Tomorrow: Reptilis Rex!

Join us tomorrow as we interview William Tallman creator of Reptilis Rex!

-Mat
evanyeti.com

Web Artist Wednesday: Ellie on Planet X interview

Receiving transmission from Mission Control. --Commence broadcast of Ellie on Planet X interview with creator James Anderson--

1. For the poor souls not already reading, please give a brief synopsis of your comic.

Oh, those poor souls.

Decades ago a tiny robot named Ellie was sent to explore a newly discovered distant planet. After traveling light years she arrives not only to find it teeming with life, but intelligent life to boot. Some of it is friendly, some of it not so much. But she makes friends with the former and sets out to document everything she can about this alien world and its inhabitants. She then transmits her findings back to Mission Control here on Earth where they are uploaded to the internet for all to follow.

2. What materials and/or software do you use?

Ellie is completely digital. I pencil and ink in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro either on my tablet PC or my Cintiq. The larger, painterly looking areas of color are done with Corel Painter. Then it's back to Sketchbook Pro for highlights and other details, text, and balloons. All of the brushes I use are pretty much stock, although they may have been tweaked a little here and there.

3. Are there any books, movies, toys, artists, or authors that have inspired or continue to inspire your comic?

I'm always being inspired by something new, but I'd say my three big inspirations growing up were Star Wars, The Hobbit, and the comic strip Bloom County. Star Wars was such a huge thing - it was everywhere, and I devoured the comics and made up adventures with the toys...it was the first thing I saw that really showed me what an imagination could make. 

I had seen the Rankin/Bass animated tv special of the Hobbit and was immediately taken with the seemingly simple character of Bilbo who goes on a journey and comes back changed. Both Star Wars and The Hobbit also took place in super detailed worlds where you could look at a map or hear another planet's name and wonder what stories might take place there. I really enjoy the world building aspect of my strip. There's a lot going on behind the scenes.

Bloom County was the comic I read in high school. I loved how the strips were more about the characters than just set-ups for gags. Berke Breathed really made them endearing and unforgettable and I try to do that with the characters in my strip.

4. Are any of your characters based on real people in your life?

There are aspects of myself in all of them, but they aren't purposely based on anything about me. Friends say that Jeff is me and even looks like me, and I can be quite naive and dim at times. And yet every morning when I get up I'm feeling crotchety like Muffin. I wish I had Ellie's boundless energy, although I share her sense of curiosity. I suppose she's an amalgam of several spunky young kids I know...

5. Are there any actors you know you would want to play or voice certain characters in a movie of your comic?

I've only recently given this some thought and only because I thought it might be fun to animate one of the strips. I don't have actors in mind, but there are cartoon characters that sound like what my characters might. Ellie might talk like Buttercup from the Powerpuff Girls, but with a slight computery sound to her voice. Jeff is maybe Piglet from Winnie the Pooh without the stutter. And Muffin. . . Moe from the Simpsons.

6. What songs would you like in a soundtrack of your comic?

There's a song by the B52s called Roam. It has a line in it that goes "Rock it through the wilderness." I thought it said "Rocket through the wilderness," so that's the official unofficial theme song to Ellie On Planet X.

7. What is your overall goal for your comic?

I don't know. It doesn't really have a goal. Much like the comic itself I think it just needs to go off in whatever direction it needs to and lead me wherever it goes. It might open up other doors for different projects or, if I'm very very lucky, I think I would be happy drawing Ellie for a living. We'll see.

8. How has managing a comic impacted your life?

I know that It takes up a lot of time. It's also given me a framework around which I can do different kinds of projects. If I happen to feel like working on something else I ask myself how I might tie that back in to Ellie's world, whether it be about the planet she's exploring, or the people working back at Mission Control. Even my graphic art background gets exercised when I need a mission logo or do up a fake magazine spread.

I've also been lucky to meet a ton of really talented artists, great people, most just in the past few years I've been doing the strip. Plus, there's nothing like going to another city and meeting up with someone you've only met online and already knowing you've got tons in common.

9. What do you do to advertise your work?

Almost nothing. So far it's been word of mouth. Maybe I'll do something in the future. I haven't gotten around to figuring that whole thing out yet. 

10. Web comics can be very time consuming and sometimes expensive to keep up. Often there is little reward in regards to money and sometimes public attention. Why do you do it?

I have to. I have stuff inside that has to get out. I've had the basic idea for this comic in my head and in sketchbooks for over ten years. If I hadn't decided to turn those ideas into a comic strip I'd continue to draw them in my sketchbooks anyway just like before. And I'm liking what I'm doing (even though I hate everything I do). I've grown really attached to these characters. I can't imagine them not being around in some way, even if I had to give up doing the strip.

11. Got any other projects we should know about?

I'm slowly putting together a printed collection, though I'm planning something more than just a book full of strips. Hopefully that will be ready by the end of the year. I have other things in the works, but it's still too soon to tell.

12. What advice would you give to aspiring creators? 

All the cliches you've ever heard about following your dreams, or doing what you love...follow those. Even if they sound corny. Yeah, you might fail. Spectacularly. But you'll end up somewhere cooler than you would if you never try. That goes for doing a comic and everything else in life too.

Thanks for asking me to be a part of Web Artist Wednesday, Mat!

Jim

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Thank you Jim! I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for that printed collection :) 

For anyone interested in printing your comic I recommend KA-BLAM. I printed a test comic of Evan Yeti #1 through both KA-BLAM and Comixpress and found KA-BLAM far superior (although slightly more expensive) in turn around time and keeping true to the colors of my files.

Also here's a link to the Reddit webcomic page. You can find a link to this interview there. So if you dig the interview please up-vote the submission. Up-voting it will keep it on the front page of the webcomic category and expose it to more readers! So share your love of Ellie on Planet X and vote it up :D

Thanks for reading folks! Drop us a comment to let us know how you feel about the interview. Then follow Ellie as she explores Planet X!

-Mat

evanyeti.com

next week: Reptilis Rex!

If you would like to be interviewed about your web-comic send an email to evanyeti@yahoo.com titled "interview" with a link to your comic.

Tomorrow's Ellie interview!

Drop by tomorrow as we interview James Anderson creator of Ellie on Planet X!

-Mat

evanyeti.com

Web Artist Wednesday: Masked Manor interview

All your favorite monsters have gathered in one place- Masked Manor! Ruben Moreno takes us on a tour of the inner workings of the manor and it's occupants.

1. For the poor souls not already reading, please give a brief synopsis of your comic.

Masked Manor is the story of a good-hearted vampire named Boris Brandenblood and his quirky supernatural friends, including a crafty witch-in-training named Meg and an ancient Egyptian ex-architect named Immie. Boris wants nothing more than to be able to enjoy the comfort of his manor in peace, but old rivals and extradimensional forces keep conspiring to overthrow him and take possession of the grounds. How Boris and his friends fight back, as well as the secrets they learn about each other, are the main forces that drive the comic forward. Podcaster Lee Grice once described it as "the classic Universal movie monsters meet Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

2. What materials and/or software do you use?

I work entirely in Photoshop with a Wacom Bamboo, and I save all my originals at 600 DPI.

3. Are there any books, movies, toys, artists, or authors that have inspired or continue to inspire your comic?

My first inspiration was Jim Davis. As a kid I owned nearly every Garfield Treasury. As I got older and webcomics became an actual thing, I guess I took inspiration from the first big webcomics like PvP, Penny Arcade, Starslip and so on. Starslip in particular fascinated me because it was an example of a daily gag strip that could also simultaneously tell a long-form story. So that was instrumental for me because it informed the form of what I would eventually do with Masked Manor. As for the content and the style, I've been a big fan of Halloween for a long time, and Masked Manor was born after a series of yearly Halloween parties that my wife and I had been throwing. I'm also a big fan of spoofs and comedic adventure films and stories, as well as high adventure with funny bits thrown in -- stuff like Hitchhiker's Guide, Galaxy Quest, the first two modern Mummy films. I'm really just a big geek, so all the amazing modern fantasy and sci-fi flicks (and games) are constant inspirations for me.

4. Are any of your characters based on real people in your life?

There may be traces of the personalities of friends and family members in some characters, but I think my characters are probably closer to representing fractured facets of my own personality. There's a little bit of me in each of my characters.

5. Are there any actors you know you would want to play or voice certain characters in a movie of your comic?

I have a real hard time imagining voices that would correspond to my characters, especially because the fans probably have their own ideas about what they sound like. The closest I think we got to any idea that really stuck was assigning John Astin (the original Gomez Addams) as the voice of Belizariuus. I think the supporting characters might be easier to cast, since the lead roles carry a little more emotional weight and might be tough to cast without someone piping up and saying, "Hey! That's totally not what Boris should sound like!"

6. What songs would you like in a soundtrack of your comic?

It's funny, because there are little tidbits in some of the character bios on the website about some of the characters' favorite bands. Boris listens to Rush. Meg likes Muse. Lenny digs Coheed and Cambria, and Animals as Leaders. I think there might be songs that fit certain sequences, or might be appropriate themes for certain characters, but those would probably be incidental, in the way that maybe a character is actually listening to that song on a car radio or something. If we're talking about a movie soundtrack type of thing, I'd go with more classically inspired orchestral stuff befitting a farcical horror / Egyptian / fantasy adventure flick.

7. What is your overall goal for your comic?

At some point, when I've been doing it long enough and earned a big and loyal enough audience -- and if I'm lucky -- it'd be nice to make this my day job. Maybe my work will be split between two or three comics at that point. Who knows. But I'd love to be able to say that I make comics and tell stories for a living. Right now, even as I'm in my third year, I'm still in my "earning my stripes" phase.

8. How has managing a comic impacted your life?

It has affected my life profoundly. I still have a day job, so everything I do related to Masked Manor has to fit in after I've gotten home from work, had dinner, played with my daughter, and put her to bed. I have to balance it with spending time with my wife and actually doing recreational things -- because while making comics is fun, it's also work, and you need frequent breaks from that to make sure that you don't get burned out. It's really like walking a tightrope. You have to constantly work to keep things in balance. You don't want to disappoint your readers, but you also don't want to develop health problems due to sleep deprivation, or ignore your personal life.

9. What do you do to advertise your work?

I've run ad campaigns on Project Wonderful in the past. It's something I need to get back to doing regularly. Also, Facebook and Twitter are invaluable and I update there as much as possible. I've started to go to conventions this year so that also helps with word of mouth.

10. Web comics can be very time consuming and sometimes expensive to keep up. Often there is little reward in regards to money and sometimes public attention. Why do you do it?

I want to have something to show off in ten or twenty or thirty years, for my kids (and their kids) and my family in general. But I'd also like to think that at some point, this comic (and/or any other comics I create in the future) will start to pull enough weight to support me full-time. It's a marathon, not a sprint. So I'm committed to keep on keeping on. I do it because I can, and because I think other people will enjoy reading it. I think the bottom line is that I'm addicted to telling stories.

11. Got any other projects we should know about?

Not at this time. But as far as this project goes, I did just release the first printed volume of Masked Manor. So keep an eye on the website, because I'll be unveiling my online store soon!

12. What advice would you give to aspiring creators? 

First, do it because you love it, not because you think it'll make you money. It might make you money, but that's down the road, and it won't work unless you really do love what you're doing and are committed to it.

Second, don't be afraid to go back to the drawing board. Your first comic might not be a hit, but your second might. Always keep improving and expanding your repertoire. Learn from more talented people; at some point, someone less talented will learn from you. Keep that cycle going.

Third, try to strike a balance between preparation and improvisation. Don't spend so much time preparing that you never get out there, but do try to cover some of your bases before you start. As an example, when I started the comic, I knew that I wanted to eventually put it into printed book form, so from day one, all my comic strip layouts conformed to the dimensions of the book that I would eventually print. If you pick up Masked Manor Volume 1, and you read through the strips, they all appear back to back and none of them had to be reformatted or resized or chopped and spliced. It saved me a ton of time and made laying out the book a snap. So, it does pay to be prepared.

And fourth: Have fun! (This goes back to doing it because you love it.)

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Thanks Ruben! Now that you mention it, I can really see the Jim Davis influence :)

Alright readers and reader-etts, Thanks as always for stopping by. Drop us a comment to let us know what you think! Then be sure to explore the manor yourself at Masked Manor!

-Mat

evanyeti.com

If you would like to be interviewed about your web-comic send an email to evanyeti@yahoo.com titled "interview" with a link to your comic.

Vacation's over!

We're back in business! Thanks for your patience during our vacation now it's time to dive back in. We started the week off right with a fresh posting of page 81 of Evan Yeti which shows Evan once again paying the price for his irrational (though understandable) temper tantrums.


Then lined up for this Wednesdays Web Artist interview we have Ruben Moreno creator of Masked Manor!

So check out Evan Yeti today and drop back in this Weds. for the Masked Manor interview!


-Mat
evanyeti.com

Time off!

Hello all sorry for the late update today but I decided I didn't want to post an interview on July 4th in case the views would be lower. I didn't want to rob anyone of potential exposure by posting their interview on a holiday. 


I'll also be taking the Weds. of the 11th off too. So the next Web Artist Wednesday will post July 18th. Ruben Moreno creator of Masked Manor is the first interview I'd like to post when we return on the 18th. So While you wait please check out any comics from interviews you mighta' missed. Then treat yourself to Masked Manor and we'll see you in a couple weeks for the interview!


-Mat
evanyeti.com

Web Artist Wednesday: The Specialists interview

When Hitler uses super humans, the Allies recruit The Specialists! Writer Shawn Gustafson and Artist Al Fukalek team up to discuss their World War 2 action-drama. 

1. For the poor souls not already reading, please give a brief synopsis of your comic.

The Specialists is the story of an alternate-history WWII with super-soldiers. Using an occult artifact, the Nazis have created a team of super-powered Übermenschen. The Americans respond by making their own team of atomic-powered super-soldiers and these are our protagonists. It’s basically an ensemble period drama with superpowers.

2. What materials and/or software do you use?

Shawn: Nothing fancy on my end. I write the scripts in Google Docs because it makes it really easy to share and collaborate on files. We run our site on WordPress with the ComicPress theme.

Al: I use a drafting pencil and 11"x17" comic boards to draw each page. Once a page is scanned in, I use Photoshop for layout, lettering, and coloring.

3. Are there any books, movies, toys, artists, or authors that have inspired or continue to inspire your comic?

Shawn: My biggest influences are Alan Moore and George R.R. Martin. They are both able to create complex, morally ambiguous characters. I love that they can make you root for characters like Tyrion Lannister (from Martin’s Ice and Fire books) or Rorschach (from Moore’s Watchmen), neither of which is a clear-cut “good guy”. That’s something that I’m trying to emulate with our characters, many of which are quite flawed.

Also, both Watchmen and the Wildcards book series, which Martin edits, are fascinating visions of how the existence of super-powered people might impact the real world, and that’s the kind of thing we’re trying to do with The Specialists.

Al: My list of influences is a mile long. The short list would have to include: Jack Kirby, Bill Watterson, Bruce Timm, J.C. Leyendecker, Alan Davis, Norman Rockwell, and Edward Hopper. I enjoy reading Silver and Bronze Age Marvel comics whenever I can.

4. Are any of your characters based on real people in your life?

Just historical figures like Adolf Hitler and Harry Truman.

5. Are there any actors you know you would want to play or voice certain characters in a movie of your comic?

We actually had a two-part discussion about this in our blog (http://thespecialistscomic.com/casting-call-part-1/ and http://thespecialistscomic.com/casting-call-part-2/). My favorites were Josh Holloway (Sawyer from Lost) as Luke and Jason Schwartzman (Max Fischer from Rushmore) as Max, though he’s too old now. Also, I just thought of one that hadn’t occurred to me before: Joel McHale (From Community and The Soup) as Henry.

6. What songs would you like in a soundtrack of your comic?

Shawn: Since The Specialists is a period piece, I’d want the kind of music that was popular in the 1940s. Songs like Bi Mir Bist Du Schoen or Sing, Sing, Sing, or other standards from that era.

Al: My one and only choice to compose the soundtrack would be Thomas Newman.

7. What is your overall goal for your comic?

We have an epic, three-act story in mind for The Specialists. At our current pace, it will take us years to complete, but if we can tell our whole story, I’ll consider the project a great success.

8. How has managing a comic impacted your life?

Shawn: It’s given me something to focus my creative energies on. I’ve puttered around with different projects over the years, most of which never got off the ground, so it’s nice to have a big, ongoing project to dedicate myself to.

Also, it’s helped Al and me keep in touch. Al is one of my oldest friends, but we’ve been separated geographically for years. Before we started working on The Specialists, we’d go weeks or even months without talking. Now, we exchange emails almost every day and speak on the phone once a week. That alone has made the whole thing worthwhile.

Al: What Shawn said. Also, since my part of the process is more time-intensive, it's important to manage the time I spend working on The Specialists. I work full-time and so have just a limited number of hours in a week to create each page. It can be a challenge to maintain my focus and energy week in and week out, but it's important to the both of us to keep a consistent update schedule and never miss a week.

9. What do you do to advertise your work?

We make use of social networking sites, like Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. We are also signed up on webcomic listings and aggregators like Top Web Comics and InkOutbreak. And we occasionally run campaigns through Project Wonderful, which is very effective.

10. Web comics can be very time consuming and sometimes expensive to keep up. Often there is little reward in regards to money and sometimes public attention. Why do you do it?

Shawn: When Al and I first started working on this project, the ideas just seemed to tumble out of us and fall into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. As someone who struggles with creativity, it would be a shame to squander an idea that I find so inspiring. I just love our characters and want to see their story told.

Al: I just enjoy creating--drawing especially, but also crafting the story and characters. To me, the process is the most important part, the most fun. It's important to produce the best comic that we possibly can, but the finished product is almost secondary to the experience of creation. That's not to say that isn't immensely gratifying to hear from readers who dig what we're doing and have decided to follow what we're doing because they enjoy it.

11. Got any other projects we should know about?

We are part of two webcomic collectives. The Webcomic Pioneers (http://www.facebook.com/webcomic.pioneers) is a group of Colorado-based creators whose aim is to promote the creation of webcomics and provide guidance to fledgling creators. The Collective of Heroes (http://www.collectiveofheroes.net/) is devoted to superhero comics.

We are also contributing to an anthology called Untold Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan, volume 2, which is produced by Heroes Fallen Studios (http://www.heroesfallenstudiosinc.org/). Proceeds from that book will go toward veterans’ aid organizations.

12. What advice would you give to aspiring creators? 

Shawn: Don’t start a webcomic hoping to make big bucks. If you’re going to do it, you have to enjoy the work itself.

Establish a regular release schedule, whatever that may be, and stick to it. It’s better to start slow and speed up than to over-commit and end up having to cut back on your frequency. Build and maintain a buffer to avoid unexpected delays.

Take advantage of all the free methods the Internet provides to get your name out there. Use social networking sites, message boards, whatever it takes. You can’t wait for traffic to come to you. You have to go get it. If you’re willing and able to spend a little money, give Project Wonderful a try, but use those free resources first.

Al: Be committed to what you’re doing. Don't half-ass it. Put all the effort and passion that you can muster into the creation. Readers won't care about the story that you just slap together.

And most importantly: don't suck. The Internet is full of lousy webcomics. Whatever your part is--writing, drawing, lettering, coloring--take the time to learn your craft and polish your work. Doing something well requires time and effort and practice. No one's going to pay attention to crap. Not for very long anyway.

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Thanks Guys. Great answers and great comic!

How do you feel about The Specialists, Shawn and Al's answers, the questions or additional questions you'd like to see in the future. If you don't have anything clever to say, please check the funny, interesting, or cool boxes at the bottom to let us know you were here. 

As always thanks for reading. Now do your duty and read The Specialists updates Mondays!

-Mat

evanyeti.com

Next Weds.- Masked Manor by Ruben Moreno!

If you would like to be interviewed about your web-comic send an email to evanyeti@yahoo.com titled "interview" with a link to your comic.