As Artist August begins to reach it’s end, we are very proud to present to you our chat with one Christian Ward. You may know Christian Ward as the artist of the infinitely delayed “Infinite Vacation,” but we are here to tell you: fear not, fans. The end is coming. And boy howdy, is the wait going to be worth it.
Read on as we chat about grafitti, music, digital art, “Infinite Vacation” and more!
Can you look back on your life and recall the single moment that made you want to work in comics? Or was it more of a natural progression that led you here?
Christian Ward: I never really feel like I’m a comic book artist. More like I’m a stowaway on a ship. An illustrator impostor in a world of proper comic artists. Honestly I’m waiting for the day I get found out. Waiting for the day Donald Sutherland catches me and screams, all wide eyed and terrifying. I’m not sure thats the allegory actually, but regardless. I always wanted to be a comic artist, so I hope one day I feel like i am one.
As a teenager I’d draw all the time and I was blinkered in what I wanted to do, but reality and then when I first moved to London, the desire to eat led me down more practical roads. First to illustration (which it turns out doesn’t leave you much better off than comic art does) and then to teaching.
The reason comics came back onto the view is two-fold. Firstly, I’d been teaching Comics as part of my curriculum at school and one pupil ask if I could teach how to draw comics then why didn’t I draw my own. Teenagers have a knack for finding the question you can’t answer. It’s their awful, awful gift. Their mutant ability. Secondly, I’d been posting images onto the Bendis board and had got chatting to Scott Wegener who perhaps in a less teenagerary (i.e. sucky) way had suggested I gave sequentials a go, as did JH Williams who kindly showed my work to editors at Vertigo, even leading to me doing some “Hellblazer” sample pages. In fact it was Scott who was kind enough to let me have a whack at drawing a back-up for his comic “Atomic Robo.”
Six years later I’m still giving it a go. Feel free to send Scott the hate mail.
Who or what has influenced the development of your art the most?
CW: Would I be an asshole if i said ‘me’? Sod it i’ll risk it. ME.
Thats not to say I’ve not been influenced, and that’s CERTAINLY not to say there’s not better artist out there. Thankfully the world’s full of better artists. What I mean is that I don’t actively look for influence or inspiration. I don’t look at some one I love or at something I love and think “I’m going to do that.” For instance, I love Moebius, for me there’s no one better, but I would never let his work influence mine because if I did I’d just be a lesser Moebius. I don’t have the ability to build upon something I like and make it my own.
Instead, I let any influence come to me subconsciously (after all, I don’t live in a bubble) and try as much as I can guide my own way. I think this comes from teaching art rather than anything else. Everyday you push to get kids to express themselves and produce work thats true to them. Children learn from copying and then there comes a time when you tell them to stop and find their own way. I suppose part of that has rubbed off on me. For better or worse I produce my work to make it look like my work.
Today’s day and age offers up a lot of unique ways for artists to express themselves, as new digital devices and techniques are created every day. I know you do a mix of everything, however. When working on a new piece of art, how to divide up the tasks between traditional and digital forms of creating?
Continued belowCW: For me I love the haphazardness of art. I have to really, my work has it in abundance. I like the mistakes and the the little things you never planned. So I tend to work quite freely. I’m not overly big on planning. I’ll do a few roughs and then just go for it and let a piece or page evolve as I work. I want to be surprised. I want it to be exciting. Rather than plan a panel, it’s not uncommon for me to draw it four or five times until i’m happy. Often I can end up with multiple versions of a page (apt for “Infinite Vacation!”) and choosing the one that works the best can often be tricky.
In regards to using digital devices, more often than not I start with a drawing on paper. I occasionally do draw digitally (I have a yummy Wacom Cinitq and I’m waiting for the day that we can legally marry) but I much prefer the tension you get when you mix traditional with digital. Then I tend to just throw everything at it. Pencil, pens, water colour (sometimes I even bake my watercolours using a little olive oil and salt). The digital aspect is often used to bring it all together. It’s the big bow that holds all the crap together. I’ll draw more than I need to and sometimes different versions of the same panel then play around in photoshop until I’m happy.
Do you feel that there is anything in particular that digital-based art can do that traditional ink and paper doesn’t match up to, or even vice versa?
CW: I approach both in much the same way. The biggest danger for me whilst working digitally is knowing when to quit. I hate when a piece is too rendered or too finished but each has it own place.
One of Digital’s biggest draw for me is the ability to do the multiple versions and change things quickly (although as I said early this can also be a headache). I can design and rework a pages structure far quicker on the computer than I can by hand. Colour is of course the other big draw, although I like to mix it up with watercolour. It’s photoshop that helps me achieve the colours I do. I love the strength of colour digital gives you. I just love colour. The difference in how I can now paint digitally using that colour on my (beloved) Cintiq is just mind blowing. You can even see a difference between issue 1 and 5 of Infinite Vacation . It’s exciting to think stylistically where I may end up whilst exploring digital working methods.
One of the big hits from you has been “Infinite Vacation” with Nick Spencer which, despite delays, manages to surprise with every issue we do get. How is work coming along for the finale now?
CW: The last issue is a beast! It’s likely to be close to 60 pages when it’s done.
I’d hoped to able to announce in this interview that it was done, but unfortunately we’re not quite there yet. I’m ploughing through the pages I have slowly but surely. The end’s certainly in sight. The delays have been a mixed blessing and have certainly been a big sources of anxiety for me. You can find yourself in a vicious circle of demotivation once your momentum is gone.
However, there’s a certain amount of freedom that comes with the book being so late. Since it’s late already I’ve found myself working far, far more on each page. The issue has 19 double pages and I’m trying to put the same level of design and finish on each page that I’d normally reserve for a cover. I may never spend the same amount of time on an issue, but as someone who is always overly critical of my own work I can say it’s by far my best work. Theres a 4-page fold gate fold in there that might be the best thing I’ve ever done period. We’re certainly going to end it with a bang.
When it comes to page layouts, you’ve been quite known to play with the full scope of opportunity that the space allows, especially with “Infinite Vacation.” How do you approach the page when looking towards the construction of panels and the associated interconnectivity?
Continued belowCW: The biggest thing I try to keep in mind is that the structure has to communicate something. It can’t just be for show and certainly can’t be at the detriment of storytelling. The main idea I had with the panel structure was that it was there to demonstrate the idea of parallel universes that the story dealt with, the space between being the space between the universes. I wanted to create a sense of 2D planes in a 3D space. Slices of worlds exiting in a greater dimensional space.
Beyond that, there’s been a number of motifs I’ve used in the book which have helped to inform my decisions: triangles, hexagons, cubes and spirals. Each was chosen to suggest a different aspect to the book: nature, relationships, technology. I look at what we’re dealing with on the page and which of those themes we’re closer to addressing then begin to play with the structure.
Your art often comes across as a bit of a graffiti-esque, with a very vibrant tone to match. When you’re creating a new page, what steps do you take to keep that kinetic energy alive on what is ostensibly a static image?
CW: Oh cool. I love graffiti, so thats good to hear!
The answer I suppose takes me back to an earlier answer. I don’t over plan. A good friend of mine once compared art to jazz, and that you have to just go with the flow. I really hate jazz, but he was right. I like to be flexible with my work and go with what’s happening as I draw and colour it. If you want the art work to flow and have energy then you can’t try to contain that energy, you have to let it happen.
Recently you and your art was featured in the music video “Michael Rocket” for the band Pictish Trail. You’ve got to tell us: how did this gig come about? And where did you get those sweet dance moves?
CW: I’m just a sweet sweet dancer. Ladies? Any takers? No? ‘shuffles feet and looks awkward’ .
Me and Pictish are chums. Johnny (Pictish) runs a micro label in Scotland called Fence Records that I’ve been a fan of for about 10 years now. We met at gigs, talked about inappropriate things like elbow cocks and hit it off, and since then I’ve done all his album and release artwork. We were talking about the look of his new album, eating pancakes surrounded by trendy types when he played me “Michael Rocket” and the idea for the video just popped into my head. I’ve always wanted to direct a music video and Johnny was stupid enough to let me. Plus I also had audio evidence of him talking about elbow cocks.
Luckily he brought onboard Forest of Black and Blair Young (who is a proper film director), and they worked with me to make it look well proper. To be honest it’s their know-how behind the camera that helped to capture the idea so beautifully. I’m doing the next video on my own. It’ll probably come out shit.
You’ve also done some album artwork and gig posters for them (him), as well as for others. What differences in technique do you employ when approaching something like that over a comic page?
CW: It’s fun! I never get stress doing illustrations and design for music artwork. I normally work in pretty much the same way. The differences isn’t huge, though. It’s still about communication and about mood rather than story. The style and colour choices are often what communicates the style of the music.
It’s cool to work with a concept rather than a story, although sometimes one can be implied. For instance, Pictish Trail’s artwork was always about these hidden (secret) sounds that leaked from his head, and the final album design reveals when you open the gatefold these ‘sounds’ squashed between the sleeves like bubble gum.
We live in a fairly connected world this day and age, what with the advent of social networking. Does feedback (both positive and negative) with fans and critics via things like Twitter and comment sections on websites push you as an artist? How does that aspect affect your art?
Continued belowCW: Being a comic book artist, you spend a lot time just sitting in your pants. It can be quite lonely, so this such of connection is great. I always put my pants on when I’m on twitter though.
It absolutely pushes me. I love reading what people think and there’s nothing greater when someone just says they like it. If they say they love it, I normally have to have a lie down. Equally though, I got a lot of bad press for my previous comic and that helped me to learn. I saw where my faults were, where I could improve. That’s still happening now. I’m trying to improve “IV” from issue to issue. One thing that people said about the early issues were some of the pencils looked rough, so now they’re more refined.
Not that all criticism is valid. I don’t have mainstream style and it’s just not everyones bag and thats totally fine. With that in mind, I often like it when people hate my stuff. If they hate it for the right reasons then it means I’m doing something right.
I referenced there being ‘better artists’ earlier and I meant it. There are so many great comic artists out there and toe to toe I can not match them, but by doing something different, something a little more personal, perhaps more design led — well, then I have a reason to be out there, even in the small way that I am.
Who are your favorite artists working in comics today?
CW: I love comics, so I have a lot of artist who I love. JH Williams and Quietly are the two big ones. I’m a big fan of Riley Rossmo, having seen his work on the upcoming “Bedlam” I think he’s going to blow peoples socks off. Recently Ramón Pérez blew me away with Sands of Time. Fiona Staples work on SAGA leaves me pretty breathless, just such a perfect balance of style and storytelling.
Nick Pitarra’s good too. I also like how he mostly talks about buttholes.
Often times in comics, it seems that art comes secondary to the writing for some fans and critics. However, with your art in particular, it’s very much a direct force in carrying the story around the page. As someone who has done art both in and outside of comics now, why do you think this divide exists?
CW: I’m not sure it does exist. Maybe more in the industry and with critics perhaps than with the regular readers. Most people I know who read comics often come to comics for the art first and then stay for the stories. Comics are a visual form, so the visuals will always be the driving the force. Like with movies, though the great comics will be the ones that get both right. It’s interesting because the divide you suggest is the exact opposite of that which appears in film. How many people can name favorite screenwriters compared to those that can name a favorite director? In a way the artist IS the director on the comic. Of course, a script will suggest shots but the artist is one the that makes it happen and realizes it. Much like in film.
I think perhaps the reason for what you suggest is happening is down to the rise of superstar writers like Morrison, Kirkman and Hickman who can sell comics on their name alone. A great writer, like these guys, can tell a good story with a lesser artist but they can tell an amazing story with a great artist. For me, comics, especially when you’re talking about Image comics and creator owned comics, it’s a joint effort. ALWAYS. Co-creators equally. When both artist (writer and artist) are telling the same comic, as in “Manhattan Projects,” “Fatale” or “Saga” then there should be no divide.
Recently on Twitter you teased that you had plans to both write and illustrate yourself. Care to illustrate further?
CW: It’s always been the goal to write my own stories. One of the reasons I still have the day job above the fact that it’d be very unlikely I could live off the comic money is that I don’t HAVE to. Money, or having to make money, doesn’t have to come into my creative decisions. To some degree I can be self indulgent. Not that I want to create aloof and pretentious comics, rather I want to do something different. I don’t have to worry if my comic only sells 4,000. As long as Image is happy and there are people that are enjoying what I do then I’m happy. So far thats only applied to the art but next year I’ll be moving into writing as well.
Continued belowI have three projects I’m actively working on, one of which I’ll be sharing the art duties with Riley Rossmo, and the other two I’ll be drawing by myself. The one with Riley is a kind of psychedelic detective thriller about a guy looking for his lost girlfriend. The ones I’m working on for myself are a ghost story and an existential thriller about fame. I love writing, far more than I thought i would. There is something so satisfying about lining all the pieces up to watch them fall into place. I’ve heard writers talk about how cool it is to receive an email with art attached, seeing the words turn into images and thats something I’m very excited to experience with Riley.
Beyond “Infinite Vacation” #5, what additional projects do you have coming up?
CW: I have a few potential comics lined up. Some of which my own projects and others with some very exciting A-List names. I’m looking forward to doing some very full on SCI-FI on one of the potential projects. We’ll see what happens. Fingers crossed. 2013 might very exciting indeed.
