In
Part 1 we learned about Erik and his family. Today he answers questions about his career, which I must say is quite impressive. At my house we have personal experience with the quality of Erik’s comics. My son Drew is definitely a fan of
Stone Rabbit.
How and when did you become a comic book author?
I did comics on and off throughout the years. I even started self-publishing my work in the spring of 2002. But I didn’t gain the official title of “author” until recently, with the publishing of the first Stone Rabbit book in January of 2009.
What kind of projects have you done besides comics?
Lots. I’ve worked on movies (animation work for the movie Duplex), television shows (the Venture Brothers) and a plethora of smaller productions for numerous studios throughout the tri-state area. Basically, it was a “have sword, will travel” kind of mentality with me for at least a good fours years, as I made my way up the ranks in the commercial art world. Now I just work for myself and do whatever it is I feel like doing.
How do you get ideas for comic book stories?
Inspiration is everywhere with me. I get inspired by books and video games, by music and movies, by my dreams and aspirations, and by both the profound and mundane events of my everyday life. Although I do find that my best ideas by far typically come out of left field and when I least expect it. It’s like lightning, really. And just like lightning, you’ll never know when or where it will strike. But when it does, trust me, you’ll know.
Describe the creative process: do you work on a team? How long does it typically take?
Nope, it’s all me. I’m a one man army corps. I don’t have a team doing the art because (1) I don’t have enough money to pay anyone else, and (2) I’m worried that all they’d do is slow me down or gum up the process if I did. I used to work with others earlier on when I was working in studios and when I was doing Freelance Illustration. But I found in those situations that either I did all of the work, or they’d botch things up so badly that I’d have to spend twice as long untangling their mess than if I had just done it myself the first time around. Moral of the story; if you want things done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.
As for the creative process… that’s a tough one to narrow down, let alone describe. It’s like asking what it’s like to play Super Mario Brothers. There are a hundred different ways to play Super Mario Brothers. But at the end of the day it’s all about saving the princess and not getting killed while trying to do so. I guess another way to say it, is that it’s unique to the individual and the moment/situation. Although I do have a typical approach I take whenever I work on a new book. And that’s this:
Idea* –> Outline* –> Character Designs* –> Layouts* –>Final Art*.
*With revisions thrown in for good measure/fun! YAY!!!
Idea:
Obviously, the inception of the process. I try to dream up what it is I’d like to be working on over the next three to six months (dinosaurs, pirates, outer space, ninjas, superheroes, etc…) This is important, because if you’re uninspired/bored with the material, it will show up BIG TIME on the final product. You have to be charged, ready, and willing to take on whatever concept you want to grow/ play out in the work. So make sure it’s something you want to do, or else it’s going to be a VERY long and grueling ordeal.
Although my books have no plot formula per se, I like to follow this basic structure:
Genre + moral = book
Although, a further breakdown is this:<
Genre + characters
___________________ X moral + awesome artwork = 1 Heck of a book
villains + odds of losing
Something I always like to do is make my villains smarter and more capable than my heroes, and also have the cards stacked in their favor. This makes it so the heroes have a MUCH harder time of taking down the bad guy than in a typical story, and thus makes it much more exciting to the reader.
Outline:
I have a different method than most when it comes to making my books. Many people, when they write for comics, either write like they’re writing a screenplay, or they write panel to panel. I abandon both methods, because it creates inflexibility in the work, destroys spontaneity, and interferes with both storytelling and comedic timing.
Instead, I use an outline method. It’s tougher in some respects, but easier in others. It’s tougher because most of the book is still undefined in terms of key character dialogue. Sure, you have story flow, but not character interaction. This is done on purpose, as I leave that for when I do layouts. What the outline does do is provide a basic road map for the book. You know how it begins, you know how it will end, and you have a basic run down of the key events that play throughout the book. Once that’s been approved, I can move on to the next stage of the process, Character Designs.
Character Designs:
You can write all you want, but you’re going to need illustrations in order for it to be called a comic book, right? So long before you get to creating some of those, you’ll need to figure out just what it is all of those characters you’ll be drawing will look like, first. Now, me, I take a very unusual approach with my characters. Many cartoonists out there never change their characters or their settings. Instead what they do is either change the situation, or the dialogue (think Peanuts, Dilbert, and Cathy for example). Me, personally, I find this to be far too constricting. Rather than thinking of my characters as characters, I think of them more like actors (like Calvin and Hobbes) and in each story, they play a different role. However, they play the role as their character. What does this mean? Costumes, and lots of them!
I love lampooning material. So when I do, I research the heck out of it. I also tend to give a silent nod to the core material I’m pulling from by making minor similarities in my own work. For example; SR, Andy, Henri, Judy, and Milton, are VERY similar to the Justice League, but with my own unique spin on it. Also, the pirates in book 2 are very close to Captain Nemo’s crew from 20,000 leagues under the sea, as well as the crew in Moby Dick. And the costumes used in book 3 are very similar to those found in Flash Gordon, Space Ace, and Star Wars.
Ultimately, it is my own work, so I do bring my own vision/flare to the table (and it’s probably why I still have a job). But I like to think of it this way. My job is not to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it’s to make sure that the car goes over 4,000 MPH.
Layouts:
Once character designs have been approved, along with the outline, and the planets are in their proper alignment, then I can begin forging away at the layouts. This is the real craft of the book, and where all the “magic” happens. The reason why I hold off with most of the dialogue until I reach this point is so I have a perfect marriage of action and words. See, if I wrote the dialogue and then did the art, odds are there would be a conflict sooner or later. As in, there are either too few or too many words. Not to mention, that maybe a few words (a clever quip, or observation) could be added to create more comedic punch to a situation. So my ultimate goal in layout is to provide under drawings for the final art, but more importantly than that, is to create dialogue that matches said art perfectly.
Another reason I prefer the outline method over the panel breakdown/ screenplay method, is because the thing most writers out there fail to realize is that words equal space. So the more words you have a character say, the less art you’ll be able to fit on a page. Sure, you can shrink the text, but this will only cause eye-strain for the reader, and may cause them to put down the book and look elsewhere. Plus, it also interferes with visual composition and panel flow. No, a good book is all about balance. It needs to have just enough story to move it forward, but enough art to make it both a scenic and memorable drive for the reader.
Final Art:
Final art, believe it or not, is not a whole lot of brain work. My main concentration at this point is just concentrating on creating clean lines, jazzy colors, and making sure everything ties together nicely. Basically, I do my inking, coloring and lettering all at the same time. The problem is that this takes time… lots of time. It’s one thing to scribble in a crowd scene in layout form. It’s another thing to sit there and define every single member of said crowd. You need to have the patience of a saint and the steady hands of a surgeon in order to get the kind of results that I do in my work. Typically, it takes me anywhere from 1 – 12 days to finish one page of art, depending on the complexity of the work. But since I work en masse (meaning I work on multiple pages, simultaneously), I usually finish 12 – 15 pages every 1 ½ – 2 weeks, and I typically spend 2 – 3 months on final art for a book. A few weeks of revisions/post art work afterwards, and BLAMMO! I’ve got another book to add to my bookshelf!
What type of hardware and software do you use?
Sorry dude, trade secret. Maybe in a couple of years I’ll let the cat out of the bag, but right now I have a competitive edge. Besides, only my golden retriever Duke knows the secret family recipe, and he ain’t talking!
Wow, I think I’ll leave the cartooning to the professionals. Thanks Erik for all of the information. It is definitely interesting. If you haven’t yet be sure and pick up a copy of one of his latest Stone Rabbit publications.
In Part 3 I ask Erik about what we can expect from him in the future. If you enjoyed this story please sure to let me know if the comments.
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