Sal Abbinanti: Investing In Art Interview

Moonlight Art Magazine's Christopher Moonlight talks to AlexRossArt.Com's Sal Abbinanti, at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con, about collecting art as an investment, the foreign collector, and Alex Ross' current exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum.

Geza X @ The Black Cat Gallery

www.myspace.com/gezaxart

Interview: Camilla d'Errico @ San Diego Comic Con 2009

Interview: ROBOT 13

When I first came across the preview for ROBOT 13 on Publisher's Weekly's comic blog, The Beat, by Heidi MacDonald, I knew right away that it was something special. The art is simple, and easy to fallow, yet speaks volumes about action, story, and designe with every panel. Fans of monster comics are sure to enjoy, along with anyone else who wants to read something fun.

Christopher Moonlight: So, we have Blacklist Studios' Thomas Hall who writes Robot 13 and Daniel Bradford who does the art. There isn't much info online about this book except some beautiful artwork. I've seen a giant octopus and a robot with a human skull. What can you tell me?

Thomas: The first issue of Robot 13 opens with some fishermen pulling up something mysterious in their nets. As they look at it and try to figure out what it is, their ship is attacked by a giant Kraken, which starts grabbing and devouring the sailors. The “thing” the fishermen pulled up from the bottom of the ocean suddenly leaps to life and defends them. That “thing” turns out to be Robot 13, and he fights the Kraken until he has defeated it. At that point, the reader doesn't know much about our Hero, and as it turns out, neither does Robot 13. The rest of the story from here on out will be for the reader and the robot to discover who Robot 13 is and where he came from. The robot wants to know those things and hopefully the readers will come along for the ride.

CM: How did you guys come to team up with each other? How did you know you wanted to work with each other?

Thomas: I saw a comic online that Daniel had done, and I wrote him an email telling him how good I thought it was. We struck up a friendship, and found out that neither of us had anything pressing to work on, so we kicked around some ideas. Daniel had a few different ideas, and I read one of them and realize that some of the things I had been kicking around in my head for a project would mesh with his ideas so we decided to take the best stuff and go from there. Both of us had a drive to do comics, and we wanted to push ourselves to really do something of quality, so we realized that working together would bring out the best in both of us. That was 6 years ago, and we are still at it, so I guess we were right in a sense.

CM: What is your working relationship like? On your My Space it says, "Thomas Hall writes comic books. Daniel Bradford draws comic books." Is it that simple or do you guys go back and forth with each other until you have the story you want?

Thomas: It's that simple, but we do go back and forth. We always kick around ideas, but since I am the writer, I guess the biggest part of my job is to collect all the best ideas and fit them together, and to figure out what the story needs from there. Sometimes, I put something in the script and Daniel draws what he thinks it should look like, and I see the page and change something down the road. That happened with issue 1 of Robot 13, where something Daniel put in there was so cool to me, that I had him put another reference in at the end of the book. That wasn't planned, but it turned out really great. And sometimes, I just come up with something that Daniel can't make work, so we come up with something new. So there is a flow between us, but basically I write whatever I think makes the best story and Daniel is free to draw it how he thinks it will look best.

CM: How did you come across Jeff Slemons, who did your cover? It's beautiful.

Thomas: Jeff is a friend. He saw something I posted about KING! And wrote me and told me how much he liked the book and that he was an artist and loved comic books. He & I struck up a friendship, and I knew him for about a year before I saw his work. One day, he was like, “want to see a new painting I did?” so I was “Sure.” He emailed me this amazing picture, and I was like, “Who IS this guy, anyway?” I was blown away. When we got around to doing Robot 13, Daniel said he wanted to do the covers for the book, and I was all for that, but Jeff offered and gave me his cover and I just knew we had to have 2 covers. Not because it's part of a trend- just both covers are equally beautiful. How can you say no?

CM: Now, you have another book. KING! Do these books tie in to each other, or are they completely separate?

Thomas: Completely separate. KING! Is about a retired Mexican wrestler who used to have a persona called “The King,” and he still kind of lives that 24/7. Now that he's retired, he gets hired as kind of a hit man on occasion. He doesn't kill people, though. He kills monsters. We did a one shot a few years ago- a very small printing- and people went wild over it, so we are re-launching the book as a mini series. The first issue will come out right around the time that Robot 13 wraps up, and it will probably be a 4 issue mini series. It's going to be crazy. Zombies, Vampires, bloodsucking monsters and the Devil himself. It's a complete 180 from Robot 13, in that where Robot 13 is thoughtful and a little deeper, KING! Is lots of crazy action and fun and more of a wild ride.

CM: Daniel, you've obviously been influenced by Mike Mignola. He's almost become a sort of house style, like with Todd McFarland, Jim Lee, and Joe Kubert. Have you ever worked with Mignola, or do you hope to one day?

Daniel : Never worked for him but, just like any other fan, I'd love to so some day. I'm more than content working with Tom, though, and we have a severely full plate on our table as it is. Working with the Big Names just isn't on my mind right now.

CM: The other day you Twittered that you drew three pages in one day. How did you pull that one off without sacrificing quality? Did you just have them planned out before hand with thumbnails, or where you just in the zone?

Daniel: Truthfully that was just my plan for the day, to draw three pages. Unfortunately I was only able to get 2 pages drawn and inked. Typically I draw thumbnails directly onto Tom's scripts while I read them so when the time comes to draw the actual page I have everything pretty much mapped out. I put on some music, zone out, and let the page flow. The only thing I intentionally sacrifice while working would be the presence of my daughters.

CM: Blacklist Studios is your venture. Right? Was this just your way of having the freedom you need to make this book, or do you intend to take on more talent?

Thomas: Blacklist Studios started out just as a way for us to promote and package our self produced work. It wasn't even going to be a “company” at first. We were just looking for some way to give our projects an identity, so that people could find us, and so that when we pitched our books to established publishers, we looked like we had our act together. We self published a promo book for Enlightenment, which got picked up by Markosia but which still hasn't seen the light of day. Then when we decided to do KING!, we did a promo one shot of that too. We found that comic fans had a strong reaction to our books, but that all the publishing “interest” was really people looking to take the rights to our properties. Some didn't even care how well the books sold. We thought- at least we CARE if our books do well & if they are any good. Let's do this ourselves and control our own destiny. As for working with other people- sure, that sounds great, but that's somewhere in the future. Believe me- doing 2 books for ourselves is MORE than enough for us in the foreseeable future.

Interview: Lydia Martin

www.lydiamartinart.com

Christopher Moonlight: Who is Lydia Martin, when she's not an artist?

Lydia Martin: It's safe to say I am the average woman, juggling being a mom and keeping my family together in this crazy world. I used to be a graphic designer so switching to being a full time painter and mommy is quite a different schedule. When I'm not painting or being the taxi driver, accountant, cook, maid, tutor,nurse, coach, counselor and cheerleader for our family I'm usually outdoors...gardening, hiking, biking or hanging out with my hubby and friends over a bottle of wine listening to my favorite music. I live a busy but fairly simple life.

CM: How does this tie in to Lydia Martin the artist?

LM: Drawing/painting is something that is more than a job for me. I need it to be whole person. It’s always been that way for me too, even as a child. If I've gone too long without doodling in my sketchbook or getting paint on my hands I start to go a little coo-coo. It's good therapy for me. Now it's a little different because I am forced to paint to meet deadlines for shows and commissioned pieces which can be difficult. But it's a good challenge and keeps me motivated so I don't mind it at all. I’m doing what I love.

CM: Tell me about painted ladies. What is it about women with tattoos that attracted you?

LM: The Painted Lady Project is a series I began when I started noticing how hugely popular tattoo has become, even with women. In our generation, seeing a woman tattooed from head to toe is not uncommon or weird. I'm a curious person and began asking these women about their tattoos. Most of them had these very deep, meaningful stories behind them, whether it was about love lost or gained, personal triumphs, milestones, reminders of who they’ve become or just great art that they loved. I immediately felt compelled to bring these stories to the canvas and give some kudos to the women that have the courage to adorn their life stories on their sleeves, literally. In turn, I have met some great people and have a new appreciation for the talent of the tattoo artist, as well.

CM: Most of the women you paint seem to have a sadness about them. Is that fair to say? What is going on in their minds?

LM: I don't know if "sadness" is the right word. It's definitely emotion you are seeing there though. I am personally very thoughtful and emotional, maybe more than I should be. So, when I paint that emotion seems to come through. Some of them are contemplations of love, depression, addiction, death and other “sad” subjects but I’d like to think it’s more about how we let those things effect us or how we feel about the decisions we’ve made regarding those parts of our lives. I use women a lot in my paintings because not only are they much more beautiful and visually striking but they tend to be more emotionally open creatures. Is that sexist to say that? Anyway, each painting carries a different emotion that anyone, male or female, can relate to. I think they mostly just expose the vulnerable side of being human.

CM: How would you want a viewer to relate to you and your paintings? What do you think their takeaway should be?

LM: It's fulfilling to hear from viewers that a painting "spoke to them" or that it conveys something they are going through at that time in their life. So many people have told me that a particular painting encouraged them or inspired them and that's just crazy to me because I’m just painting about my own experiences and emotions. But I think it has something to do with the fact that they realize they aren't alone. That others face the same trials and feel just as vulnerable as they do at times. But even if a viewer doesn’t take away something deeply emotional from it, I would be happy if they just liked to look at it and enjoyed the composition. To make a painting that catches people’s eye takes skill as an artist and that is something I am still learning.

And now a little Q&A segment I like to call, The Drawing Of The Three:

CM: What art books do you take to bed with you?
LM: A random mix. Lately, I’ve been reading up on tattoo art and the roots of the whole movement. My latest purchase was The Sketchbook, which is more about different tattoo artists around the world and their view on it all. I also love to thumb though art books about Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer or Alphonse Mucha. I love the Art Nouveau style!

CM: Tell us your favorite joke or riddle.

LM: I would have failed as a stand-up comedian. I hear a lot of good ones from friends but when it comes to retelling them I always seem to leave out the most important parts or my timing is off. And then there are crickets.

CM: What character in a movie made you think, "I should have played that role!"

LM: None. I would have failed as an actor as well! But I recently watched The Wackness and loved the characters in that movie. And the music! Rent it...it’s good!

The Drawing of the Three: Aunia Kahn

We've put together three questions to ask artist and people who are involved it the arts (and who are future interviewees of Moonlight Art Magazine) to DRAW you a picture of what kind of people they are. This segment we asked digital and mixed media artist Aunia Kahn.

What art books do you take to bed with you?

Coloring books. No really I do, they are silly and fun.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Really I can't remember jokes even if you told me 5 min ago, and if I tried to retell the joke,

the delivery would be terrible. I am truly a bad joke teller, but tell me as many as you want.

I love hearing them.

What character in a movie made you think, "I should have played that role!"

I should have played Julia Robert's in "Sleeping with the Enemy".

Natalia Pierandrei AKA Nati

Interview from 03/22/2007

There are so many artist on the web, doing so many different things, but when I find one who really stands out, I get excited and want people to know about them. Natalia Pierandrei's profile reads as fallows.

...better known as 'nati', is a traditional illustrator based in Italy. Her artwork is basically anime-styled but also influenced by that of Art Nouveau, and European graphic novels with a penchant for gothic imagery and classical fantasy themes. She loves travelling, Japan, art museums, prose and cats.

Nati was kind enough to reach out across the oceans and around the world to talk to me about just what it is she's after as an artist. I was surprised to learn that (for someone of her talent) she doesn't seem to think she's all that special. I would disagree, but I'll let you be the judge.


Are your ultimate plans to become a comic book artist?

Well, unfortunately my reply is "no, I'm not ultimated them". Many reasons for feeling doubtful about my future as comic book artist. Basically the lack of time. Working on one piece takes less time than working on illustrated fiction, even the short ones. I can complete one, full coloured image in just a day, but a whole story is another pair of shoes!
As you know, I have a full time job (which unfortunately has nothing to do with art or comics). At the moment, I can draw only in my spare time and during the weekends. So, I prefer devoting myself to illustration than to sequential work. That's a pity, especially because the great enthusiasm for comic books caused my passion for drawing when I was a young girl.
Then, I suck at writing decent stories! I mean, I tend to write too complicated plots and that doesn't help when you should need extra time just to draw a couple of pages.


Are you writing your own comic, or do you want to work with a good writer, to help get your ideas out?

When I was a high school student, I drew a lot of comics with a friend of mine. There were basically short comic strips, or parodies of popular TV series. But I also started working on my own fiction and characters. As I wrote, the main problem is I tend to be too prolix and unfocused when planning the events in my stories. This is also a fact that I've not attending any Schools of Comic Art in my life. I have ideas but I lack the basis for writing and drawing good plots. So, I would prefer working with a good writer having the gift for conciseness than trying to publish my incomprehensible projects!


Why is it that even though you are published in four books, taking commissions all the time, and have a sizable fan following, you still do not consider yourself a professional?

LOL! Thank you very much for this question! Well, when I speak of "professional" artists, I refer to people who have a paid occupation as illustrator or cartoonist. Art is their job and they don't need to do something different to "make both ends meet". I'm not a person qualified or employed in one of the "art professions". Some of my illustrations have been featured in collective art books in the past but I should say those weren't payed works. Of course, I gained popularity and exposure but I still need to have a regular job to pay instalments and bills. That said, I'm not a "professional" illustrator because art is not my job. And I also doubt at the moment my artwork has the qualities of professional ones. But things could change in the future, of course!

Where will you pop up next?

No idea. I'm very impulsive, I don't like planning my future.


Where do you want to be, one year from now?

Hhmm, I'd like to be "physically" in a lot of different places in the world but I figure I'll be in Italy yet. Professionally speaking, I have no ideas. I'd like to prepare a good portfolio and try to get in touch with art directors and publishers. But, being a perfectionist and shy artist doesn't help. I mean, it probably will take more than a year to have this portfolio of mine done and "sent"or show to the right persons! LOL
Anyway, I need to focus more on my artwork and this is my goal for the 2007. And then...illustrate a fairytale, complete a short sequential work, improve as illustrator, etc, etc, etc.

Keep an eye on this one folks. I have a feeling that she's going to be a star.

Artist Spotlight: Billy Martinez of Neko Press

Interview from 03/29/07

My wife and I recently met Billy Martinez, owner and publisher of Neko Press on our trip to Wizard World LA. His display at the Golden Apple booth was small, but I was very impressed by how what he was there to present immediately grabbed the attention of myself and other passersby. I was delighted and inspired in seeing that he, and his wife, seemed to be doing well, selling comics and prints of Billy's work, along with the works of other talents, while the artist himself did some very impressive live painting. Upon talking with them, I learned that he was not only a fellow art teacher, but was doing well as a gallery artist, too. Well, as you can imagine, I immediately realized that I should at least somewhat follow this guy's example. I have to admit, that if I hadn't had seen him selling prints, I wouldn't be doing my print project, right now. After the show, I sent him an e mail with some questions, that are always on my mind (about art and the art world) and this is what he was kind enough to send back.


When a person gets into publishing, it's usually because they have a vision, or see a need in the print world that isn't being filled. What are you trying to provide to comics, that no one else is?

I think I'm really focusing on putting out books that readers will remember. I want to make sure they get the most out of our books. Our job is to entertain readers so I'm doing my best to make that promise to our readers.

Outside of comics, you show some really beautiful work in galleries. Are your patrons comic fans, or are you working in two separate worlds?

Two separate worlds. I run my art school in La Mesa. I always tell my students to be versatile. Life is always changing and an artist must change and adapt if he or she wants to make a career out of the biz.

Concept wise, where do you think art is thriving more... in the comics books or in galleries?

At this point it's hard to tell. Both are doing well but I would need more time to observe this.

What do you wish you could see more of? What would you ask growing artists to think about, when they are making art?

To have fun and to follow their own mark and not try to be a clone of other artists. Be original.

You paint mainly women. What are you trying to convey when you paint them?

The beauty and personality and strengths of a woman.

What are your next goals? Where do you see yourself one year from now?

Making comic books and doing more paintings. The same thing I have been doing for over 14 years.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Red wine is good for the heart. Drink lots of it!

Ah, a wine man, too! I'll drink to that.