Yesterday we cheated a bit by kicking off Artist August with an interview with Eric Stephenson, although we quickly followed it up with a feature on Nate Bellegarde. Today we kick off the event in earnest with our first artist of the month: Joe Eisma!
Read on as we discuss his upcoming work in “Higher Earth” and give a tease for the fourth arc of “Morning Glories.”
We discussed this on the recent MGA podcast, but for fans who didn’t listen (shame on them!), what differences are there in your work habits between last year’s Artist August and this year?
I’m even faster now! haha. Seriously, though, I think (and hope) that my skills have grown some since last year. I’m always looking to maximize efficiency, and things have definitely improved on that front. Started working in new techniques in gridding pages and getting more comfortable with various traditional inking tools.
Given the amount of work you do digitally, what new digital items have you acquired between then and now? How have the advances in digital capability changed how you approach a page?
At the tail end of last year, I splurged and bought myself a Wacom Cintiq 24HD tablet. They were incredibly hard to find, but I found a shop in New York that would ship it to me for a nominal fee. It’s by far my favorite addition to my artistic arsenal. I worked for years on the 12WX Cintiq, and this one is double the size. The extra real estate is very nice to have, and the HD resolution makes it easier for pixel pushing. Digital has totally changed things for me. I wish I’d had this in the ’90s when I gave up on drawing. I used to get so discouraged by smearing everything, and it’s no longer a concern with today’s digital tools. It’s also been a huge factor in the efficiency department.
I know you still do a good deal of work with pen and paper as well. When switching between a tablet device and “the Good Old Fashioned Way”, do you find a general preference towards either?
I used to really prefer digital, but more and more I’m loving traditional inking. I even invested in some actual brushes to try out for inking. I think it goes back to how I used to smear my pencils (since I’m a lefty). With digital blue lines, I don’t have graphite all over the board now. So it’s no longer depressing putting ink down on paper for me. I love playing around with line weights using brush pens. You can do that digitally, but the effect isn’t quite as satisfying as it is on paper.
Sam is a guy whose writing really resonated with me the first time I read his stuff. Like a lot of folks, I kept hearing about this book, ‘Our Love is Real,’ and I wanted to check it out. When I did, I was just really taken with it–I had to go get more Humphries works! The way he crafts a story and sets up his narratives really captivated me, and I knew this was a guy I needed to work with. So I did the Facebook stalker thing, and sent him a message saying ‘hey, we should work together sometime!’ Thankfully, he didn’t just delete it immediately and write me off as a total weirdo. We ended up meeting in person at Emerald City Con this year and started to develop a good rapport. We just couldn’t make our schedules line up to work on something.
But in early June, he wrote me about needing a fill-in on Higher Earth and of course, I couldn’t say no. I was concerned about it affecting Morning Glories’ schedule, but amazingly, it worked out. It didn’t hurt that the Higher Earth script was only 22 pages, and not the 30+ I’m accustomed to in Morning Glories!
Creatively speaking, what are the differences for you when working on a title you’re co-creator of versus a book that you’re doing guest work on? Is there still as much room for adding your own spin to things, even with little background ticks?
Continued belowIt was a bit odd at first wrapping my head around this book, since I’m not really attached to it like I am with Morning Glories. This was a world established and caretaken by two really cool dudes (Sam & Francesco), and I was just stepping in for a bit. Thankfully, Sam provided a lot of backstory and notes in his script to help me along. Once I got going on pages, though, I felt my rhythm kick in and started to really enjoy myself and putting my own spin on their universe. I did throw in some cameos, since I can’t seem to NOT do that anymore. Eagle-eyed Morning Glories fans may notice a recently departed cast member in one of the crowd shots. Or a reasonable facsimilie, anyway!
How does it feel to play in a different sandbox after spending so long at a surreal private school?
It was fun! Like I said, kind of strange at first, but I warmed up to it quickly and ended up having a blast. Morning Glories is a science fiction story, but it’s in a totally different subset of the genre than Higher Earth is.
What, if anything, are you doing differently with your work on “Higher Earth” versus “Morning Glories?”
My approach really isn’t that different, which is to tell the story as effectively as possible. Higher Earth had a lot more expository scenes and loads of futuristic environments that I wasn’t accustomed to drawing with Morning Glories. I had to put my imagination in a different place to realize a lot of the fantastical locations in Higher Earth, compared to some of the more reality-based locations in Morning Glories.
For Higher Earth, I got to draw upon my influences from films like Alien, 2001 and anime like Akira, as well as the works of Moebius and Jim Starlin. Byrne was still an influence, but when I first signed on for this, the first thing I did was get my collection of Starlin’s Dreadstar out. Something about the world(s) in Higher Earth just made me think of that comic, and since I’m a sucker for ’80s scifi comics, I wanted to pay tribute to that.
Do you find, as an artist who does work digitally, that it is easier to balance the work between two books?
Yeah, it is. Since digital has sped up my workflow, it’s a little easier to do two books. That said, it still made for many a late night, and I’m not ready to add two books a month to my regular rotation just yet!
Generally speaking, you’re not an artist who seems pinned down to anything specific, as “Morning Glories” and “Higher Earth” are pretty different aesthetically. Do you have any particular preferences towards any genre at this point? Is there anything you’d like to draw but haven’t yet?
Clearly, I’m a fan of science fiction, having worked on these two books! I don’t have any real burning desire to pursue any different genres at this point. I would like to do some more humor works, though. We have humor in Morning Glories, but it’s kind of dark or sarcastic humor–which is fun, but I’m a big fan of comedies like the Naked Gun and the Pink Panther (Peter Sellers version), and I think it’d be fun to do something more light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek, like that. I’ve got those pint-sized versions of the Morning Glories kids, ‘Morning Glory Babies,’ that I’d love to do something with sometime.
“Morning Glories” is entering into its fourth arc as well as a march towards the end of Season One. While it’s still probably too early to tell too much, what can you say to tease readers about “Truants”?
I think the Truants are going to really knock people’s socks off. They’re just the kick in the pants that this book needed after the darkness of the last arc. I’m loving these new kids–they’re fun to draw. I look at it as when a tv show introduces new characters with a new season. Though, I certainly hope none of our kids are going to be like Nikki & Paolo. I’ll say that readers should keep an eye on Irina, Zoe’s shooter.
Continued belowCan you tell us what the Cylinder is yet?
It’s a giant can of baked beans. How else do you think the school’s cafeteria gets its side dishes?
We discussed this last year as well, but you’ve really increased your digital presence on Twitter and Tumblr over the past year, networking a lot with fans of “Morning Glories.” Between last year and now, has this digital presence had any major effects on your work? Have there been any note-worthy critiques from fans or critics that have affected you in any way?
Yeah, I’ve definitely gotten more rooted in the online communities. Tumblr has really been taking off with regards to Morning Glories. I didn’t realize how many fans we had on there. Most of what I read has been great and makes me glad that we’re resonating with people so much. Occasionally there are the…strange posts over there, but I’ve never seen anything that really bothered me. One thing in particular I’m grateful for is seeing the influx of fanart. I’m always happy to reblog/retweet any fan art that I see. It’s immensely flattering to see someone else’s take on your characters.
Last year you teased a project with Joe Keatinge. Is there any new word on that?
None so far! Joe’s been real busy with his star rising over at Marvel, so we’re on the backburner for now.
So besides “Morning Glories” and “Higher Earth,” are there any other works you might have in the future you could tease fans with?
I’ve got some cover work coming up, and a comedic short story for an anthology I’m doing with some big names. That’s about it!
