Artist August: Ken Garing [Interview]

For today’s edition of Artist August, we are talking to the very talented newcomer Ken Garing. Ken made a splash on the comic scene when his comic “Planetoid” was picked up by Image Comics and announced with a bevy of exciting new titles at Image Expo. Most recently at San Diego Comic Con, it was announced that Garing and Joe “Hell Yeah” Keatinge would be working together on a new brain for Monkey Brain with “Intergalactic.” How exciting is that?

A tremendous talent with a keen eye for sci-fi, Garing is a rising star in the industry. Today, we chat his influences, “Planetoid,” “Intergalactic” and more!

Stay tuned to this site in a bit when we’ll have an exclusive preview of “Planetoid” #3, out this week!

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?

Ken Garing: As a little kid I was really into illustrated children’s books, in particular, the work of illustrator Stephen Kellog. His work was very detailed. A bit later I moved on to reading comics, like Spider-Man and Punisher. Like many kids, I drew my own comics with friends.

But the big bombshell for me was reading the color collections of Eastman and Laird’s TMNT published by 1st Comics, which I believe IDW is currently reprinting. I didn’t understand that it was a creator owned or anything, but it was clearly different and much more raw than the mainstream comics. I knew immediately that I wanted to do comics in that vein.

Who or what has influenced the development of your art the most?

KG: After TMNT the single comic that changed my view of comics was Frank Miller’s Ronin, …which is kind of ironic because I later read that Ronin was a major influence for Eastman & Laird in creating TMNT. Reading Ronin is like listening to Miles Davis play jazz or something… there’s just this raw, reckless flow of art pouring out of him. Moebius’ work has this effect as well. I think I had entered high school when I first starting searching out Richard Corben’s work, which had a big impact on me too.

Also, I should say, I’ve always been interested in Fine Art generally. I think up until the 20th Century most visual art was narrative and akin to comics in many ways.

Given today’s technology, a lot of artists choose to do their work entirely digitally. Have you experimented in the digital art realm at all for any of your comics? Or do you stick strictly to pen and ink?

KG: I’m not opposed to it. I have some work on my DeviantArt page that was done with a Wacom tablet and Photoshop. My main concern with working digital has to do with the amount of time spent in front of the computer. I want to get way from that screen whenever I can.

I also, really like working with my hands and experimenting. For example, the texture on Silas’ cloak was created by cutting out a piece canvas and dabbing it in ink …or using razor blades or fingerprints to create textures. I like that craftsmanship element of making comics.

Image Expo saw a lot of cool announcements with Eric Stephenson’s keynote, but amongst them the announcement of you bringing “Planetoid” to Image was definitely the Next Big Thing. It was previously being self-published via graphic.ly, however, and was featured in iFanboy. When looking at the digital release versus the physical one, was there any way that you changed your work between issues #1 and #2?

KG: Yeah, I was really fortunate with the way Planetoid was launched. Ron Richards of iFanboy sort of championed it and passed it on to Eric picked up the book for Image in time to make it part of the keynote speech at the Image Expo where the company founders were in attendance. It all happened really quickly!

As for the whole digital experience, it didn’t really change anything in my approach. Planetoid was not done as a digital comic. It was always meant for print. I mean, the artwork winds up being digital regardless. I hand over my art to Image the same as I did to Graphicly, as TIF files. Although, there was some very technical color correction that I needed to do for print.

Really, the only thing that changed between #1 and #2 was that I learned how to work better and faster.

It seems like this is something that differs for everyone, but in terms of both writing and illustrating the title, how do you balance the work? What is the Ken Garing Method of making comics?

KG: I have a hard time making these distinctions. Typically, of course, the writer writes a script and the artist makes the art, but that clear distinction isn’t always applicable when a single creator is making comics. For me, I basically think in terms of sequences and story beats. The thing has to have a certain flow and be interesting.

I structure out the comic based on sequences, then pages and finally panels. I don’t thumbnail too much. I like figuring things out on the page. If there’s important dialogue, I’ll script it. Generally, I tend to overwrite, then heavily edit all the way up to the lettering phase.

The sci-fi landscape of the book is incredibly well fleshed out, especially with the amount of detail put in to truly bring the world of “Planetoid” to life. Both visually and conceptually, what are your biggest sci-fi influences? Are there any particular films or artists whose work inspires you?

Frank Herbert’s Dune books are a big influence in terms of mood and tone. Dune has this vast, sweeping atmosphere. It’s epic but it’s also sort of lonely and melancholy. I also like the political themes in Dune.

I’ve been looking at Moebius a lot for coloring. He had an amazing way with color, especially in his later work. And I’m always looking at Corben… always.

Otomo and Shirow are big influences, but a lot of their work is very specifically Japanese… it’s very urban and kind of Tokyo-centric. I wanted to do something more western, relating to the industrial hollowing out that has taken place here, in America.

I like a lot of science fiction films but none of them were really influential to Planetoid with the exception of maybe Alien. I’ve kept my copy H.R. Giger’s Necronomicon on hand while working on the comic. Also, I’m a big Kubrick fan. I think his visual aesthetic sort of matches up with what I’d like to do in comics. His compositions, the way he frames things.

In general I’m always browsing through design books, architecture magazines, photo books, video game concept art. I live next to a Kinokuniya Books that has an awesome selection of magazines and art books. I go there about twice a week and look around. And of course, I find stuff online as well.

When working with the intense amount of detail contained within any given illustration in the book, it seems that there is a fairly emphasis from your end on the architecture of the world, both in terms of the buildings and structures as well as the creatures/people that inhabit it. How do you build everything on the pages and determine which details to throw in where?

KG: There’s many ways to draw tech and industrial hardware. For years, I tried to copy Otomo and get deep into it with a straight edge and a technical pen. I’d spend weeks tediously working on a drawing and then look at it and realize it was all wrong. The images had no power or authority. They just looked overworked.

These days I treat the page more like a canvas. I discovered that I had to build up these structures on the page, physically –with layers of graphite and ink and whiteout. It helps to step back a bit.

The level of detail is determined by the story. I know there’s the “less is more”, Alex Toth school of thought that views this type of work as “visual clutter”. But I think that misses the point. In certain cases –like say, Akira or Hard Boiled– that “clutter” is an essential part of the story. I’m attempting to do something similar with the landscapes in Planetoid.

Now, I know you’ve had a few issues with the release of the next issue of “Planetoid.” Would you like to elaborate on that for fans of the book?

KG: Yeah, it’s real technical stuff. I wrote about it on my blog (at kengaring.blogspot.com). I basically miscalculated how long the coloring/lettering/formatting stuff would take while setting my release schedule. Also, each issue of Planetoid has a30-32 pages, which is a lot. Luckily I’ve learned how to do things more efficiently for future projects. Readers have been very supportive, which I appreciate a great deal.

You’ve also got “Intergalactic” coming up with Joe Keatinge for Monkeybrain. What’s “Intergalactic” all about, and how did that collaboration come about?

KG: Joe was one of the first guy’s in the field to reach out to me and say good job on Planetoid. I don’t read that many new comics, but I do read Glory. Later he asked me if I wanted to do Intergalacitc with him at Monkey brain. Both the project itself and the business model sounded really interesting to me so I signed up. Being digital it’s flexible too, so Joe and I can do it our way. Chris Roberson and Allison Baker are really good people too. They really just want to put out a solid line of comics.

The story of Interegalactic revolves around a family with a legacy of space exploration. There is a new space race with both nation-states and corporations vying for power. It’s solidly in the realm of hard science-fiction where most of the technology has some basis in reality. No aliens. There’s really nothing else like it being done in comics right now.

“Intergalactic” seems a tad bit more grounded than “Planetoid,” at least in terms of the concept and lack of aliens or futuristic technology. What do you see as the major differences between the scope and landscape of the two titles visually?

KG: Planetoid is a sort of an exaggerated world. The machines are big. The characters are muscular. I wanted it to be a physical book. It’s about physical labor and physical struggle against oppression. As you say, Intergalactic is more grounded. I’m going to adopt a more European approach. Mostly line based art with flat colors. No brushwork or fingerprints. There will be epic moments and drama but of a different sort. Anyone familiar with Joe’s work knows how good he is at building tension and setting up epic reveals.

As someone who had written his own comics before, do your work habits differ at all between the two books?

KG: Yes. Doing both the story and art can be a bit of burden. There’s a lot you have to keep track of when working solo. I walk around all day with Planetoid in my head, questioning my choices and thinking about the story. With Joe, I have a partner. We’ve met and talked and we are both on the same page with a lot of this stuff. Joe knows a lot about comics and comic art. So, yeah Intergalactic should be a much more smooth operation than Planetoid.

As someone who has now done both print and digital comics, yet who started in the digital realm, do you hold any specific preference to either? Is there anything particular that can be done with digital comics that print can’t match, or vice versa?

KG: I don’t know. I still feel like regular print comics are so open-ended and unexplored… and the same with digital. Print comics are physical artifacts. The comic itself is a printed work of art… like a well designed art book. Digital comics present the content of a comic beautifully, offer a wider spectrum of color, new storytelling possibilities, etc. So both print and digital have virtue. Personally, I like printed comics and books, but I think there’s room for a healthy mix of both. All of this is being figured out now, but I don’t see any reason to be pessimistic or absolutist about any of it.

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?

KG: It doesn’t affect the art. I’m open to suggestions but it’s got to have merit or come from someone I respect. When Erik Larsen gives me drawing tips, I listen. But, I’m not going to take my marching orders from some dude in the comments section of a website.

Overwhelmingly, though it’s a good thing. Like in Planetoid I try to sneak a lot of subtext and hidden themes in there for readers who pay attention to that sort of thing. So, I really like getting feedback from readers who notice that stuff. For example, I had one email from a reader who picked up on the characters faces being obscured throughout most the first issue and how that relates to Silas being isolated and guarded. It was this really deep analysis where he nailed all sorts of things I put in there. Getting emails like that is really rewarding. But then again, I’ll go online and read some comment saying, “Silas is a total rip off of Han Solo!” …or something.

But I’m not complaining. I love all this stuff. I’m just really happy and fortunate to have my work being read at all!

Who are some of your favorite artists working in comics today?

KG: There is a lot of excellent draftsmanship in comics today. But as far as people doing really unique storytelling and pushing what can be done with comics, Nicholas De’Crecy is my current favorite. I like Adam Warren’s work. Richard Corben continues to do amazing stuff. Naoki Yamamoto’s manga titled Red has some of the most flawless comic book art I’ve ever seen. There’s lots of great work out there.