1. What initially drew you to comics?
Well, I grew up reading comics... they were 65 cents back then... stuff like X-Men, Gi-Joe etc. In any case, I always loved the medium.
After college, I would say that it was a confluence of happy accidents that got me into the industry. First and most importantly.... my brother was (and is) a colorist... and happened to be working on one of the biggest titles in the industry (Spawn). In any case, he started teaching me to color and I had a bit of an aptitude. My first printed pieces were just little panels that I'd do in stuff like Arcanum and maybe Kiss... I'm really not sure... there was a lot of TMP stuff, some Top Cow, etc.
I'm trying to figure out the timeline of events... but at the time Brian Haberlin was looking for colorists because he was starting Avalon studios (Stone, Hellcop etc.) and at the same time Joe Quesada had approached Brian to color the Marvel Knights lineup... which was going to be the first real digital coloring that Marvel had on their books. So Brian needed a bunch of colorists and I fell into the mix (lucky me!) Some of the other colorists who were working on titles were Laura Martin, Drew Posada, Ian Hannin, Andy Troy, Steve Oliff etc... some real talent. Anyway, I ended up with Inhumans, working with Jae Lee.... I don't know how that worked out or why... but that was the beginning of my comic career.
2. What do comics allow you to do as a creator?
An interesting question with several sides. First off, I'd say that there is something great about getting to do art for a living. It really allows your creative side to flourish... and many of those lessons carry on into other disciplines... music for example.
Now, as far as creative freedom goes, I would say that in comics, you're really working as a team... so there is a degree of freedom but also, you're expected to tell a particular story. So, as a colorist.... I'm basically the final guy in the chain (in terms of the artwork) to get this story to press... that means that there's deadline pressure etc. and that can really inform a lot of the decisions that you're going to make. Plus, it really helps (a lot!) when you've got a great editor and a creative team that are on the same page.
3. You've worked on some very notable titles and with some very popular characters -- any particularly positive experience you'd like to share about?
I'd say that the real positives come from working with great art and great people. I've been doing this 20+ years and have gotten to work with some really top talent.... plus I've gotten to color just about every character in the book, which is a lot of fun!
The list of artists I've had the opportunity to work with is just staggering, so I'd better not list them for fear of leaving people out.... but some of the books that I've really enjoyed working on are: Inhumans, Thor (the regular series & the Walt Simonson Omnibus), She-Hulk, Green Lantern, Spawn, 4 (Marvel Knights Fantastic Four series)... there are dozens of other titles but these stick out as being the ones I particularly enjoyed.
4. Where can we find more information about your work?
You can find me on Facebook, where I've recently started posting a lot... or my brother and I have a website: www.kempstudios.com