Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Web Artist Wednesday: Commander Kitty interview

Once again we take a gander at the mad mind of an artist at work. This Weds. we interview Scotty Arsenault creator of Commander Kitty





1. For the poor souls not already reading, please give a brief synopsis of your comic. 
Commander Kitty is a daring space adventurer who doesn't play by the rules. Mostly the rule that says "you have to be daring and go on adventures to be a space adventurer".



He has a crew of complete misfits who couldn't adventure their way out of a space paper bag. 
CK meets up with a fellow spacer named Nin Wah who might be as big a faker as he is, but neither one wants to tip the other off, lest they discover they're both complete numphs.
Of course they find themselves mixed up with a megalomaniacal android babe who wants to take over the galaxy!

2. What materials and/or software do you use?
CK is done 100% in Photoshop. I work on a 2nd gen Cintiq 21" tablet.





3. Are there any books, movies, toys, artists, or authors that have inspired or continue to inspire your comic?
I usually fall back on Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai when I need inspiration. Stan is my hero. Also graphic novels like Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind by H Miyazaki and Buddha by Osama Tezuka.


My early inspirations were Pogo by Walt Kelly and anything Carl Barks created.
I am an enormous MST3K nerd.
I listen to a lot of progressive rock like Yes, Rush and Frank Zappa, but recently I've found I work better when I don't listen to anything while I work.

4. Are any of your characters based on real people in your life?
Just about everyone in the comic is an alter ego of mine. Which is probably why it's not so popular. 

5. Are there any actors you know you would want to play or voice certain 
characters in a movie of your comic?
CK himself has got a little Rowan Atkinson in him, especially his Blackadder character. Just a complete self-centered rascal. But CK appears to be warming up a little in his own way.


I also have envisioned Frank Conniff to voice Lieutenant Mittens. A perfect match!

6. What songs would you like in a soundtrack of your comic?
Anything with lots of theremin music and a few Brian May guitar solos mixed in.


7. What is your overall goal for your comic?
I am trying to compile the strips in a book, but it is going slowly. That'd be fine with me. I've had T-shirts, buttons and pins to sell, but they didn't go over so well. Book first, then other things.

8. How has managing a comic impacted your life?
It's given me something to do. Hasn't impacted my life as much as I'd hoped, really.


9. What do you do to advertise your work?
Just Project Wonderful and word of mouth. I've tried things like Scribol and inkOutbreak, and those countless "Vote For This Comic" things, but they don't bring in all that much traffic. 

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?
The less I contemplate that, the better I'll be. Labor of love.

11. Got any other projects we should know about?
When CK finishes, I want to begin a sort of prequel to the CK universe. A story that tells how "spacers" came to be in the first place. Something that lets me put a bit more drama in if I want. I often feel my weird humor isn't catching on with people, so maybe I should try something different.




12. What advice would you give to aspiring creators? 
Don't pay anyone for advice on how to make a comic. It's possible to follow all the rules and still FAIL. Just do your thing. 


And make sure your characters swear a lot, play video games and dress in skimpy outfits if you want to be popular.
See you in the funnies!
Scotty A


Some great input and entertaining answers. Thanks for your time Scotty!


So what do you think? Leave us some comments below to tell us how you feel about Commander Kitty, Scotty'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. 


Thanks for reading! Now head on over to http://www.commanderkitty.com/ and see what trouble CK has gotten himself into now!

-Mat

Next Weds.- Super Massive Black Hole A* by Ben Chamberlain!

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.

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