quick story about it? I cried like a total pussy as I drew that second Grendel comic because my girlfriend of all of two months dropped me like a wet rag half way through. You can still see the tear stains on the pages.

Self-taught or formally educated? (or mixture of both, mentors etc…)

Almost entirely self-taught. I did take a few extra-curricular art courses when I was a kid, and of course art was always part of school growing up, but I didn’t go to art college or anything (to my chagrin), I just drew and drew and drew, my entire life. The most valuable art training I had was in grade nine when I learned about perspective. The only valuable things I learned in all of high school were typing and perspective. My art teacher was a perspective master who took great pains to make sure his students had a solid grasp of the discipline which I have benefited from greatly ever since, so thank you Mr. Andre Sepa wherever you are, I’ve always wished I could thank you, not only for allowing me to get away with ruining many a class with my antics but also for being so strict about getting the work done. I can always spot in people’s stuff when they’re winging their perspective, when they don’t really understand the fundamentals, it’s glaring and I’m glad I managed to avoid that particular pitfall. On the other hand I’ve fallen into a million other pitfalls so maybe I shouldn’t get too smug.

I’ve had a couple mentors in the biz. I’ve always considered Matt Wagner to be a bit of a mentor, in that he gave me my first work in the field and offered me some good advice about the craft and the business at a time when I really needed it. The other one is a guy who’s sadly no longer with us, Lou Stathis, ex of Heavy Metal and High Times and Vertigo, who also took me under his wing when I was starting out by hiring me—and firing me—for a project around 1990. Lou was a crusty motherfucker, and I was a snotty know-it-all of a kid without the skills to back his shit up, and Lou busted my ass on many an occasion and I hated him for it, but it wasn’t long before I grew to love that guy. Ah, I loved him from the start, he was a real character. The funny thing is, no doubt if he were alive to read this he’d think I was totally full of shit. So it goes.

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?

Finally, someone unashamed to ask about this kind of thing. I love geeking out on this shit, and reading about other artists toolkits, but for some reason most people think no one wants to read about this stuff. Utter madness. Anyway, I use pretty much the same tools now that I started out with and they’re all the basics. I’ve used everything at one point or another and it’s always fun to make a line on a page, no matter what you use. The ax I use the most is a Hunt 107 pen nib in a brown holder. I also use an assortment of watercolor brushes, usually 4, 5, 6, in that range, though I’ve got a bunch of larger brushes for filling in those big areas of black. I buy cheap brushes, 4, 5 bucks, I use ‘em ‘til they’re frayed, and for some reason I almost never throw them away which means I have tonnes of ‘em. I often use flat brushes for painting, the kind that are cut on an angle, I don’t know what they’re called. I almost never use those hard, coarse oil painting brushes, not even for oils. I find watercolor brushes work in oil just as well as they do in watercolor or acrylic or whatever. I also use markers or drawing pens when I draw ruled lines. I have a full set of ellipse templates that I used to use all the time in the 80s and 90s for drawing word balloons and machinery or whatever. I’d get in there with my rapidograph—another forgotten technology—and use every excuse I could come up with to draw an ellipse.

For some reason those shits were a lot of fun. I still get a kick out of using them but the opportunities aren’t there like they used to be. For penciling, I use anything from an HB for sketching, to a 6H when I’m penciling something on really rough paper. The most comfortable for penciling tends to be 2H to 4H, but it depends on the brand, and since I’m not much of a brand loyalist in most areas they change all the time. For painting I tend to use acrylics, usually Liquitex, but I also like to paint with oils, and sometimes, occasionally, with gouache. Sometimes I mess around with scratchboard when I’m feeling adventurous, but I’m years away from developing a credible scratchboard technique. And let’s not forget Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign; no toolkit is complete these days without some familiarity with the computer. Lately I’ve also added photo-reference to my list of tricks. For years I just made stuff up but at a certain point I realized almost all the great artists I admired had clearly done their homework before they started drawing.

I love abstract art, but no matter how abstract I take my stuff I still want it to be essentially figurative based, and more and more I want it to be informed by the details of reality. There are subtleties you can get from life that you just don’t get when you pull something entirely from your mind. Understand, I’m not saying one is necessarily better than the other. Obviously there are things you can pull from your mind that you’ll never find in the real world. But I’ve tried one and for the time being I want to focus on the other.

Favorite brand of ink:

Hands down, Dr. P. H. Martin’s Black Star. The matte version. Absolutely the best ink on the market. If there’s anything better I’d like to know about it. It’s thick and generally easy to spread, though you do tend to have to add water from time to time as it thickens up kinda quick. And black as night. I don’t buy anything else unless I’m in a pinch and there isn’t anything else available. Easiest question on the list.

Type of paper:

Depends. I’ll use whatever’s handy, and I’ve drawn on everything from typing paper to Arches 300 lb cold press. For the last couple years I’ve bought a lot of Strathmore watercolor paper, 140 lb cold press. In case someone reading doesn’t know, the weight determines the thickness; the heavier the weight, the thicker the paper, and cold press paper is the rougher paper which I use because I like a bit of tooth in my paper, I like the resistance rougher paper offers my drawing pen. Hot pressed paper is smooth which some cartoonists like because they can do a lot of line work a lot easier. I like hot press too but if I get to choose I always go for cold press. I also buy Cotman’s watercolor paper and occasionally even good ol’ fashioned Bristol board. For painting I like to use illustration board, usually Peterboro No. 79, or masonite, I love painting on that shit, makes me feel like Frank Frazetta or something. I like heavier drawing paper because, even though it’s more expensive, sometimes painfully so, it feels more luxurious to draw on, and I’m also thinking of the thing’s resale value. A nicer paper is more appealing to a buyer. And it lasts longer. It can be heartbreaking to look at one of your old drawings and see the paper yellowing and getting brittle. Still, everything dies eventually.

Which artists or creators do you return to for a quick boost of inspiration? Who are the masters of ink?

So damn many. I could fill a page with my faves. My favorite artists were always the ones who could switch back and forth between black and white and full color, which is one of a thousand reasons why Bill Sienkiewicz used to routinely blow my mind back in the 80s and 90s. If we’re talking the masters of ink specifically… Howard Chaykin is a big one for me. There have always been better artists, but no cartoonist’s work ever moved me more than Chaykin’s when I was coming up. I’d been aware of him since his Star Wars adaptation back in the 70s but I didn’t get turned on to his stuff in a big way until ’86 when The Shadow came out, and from then until ’89 or ’90 this guy turned out a series of books that got me more excited than anything else that was going on at the time. I have to reluctantly admit his stuff isn’t quite as strong these days as it was back in his heyday but for the inspiration he provided during my formative years and for the thrills I still get when I flip through that stuff I’ll always be the world’s biggest Chaykin fan. Chaykin, Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, Los Bros Hernandez; those guys were my holy trinity (yes, I know there’re five of ‘em) of comics, not just from a drawing standpoint but also a writing standpoint because I’ve always been in love with writer/artists, and even Sienkiewicz practiced that dual role with Stray Toasters. You could even add Kyle Baker to that rarefied list. I’m talking, again, about the 80s and 90s.

I’m kinda old skool in a way. Miller was blowing my mind even before Chaykin when I discovered him through Ronin. That book impressed me immensely, the way Miller shifted his inking technique with each new chapter, the way he demolished narrative rules and created brand new ones in his quest to push the medium to another level. Other ink artists I admire are, in no particular order, Jason Lutes, particularly the magnificent Berlin, easily one of the greatest comics I’ve ever read; Douglas Fraser, a fantastic commercial illustrator who occasionally slums it by doing some comics; Charles Burns—read the collected Black Hole not long ago and it killed; F. Solano Lopez; Eddie Campbell, whom I’m including because I just read From Hell and was blown away by it; Dave McKean; Herge; David Mazzucchelli; the master Alex Toth; the sublime Milton Caniff; Alberto Breccia; Danijel Zezelj; Denis Bajram, whom I’ve just discovered through the excellent Universal War One; Jose Munoz; Richard Corben, who absolutely will not be stopped; Mike Grell; Adam Hughes; Lynd Ward; Joe Sacco—and I think I’m just gonna end it there. I could easily list a hundred more names. There are a lot of artists I love dearly.

Once a client has handed off an illustration job to you, how do you first tackle the job? Could you provide us with a quick overview of your process?

First off, I read the material. Which may seem obvious, but I’ve been surprised a bunch of times to find out that some artists just wing it. And get away with it. Then I sit down with my sketchbook and do a series of quick sketches, I’m talking about thumbnails. I might do ten or so, as many as it takes to get a range of directions I might go. More often than not one or two will emerge as the strongest. Once I’ve got five or six solid ideas I usually do slightly tighter, larger sketches, then I scan them and send them to the art director. We’ll discuss the sketches and settle on one to turn into a finished piece. Sometimes they’ll want to see a color comp but mostly they’ll let me just go ahead and do it. But every job’s different. Some clients tell me to just do whatever I want and if they like it they’ll buy it, and they always buy it. Other clients they want to see every fucking stage and they’ve got notes on everything. And then when it’s done they’ve got even more notes and you have to go back and make changes and you hand it in and they’ve still got notes. An artist buddy of mine’s got an entirely different process. He’ll get a job and do four or five finished pieces and show them to the AD, who then chooses the best one. I’m always thinking, what if they hate them all? And what do you do with the ones they don’t choose? That just sounds like too much work to me, but to him the way I do it is crazy. I guess we’re all different.

What’s currently sitting in your mp3 / CD player / turntable?

The last two records I bought were Kanye West’s The College Dropout and Metric’s Live It Out. Oh yeah, and the soundtrack to Once Upon a Time in the West, and a Curtis Mayfield greatest hits package. It’s funny, when I was a kid up until my 20s I was a music fanatic, I always knew what was current, I read about music, I followed it quite passionately, then at a certain point I started losing interest in keeping up to date with everything going on, it just started feeling like too much work and I’m lazy by nature. I still love music and listen to it all the time but its rare I buy new stuff and I only download occasionally.

What’s hanging on your walls and what is your favorite piece of art that you own (not created by you)?

My favorite? Easy: my cherished poster for Apocalypse Now, painted by Jedi Master Bob Peak. Love that motherfucker. It hangs above my drawing board and I study it daily. Another favorite is the cover to the soundtrack to Raiders of the Lost Ark painted by the great Richard Amsel. I’m very inspired by movie art be it production art, say by someone like one my great idols Ralph McQuarrie, or poster art by someone like Drew Struzan. I don’t have a lot hanging on my walls. I don’t have a studio exactly, but I have an area of my apartment that functions as such and the walls in that section are filled with images: some 1930s propaganda posters I bought in Spain, an old Mr. X poster, a couple Adam Hughes posters, some of my shit, a Bill Sienkiewicz Superman portfolio cover, a Che Guevara postcard, another postcard featuring a chick with a big ass afro, some photos of girls, etc, etc, etc. A bunch of stuff. I keep them there because they inspire me. In my living room I’ve got a French jazz poster and the one sheet for the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes painted by a guy named Rodriguez that I would love to know more about because he’s an amazing artist. I’d love to get that thing framed one day. Other than that my walls are pretty blank. When I was younger my walls were covered in images but these days for whatever reason I don’t do that so much anymore.

Last novel you read and last movie that you saw (that you’d recommend)?

The last movie I saw was The Day The Earth Stood Still, which I totally dug. I liked the way they updated the material and for once Keanu’s wooden acting style really suited the story and the character. The last novel I read was a graphic novel, Alan Moore’s and Eddie Campbell’s
From Hell. Fucking Brilliant.

Current and upcoming projects?

I just finished a new book called Sand & Fury, which will be published next year by Fantagraphics Books. It’s 136 pages, black, white and red. I did a comic called Scream Queen a few years ago which I think sold three whole copies, a short horror story about a banshee, a woman who screams under the windows of people who are about to die. This new book expands the original story by adding some background on the protagonist, and taking her on a grisly new adventure. If we can move five copies with this one I’ll feel like I’ve done my job.

Right now I’m working on a couple new things. One is a short film called The Salesman that I’ve written and will be directing. It’s a story about a gun salesman who sells a gun to the wrong guy. I’ve been a frustrated filmmaker for, what, 20 years?, so I thought it was time I finally got off my ass, stop talking about doing it and just fucking do it. Me and my partner are forming a small company and we’re hoping to start rolling by the middle of March.

And then there’s Godhead….

I mentioned Denis Bajram earlier; let me tell you how jealous I am of this guy for getting to do Universal War One, first in France, and now in America through Marvel. He’s doing exactly what I want to do, a big sprawling full color science-fiction epic. The difference is he’s clearly doing something right whereas I’m clearly doing something wrong. I first dreamed up this project in 2001; I started pitching it in 2002. I thought for sure I’d have the thing set up by 2003. I am writing this four days before the start of 2009—2009!—and I’m still trying to get it set up. The story’s about a corporation that creates a machine that allows the user to talk to god, and the Vatican-sanctioned commandos who are contracted to destroy it. It’s got robots and badasses with big guns. I’m dying to do this thing, it would be the first of three stories, just because everyone’s gotta have their trilogy. I’ve come very close to setting it up several times but I’ve never quite been able to close the deal. Right now I’m talking to a couple of publishers about doing it—I was hoping to get the word by now but unfortunately nothing ever moves swiftly as it pertains to my career.

Hopefully by the end of January I’ll know one way or the other. Regardless of what I hear from these people I’ve recently decided to just do the book, effective immediately. It’s already written, I just need to sit down and turn out the pages, which isn’t going to be an easy task because I’m painting the thing and it’s going to be 300 pages long. And since I’ll probably be doing it without the support of a publisher and thus won’t be making any money off it until it’s done, if then, it’ll probably take me a good five to ten years to complete, as opposed to the two it would take if the money were coming in. Which makes me a total mental case to even attempt something like this. But I’ll be certifiable if I don’t do it and get it out of my system so I better just do it and get it over with. And this’ll no doubt be my last comic. I’ve been in the field for a long, long time and the truth is I haven’t really managed to develop much of a fan or client base.

When I was starting out I knew—I mean I fucking knew I was going to have a successful career, and for the first few years everything went exactly according to plan. I had money and more importantly I had opportunities. But somewhere along the way I must have made a wrong turn because things haven’t gone the way I thought they were going to. My pitches always get rejected and there’s basically zero demand for my stuff—witness the amount of time I’ve been trying to get Godhead out there—so there’s no point in continuing past this project. Sorry to be a downer. And never say never of course, but just the same, I’m pretty sure after this one, that’s it. I don’t know, maybe I’ll be like Mario Puzo. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t until he was in his forties before he became successful, when he wrote The Godfather. I could be wrong about that but I know it didn’t come easy for him. I was always a bit of a late bloomer.

I also have to get out there and hustle up some paying work. I had a great year in 2008 and made enough money from my commercial work that I could do my own thing for a while and not have to look for a paying gig. But that cash is rapidly coming to an end so I needs to get myself a J-O-B. No doubt about it, 2009’s gonna be a grueling year.

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?

Well, in many ways I’m still an aspiring artist trying to break through to the next level so I’m not sure what advice I could give anyone that would be worth the taking. The best advice I could possibly offer is…GIVE UP NOW! Don’t become an artist, especially not a comic book artist! Put down your pen and find something responsible to do with your life. It’s next to impossible to make a living and more than likely you’ll have to accept rejection as your constant companion. Become a lawyer or a doctor or an accountant or something but do not, I repeat DO NOT become an artist! I wish someone had given me that advice when I was starting out because I’d be a happier guy now. But—if you’re determined to do it—just keep working and trying to get better. If it’s commercial success you crave, study what sells and try to emulate it. If it’s your unique artistic vision that motivates you just keep doing what you’re doing. If you’re serious you’re going to anyway, regardless of what me or anyone else has to say, negative or positive. And that’s really all I can say.

Short film featuring art by Ho Che Anderson

Buy Ho Che Anderson’s graphic novels at Fantagraphics or Amazon.
Check out his original art on sale at The Beguiling.

Dan Mumford answers 12 Questions about art

12 Questions With Dan Mumford
By JasonThibault

As a lifelong fan of poster and t-shirt art, I’m always on the lookout for new illustrators who work primarily in the music industry. Their range of interests and influences usually span a much broader range than fine artists or even comic book creators. I was blown away by Dan Mumford’s work as soon as I was introduced to it last year. Dan’s work has a timeless quality to it. There’s clearly inspiration drawn from the 1920′s, 70′s and yet his work still feels cutting edge.
Check out his Myspace page and his website
Onto the goods.

First professional work (piece / year) and a quick story behind it.

I guess the actual first professional piece would be the covers I did for two bands I was in about 5 or 6 years ago, Incoherence and Neverthemore. However that was more for myself and not really a client, so the first client based piece of work would have been for the original Gallows ‘Orchestra of Wolves Cover’ back in 2006. I worked on that with Alex Curtis from Thr33 design, neither of us got paid for it, but after the album did so well we obviously both got a lot of work out of it, including me getting to redo the album when it was re-released on Warners.

Are you self-taught or formally educated? (or mixture of both, mentors etc…)

I would say in the style I now work I am self educated, I went to University in Brighton to study illustration, but they didn’t really teach us how to work, more the ideas and concepts behind things, not the style.

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?

Well I used to do everything by pen and pencil followed by scanning in and playing around in Photoshop. Nowadays I do a lot completely in Photoshop, its a lot quicker and easier when I make mistakes, and as long as I can create my work in the same style then I’m happy with that.

Favorite brand of ink:

Well, when it comes to creating work. I don’t have a favourite. But when it comes to screen-printing, Speedball ink!

Type of paper:

Again, no favourite. For screen-printing I use GF smith paper a lot though.

Which artists or creators do you return to for a quick boost of inspiration? Who are the masters of ink?

Ahhh, well I have always thought Alfonse Mucha was pretty much a master, I absolutely adore the way he depicts the female form and his soft yet bold look. Frank Miller definitely as well, his use of black line is amazing. I have always been inspired by comic books of any sort from a young age, so I have a huge collection of graphic novels and the like that give me ideas! Apart from that I draw a lot from music and Cinema, basically anything that moves me generally gives me ideas and inspiration.

Once a client has handed off an illustration job to you, how do you first tackle the job? Could you give us a quick overview of your process?

Generally we throw ideas backwards and forwards, I draw some sketches up and we decide on the route that the project should take, generally there’s at least a week or two of solidifying an idea. I don’t like to work on anything until the client knows what to expect, otherwise you can end up wasting a lot of time. Following the decision on where the project should go ill start drawing stuff up and keep the client updated throughout the process all the way to the finished product.

What’s currently sitting in your mp3 / CD player / turntable?

Hmm, well I purchase far too much music, I guess right now I’m listening to the new Opeth album, Century ‘Black Ocean’, Porcupine Tree ‘Nil Recurring’, Veil Of Maya ‘The Common Mans Collapse’…and lots lots more, basically anything with excellent guitar work, shredding, solos and the such.

What’s hanging on your walls and what is your favorite piece of art that you own (not created by you)?

I actually don’t hang a lot on my walls at home, I keep them pretty bare so that being at home can be a release from work, that and I just moved so I haven’t got too comfortable yet in my room..but I do have a nice print by Tara Mcpherson up right now, that’s probably my favourite piece, her work always features these amazing women, and its a great screen-print from a Melvins show. In my studio I have a few bits here and there from various CDs with covers I like, to pieces of my work that I feel are my better ones, so that I can see the sort of line work I used on them etc, for comparison while I’m working basically! I also have a huge pile of old comic books my girlfriend got me that I’m working my way through, Marvel ones from the 80′s, amazing to look through.

Last novel you read and last movie that you saw (that you’d recommend)

Last Novel was probably number9dream, and that was a year or so ago, me and books have an on/off relationship it would seem, in fact that wasn’t the last book I read, but its definitely the last one to leave an impression. Very surreal narrative that goes all over the place and switches perspective all the time, really mind-bending at times, that was by David Mitchell, all his books are great. Last film I saw I’d recommend, haha..probably Ironman, I really enjoyed that! Hopefully the start of a beautiful franchise, I’m a real sucker for comic book films, its like bringing my childhood to life, so the last 8 years or so of adaptations have been great, I even like the bad ones like fantastic four and the hulk. Not in the cinema the last film I saw on DVD id recommend would be ‘The Devils Backbone’ but Guillermo Del Toro, before he did Hellboy or Pans Labyrinth, its the spiritual predecessor to that so its very interesting to watch.

Current and upcoming projects.

Currently doing the artwork for the new Evil Nine album ‘They Live’, along with three singles and campaign artwork. That’s fun as they aren’t really my usual client, they’re more dance/electro than anything, so that’s fun to be working on. Aside from that a lot of apparel for bands and various bits of merch work, lots to keep me busy!

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?

Keep going, its not easy, and a lot of people give up..but even if you have to work in your spare time whilst working a crappy job somewhere else, keep doing it and take any opportunity to get your artwork out there, work for free if you have to, nearly all exposure is good exposure, and eventually if you work at it and you’re good at what you do then you will get recognition!

Dan Mumford

Previous Masters of Ink:
Ryan Jones
Rufus Dayglo
Kody Chamberlain

Humanburger: 12 Questions With Ryan Jones

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

Previous Masters of Ink:

Rufus Dayglo

Kody Chamberlain

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