1. Please tell us what it is about the comics/visual storytelling medium that draws you?
Mostly it's the fact that I like to tell stories and I like to draw. At a basic level it is a good fit for my interests and abilities. Another factor, at least initially, is the low barrier to entry. Pen, paper, photocopier and I had made my first mini comic (this was pre-internet). Up to a point there are no gatekeepers, so the DIY aspect appeals to me.
I enjoy the process of making a book, overseeing it from first idea through to cover design. It's a medium that demands a lot, not just workload, but having to grapple with many different elements: story, dialogue, character, drawing people and animals, bringing them to life, locations and backgrounds, clothes, atmosphere, pacing and rhythm...the list goes on. It appears simple on the surface, but the complexity increases the more you study.
If it was easy I would get bored, but there is always more to learn and ways to improve.
2. Your style seem detailed and complex — what is your creative process like?
I let each book dictate the style of the art. The 'style' is only the top layer, the skin on top of the bones and muscle. Style is also the way in which an author chooses to tell their story. Page and panel layouts, caption boxes and thought bubbles, are all aspects of style, which for me, is dictated by the type of story.
For The Book Tour the art was described as 'simple' or minimalist. I disagree, but yes, compared to Geof Darrow, there is much less detail. I put a lot of thought into the tempo and rhythm of the panels, the dialogue and how the characters are speaking.
On my next book, a middle grade fantasy called Punycorn, there are epic battles and massive armies. The emphasis is less on dialogue and rhythm and more on detail. Sometimes you have to knuckle down and draw the fantasy army to give a book a sense of scale. It all depends on the tone and emphasis of the book.
3. How do you view comics within the span of art and literature?
It's a great medium. It's flexible, just look at all the different kinds of books that are labelled as a 'graphic novel' even though many are non-fiction. It works differently to prose, cinema and poetry, but is their equal. It's also resilient. For a long time in the English speaking world it has been considered for kids or idiots. It has suffered a lot of cultural stigma, but continues to develop and has gained recognition. It has also been hampered by an industry that has routinely exploited artists and writers, driving them to other media. Perhaps it will always be considered a niche and has earned it's dubious reputation, but it continues to surprise and if I didn't always back the underdog I wouldn't have chosen a career in comics.
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