CHOGRIN Interview with THINGS TO DO IN LA

 

Check out the full article by clicking the image above or by clicking HERE

(http://www.ttdila.com/2011/09/chogrin-burns-brightly-in-autumn_15.html)

USA TODAY VIDEO INTERVIEW

Check it out! USA TODAY picked only FOUR artists to interview at comic con. I was the one of them. They did a great job of editing out how nervous I was. I’m really stoked on this.

An Interview w/ Artist Paul Maybury

This week's clubhouse guest is none other than Paul Maybury, an artist who's seen his fair share of shake-ups but nonetheless has continued to persevere-- blazing a trail across the comics medium in the vein of Sam Keith, Ashley Wood, and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Currently living in Austin, Maybury tale begins back in his hometown of Boston- a place he's come back to with his ongoing web comic, Party Bear. He's had work published by the "Big 3" (Marvel, DC, Image), but still fits just as comfortably in the pages of any indie book.

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Interview w/ Cartoonist Sam Hiti

A bonafide creative inspiration to his professional peers, with fans ranging from Mike Mignola to Guy Davis, Sam Hiti's unmistakable heavy ink wash style has carved himself a definite niche in the indie comics field.

Beyond that, however, Hiti possesses the ability to bring readers into altogether foreign realities full of monsters, aliens, and giant, evil Orb creatures. His works are often so densely packed with visual information that one could spend hours pouring over just a few pages picking out random background details. Thankfully the artist was nice enough to offer a few moments of his time to answers a few questions.

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Kick Arse Cartoons: An Interview w/ Mukpuddy Animation Studio

I fell a bit behind in sharing some of our latest artist interviews from the clubhouse, so I'm back to make amends with this awesome feature of Mukpuddy-- a great group of guys! As members of the Autumn Society most of you are probably well aware of who they are and the mind-blowingly crazy cartoons they produced, but for the uninitiated I offer this peek inside the Mukpuddy studios:

How did the name Mukpuddy come about?

We lived with an undiscovered pygmy tribe for 6 years- they treated us like Gods. As we left, they placed their tiny hands on our shoulders and looked to the stars and cried “MUKPUDDY!” and it was so… man, imagine if that were true?! That would be quite a story to tell folks, better than “we took a bunch of words, muddled them up until we found a new word that sounded “cool” which is, in fact, the actual story.

How many “Muks” are there? How do you decide who does what?

There are 3 of us. We came together in 1998 at our animation school in New Zealand and have stuck together ever since. As far as who does what we each have our strengths; Alex’s being character design/backgrounds/layout, Tim with technical things and music/editing and animation and Ryan with writing, voices and animation. But at the end of the day we all do everything so it’s quite hard to give one person credit for a particular aspect of a project, early on we decided that Mukpuddy would be the name that gets the credit.

Click here to continue reading...

I've been fueled!!

I've been interviewed by the awesome Rondal Scott!! Please click HERE or on the images below to check it out! Let me know what you think, guys!.

And once again, thanks a lot Rondal! :D

Art by German Orozco

Exploring Outer Space: An Interview w/ Malachi Ward

When I first discovered Malachi Ward’s work on the fantastic blog, Tennis vs The Apocalypse, little did I realize that his repetiore went far beyond undead-themed sporting events. In truth, Malachi’s true talents lie much deeper in exploring the vast unknown of space and all of the sci-fi tropes that come with it. Hailing from South Pasadena, CA, Malachi’s worked has been featured by Top Shelf 2.0, numerous blogs, and received some of the finest quality self-published treatment I’ve seen in some time. I was able to catch up with the artist between preparing for an art show this March and his next book, Expansion Part Two.

Malachi is also a contributor to our upcoming Strange Kid Anthology project (his piece can be seen above) that should be dropping this March featuring some of our favorite clubhouse guests of 2010 including some new faces such as Mike Geiger, Jon David Guerra, Dragan Kovacevic and even The Autumn Society's very own Chogrin! More details on that coming soon...

For the full interview, check out Fuel Your Illustration: Exploring Outer Space: An Interview w/ Malachi Ward

Interview w/ Character Designer Ben Camberos

After a few months of self-imposed sabbatical, I return to the halls of Fuel Your Illustration and illustrator Ben Camberos joins me for my first interview back behind the Co-Editor's seat. Camberos, whose worked has graced marketing materials for bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, also happens to have a penchant for drawing pretty ladies and movie monsters (two of my favorite things).

For the full interview, check out Fuel Your Illustration: An Interview w/ Character Artist Ben Camberos

Interview w/ Ethan Nicolle, Co-Creator of ‘Axe Cop’

In just under a year’s time Ethan Nicolle and his brother, Malachai, have managed to take an obscure, whimsical idea and turn it into an actual internet phenomena. Featuring a bizarre cast of heroes, antiheroes, villains, dinosaurs, robots, ninjas, and generally anything else the duo can dream up; Axe Cop celebrated its one year anniversary yesterday (January, 25th) with the announcement of a live action Axe Cop short!

To celebrate we’ve got an exclusive interview with one half of the mad genius that helped make it possible, Ethan Nicolle!

For the full interview, check out Strange Kids Club: Interview w/ Ethan Nicolle, Co-Creator of ‘Axe Cop’

SKC Exclusive: Interview w/ Cartoonist Bob Flynn

As an accomplished cartoonist, Bob Flynn is a master at tapping in to that creative eight-year old lurking inside himself to create some of the most oddball and zany comics I’ve seen in a long time. Alongside his cohorts at Heeby Jeeby Comix, Flynn is spreading his special brand of light-hearted laughter with the masses both online and off.

Under the alias of Jinx the Monkey, Flynn has also produced a number of short cartoons that cannot help to evoke the heyday of the Nickelodeon empire (most likely a product of his time with Nick Magazine). To shed a little light on the man behind the monkey, Flynn agreed to join us here at the clubhouse for a chat.

Read the full interview at the ALL NEW Strange Kids Club!

SKC Exclusive: Interview w/ Sean Szeles, Storyboard Artist on 'Flapjack' and 'Regular Show'

He's worked on a string of fan favorite animated show including El Tigre, The Misadventures of Flapjack, The Drinky Crow Show and Regular Show, but would you believe his dream job was once delivering pizzas? Lucky for us he fell back on his insane artistic skills which have helped Cartoon Network's latest 'toon (Regular Show) earn a nomination for an Annie Award for Best Childrens' Television Production. Not too shabby.

When he's not busy writing songs or directing short films, Szeles enjoys taking care of stray cats, sketching, making with the funny and sipping Kool-aid from complete strangers. Good thing too, cause we just brewed a fresh gallon!

Read the full interview at Strange Kids Club.

Jim Bradshaw Interview - PhillyIST

I was featured at the PhillyIST last week. You can click here to read the entire interview.

Bobby O'Herlihy Interview over @ McJawn

Our very own Bobby O'herlihy is currently featured as the UP-AND-COMING Illustrator for December over @ McJawn. Check out the full interview by clicking the image below:

Interview w/ Dan Hipp, Creator of GYAKUSHU! and Amazing Joy Buzzards

As both a fanboy and creator of some of the comic world's sleeper hits, illustrator Dan Hipp harnesses his quick wit and a knowledge of nerd-pedia to craft some of the most meaningful and punk-rock stories I've ever read.

Dan's biggest work to date, GYAKUSHU! offers an in-depth experience with a tale of bitter revenge that takes its cue from classic films such as Star Wars and Frankenstein. Sprawling 3 complete volumes, the third of which has been recently made available, GYAKUSHU! packs in more punch both visually and from a writing standpoint than most books on stands today by well-established creators. Hipp took some time away from his crazy, monster-hunting, samurai killing, rock'n'roll adventures to grants us a glimpse into his mad, mad world.

Continue reading the full interview...

JOEY FLY PRIVATE EYE 2 - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW & FEATURE!

The Autumn Society recently had the pleasure to review Joe Fly Private Eye 2 (In Big Hairy Drama), written by Aaron Reynolds & illustrated by Neil Numberman.

The book is a fun blend of humor, noir, mystery solving, and of course bugs! A perfect formula for a graphic novel for kids!

Aaron and Neil were super nice enough to answer some questions about the new book and their creative process in this exclusive Autumn Society interview. Aaron & Neil will also be visiting the blog frequently, so please feel free to leave comments or ask any questions you have for them.

INTERVIEW...

What a scoop! (Interview by Chogrin)

What first inspired you to be an artist / writer?
Neil: Probably the first crayon I ever picked up. It didn’t take much.

Aaron: I started as an actor and did lots of live theatre for kids and loved it. From there, I started writing plays for kids and that was only a short jump to writing kids’ books.

How did you two meet or start collaborating?
Neil: Aaron and I actually did not meet until earlier this year, well after the first Joey Fly’s release! And we barely collaborated, in the traditional sense. The entire process went through our editor at Henry Holt, Reka Simonsen, who pretty much had final say on all matters. She’s actually the one that paired us together.

Aaron: Yep. When I first saw Neil’s sketches of Joey Fly, I didn’t care for them at all. I was stumped by the fact that he had no pupils in his eyes and no mouth. How was he going to sustain 800 panels of a graphic novel when the main character didn’t have any pupils or mouth!? But when my editor expresses my concerns to Neil, he proved me wrong fantastically…he sent the editor 50 thumbnails of Joey in various states of emotion. Then he did 2 sketches of Joey MY way…with normal eyes and a mouth. MY way sucked. There was no doubt he knew what he was doing. The result was a character far more funky, fun, and unique than any I would have come up with. I’m thrilled with how Neil has created these characters.

Neil: Woot! Aaron gets to see the character designs in the beginning, then the sketches when I’m finished with them, and then the finals, but that’s it. I’ll get notes from him during each phase, but there always filtered through the publisher. Reka did a great job with that, too, making sure we were both happy with the outcome without letting us get ahead of ourselves. I suppose that’s one great advantage to working that way.

What successes or experiences did you learn from the first book?

Neil: I learned it’s worth working extra hard on a book. Unlike an editorial illustration, which ends up in tomorrow’s recycling can, a children’s book can be very important to some people. I’m still hanging on to most of my books from when I was a kid, and I’m sure those artists are happy they went the extra mile too.

And that can be difficult, putting in all that work. Back when I was starting Creepy Crawly Crime, putting in twelve hour days just to get one page finished, years away from the book ever building an audience, it was tough. But now I’m happy I did. Because that thing’s out there, with my name on it!

Aaron: From a writing perspective, I learned that mysteries are hard. This was my first mystery book in a traditional sense, and it would have been easy to write the ending first and then backtrack and make sure all the clues lined up…I was tempted to do that many times. But, in the end, I made myself discover the mystery along the way, just like Joey Fly. I knew what had happened in the crime, but I had to let Joey discover it for himself.

What is your ultimate goal for this series? How many books?
Neil: I’d just love to have the opportunity to work on more of them. It’s so much fun! But for that to happen, they have to be profitable for everyone, so I guess my ultimate goal is that the series becomes self-sustaining.

Aaron: Agreed. We both have ideas for many more, but before we can jump there, the publisher needs to see a following being built. You read ‘em, we’ll keep making ‘em.

Cartoons? Movies? Toys? Activities? Plush? Puppets?

Joey Fly Dolls

Neil: That’d all be fantastic! I had a great time making the book trailer last year, and would love to do that on a larger scale. There’s been some talk of movies, but I’m not holding my breath.

Aaron: Yeah, no breath holding. If it happens, it happens.

Neil: I’m having a lot of fun working with the characters. We’ve made some paper dolls, masks, ornaments, etc. My friend made me some dolls a couple years ago for my birthday, and that was really cool!

I’d be into mass marketing stuff like puppets or action figures, but Joey and Sammy have sixteen limbs between the two of them, so that won’t be easy!

Joey Fly Xmas Ornaments (Print & Cut out!)

Joey Fly Xmas Ornaments (Print & Cut out!)

Watch the animated trailer!

What inspired you to create this world in the first place? Tell us some of your influences in noir / bugs / art, etc.
Neil: I knew when I first read the script of Creepy Crawly Crime I’d have to brush up on my film noir. The film that’s helped me the most as far as camera angles, lighting, city backdrop, would be The Maltese Falcon. That movie has it all, plus some pretty hilarious “fight” scenes.

I really want Bug City to be rich in detail. More than anything, Martin Handford’s Waldo books really inspired me through the first two Joeys. He’ll draw thousands of people, animals, and monsters in a single spread, and every one of them is involved in a gag! Whether they’re antagonizing, or suffering, or reacting, everyone is involved. That was a huge inspiration for the world I created.

Big Hairy Drama mostly takes place in a theatre, and as I spent five years working at the Merriam Theatre while I went to school at UARTs, it was a subject I knew well! So I got in touch with my former bosses, took a day trip down, and took hundreds of references of the inside of the theatre. More than half the book, really, takes place at the Merriam!

Recognize it?

Aaron: I’d been a fan of farce mystery…Scooby Doo of my youth, the Clue movie starring Tim Curry, even the real stuff like Agatha Christie. Christie’s Evil Under the Sun is fantastic. As far as bugs go, they just make great characters. There are so many different kids and they’re so funky and unique. It gives you a limitless diverse cast of characters to work with, each with their own physical differences, defenses, and hangups.

What are some of the most gratifying things that you get from what you do? Seeing kids smile? Inspiring kids?
Neil: The best moments for me are when I’m touring or out promoting the book and kids start drawing Joey and Sammy on their own. And that’s the highest form of flattery. I know, because when I was their age, if I was drawing popular cartoon characters, like the Ninja Turtles, or Garfield, or Mario, it meant I truly loved them. I’ve gotten some pretty great fan mail from kids, and that always makes my day, especially when they reference a part of the book. It justifies all those late nights I put in!

Fan art! Isaac © 2009

Aaron: I LOVE seeing kids plowing through the book, excited and pulled into the characters. But I think the most satisfying thing for me is holding the finished book in my hands. It really is a work of art, just as an item itself, like a painting or a sculpture. I admire the deftness of the panel flow, the smooth-shiny feel of the cover, little moments of detail (for you actors out there, did you notice the spike-marks Neil put all over the stage in those scenes…a thing of beauty.) Just as an object of art, commercial or not, it’s quite special.

What recommendations can you give to aspiring writers & illustrators that would like to do what you're doing? Contact Art Directors? Post Your Stuff everywhere? Get in contact with people you want to work with?
Neil: Just be committed. I know that’s trite advice, but watching my peers from back in my UARTs days, they drop off one by one from the art world, and that’s depressing. These were talented people! It’s a rocky road right out of school, but you have to put your 10,000 hours before the real fun work starts to come in.

I’ll stick to giving advice to the children’s book illustrators here, though: The children’s book industry is full of passionate people who absolutely love what they do, and if you do too, it will show. Get out to any and all children’s book events, because publishers are there, trust me. Pass around your card (my card is how I first got my foot in the door at Henry Holt), reference your favorite books and shows and artists when you were growing up, and get emails. Oh, and make a website. You instantly have a 4000% better chance getting a job when there’s a place anyone can see your work.

And make sure you introduce yourself to the people who are hiring illustrators, not just other illustrators!

Aaron: There’s little I can add to that except prepare for rejection. But the path to success is truly paved with rejection. I got over 300 rejection letters over the course of 5 years before I sold my first book. It’s just how it works.

When your first started this project, did you pitch it to a publisher? Or did a publisher come to you to do it?

Neil: I just happened to be meeting with the publishers around the time his script was making its way around the office, and so Reka asked if I would do some samples. I still remember, she wanted one sample page, sketched, and one sample page, finished.

I went all out. There was no way I wasn’t getting this job. I gave her character sketches, a real polished sketch page, and a finish that even then had the monochromatic look. I basically put everything else on hold in my life to make sure I represented myself as best I could.

And it worked. St. Patrick’s Day, 2006, one of the best days of my life, I was offered not one but two book deals for Joey Fly!

Aaron: It works a little different on the writing side. No publishers come looking for me. I have to write a finished book and then sell it to a publisher. The beauty of that is that I get to write about whatever I want…nobody is telling me to create a book about bunnies.

What are some of the future projects you'll be working on besides this series? Do you plan on collaborating more?

Neil: I’m currently writing a series of heavily illustrated chapter books, and getting close to finding a publisher for them. It’s been a lot of fun to write so far, but has that extra pressure of being completely mine, unlike Joey Fly.

I would love to work with Aaron again! Besides future Joey Flys, I know he’s had me in mind for some of his other projects, but ultimately the publishers get final say.

Aaron: I second that. Neil’s work is fantastic and I really hope we get a chance to work together again. I have several projects in process, including a new graphic novel series about two cavemen (hoping Neil gets in the running for illustrating that one!) and a new mock-horror picture book about a bunny who thinks he’s being stalked by evil carrots.

What is your process in illustrating the book? Do you thumbnail the entire book and then go to final? If so, could you share some of your rough sketches with us?

Neil: The first thing I get is the manuscript, which in this case looks like a screenplay. I start by breaking it up into panels and pages, just by numbering each line and writing notes in the margins.

Then I thumbnail the entire book. I like to do this in bed, because the process is very similar to reading. It keeps me in a very receptive mode and helps the pacing of the story stay relaxed. After all, it’s in that relaxed state that most readers will be reading the book!

After the publishers take a look at the thumbnails (although I don’t know what they get out of them, they’re so sloppy!) I start the sketches.

thumbnail

The sketches are my favorite part. I get to draw all the characters and cityscapes, cryptic clues and crazy bugs. It’s definitely the most creative part of it, but it requires a lot of concentration. It took me three months to sketch out Big Hairy Drama.

sketch

Finally, I do the finishes, which can be real tedious. There’s not nearly as much to do creatively, but plenty to do carefully! I have to trace all the sketches, which I do with 2B pencils (instead of ink) and it’s killer on the hand. The coloring, which is done in Photoshop, is mind-numbing as well. Any scene with a crowd, I can expect a long day. To make it even more dull, the entire book is first done in grayscale, so I have flexibility in the end.

grayscale

But after that, I get to choose the colors for each scene, and that’s a blast. We really had a lot of fun with the color choices in this book, to create different moods and atmospheres depending on the scene.

And when that’s all done, I wait six months to see the finished product! And I couldn’t be happier. Joey Fly and the Big Hairy Drama is my proudest achievement as an artist to date and I hope it’s as well-received as the first book!

finish... And thus begins another adventure…

Buy Joey Fly on Amazon HERE
Follow Joey Fly on Twitter (twitter.com/joeyfly)

BIOS

Aaron Reynolds is a human, not a bug, but he often writes about bugs. He is the author of Chicks and Salsa, Superhero School, Snowbots, and, of course, the Joey Fly, Private Eye graphic novels. Visit him at his website at www.aaron-reynolds.com.

Neil Numberman is a termite currently residing in New York City. Joey Fly, Private Eye his first graphic novel series, but he is also the author/illustrator of the picture book Do NOT Build a Frankenstein. Stop by his website at www.neilnumberman.com.

Interview w/ Dick Grunert, Creator of Dead of Night Radio

The days have gotten colder and the nights have grown longer. There's no doubt that Winter is upon us and although that means the luster of Fall is behind us there's still time for one last send-off for Halloween before you start to carve up those Thanksgiving turkey and break out that dusty Black Christmas DVD. Our year-end Halloween Hooplad begins with a project that's actually perfect for these Winter nights: Dick Grunert's Dead of Night Radio.

An ode to those late night terror transmissions of days gone by, Dead of Night Radio recently concluded a new series of midnight radio dramas in collaboration with The Autumn Society. Each story literally drips with the kind of macabre atmosphere that can only be drawn upon the midnight hour and serves to expose a different subgenre of horror that is sure to leave you with more than a few shivers. Dick joined us recently to share the origins of Dead of Night as well as shed a bit of light on its future.

Read the full interview at Strange Kids Club.

Aidan's Monsters: The Story of Aidan Reed

Aidan and his dad, Wiley

The story of Aidan Reed, as described on his blog, is one of an extraordinary 5 year old boy whose love for all things scary has endowed him with a passion for monsters, clowns, drawing, and dressing up in costume all year round. You see, despite being diagnosed with a condition known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) young Aidan has not forgotten what it means to be a kid who loves monsters, superheroes and everything else that his mind can fathom.

Aidan's Monsters, a charity founded by his Aunt Mandi and a family friend, has turned this same love of monsters and scary things into into a source of empowerment. If you'd like to purchase one of Aiden's artworks or simply offer a donation or kind words, please visit Aiden's Etsy shop and help see that a fellow monster kid can grow up to share his vision and enthusiasm with the world. Thanks to the love and support of family, friends and even total strangers Aidan's Monsters has been able to raise not only a source of supplemental income for the Reed's, but a few eyebrows as well. Recently, Aidan's father Wiley was kind enough to answers a few questions about his creatively inclined son and how his fascination with costumes, clowns and all things creepy came to be.

To read the interview in it's entirety, please visit Strange Kids Club here.

SKC Flashback: Interview w/ Dani and Nicole Jones, Co-Creators of "Frosty the Gourdman"

In celebration of this past Halloween Dani and Nicole Jones joined us at the clubhouse for a special weekend interview to reveal their latest project- Frosty the Gourdman. A tale of a monster who comes alive on Halloween night, Frosty blends to sentimental side of the Christmas classic with a uniquely fun Frankenstein spin.

Be sure to catch the full interview at the clubhouse here.

SKC Flashback: Interview w/ Trevor van Meter, creator of Crappy Cat

It takes a one hell of a creative mind to crawl through the proverbial "crap" of today's modern world and keep on coming. Better yet, it takes someone with a lot of courage and determination to put their dream project on display for the whole world to see. Digital artist and illustrator Trevor van Meter (van Beater) is one such individual and his most successful creation to date, Crappy Cat, presents us with a hero (of sorts) to personify the madcap mayhem we all secretly want to unleash.

Having already developed a string of vinyl toys, original artwork, an online video game and an animated comic for the signature Cat, van Meter reveals a little history behind the origins of Crappy Cat as well as what it takes to create a marketable IP (intellectual property). Be sure to catch the full interview at the clubhouse here.

How to Draw Finn! (With Phil Rynda)

Hey everyone!

From the Trenches of Adventure Time is here!

“From the Trenches” is a behind-the-scenes video series of the super talented folks that make up the crew of the animated hit series, Adventure Time, by Pen Ward!

For our first segment, we interviewed the amazing & lead character designer of the show, Phil Rynda! In the video above, Phil shows you how to draw Finn, and gives some good advice for any artist.

Phil will also start teaching at CalArts this Thursday night! Congrats Phil and to the students that will be lucky to have him as a teacher!

So what are you waiting for? Get watching already and get inspired by the Rynda-ness!

A special thank-you to my friend and summer intern on Adventure Time, Nathan Connelly for helping me shoot and edit these segments. Check out the trailer for his ambitious student film, The Bayou Blues, by clicking HERE.

And if you missed it, the original trailer for “From the Trenches” can be seen by clicking HERE.

Stay tuned for another segment next week!

-Chogrin